JP2005174224A - Method for controlling peripheral equipment on network and system, and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for controlling peripheral equipment for realizing control of peripheral equipment over a network, regardless of the security measures of a router and a system and apparatus therefor. <P>SOLUTION: When peripheral equipment connected on different networks are controlled via a router from a control computer, different mail addresses are assigned to the different functions of the peripheral equipment, so that the respective functions of the peripheral equipment on the different networks are controlled by the different mail addresses. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a peripheral device control method and system and apparatus thereof, for example, an image forming apparatus control method and image forming system in an image forming system including a print client and an image forming apparatus connected via a network, and the image The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus constituting a forming system.

  Hereinafter, as an example of a system configuration for controlling peripheral devices on a network, for example, background technology will be described based on an image forming system including a print client and an image forming apparatus connected to different LANs. However, the present invention is not limited to the problems specific to such an image forming system, and it is obvious that there are similar problems in systems that control peripheral devices on other types of networks.

  FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a conventional image forming system.

  In FIG. 19, reference numeral 5001 denotes a first LAN (Local Area Network), 5002 denotes a first router that connects LANs having different segments and relays and filters data packets, 5003 denotes the Internet, 5004 and 5005 denote computers. 5006 is a first image forming apparatus connected to the first LAN 5001, 5007 is a second LAN separated from the first LAN 5001 by a router, 5008 is a second router, 5009 Is a second image forming apparatus connected to the second LAN 5007, and 5010 is a control client which is a computer apparatus. Note that the print client 5004 or 5005 and the control client 5010 may be the same computer device. In addition, on each LAN, a plurality of computer devices that can be print clients and control clients, printer devices that are image forming devices, server computer devices, repeaters, HUBs, and other networks are configured. Although it is conceivable that a relay device or the like is connected, they are not shown here.

(Configuration example of image forming apparatus)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the conventional image forming apparatuses 5006 and 5009 constituting the image forming system, or the image forming apparatus 109 of the present invention described below. In the block diagram, the conventional example and the present invention are shown in the same manner, but there is a difference between the configuration and operation of the main controller unit or the configuration and control operation of the control unit in each block (operation unit, printing unit, etc.). There is.

  In FIG. 2, 201 is a main controller unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus, and 202 is an operation unit for operating the image forming apparatus by an operator. 203 that constitutes the operation unit 202 is an I / O unit for the operation unit 202 to communicate with the main controller unit 201, 204 is an LCD unit for providing information to the operator or displaying a virtual switch, 205 is a touch panel unit for detecting an operation of a virtual switch displayed on the LCD unit 204, and 206 is a switch unit physically arranged for an operator to perform an operation.

  An HDD unit 207 stores print data and programs and is used as a data cache area, an image memory unit 208 is used for developing and processing print images, and a function expansion 209 for the image forming apparatus. It is an expansion bus used for the purpose of performing. A NIC (Network Interface Card) unit 210 is added to the image forming apparatus 109 using the expansion bus 209. The NIC 211 constituting the NIC unit 210 monitors communication packets flowing on the first LAN 101, takes in only information relevant to the image forming apparatus, and sends packets created by the image forming apparatus to the first LAN 101. A LAN controller 212 that performs control for sending data to a transformer is a transformer that performs voltage conversion and realizes physical communication between the image forming apparatus 109 and the first LAN 101.

  Reference numeral 213 denotes a printing unit for printing an image on paper as a recording medium. An output process 214 performs processing such as gamma conversion, edge enhancement, and smoothing in order to correct image data sent from the main controller unit to data suitable for printing on paper. 215 is a PWM unit for converting image data after output processing into a signal for driving a laser beam, and 216 is a printer for printing an image on paper based on the signal supplied by the laser beam. Part. Reference numeral 217 denotes a paper discharge unit for discharging printed paper created by the printing unit 213 to the outside of the image forming apparatus. The paper discharge unit 217 includes an I / O unit 218 for the paper discharge unit 217 to communicate with the main controller unit 201, a controller unit 219 for controlling the paper discharge unit 217, and 220 in the paper discharge unit 217. A paper sensor unit for monitoring the flow of the passing paper, 221 is a paper feed motor driving unit for driving a motor for delivering paper, 222 is a tray motor driving unit for driving a paper discharge tray, and 223 is a paper This is a paper path control unit for controlling the flow of the paper.

(Control Example 1 of Conventional Image Forming Apparatus)
In the control of the conventional image forming apparatus, there is one that controls the image forming apparatus using PDL print data (for example, Patent Document 1). In this control example 1, first, a procedure from when the print client 5004 generates PDL (Page DescRIPtion LANguage) print data using the existing print protocol and printing with the first image forming apparatus 5006 will be described.

  A procedure for transmitting a print job from the print client 5004 to the first image forming apparatus 5006 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The print client 5004 is a computer device having means for connecting to the first LAN 5001 by a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like, and at least one software for processing or generating data to be printed is installed inside. ing. The operator operates the print client 5004, activates the software in step S5401, and generates and edits data to be printed in step S5402. When the data to be printed is thus prepared, the operator commands the start of printing from the running software in step S5403. Upon receiving this print command, the software activates the printer driver in step S5404 and displays a screen prompting the operator to set print control.

  FIG. 20 shows an example of a print control screen of the printer driver. In FIG. 20, 5101 is a printer driver window screen, 5102 is a GUI (Graphic User Interface) for selecting a printer to be printed, 5103 is a Property button for displaying detailed information of the selected printer, and 5104 is printing. A GUI 5105 for specifying the number of sheets, a GUI 5105 for specifying the size of the paper to be printed, a GUI 5106 for specifying the range of pages to be printed, and a GUI 5050 for specifying the orientation of the paper to be printed. 5108 is a GUI for designating a place for feeding paper for printing, 5109 is a GUI for designating a place for discharging the printed paper, and 5110 is a GUI for designating a position where the staple is held by the stapler. 5111 is a GUI for designating double-sided printing or single-sided printing, and 5112 is a printing resolution. A GUI for designating 5113 is a GUI for designating a printing magnification, 5114 is a GUI for designating a page layout, 5115 is a GUI for designating a watermark or a watermark character, and 5116 starts printing. OK button, 5117 is a Cancel button for stopping printing, 5118 is a GUI for designating a punching operation for filing, and 5119 is a control for folding and discharging the paper in a Z-shape. GUIs 5120 are GUIs for controlling the execution of bookbinding printing.

