JP4980190B2 - Image forming apparatus, image management system, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image management system, and a program, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus, an image management system, and a program that can efficiently delete unnecessary user customization information.

  In recent years, image forming apparatuses have functions such as a communication function and a scan function as well as a copy function. When the user uses the image forming apparatus having many functions, the user sets a desired function by pressing a plurality of items of each function, and executes the function on the image forming apparatus by pressing a start key. Let

  However, when the set function is executed by the image forming apparatus, the function setting is cleared. Therefore, when causing the image forming apparatus to execute the function once set again, the user must perform the same operation, which is very troublesome and time-consuming for the user.

Therefore, a technique for storing a series of operation settings once input as one customization information has been applied to image forming apparatuses. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus having personal identification means for identifying personal information and customization means for customizing the operation of the apparatus based on the personal information identified by the personal identification means. ing. The personal information includes an IC card or sound storing a personal identification ID, and the image forming apparatus calls customization information corresponding to each individual based on the personal information and completes a series of operation settings. To do. Therefore, the operability and the like can be remarkably improved for each individual.
JP 2000-231309 A

  Since the image forming apparatus has many functions, customization information is often stored according to each function, and a plurality of customization information is stored in one image forming apparatus. In such an image forming apparatus, for example, when the user has already been transferred or retired and the user's customization information is no longer used, unnecessary customization information is continuously stored in the memory or the like of the image forming apparatus. There is a problem of continuing to use the storage capacity of the system in vain.

  Further, when deleting unnecessary customization information from the memory or the like, the user must find unnecessary customization information from a plurality of customization information. Such a search operation is a time-consuming operation for the user, and there is a problem in that it interferes with other operations.

  On the other hand, if the user fails to delete unnecessary customization information or forgets to delete it, the unnecessary customization information continues to be stored in the memory or the like. Then, the storage capacity of the memory or the like is wasted, and customer information (for example, customer facsimile number, image data transmitted to the customer, etc.) accompanying the remaining customization information is misused by other users. Or leakage to other users.

  Furthermore, once the customization information that has been deleted is completely lost, if the user deletes the necessary customization information by mistake or deletes it by mistake, the deletion cannot be performed again. There is a problem that the setting of the operation of must be executed. For example, if the customization information includes information that is difficult to obtain again, such as a facsimile transmission destination, it is impossible to restore the customization information again.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an image forming apparatus, an image management system, and a program that can efficiently delete unnecessary user customization information.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a user identification information acquisition unit that acquires user identification information that can uniquely identify a user, and a series of processes related to image processing. Operation accepting means for accepting operation settings, and a series of operation settings accepted by the operation accepting means are stored as one customization information , and the customization information can be used via a predetermined customization information selection screen Information storage means . Further, when the customization information storage means stores one customization information, the user customization information control means for storing the user identification information of the user who has set the operation related to the customization information in association with the customization information, Deletion accepting means for accepting the setting for deleting the user identification information . Further, in the customization information selection screen, the deletion setting is measured until the deletion reception unit measures the elapsed time after the deletion setting of the user identification information is received and the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time. The useless means for making the customization information associated with the received user identification information unusable, and when the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time, the user identification information that has been set for deletion and the user identification information and all customization information associated with and a deleting means for deleting from the customization information storage means.

Further, the unusable means displays the customization information to be unusable on the customization information selection screen in an unusable state including a state where a strikethrough is drawn .

  Furthermore, a release accepting unit that accepts cancellation of the deletion setting of the user identification information, and a determination unit that determines whether or not the user identification information that has received the deletion setting has already been deleted when the cancellation of the deletion setting is accepted When the determination means determines that the user identification information that has received the deletion setting has not yet been deleted, the deletion means includes a cancellation means for canceling the deletion setting.

  The customization information includes setting information for a series of operations related to the copy function, communication function, and scan function, input numerical information, destination information used in the communication function, storage destination information of input image data, One of the function screen information displayed first on the display unit according to the user identification information is included.