  In step S5405, the operator sets print control information using the various GUIs of the printer driver shown in FIG. 20, and if there is an intention to print, presses the OK button 5116 to print to the software. Encourage the start. If there is no intention to perform printing, the Cancel button 5117 is pressed to prompt the software to terminate the printer driver. The operator's will is determined by the operator input determination in step S5406. If it is determined to be Cancel, the software immediately closes the printer driver window, returns to step S5402, and re-displays the edit screen for the data to be printed. indicate. If the operator input determination in step S5406 determines OK, in step S5407, the data to be printed is converted into a data format that can be interpreted by an image forming apparatus such as PS (Post ScRIPt: Adobe registered trademark). PDL (Page DescRIPtion LANguage) conversion for conversion is performed. In this way, the image data to be printed becomes a print job, and transmission to the first image forming apparatus 5006 is performed in step S5408. At this time, between the print client 5004 and the first image forming apparatus 5006, for example, TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is used as a communication protocol, and LPD (Line Printer Daemon) protocol is used as a print protocol. Since the LPD protocol is described in detail in RFC 1179, its description is omitted here.

  The print client 5004 that transmits a print job using an arbitrary communication protocol and print protocol checks whether or not transmission of all data has been completed in step S5409 for each minimum transfer block, and has not yet completed. Returns to step S5408 to transmit the next transfer block. If it is determined in step S5409 that transmission of all data has been completed, a window for notifying the operator that printing has been completed is displayed in step S5410, and whether the process is to be terminated or continued. A GUI prompting the determination is displayed. This determination is made in step S5411, and when the process is continued, the process returns to step S5402, and the edit screen for the data to be printed is displayed again. If the process is to be terminated, the software is terminated in step S5412.

  Next, the procedure until the first image forming apparatus 5006 receives a print job transmitted from the print client 5004 and prints an image on paper based on the received data is shown in FIG. This will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a procedure until the first image forming apparatus 5006 receives a print job transmitted from the print client 5004 and prints an image on paper based on the received data.

  When the print client 5004 communicates with the first image forming apparatus 5006 via the first LAN 5001, for example, a TCP / IP protocol is used as a communication protocol. In communication using the TCP / IP protocol, since it is necessary to open a connection between two hosts before starting data communication, the print client 5004 makes a connection request (SYN) to the first image forming apparatus 5006. TCP segment with bit on). This connection request is fetched from the NIC unit 210 to the first image forming apparatus 5006 via the first LAN 5001. In the NIC unit 210, first, voltage conversion of received data is performed by the transformer unit 212 and sent to the LAN controller 211. The LAN controller 211 monitors this connection request in step S5601. If a connection request is detected, the LAN controller 211 opens a connection in step S5602 in accordance with a normal procedure defined by the TCP / IP protocol. When a connection is established between the print client 5004 and the first image forming apparatus 5006 in this way, the print client 5004 transmits a print job to the first image forming apparatus 5006 using the LPD protocol, which is one of the print protocols, for example. Send to.

  A print job using the LPD protocol is sent from the print client 5004 to the first image forming apparatus 5006 using the port 515 of the TCP / IP protocol. In the first image forming apparatus 5006, the print job sent by the LPR protocol is sent from the NIC unit 210 to the main controller 201 via the expansion bus 209. If the main controller 201 determines that this received data is a print job, it receives the print job in step S5603 and temporarily spools the data being received to the HDD unit 207 in step S5604. It is determined whether or not reception has been completed. At this time, if it is determined that the reception of all data has not been completed yet, the process returns to step S5603 again, and steps S5603 to S5605 are repeated. If it is determined in step S5605 that the reception of all data has been completed. For example, the main controller 201 issues a command to close the connection to the LAN controller 211 of the NIC unit 210. In response to this command, the LAN controller 211 closes the connection in step S5606 in accordance with a normal procedure defined in the TCP / IP protocol.

  When reception of the print job sent from the print client 5004 is completed in this way, the main controller 201 reads the print job spooled in the HDD unit 207. Since the read data is in a page description language called PDL (Page Description Language) and cannot be handled as print data as it is, RIP (Raster Image Processing) processing is performed in step S5607 to convert the PDL data into raster image data. Perform the conversion process. The raster image data is temporarily developed in the image memory 208 in step S5608 and is subjected to gamma conversion, correction for correction to data suitable for printing on paper by the output processing unit 214 of the printing unit 213. Output processing such as edge enhancement and smoothing is performed (step S5609). The image data converted into data suitable for printing in this way is converted into a laser drive signal by the PWM unit 215 (step S5610), and then sent to the printer unit 216.

  The printer unit 216 performs a printing process (step S5611) for printing an image on paper from the laser drive signal. In this printing process, designated special operations such as double-sided printing are also performed. When the image data printing process ends, the printed paper is sent to the paper discharge unit 5517, and the paper discharge process (step S5612) is performed. Also in the paper discharge process, designated poisoning operations such as binding, Z-folding and punching are performed.

  In the control example 1 of the image forming apparatus described above, the designation of each function in the paper discharge unit and the designation relating to the printing function such as the number of printed sheets and the number of printed copies are performed by the printer driver ( 20). The information specified here becomes control data, which is embedded in the PDL data and sent to the first image forming apparatus 5006 during the PDL conversion processing described in step S5407. The control data is transmitted by the RIP processing in step S5607. Extraction has been made. Among the control data, information necessary for image formation is referred to when the image data is expanded in the image memory 208 in step S5608, and is used for image formation. On the other hand, of the control data, information necessary for the paper discharge processing is transmitted to the controller unit 219 of the paper discharge unit 217 by the main controller unit 201, and the controller unit 219 determines the paper discharge device based on this information. Control and perform the paper discharge process.