An image management system including a server and an image forming apparatus, wherein the server acquires user identification information that can uniquely identify a user from the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus. Stores a set of operation settings received as a piece of customization information, and makes it possible to use the customization information via a predetermined customization information selection screen in the image forming apparatus, and the customization information storage when means for storing one customization information, the user identification information of the user who made the setting of the operation related to the customization information Ru and a user customization information control means for storing in association with the customization information. Further, the image forming apparatus includes an operation receiving unit that receives the setting of a series of operations related to image processing, and deletion accepting means for accepting the deletion of setting the user identification information stored in the customization information storage means, the deletion Measuring means for measuring the elapsed time since the reception means received the setting for deleting the user identification information, and the user who received the deletion setting on the customization information selection screen until the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time Unusable means for making the customized information associated with the identification information unusable, and when the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time, the user identification information that has received the deletion setting and all of the user identification information associated with the user identification information Deleting means for deleting the customization information from the customization information storage means.

  In addition, this invention can be provided as a program distribute | circulated separately via a telecommunication line etc. In this case, the central processing unit (CPU) realizes the control operation in cooperation with each circuit other than the CPU according to the program of the present invention. However, each means realized using the program and the CPU can be configured using dedicated hardware.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the user sets the deletion of the user identification information, the user identification information that has received the deletion setting and all the customization information associated with the user identification information are deleted. is doing.

  This eliminates the trouble of searching for customization information associated with a user who has already been transferred, retired, etc. from a plurality of customization information, and does not fail to delete or forget to delete unnecessary customization information. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently delete the customization information without continuously using the storage capacity of the memory or the like unnecessarily. Of course, the remaining customization information is not misused or leaked.

  In addition, the user identification information and the customization information that have received the deletion setting are deleted after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  As a result, if the predetermined time has not elapsed, the user identification information and the customization information that have received the deletion setting are not immediately deleted. Therefore, even if the user makes a deletion setting accidentally or mistakenly sets the deletion setting, the customization information can be restored again. Being able to recover again gives the user an opportunity to recognize customization information that should not be deleted from a plurality of customization information. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus, unnecessary customization information is deleted and necessary customization information is continuously stored, and it is possible to delete the customization information efficiently without using the storage capacity wastefully.

  Of course, the image management system and the program according to the present invention have the same effects.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. In addition, the following embodiment is an example which actualized this invention, Comprising: The thing of the character which limits the technical scope of this invention is not. In addition, the alphabet “S” added in front of the numbers in the flowcharts means steps.

  First, functions provided by the image forming apparatus will be described. The functions provided by the image forming apparatus include a copy function, a communication function, and a scan function. The copy function is a function that converts an image of a document into image data and performs print processing based on the image data.

  The communication function includes a facsimile transmission / reception function, a PC transmission / reception function, and an e-mail transmission / reception function. The facsimile transmission / reception function transmits image data read from a document to a facsimile number or receives image data from a communication partner. It is a communication function to receive. The e-mail transmission / reception function is a communication function that transmits the image data to a mail address or receives image data from a communication partner. The PC transmission / reception function is a communication function that transmits the image data to a connected PC or receives image data from a communication partner. The scan function is a function for converting an image of a document into image data.

  When the communication function and the scan function are provided, the image forming apparatus provides each of the drive units that are driven when the copy function is provided. Hereinafter, a processing procedure for providing the copy function will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram in a front view showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 in which a folding device 123 and a bookbinding device 124 are connected. Specifically, the image forming apparatus 100 corresponds to a digital copying machine, a printer, a multifunction machine, or the like.

  First, when a user executes a copy function using the image forming apparatus 100, the user inserts his / her own card into a card reader 101 provided in the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the card reader 101 acquires the user identification information of the user from the card and performs authentication. Here, the user identification information is information that can uniquely identify the user, and corresponds to, for example, the user ID “AA001”. The card reader 101 determines whether or not the acquired user identification information matches the authentication information stored in advance. When the acquired user identification information matches the authentication information, the image forming apparatus 100 can be used, and the use of the user is permitted.

  Next, the user places a document on a document table provided on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus 100, and inputs setting of a copy function from the operation unit 102. The operation unit 102 displays a plurality of items related to the functions provided by the image forming apparatus, and the user presses the items to input a series of operation settings related to image processing to the image forming apparatus. .

  Here, the above-described series of operations are set such that the document image data is set to black and white, the print density of the data is set to a numerical value input by the user, and the data magnification is set to the numerical value input by the user. Setting to change to the resolution of the numerical value entered by the user, setting to output the number of copies of the data entered by the user, setting to print the data on both sides or one side of the sheet, and output the data Settings for printing the number of pages on a sheet, settings for sending data to a communication function destination (facsimile number, e-mail address, etc.), settings for saving data to a memory destination in the image forming apparatus, and outputting data Displayed on the touch panel for the first time according to the user identification information Setting screens, setting the paper size for outputting data, and notification destination to notify of the completion of the effect settings when the series of image processing has been completed corresponds.