(Control Example 2 of Conventional Image Forming Apparatus)
In this control example 2, a procedure until the print client 5004 transfers image data that has been image-formatted to the first image forming apparatus 5006 and prints using a dedicated file downloader and a download protocol will be described. .

  A procedure until print data is transmitted from the print client 5004 to the first image forming apparatus 5006 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The print client 5004 is a computer device having means for connecting to the first LAN 501 by a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like, and further has a storage medium such as a hard disk device for storing information. Further, the print client 5004 can store image data that has been image-formatted in the storage medium. Examples of the image format include PDF (Portable Document Format: Adobe Systems), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format: Microsoft & US Aldas), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group: ISO & ITU Joint Standard), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format: US). Formats such as computer serve are typical. The print client 5004 is installed with a dedicated download program for downloading these image formatted image data to the first image forming apparatus. The operator operates the download program, Image data is transmitted.

  FIG. 24 shows the GUI of the downloader program. In FIG. 24, 5801 is a window screen of the image downloader, 5802 is an edit box for inputting the name or IP address of the target printer for downloading image data, and 5803 is an edit for designating image data to be downloaded. A box 5804 is a browse button used for browsing image data from a storage medium, 5805 is a close button for closing the window, and 5806 is a cancel button for canceling input and closing the window.

  When the operator operates the print client 5004 and starts the download program in step S5701, the printer name or IP address is input to the edit box 5802 in step 5702 to specify the image forming apparatus to be printed. . Subsequently, in step 5703, the operator directly inputs the designation of the file to be downloaded into the edit box 5803, or operates the browse button 5804 to refer to the file stored in the storage medium and download the file. Specify the image data to be performed.

  Since it is conceivable that a plurality of files are specified, it is determined in step S5704 whether or not all the files have been selected. If not yet completed, the process returns to step S5703 to specify the file again. continue. When it is determined in step S5704 that all files have been selected, the print client 5004 downloads image data to the first image forming apparatus 5006 using a dedicated download protocol in step S5705. . Subsequently, in step S5706, the end of the download is monitored, and steps S5705 and S5706 are repeated until the download is completed. When the download of all data is completed, the downloader ends the process, and the download is completed in step S5707. A message to the effect is displayed and the process is terminated.

  Note that the method in which the print client 5004 downloads the file to the first image forming apparatus 5006 in step S5705 is performed using, for example, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) in addition to using a dedicated download protocol. Is also possible. When using FTP, TCP / IP port number 21 is used, but generally when using a dedicated protocol, an arbitrary port is selected from undefined port numbers and used.

  Next, the procedure until the first image forming apparatus 5006 receives the image data downloaded from the print client 5004 and prints an image on paper based on the received data is shown in FIG. This will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure until the first image forming apparatus 5006 receives image data transmitted from the print client 5004 and prints an image on paper based on the received data.

  Connection request monitoring and connection establishment in steps S5901 and S5902 are the same as in control example 1. When a connection is established between the print client 5004 and the first image forming apparatus 5006, the print client 5004 uses a dedicated downloader application and uses the dedicated download protocol to transfer the image data to the first image forming apparatus. It transmits to 5006 (an existing file transfer protocol such as FTP protocol may be used). When downloading image data using a dedicated download protocol, one arbitrary port is selected from the undefined ports of the TCP port, and the print client 5004 transfers the image data to the first image forming apparatus 5006. Is downloaded (when FTP is used, TCP / IP port 21 is used).

  In the first image forming apparatus 5006, the image data sent by the download protocol is sent from the NIC unit 210 to the main controller 201 via the expansion bus 209. When the main controller 201 determines that the received data is image data, the received image data is temporarily spooled to the HDD unit 207 in step S5904 while receiving the image data in step S5903, and all the data is received in step S5905. It is determined whether or not the data reception has been completed. At this time, if it is determined that the reception of all data has not been completed yet, the process returns to step S5903 and steps S5903 to S5905 are repeated. If it is determined in step S5905 that the reception of all data has been completed. For example, the main controller 5501 issues a command to close the connection to the LAN controller 211 of the NIC unit 210. In response to this command, the LAN controller 211 closes the connection in step S5906 in accordance with a normal procedure defined in the TCP / IP protocol.

  When the reception of the print job sent from the print client 5004 is completed in this way, the main controller 201 reads the image data stored in the HDD unit 207. Since the read data is in a state of an image format such as PDF and cannot be handled as print data as it is, RIP (Raster Image Processing) processing is performed in step S5907 to convert the image format data into raster image data. Do. The subsequent print processing (steps S5908 to S5912) of the data that has become the raster image data is the same as that of the control example 1 (steps S5608 to S5612), and thus description thereof is omitted.

(Control Example 3 of Conventional Image Forming Apparatus)
In the conventional control of the image forming apparatus, there is one that controls the image forming apparatus using a protocol such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) (for example, Patent Document 2). In this control example 3, a control method realized between the control client 5010 and the first image forming apparatus 5006 will be briefly described.

  FIG. 26 shows a GUI of management software for the image forming apparatus executed on the control client 5010. In FIG. 26, 6001 is a management software window screen, 6002 is a device list which is an area for displaying a list of image forming apparatuses to be managed, and 6003 is a list of jobs held in the print queue of the image forming apparatus. The job name, job owner name, job submission date, job submission time, and the like can be displayed. 6004 is a refresh button for updating the job list 6003, 6005 is a pause button for temporarily interrupting the printing process of the image forming apparatus, 6006 is a restart button for restarting the interrupted printing process, and 6007. Is a delete button for deleting the designated job, 6008 is an up button for raising the output priority of the designated job, and 6009 is a down button for lowering the output priority of the designated job.