  The user presses a start key provided on the operation unit 102 to cause the image forming apparatus 100 to start a printing process. When the printing process is started, in the image reading unit 103, the light emitted from the light source 104 is reflected on the document placed on the document table. The reflected light is guided to the image sensor 108 by the mirrors 105, 106, and 107. The guided light is photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 106, and the image of the document is processed according to the settings input by the user to become image data. Here, the image data may be received by the image forming apparatus 100 from another apparatus via the cable 109 connected to the side wall of the image forming apparatus 100. The image reading unit 103 is also driven when the scan function of the image forming apparatus 100 is executed.

  By the way, when the image data is created, the image data is sent to the image forming unit 110 and transferred as a toner image. The image forming unit 110 includes a photoconductive drum 111. The photoconductive drum 111 rotates in a predetermined direction at a constant speed, and around the charger 112 in order from the upstream side in the rotation direction. An exposure unit 113, a developing device 114, a transfer device 115, a cleaning unit 116, and the like are arranged.

  The charger 112 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 111. The exposure unit 113 irradiates the charged surface of the photosensitive drum 111 with a laser based on the image data to form an electrostatic latent image. The developer 114 forms a toner image by attaching toner to the conveyed electrostatic latent image. The formed toner image is transferred to a recording medium (for example, a sheet) by the transfer device 115. The cleaning unit 116 removes excess toner left on the surface of the photosensitive drum 111. A series of these processes is executed by rotating the photosensitive drum 111.

  The sheet is conveyed from a plurality of paper feed cassettes 117 provided in the image forming apparatus 100. When the sheet is conveyed, the sheet is pulled out from any one of the sheet feeding cassettes 117 by the pickup roller 118 to the conveying path. Each of the paper feed cassettes 117 stores sheets of different paper types, and the sheets are fed based on settings input by the user.

  The sheet pulled out to the conveyance path is sent between the photosensitive drum 111 and the transfer device 115 by the conveyance roller 119 and the registration roller 120. When the sheet is fed, the toner image is transferred to the sheet by the transfer unit 115 and conveyed to the fixing device 121. Note that the sheet conveyed to the conveyance roller 119 may be conveyed from the manual feed tray 122 provided on the side surface of the image forming apparatus.

  When the sheet on which the toner image has been transferred passes between a heating roller 123 and a pressure roller 124 provided in the fixing device 121, heat and pressure are applied to the toner image, and the visible image is fixed to the sheet. Is done. The heat amount of the heating roller 123 is optimally set according to the paper type, and the fixing is performed appropriately. The sheet on which the visible image is fixed is conveyed to the folding device 125 via the fixing device 121.

  The conveyed sheet is subjected to a folding process by the folding device 125 according to the setting input by the user. When no folding process is input, the sheet only passes through the folding device 125. When the user sets the bookbinding process, the passed sheet is conveyed to the bookbinding apparatus 126 and subjected to the bookbinding process, and is stacked and stored on the paper discharge tray 127.

  Through the above procedure, the image forming apparatus 100 provides the user with a copy function. Further, when the image forming apparatus 100 provides other functions, the image reading unit 103 and the image forming unit 110 are driven and provided. Among the above driving units, a driving unit that realizes image formation is referred to as an image forming unit. In addition, a drive unit that realizes communication with another device via the communication cable 109 is referred to as a communication unit.

  Note that a series of operation settings input by the user is stored as a piece of customization information when a command is received from the operation unit 102 to store the settings. When the customization information is stored, the user identification information of the user who has set the operation is stored in association with the customization information.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the appearance of the operation unit 102 provided in the image forming apparatus 100. The user uses the operation unit 102 to input a series of operation settings corresponding to the functions as described above, or to set deletion of stored customization information. When the user performs the setting, the touch panel 200, the operation button 201, and the function switching button 202 provided in the operation unit 102 are used.