This management software is executed on the control client 5010, and the device specified in the device list 6002 is controlled by the operator. For example, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is used for communication between the control client 5010 and the image forming apparatus 5006, and the control client 5010 serving as an agent transmits an MIB (Management Information Base) to the image forming apparatus 5006 serving as a manager. It is possible to realize various controls by reading and writing, but there is no problem even if a unique protocol is used. In this example, only the control of jobs held in the print queue of the image forming apparatus 5006 is mentioned. However, by using such software, status information collection and display of the image forming apparatus 5006, errors, and the like are described. It goes without saying that information collection and display, various parameter settings, etc. can be realized.
JP2003-242093 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-303931

  As described above, in the conventional image forming system described in Control Example 1, when printing is performed using a LAN as a communication medium, data communication for printing is performed using an existing printing protocol typified by LPD. Therefore, if the print client 5004 and the first image forming apparatus 5006 are arranged in the same segment that is not separated by the router, printing can be performed without any problem. Also, even in the conventional image forming system described in Control Example 2, when image data is downloaded and printed using a LAN as a communication medium, a dedicated download protocol or an existing file transfer protocol such as FTP is used. Since data communication for printing is performed, if the print client 5004 and the first image forming apparatus 5006 are arranged in the same segment that is not separated by the router, printing is possible without any problem. Further, in the conventional control method described in the control example 3, since the control data is communicated using SNMP or a unique protocol, the control client 5010 and the first image are not included in the same segment that is not separated by the router. If the forming apparatus 5006 is arranged, there is no problem and printing is possible.

  However, for example, in order for the print client 5004 to perform printing with respect to the second image forming apparatus 5009 connected to the second LAN 5007 existing outside the segment beyond the router, in each control example, each router You will face the problem of security policy. Note that the second image forming apparatus 5009 has a configuration equivalent to that of the first image forming apparatus 5006 described above and has the same capabilities and functions. However, the first LAN 5001 includes the first router 5002 and the first image forming apparatus 5006. The second image forming apparatus is different from the first image forming apparatus in that it is connected to the second LAN separated by the second router 5008.

  The most representative role of the router is to relay packets between segments. In addition, it plays two major roles. One is managing the flow of packets so that extra packets flow out of the segment and no extra traffic occurs in other networks. Another role is a filter function, which monitors network protocols, TCP / IP port numbers, IP addresses, and the like, and finely controls packets relayed across segments.

  Therefore, in the case of the control example 1, for example, when the first router 5002 is set to perform filtering so that the port 515 used by the LPD that is one of the print protocols cannot pass, the print client 5004 is set to the first router. The second image forming apparatus 5009 connected outside 5002 cannot be printed using the LPD protocol. For example, if the first router 5002 is a router arranged at the contact point between the intranet in the company and the Internet 5003 outside the company, there is almost no possibility that the existing print protocol is set to pass. Conceivable. The reason for this is that, from a security point of view, in order to prevent unauthorized access from the outside, it is possible to set so that only the minimum necessary number of ports on the router connected to the external network can be opened (through). Because it is general.

  Therefore, recently, a printing protocol called IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) has been established. This printing protocol can use port 80, which is a port for HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), and port 631, which is a port for IPP. However, since port 80 is an HTTP port, in order to prevent leakage of information from the WWW server installed in the intranet, the router that is a contact point outside the intranet is filtered so that this port number does not pass. In general, printing from outside the segment cannot be performed in many cases. On the other hand, with regard to port 631, it is easy to imagine that there are many routers on the network that are not open due to low IPP recognition and low usage frequency. Printing from outside the segment cannot be performed.

  In the case of the control example 2, for example, when the first router 5002 is set to perform filtering so that the port number used by the download protocol (or file transfer protocol) cannot pass, the print client 5004 is set to the first router 5002. The second image forming apparatus 5009 connected outside the printer cannot be printed using the download protocol. For example, if the first router 5002 is a router arranged at the contact point between an in-house intranet and an external Internet 5003, it is considered that there is almost no possibility that an undisclosed port number is set to pass. It is done. The reason for this is that, from a security point of view, in order to prevent unauthorized access from the outside, it is possible to set so that only the minimum necessary number of ports on the router connected to the external network can be opened (through). Because it is general. Also, when using FTP, which is an existing file transfer protocol, it is common to close the port of the router 5002 so as not to leak information within the intranet and to prevent access from the Internet 5003.

  Furthermore, in the case of the control example 3, when the filtering is set so that the port 161 used by SNMP, which is one of the control protocols, cannot be passed by the first router 5002, for example, the control client 5010 has the first router Communication with the second image forming apparatus 5009 connected outside 5002 is not possible using the SNMP protocol. For example, if the first router 5002 is a router arranged at the contact point between the intranet in the company and the Internet 5003 outside the company, there is almost no possibility that the SNMP protocol is set to pass. The reason for this is that, from a security point of view, in order to prevent unauthorized access from the outside, it is possible to set so that only the minimum necessary number of ports on the router connected to the external network can be opened (through). Because it is general.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is possible to control peripheral devices on the network by, for example, mail communication even when router security measures are interposed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device control method and a system and apparatus thereof.

  For example, as an example, printing can be performed between a print client and an image forming apparatus connected to different networks separated by a router, and connected to a network separated from the control client by the router. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming method, an image forming system, and an image forming apparatus that can control the image forming apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, a peripheral device control method of the present invention is a peripheral device control method for controlling a peripheral device from a control computer, wherein each of the different functions of the peripheral device is represented by a difference in mail address. In order to control, a different mail address is allocated to each of the different functions of the peripheral device.

  Here, the mail content transmitted to the mail address includes the setting content of the function corresponding to the mail address. The correspondence between the mail address and the function is set by the peripheral device or set by the control computer. The peripheral device is an image forming apparatus, and different mail addresses are assigned to image forming instructions and function settings. The function settings correspond to different e-mail addresses, black and white print settings, draft mode print settings, resolution conversion, print settings for adding carriage return to the line feed, and the number of characters in the horizontal direction of the paper size. This includes the setting to print with increasing LTR and A4 paper size change requests, the setting to feed paper from the manual feed tray, the setting to recover when a jam occurs, or the setting to perform smoothing processing. The function settings include setting of printing functions such as the number of printed sheets, the number of copies, double-sided printing, and various functions of the paper discharge unit, corresponding to different mail addresses.

  The network system of the present invention is a network system having a peripheral device, a communication computer, and a control computer, and the communication computer includes data transmission means for transmitting data to a data reception mail address of the peripheral device. And the control computer has a mail address setting means for setting different mail addresses corresponding to different functions of the peripheral device, and the peripheral device receives a mail addressed to a predetermined mail address. And function setting means for receiving data or setting functions corresponding to the mail address of the received mail.

  Further, the peripheral device of the present invention has a monitoring means for monitoring the reception of mail addressed to each of a plurality of different mail addresses, and a function for setting a function corresponding to the mail address of the received mail when the mail is received. And setting means.

  In addition, according to an instruction from the outside, a management means for managing each of a plurality of different mail addresses in association with each other, a receiving means for receiving mail addressed to each of a plurality of different mail addresses, and the received mail And a function setting means for setting a function corresponding to the e-mail address.

  Here, the function setting means sets a function corresponding to the mail address based on the mail content. Further, the apparatus further includes mail address input means for inputting a correspondence between the mail address and the function. The peripheral device is an image forming apparatus, and the function setting unit performs image formation and function setting in response to mail reception to different mail addresses. In addition, the setting of the function corresponds to each different e-mail address, black and white printing setting, draft mode printing setting, resolution conversion, printing setting for adding carriage return to the line feed, paper size horizontal direction Includes settings to increase the number of characters to print, settings to not request LTR and A4 paper size change, settings to feed paper from the manual feed tray, settings to recover when a jam occurs, or settings to perform smoothing processing. Further, the setting of the function includes setting of a printing function such as the number of printed sheets, the number of copies, double-sided printing, or various functions of the paper discharge unit corresponding to different mail addresses.

  The peripheral device control program of the present invention has a receiving step for receiving mail addressed to each of a plurality of different mail addresses, and a function setting step for setting a function corresponding to the mail address of the received mail. It is characterized by.

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a peripheral device control method and system and apparatus thereof can be realized by mail communication even when router security measures are involved, for example. Can provide.

  For example, as an example, printing can be performed between a print client and an image forming apparatus connected to different networks separated by a router, and connected to a network separated from the control client by the router. It is possible to provide an image forming method, an image forming system, and an image forming apparatus that enable control of the image forming apparatus.

That is, by attaching image data to be printed to an e-mail and transmitting it to the image forming apparatus using the SMTP protocol, a system capable of printing can be provided in a network environment where e-mail can be used. .
In addition, a system capable of controlling the image forming apparatus is provided in a network environment where electronic mail can be used by transmitting the mail address assigned to the control function to the image forming apparatus using the SMTP protocol. be able to.

  The configuration and operation example of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. The present invention is not limited to an image forming system for image formation, but discloses a method for controlling peripheral devices on a network, and can be applied to a system including other peripheral devices. The present invention also includes them.

<Example of Configuration of Image Forming System of Present Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, 101 is a first LAN (Local Are Network), 102 is a first router that connects LANs with different segments, relays and filters data packets, 103 is the Internet, and 104 and 105 are computers. A print client 106, a first server device 106 that provides DNS (Domain Name System) service, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) service, POP (Post Office Protocol) service, and the like; 107, a first LAN 101 And the second LAN separated by the router, 108 is the second router, 109 is the image forming apparatus connected to the second LAN 107, 110 is a DNS (Domain Name System) service, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) service , A second server device 111 that provides a POP (Post Office Protocol) service, etc. It is a control client of the place is a Yuta apparatus. Note that the print client 104 or 105 and the control client 111 may be the same computer device.

  On each of the LANs 101 and 107, in addition to this, a plurality of computer devices that can be print clients, printer devices that are image forming devices, server computer devices, and relay devices for configuring networks such as repeaters and HUBs , Etc. may be connected, but they are omitted here.

<Configuration example of each element constituting the image forming system of this embodiment>
(Configuration example of image forming apparatus)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. Since the description of FIG. 2 was performed in the background art section, a duplicate description is avoided here. However, in the present embodiment, the configuration and operation of the main controller unit, or the configuration and control operation of the control unit in each block (operation unit, printing unit, etc.) are different from conventional ones.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the control unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, 301 is a CPU for calculation / control, 302 is a ROM for storing fixed programs and parameters, 303 is a RAM for temporarily storing programs and data, 304 is an external storage unit such as a disk, CD, or memory card. is there. The other constituent blocks are given reference numerals corresponding to those in FIG. 2, and their functions are the same as those in the description of FIG. In FIG. 3, one CPU 301 is shown. However, even if the entire image forming apparatus is controlled uniformly by one CPU, a CPU for controlling each block is provided, and the CPUs are connected by a communication line. It may be configured and there are no restrictions.

  The RAM 303 has an image data storage area 303a for storing image data, a mail address / function correspondence table 303b for storing functions of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the mail address, and a program load area 303c for loading a program executed by the CPU 301. Have

  The external storage unit 304 has an image data storage area 304a for storing image data, like the RAM 303, and a mail address / function correspondence table 304b for storing functions of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the mail address. A browser 304c for mail transfer via the OS or the Internet, a main control program 304d, a print processing program 304e for controlling printing in the image forming apparatus, and a function setting program 304f for setting various functions of the image processing apparatus And a mail address setting program 304g for setting a mail address corresponding to each function. The mail address setting program 304g includes a mail address input program for inputting a mail address in association with a function from the input screen. These programs are loaded into the RAM 303 and executed by the CPU 301. The set mail address is sent from the image forming apparatus 109 to the control client 111 or read out by the control client 111, and the function / mail address correspondence tables 503a and 504a in the control client 111 are created. .