  On the touch panel 200, a setting screen, a customization information screen, a customization information selection screen, a deletion setting screen, a deletion completion screen, and an alphabet input screen are displayed. The setting screen is a screen on which items related to one function are displayed. For example, on the setting screen corresponding to the copy function, items such as document size, magnification, output paper, application, end notification, image data storage destination, and the like are displayed. By pressing the item, a series of operation settings related to the copy function is input. The alphabet input screen is a screen on which items corresponding to the alphabet are displayed when the alphabet is input to a transmission destination or the like. The customization information screen, the customization information selection screen, the deletion setting screen, and the deletion completion screen will be described later.

  The operation button 201 includes a numeric keypad, a start key, a clear key, a stop key, and a reset key. By pressing each key, a signal related to the key can be input to the image forming apparatus. For example, when the start key is pressed, the image forming apparatus starts processing according to the input setting.

  The function switching button 202 includes a plurality of buttons corresponding to a plurality of functions such as “Copy”, “Fax”, “Scan”, “Print”, “Document Box”, “Status”, and “Memory”. It has been. When the button is pressed, a screen corresponding to the button is displayed on the touch panel 200. For example, when “Memory” is pressed, the customization information screen is displayed on the touch panel 200.

  Next, the configuration of the control system hardware of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of control system hardware in the image forming apparatus 100. However, details of each part not directly related to the present invention are omitted.

  The control circuit 300 of the image forming apparatus 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 304, and a driver 305 corresponding to each driving unit. The card reader 101, the operation unit 102, and the communication interface 306 are connected by an internal bus 307. The CPU 301 uses, for example, the RAM 303 as a work area, executes a program stored in the ROM 302, the HDD 304, etc., and exchanges data and instructions with the driver 305 based on the execution result. The operation of each driving unit shown in FIG. In addition, the respective means (shown in FIG. 4) other than the above-described drive unit are realized by the CPU 301 executing a program and exchanging data and instructions. The ROM 302 and the HDD 304 store programs and data for realizing each means described below. The card reading device 101 acquires user identification information from a card owned by the user, and transmits the user identification information to the CPU 301. The operation unit 102 receives data and instructions to be transmitted to the CPU 301 from the user. The communication interface 306 connects the facsimile 308, the PC 309, and the image forming apparatus 310 via the communication cable 109. The CPU 301 exchanges data with the facsimile 308, the PC 309, and the image forming apparatus 310 via the communication interface 306.

  Next, a procedure for deleting unnecessary user customization information in the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a first diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the touch panel. FIG. 6 is a second diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the touch panel. FIG. 7 is a third diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the touch panel. FIG. 8 is a fourth diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the touch panel. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the customization information-user table. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processing procedure in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment.

  First, when a user name “user A” (hereinafter referred to as user A) executes a copy function, the user A inserts a card owned by the user A into a card reading device provided in the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the user identification information stored in the card into which the user identification information acquisition unit 401 is inserted, that is, the user ID “AA001” (hereinafter referred to as “AA001”) is acquired (FIG. 10: S101). Thereafter, the user identification information acquisition unit 401 authenticates the user A, and the user A can use the image forming apparatus 100.

  Subsequently, the operation accepting unit 402 as the operation unit 102 displays a setting screen corresponding to the copy function on the touch panel 200 (FIG. 5A). On the setting screen, as shown in FIG. 5A, a message 501 “Can copy”, a display 502 of user ID “AA001”, a plurality of items 503 related to the copy function, a “use customization information” button 504, Time 505 is displayed. By pressing the item 503, a series of operation settings related to the copy function can be input. When one of the plurality of items 503 is pressed, the background color of the item pressed by the operation accepting unit 402 is different from the background color (for example, white) of the other items (for example, gray). ). In FIG. 5A, when a plurality of items 503 are pressed or numerical values are input, a series of operation settings (for example, document size “100 × 148” {corresponds to the size of a government-made postcard), magnification “141”, output paper “ A5 ”, application“ staple ”, end notification“ none ”, and image data storage destination“ image forming apparatus HHD ”) have been completed.

  User A puts a government-made postcard, uses a key provided in the operation unit 102, inputs a series of operation settings related to the copy function, and presses the start key (FIG. 10: S102). ). Then, the operation reception unit 402 transmits a series of operation settings to the customization information storage unit 403, and the customization information storage unit 403 stores the series of operation settings as one customization information. Here, when the customization information storage unit 403 stores one piece of customization information, “AA001” acquired by the user customization information control unit 404 is stored in association with the customization information (FIG. 10: S103). Subsequently, the image forming unit 405 and the communication unit 406 perform input settings based on the stored customization information.