  The mail address / function correspondence tables 303b and 304b may be configured to be set from the control client 111. FIG. 11 shows an example of the function name and content of the image forming apparatus and the corresponding mail address. Further, as described above, the function setting program 304f does not have to be a single program. If each control unit of each block has the function of an independent network communication device, the communication connection itself by the mail address is performed. Is equivalent to the function setting of the image forming apparatus, and the mail information is more detailed setting information.

(Configuration example of print client)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the print client according to the present embodiment. The print client can be realized by a general-purpose computer.

  In FIG. 4, 401 is a CPU for calculation / control, 402 is a ROM for storing fixed programs and parameters, 403 is a RAM for temporarily storing programs and data, 404 is an external storage unit such as a disk, CD, or memory card. is there. Reference numeral 405 denotes a NIC unit that communicates with the LAN 101, 406 denotes an input interface that interfaces input processing from, for example, a keyboard 406a and a pointing device (mouse) 406b, and 407 denotes, for example, a display unit 407a (or a printing unit may be connected). This is an output interface that interfaces output processing to

  The RAM 403 includes an image data storage area 403a for storing image data, a mail address 403b of the image forming apparatus for printing, and a program load area 403c for loading a program executed by the CPU 401. The external storage unit 404 has an image data storage area 404a for storing image data, as with the RAM 403, and a mail address 404b of the image forming apparatus for printing. The program is for mail transfer via the OS or the Internet. Browser 404c and a print processing program 304d for instructing the image forming apparatus to perform printing. These programs are loaded into the RAM 403 and executed by the CPU 401.

(Control client configuration example)
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the control client according to the present embodiment. The control client can be realized by a general-purpose computer and may be in the same computer apparatus as the print client.

  In FIG. 5, 501 is a CPU for calculation and control, 502 is a ROM for storing fixed programs and parameters, 503 is a RAM for temporarily storing programs and data, 504 is an external storage unit such as a disk, CD, or memory card. is there. Reference numeral 505 denotes a NIC unit that communicates with the LAN 101, reference numeral 506 denotes an input interface that interfaces input processing from, for example, a keyboard 506a and a pointing device (mouse) 506b, and reference numeral 507 denotes a display unit 507a (or a print unit may be connected). This is an output interface that interfaces output processing to

  The RAM 503 has a function / mail address correspondence table 503a for storing mail addresses corresponding to the function of the image forming apparatus that the user wants to set, and a program load area 503b for loading a program executed by the CPU 501.

  The external storage unit 504 has a function / mail address correspondence table 504a that stores a mail address corresponding to the function of the image forming apparatus that the user wants to set, similar to the RAM 503. The program is a mail transfer via the OS or the Internet. And a function setting program 504c for setting the function by transmitting to the image forming apparatus using a mail address corresponding to the function. Further, the image forming apparatus 109 may have a mail address setting program 504d for setting a mail address corresponding to each function. The function setting program 504c includes a function input program for inputting the functions of the image forming apparatus from the input screen. These programs are loaded into the RAM 503 and executed by the CPU 501.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the function name and content of the image forming apparatus and the corresponding mail address.

<Operation Example of Image Forming System of Present Embodiment>
The operation and communication method of the image forming system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and the flowcharts of FIGS.

(Example of print instruction from print client to image forming device)
A procedure until image data is transmitted from the print client 104 to the image forming apparatus 109 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The print client 104 is a computer device having means for connecting to the first LAN 101 by a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like, and holds image data to be printed in a storage medium or the like. The operator operates the print client 104 and activates e-mail creation software called a mailer in step S401.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the mailer GUI according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 6, 601 is a mailer window screen, 602 is a send button for sending mail, 603 is a receive button for receiving mail, 604 is a new creation button for creating a new mail, and 605 is mail. An attachment button for attaching a file such as image data to the mail, 606 a destination button for referring to the address book in which the mail destination is stored, 607 an edit box for inputting the mail destination, and 608 an email address. An edit box for inputting a subject, 609 is a text box for inputting a mail body, 610 is a window for graphically displaying an attached file, 611 is an icon and a file name indicating a file attached to the mail It is.

  In step S402, the operator presses the mailer new creation button 604 to instruct the mailer to create a new mail. Subsequently, in step S403, the operator inputs an address into the edit box 607. The destination specified here is an e-mail address corresponding to the image forming apparatus 109 for the purpose of transmitting image data and performing printing. Such an e-mail address is generally registered in an address book owned by the mailer. By using the destination button 606, the address book can be called and selectively specified using a mouse or the like. It is.

  Subsequently, in step S404, the operator presses the attachment button 605 in order to select image data intended to be sent to the image forming apparatus 109 for printing. When the attach button 605 is pressed, the mailer displays a list of files such as image data stored in the storage medium of the print client 104, and displays a GUI that prompts the operator to select a file to be attached. Since a plurality of attachment files can be selected, the mailer confirms the end of the designation of the attachment file in step S405, and repeats step S404 and step S405 until the operator finishes the designation of the attachment file. The file attached here is graphically displayed on the window 610 by the icon 611 of the attached file and the file name. If it is determined in step S405 that the designation of the attached file has been completed, after the send button 602 is pressed, the e-mail transmission process is started from the print client 104 in step S407. In step S408, the mailer determines whether or not the transmission of all e-mail data has been completed, and repeats steps S407 and S408 until the transmission is completed. If it is determined in step S408 that transmission of all e-mail data has been completed, the mailer ends the process.

  The e-mail data transmitted from the print client 104 is once taken into the server device 106 that is executing the SMTP service, and then mail is distributed by the function of the SMTP server. At this time, the domain is specified by the DNS server based on the mail address input by the operator in step S403, and the mail is sent to the designated destination. In this embodiment, since the image forming apparatus 109 is designated as the mail destination, the e-mail data transmitted from the server apparatus 106 passes through the router 102, the Internet 103, and the router 108, and then enters the same domain as the image forming apparatus 109. It is taken into the mailbox of the server apparatus 110 by the SMTP service being executed in the installed server apparatus 110.

(Example of printing operation of image forming apparatus)
Next, a procedure until the image forming apparatus 109 receives an e-mail sent from the print client 104 and prints the attached image data will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  In step S601, the image forming apparatus 109 periodically checks with the server apparatus 110 whether or not an e-mail addressed to itself has arrived. Since the server apparatus 110 is running a POP (Post Office Protocol) service, the image forming apparatus 109 uses the POP to transmit a user ID and a user password to the server apparatus 110, and an e-mail arrives in its mailbox. It can be confirmed whether or not.

  If the e-mail has arrived at the e-mail address for receiving the image data, the main controller 201 of the image forming apparatus 109 uses the POP via the expansion bus 209, the NIC unit 210, and the second LAN 107 to establish a server. In step S602, e-mail data is received from the apparatus 110, and in step S603, it is confirmed whether or not all e-mail data has been received. If reception has not ended yet, step S602 and step S603 are repeatedly executed. If it is determined in step S603 that reception of all e-mail data has been completed, then in step S604, the received e-mail data is separated into three blocks: a header part, a body part, and an attached file part. Is done.

  E-mail is generally configured in a message format that conforms to the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) standard, and e-mail data to which a file is attached is configured by a Multipart type, and the boundary of each block Since a unique character string indicating the boundary is supplied by the Boundary parameter of the Content-Type field, it is possible to easily separate the mail body part and the attached file part by searching for this character string. is there. The attached data thus separated is subjected to a printing process in step S605.

  A detailed procedure example of the printing process (step S605) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S801, the image format can be specified by examining the extension of the file name of the attached file. As a result, it is determined in step S802 whether or not the image data received by the attached file is a known image format that can be developed by the image forming apparatus 109. If it is determined that there is no image, the image forming apparatus 109 returns an e-mail describing an error message to the print client 104 that is the e-mail sender (S803), and ends the process. This error message describes in the body of the e-mail that the image format cannot be processed by the image forming apparatus 109.

  If it is determined in step S802 that the image format is a known image format, each image format data is in this state and cannot be handled as print data at this stage. Therefore, the main controller 201 can decode the image data. After that, in step S804, RIP (Raster Image Processing) processing is performed to convert image data into raster image data. The raster image data in this way is once developed in the image memory 208 in step S805, and is subjected to gamma conversion, correction by the output processing unit 214 of the printing unit 213 for data suitable for printing on paper. Output processing such as edge enhancement and smoothing is performed (step S806). The image data converted into data suitable for printing in this way is converted into a laser drive signal by the PWM unit 215 (step S807) and then sent to the printer unit 216.

  The printer unit 216 performs a printing process (step S808) for printing an image on paper from the laser drive signal. This printing process will be described in detail with reference to the black-and-white image forming apparatus overview of FIG.

  In FIG. 17, reference numeral 5213 denotes a polygon mirror which receives laser light. Laser light is irradiated to the photosensitive drum 5217 through the mirrors 5214, 5215, and 5215, and the photosensitive drum 5217 is scanned by the rotation of the polygon mirror 5213. On the other hand, a developing unit 5230 supplies black toner, forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 5217 in accordance with the laser beam, and transfers the toner image onto a sheet to obtain an output image.

  A sheet fed from one of the sheet cassettes 5234 and 5235 and the manual feed tray 5236 is attracted onto the transfer belt 5238 through the registration roller 5237 and conveyed. The toner is developed in advance on the photosensitive drum 5217 in synchronization with the sheet feeding timing, and the toner is transferred to the sheet as the sheet is conveyed. The sheet on which the toner has been transferred is separated from the transfer belt 5238, the toner is fixed on the sheet by the fixing device 5240, and is discharged out of the first image forming apparatus 109 by the discharge roller 5242.

  However, when double-sided printing is performed, after the paper is conveyed to the discharge roller 5242, the rotation direction of the discharge roller 5242 is reversed and guided to the refeed conveyance path by the flapper 5241. Further, when multiple recording is performed, the paper is guided to the refeed conveyance path by the flapper 5241 so that the paper is not conveyed to the discharge roller 5242. The paper guided to the re-feed conveyance path is fed from the registration roller 5237 at the timing described above, and the process of printing an image on the paper again is performed.

  When the image data printing process is completed, the printed paper is sent to the paper discharge unit 217, and the paper discharge process (step S809) is performed. In the paper discharge unit 217, the controller unit 5519 that controls the paper discharge device communicates with the main controller 201 via the I / O unit 5518 to control various paper discharge processes. On the other hand, the controller unit 219 delivers paper using the paper feed motor drive unit 221, controls the paper flow using the paper path control unit 223, and monitors the paper flow using the paper sensor unit 220. At the same time, the tray motor driving unit 221 is controlled to discharge the paper to an arbitrary tray.

  FIG. 18 is an overview of the paper discharge unit according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 18, reference numeral 5301 denotes a sample tray for discharging paper, 5302 denotes a stack tray for discharging paper, 5303 denotes an inserter for interposing the paper, and 5304 denotes a device for folding the paper. Z down machine, 5305 is a stapler for binding paper, 5306 is a puncher for punching filing holes, 5307 is a saddle stitcher for processing paper into a booklet format, and 5308 is processed into a booklet format It is a booklet tray for discharging paper.

  In the stack tray 5302, paper before being discharged can be stored for each job, and can be bound by the stapler 5305 immediately before being discharged. Also, on the path from the paper to the sample tray 5301 and the stack tray 5302, there is a Z-folder 5304 for folding the paper into a Z-shape and a puncher 5306 for making two or three holes for filing. Yes, each process is performed according to the type of job. An inserter 5303 is used to perform a middle insertion function, and a middle insertion sheet can be inserted therein. Further, the saddle stitcher 5307 is used to fold the paper into a booklet format and bind the middle. In this case, it is discharged to the booklet tray 5308.

  Further, in general, the router 102 and the router 108 connected to the Internet open the port 25 for SMTP so that the computer device in the intranet can use the electronic mail. Therefore, according to the printing method of the present invention using the SMTP protocol, it is possible to perform printing on an image forming apparatus existing outside the domain beyond the router in a network environment in which electronic mail can be used.