  When the customization information storage unit 403 stores the customization information, specifically, the customization information column 901 and the user ID column 902 are associated and stored as in the customization information-user table 900 shown in FIG. Is done. In the column of the customization information 901, customization information—number indicating the order stored in the user table 900, setting screen, document size, magnification, output paper, application, FAX destination, end notification, e-mail address destination, and storage destination are stored. Stored in order. For example, the setting of the series of operations input by the user is “012”, “COPY screen”, “100 × 148”, “141”, “A5”, “staple”, “−”, “none” according to the above order. ","-"," Image forming apparatus HHD ". The user ID “AA001” is stored in the user ID 902 column. Here, since there is no FAX destination in the copy function, “−” is stored in the FAX destination. Since the end notification is set as “none”, “−” is stored in the mail address destination as the end notification destination.

  When the user A executes the same copy function again using the government postcard, the user clicks a “use customized information” button 504 displayed on the setting screen. Then, the operation reception unit 402 displays a customization information screen on the touch panel 200 (FIG. 5B). The customization information screen includes a list 506 of currently stored customization information created based on the customization information-user table 900, a memory usage capacity 507, a “use” button 508, a “delete” button 509, and a “cancel” "Button 510 and time 505 are displayed. When the user presses the “use” button 508, the operation reception unit 402 further displays a customization information selection screen (FIG. 6C). The customization information selection screen includes a customization information list 601 that can be used based on the customization information-user table 900, a used capacity 507, a “confirm” button 602, a “cancel” button 603, a “cancel” button 510, and a time 505. Is displayed. The list of available customization information 601 is selectable. When the displayed customization information is pressed, “●” 604 is displayed in the vicinity of the pressed customization information. Nothing is displayed near the customization information that has not been pressed. When the user A selects the customization information input earlier and presses the “confirm” button 602, the operation accepting unit 402 transmits the selected customization information to the image forming unit 405 and the communication unit 406, and processes according to the customization information. Is executed (FIG. 10: S104).

  When the user A wants to delete his / her user ID “AA001” and customization information related thereto, the user A presses a “delete” button 509 displayed on the customization information screen (FIG. 5B). Then, the operation reception unit 402 displays a deletion setting screen on the touch panel (FIG. 6D). On the deletion setting screen, a table 605 composed of user IDs and user names, a time 505, a “set” button 606, a “cancel setting” button 607, and a “cancel” button 508 are displayed. The user ID and user name in the table 605 can be selected. When the user ID (or user name) is pressed, “●” 604 is displayed in the vicinity of the pressed user ID (user name). Nothing is displayed near the user ID (user name) that has not been pressed. When the user A selects his / her user ID “AA001” and presses the “set” button 606, the deletion accepting unit 407 accepts the deletion setting of the user ID “AA001” (FIG. 10: S105). Further, when the deletion accepting unit 407 accepts the deletion setting, the measuring unit 408 starts measuring for a predetermined time, specifically, one month (FIG. 10: S106). At this time, the user ID “AA001” and the customization information associated with the “AA001” are still stored in the customization information-user table 900. Therefore, even when the user A mistakenly sets “AA001” to be deleted or misunderstood, the customization information of “AA001” can be recovered again.

  Further, the user ID “AA001” received by the deletion receiving unit 407 is transmitted to the unusable unit 409. Then, the unusable means 409 makes the customization information associated with the “AA001” unusable. The unusable state is realized by blocking or invalidating a signal related to target customization information. Further, the unusable means 409 displays “AA001” displayed on the customization information screen and the customization information selection screen and the customization information associated with “AA001” with a strikethrough 701 drawn (FIG. 7E). FIG. 7F, FIG. 10: S107).

  If the deletion setting of “AA001” is not canceled before the time of one month has passed, that is, if the “setting cancellation” button 607 displayed on the deletion setting screen is not pressed, the “AA001” Deletion is executed after one month has elapsed (FIG. 10: S108 YES). When one month has passed, the fact that the measuring means 408 has passed is transmitted to the deleting means 410 (FIG. 10: S109). The transmitted deletion means 410 refers to the customization information-user table 900 stored in the customization information storage means 403, and deletes “AA001” and all customization information 903 associated with “AA001” (FIG. 10). : S110). This eliminates the trouble of searching for customization information associated with “AA001” from a plurality of customization information, and does not fail to delete or forget to delete the customization information associated with “AA001”. Of course, the customization information associated with “AA001” is not abused or leaked.

  When the deletion unit 410 finishes the deletion operation, a deletion completion screen is displayed on the touch panel 200 (FIG. 8G). On the deletion completion screen, a deleted user ID table 801, a currently stored user ID table 802, a time 505, and a “confirmation complete” button 803 are displayed. In the deleted user ID table 801, “AA001” and “User A” are displayed. When the user A confirms that his / her user ID “AA001” has been deleted and presses the “confirmation complete” button 803, the customization information screen is displayed again (FIG. 8H). At this time, since “AA001” and the customization information associated with “AA001” have been deleted from the customization information-user table 900, “AA001” and the customization information are not displayed.

  On the other hand, if it becomes necessary to use again the customization information with the strikethrough 701 before the time of one month has passed, the user A should not delete the customization information that has been set to be deleted. It will be recognized that. Then, the user A displays the deletion setting screen on the touch panel 200, selects “AA001” displayed on the deletion setting screen, and presses the “cancel setting” button 607 (FIG. 10: S108 NO). . Then, the release acceptance unit 411 detects the selected “AA001” and the pressed “setting release” button 607, and accepts the cancellation of the deletion setting of “AA001”. Then, the cancellation receiving unit 411 transmits “AA001”, which is the target of cancellation of the deletion setting, to the determination unit 412.

  The determination unit 412 refers to the customization information-user table 900 and determines whether or not the “AA001” and the customization information associated with the “AA001” have been deleted (FIG. 10: S111). When the determination unit 412 detects the “AA001” that has not yet been deleted and the customization information associated with the “AA001”, the determination unit 412 functions as a cancellation unit and cancels the deletion setting of the “AA001”. To the deletion acceptance means 407. Upon receiving the transmission, the deletion accepting unit 407 cancels the deletion setting of “AA001”, and stores “AA001” and the customization information associated with the “AA001” in the customization information-user table 900. (FIG. 10: S112).

  Further, the deletion acceptance unit 407 transmits to the unavailable unit 409 that the deletion setting “AA001” has been cancelled. Then, the unusable means 409 returns the customized information associated with “AA001” to a usable state (FIGS. 5B and 6C). In this way, it is possible to cancel “AA001” once deleted and set, and restore the customization information associated with “AA001” again. This gives the user an opportunity to recognize customization information that should not be deleted from the plurality of customization information. By accumulating the above-mentioned opportunities, unnecessary customization information is deleted, and necessary customization information is continuously stored, and it is possible to delete the customization information efficiently without using the storage capacity wastefully.

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes the user identification information acquisition unit 401, the customization information storage unit 403, and the user customization information control unit 404. However, a server is provided separately from the image forming apparatus. The user identification information acquisition unit 401, the customization information storage unit 403, and the user customization information control unit 404 may be provided. The above configuration forms an image management system having the image forming apparatus and the server, and the effect of the present invention is also exhibited in the image management system. Of course, even if the image management system includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the effects of the present invention can be obtained.

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus is configured to include the above-described units. However, a program that realizes the above-described units may be stored in a storage medium and the storage medium may be provided. In the above configuration, the program is read by the computer of the image forming apparatus or system, and the computer implements the above-described units. In that case, the program itself read from the recording medium exhibits the effects of the present invention.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the user ID can be deleted on the deletion setting screen by any number of users. For example, an authentication unit is provided, and only the user authenticated by the authentication unit has a user ID. You may comprise so that deletion setting of this can be performed. For example, the authenticated user corresponds to an administrator who is involved in managing the image forming apparatus.

  Further, in this embodiment, the configuration is such that any number of users can use the customization information on the customization information selection screen. However, for example, a control unit is provided so that a specific user can use specific customization information. It doesn't matter. For example, only customization information stored by a staff member belonging to the printing department may be used. Further, the customization information stored by the manager of the printing department may be configured to be used only by the staff of the printing department.

  In the present embodiment, the unusable unit 409 is configured to display the user identification information for which deletion setting has been set and the customization information associated with the user identification information in a state where a strikethrough 701 is drawn. Instead of the line 701, the display may be performed in another state. For example, the user identification information or the like that has received the deletion setting may be assigned a character color different from the normal character color, or a background color different from the normal background color.

  In the present embodiment, the predetermined time measured by the measuring unit 408 is configured as one month. However, the predetermined time may be extended or shortened to one week, one month, half a month, one year, or the like.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus, the image management system, and the recording medium according to the present invention are useful for a copying machine, a multifunction machine, and the like, and image formation that can efficiently delete unnecessary user data. It is effective as an apparatus, an image management system, and a program.

1 is a conceptual diagram in a front view showing an overall configuration inside an image forming apparatus of an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of an operation unit provided in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of control system hardware of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a 1st figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the touchscreen of this Embodiment. It is a 2nd figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the touchscreen of this Embodiment. It is a 3rd figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the touch panel of this Embodiment. It is a 4th figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the touchscreen of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the customization information-user table of this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus 102 Operation part 200 Touch panel 401 User identification information acquisition means 402 Operation reception means 403 Customization information storage means 404 User customization information control means 405 Image formation means 406 Communication means 407 Deletion reception means 408 Measurement means 409 Unusable means 410 Delete Means 411 Release acceptance means 412 Determination means (release means)
900 Customization Information-User Table

Claims (6)

User identification information acquisition means for acquiring user identification information capable of uniquely identifying a user;
Operation accepting means for accepting a series of operation settings related to image processing;
A customization information storage means for storing a series of operation settings received by the operation accepting means as one customization information and making the customization information available via a predetermined customization information selection screen ;
User customization information control means for storing the user identification information of the user who has set the operation related to the customization information in association with the customization information when the customization information storage means stores one customization information;
A deletion accepting means for accepting the setting for deleting the user identification information;
Measuring means for measuring an elapsed time since the deletion accepting means accepts the setting for deleting the user identification information;
Unusable means for disabling the customization information associated with the user identification information that has received the deletion setting on the customization information selection screen until the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time;
When the elapsed time elapses the predetermined time, and deleting means for deleting all of customization information associated with the user identification information and the user identification information received set of the deletion from the customization information storage means,
An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the unusable unit displays the customization information to be in an unusable state on the customization information selection screen in an unusable state including a state in which a strikethrough is drawn . Furthermore, a release accepting means for accepting release of the deletion setting of the user identification information,
A determination unit that determines whether or not the user identification information that has received the deletion setting has been deleted when receiving the cancellation of the deletion setting;
A release means for canceling the deletion setting of the deletion reception means when the determination means determines that the user identification information that has received the deletion setting has not been deleted yet,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The customization information includes setting information for a series of operations related to the copy function, communication function, and scan function, input numerical information, destination information used in the communication function, storage destination information of input image data, 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes any one of functional screen information that is initially displayed on a display unit in accordance with user identification information. An image management system including a server and an image forming apparatus,
The server
User identification information acquisition means for acquiring user identification information capable of uniquely specifying a user from the image forming apparatus;
Customization information storage means for storing a set of operation settings received by the image forming apparatus as one customization information and making the customization information available via a predetermined customization information selection screen in the image forming apparatus ;
When the customization information storage means stores one customization information, the user customization information control means for storing the user identification information of the user who has set the operation related to the customization information in association with the customization information,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Operation accepting means for accepting a series of operation settings related to image processing;
A deletion accepting means for accepting a setting for deleting the user identification information stored in the customization information storing means;
Measuring means for measuring an elapsed time since the deletion accepting means accepts the setting for deleting the user identification information;
Unusable means for disabling the customization information associated with the user identification information that has received the deletion setting on the customization information selection screen until the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time;
A deletion unit that deletes the user identification information that has been set for deletion and all customization information associated with the user identification information from the customization information storage unit when the elapsed time has passed a predetermined time ;
Image management system comprising a. On the computer,
Obtaining user identification information that can uniquely identify a user;
Accepting a set of operations related to image processing;
A step of storing the customization information storage means setting the operation of a series of accepting the way of customizing information,
When the customization information storage means for storing one of customization information, and storing the user identification information of the user who made the setting of the operation related to the customizing information in association with the customization information,
Making the customization information stored in the customization information storage means available via a predetermined customization information selection screen;
Receiving a setting for deleting the user identification information stored in the customization information storage means;
Measuring the elapsed time since accepting the setting for deleting the user identification information;
In the customization information selection screen, the customization information associated with the user identification information that has received the setting for deletion is made unavailable until the elapsed time passes a predetermined time;
When the elapsed time elapses the predetermined time, a step of deleting all the customization information associated with the user identification information and the user identification information received set of the deletion from the customization information storage means,
A program that executes

Images