(Function setting example from control client to image forming device)
Next, a procedure until an e-mail is transmitted from the control client 111 to the image forming apparatus 109 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

  The control client 111 is a computer device having means for connecting to the first LAN 101 by a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like. The operator operates the control client 111 and activates e-mail creation software called a mailer in step S1201. For mailers, see FIG. 6 (details above).

  In step S1202, the operator presses the mailer new creation button 604 and instructs the mailer to create a new mail. Subsequently, in step S403, the operator inputs an address in the edit box 607. The destination specified here is an e-mail address corresponding to the image forming apparatus 109 for the purpose of performing control. The image forming apparatus 109 has a plurality of e-mail addresses, and the control contents differ depending on the addresses. Such an e-mail address is generally registered in an address book owned by the mailer. By using the destination button 606, the address book can be called and selectively specified using a mouse or the like. It is.

  FIG. 10 is an example of an address book. A name indicating the function is set in the destination abbreviation (nickname), and the E-mail address is set to be set on the apparatus side.

FIG. 11 is a list of print controls supported by the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. This will be described below. Each of these is assigned a different email address.
monochrome: monochrome printing
draft: Draft mode printing
resolution600: Conversion to resolution 600
auto_cr: Print by adding carriage return to line feed
wideA4: Print by increasing the number of characters in the horizontal direction of A4 paper size
override: Do not request LTR LA4 paper size change
manual: Feed paper from the bypass tray
jam_recovery: Perform recovery when a jam occurs
refine: Performs smoothing processing When the destination designation is completed in this way, after the transmission button 602 is pressed, an e-mail transmission process is started from the control client 111 in step S1205. In step S1206, the mailer determines whether or not the transmission of all e-mail data has been completed, and repeats steps S1205 and S1206 until the transmission is completed. If it is determined in step S1206 that transmission of all e-mail data has been completed, the mailer ends the process.

  The e-mail data transmitted from the print client 104 is once taken into the server device 106 that is executing the SMTP service, and then mail is distributed by the function of the SMTP server. At this time, the domain is specified by the DNS server based on the mail address input by the operator in step S1203, and the mail is sent to the designated destination. In this embodiment, since the image forming apparatus 109 is designated as the mail destination, the e-mail data transmitted from the server apparatus 106 passes through the router 102, the Internet 103, and the router 108, and then enters the same domain as the image forming apparatus 109. It is taken into the mailbox of the server apparatus 110 by the SMTP service being executed in the installed server apparatus 110.

(Function setting operation example of image forming apparatus)
Subsequently, the procedure from when the image forming apparatus 109 receives the electronic mail sent from the control client 111 to the processing of the command described in the body part of the mail will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. To do.

  In step S1301, the image forming apparatus 109 periodically checks with the server apparatus 110 whether or not an e-mail addressed to itself has arrived. Since the server apparatus 110 is running a POP (Post Office Protocol) service, the image forming apparatus 109 uses the POP to transmit a user ID and a user password to the server apparatus 110, and an e-mail arrives in its mailbox. It can be confirmed whether or not. Since the image forming apparatus of the present invention has a plurality of user IDs, it is necessary to confirm the number of times using the POP.

  If an e-mail has arrived at the set e-mail address, the main controller 201 of the image forming apparatus 109 uses the POP via the expansion bus 209, the NIC unit 210, and the second LAN 107, and the server apparatus. In step S1302, e-mail data is received from step 110. In step S1303, it is confirmed whether or not all e-mail data has been received. If reception has not been completed yet, step S1302 and step S1303 are repeated. If it is determined in step S1303 that reception of all e-mail data has been completed, then in step S1304, the received e-mail data is separated into three blocks: a header part, a text part, and an attached file part. Is done.

  E-mail is generally configured in a message format that conforms to the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) standard, and e-mail data to which a file is attached is configured by a Multipart type, and the boundary of each block Since a unique character string indicating the boundary is supplied by the Boundary parameter of the Content-Type field, it is possible to easily separate the mail body part and the attached file part by searching for this character string. is there.

  For example, when the destination of the mail from the control client 111 is an address indicating the change to the monochrome job, the image forming apparatus 109 performs the process to the monochrome print data when performing the print process of the attached mail, and performs the monochrome printing. I do. Similarly, for the other designated addresses, the image forming apparatus 109 that has received the mail executes processing according to the function assigned to the mail address.

(Email account setting example)
Next, an example of a POP account setting method for setting to receive an e-mail in the image forming apparatus 109 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Multiple accounts can be set. In reality, the memory capacity is limited, and a finite number of settings are generally performed. Here, five examples will be described. In performing this processing, for example, the control client 111 receives HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data indicating a setting screen as shown in FIG. 15 or FIG. 16 from the image forming apparatus 109, and the web browser displays FIG. Display the setting screen.

  First, the user sets the name of the POP server that receives mail on the setting screen of FIG. This POP issue interval is also set. Next, the user selects the number of set accounts from the pull-down list. Account settings are displayed for the selected number. Each account has a character name input box for the account name, a password input box corresponding to the account, and a selection pull-down list that lists functions to be assigned. The mail address is determined based on the POP server name and the account name. The user sets the values of the above items for each account, repeats the number of accounts, and clicks the OK button. This completes the setting. When the OK button is clicked, the value input or selected by the user on the setting screen is transmitted from the control client 111 to the image forming apparatus 109, and the mail address / function correspondence tables 303b and 304b are created or created based on the value. Updated.

  The above is an example in which mail is received by the POP server, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where mail is received from the SMTP server. In that case, as shown in FIG. 16, the items such as the SMTP server name, the number of retransmissions, and the retransmission interval are set.

  In the present embodiment, the present invention has been described with the configuration and operation of an image forming system having a print client / control client and an image forming apparatus. However, the technical idea of setting the functions of peripheral devices with different mail addresses is the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the image forming system, and other peripheral devices and a network different from the present embodiment have the same effect. The present invention also includes these.

  Further, the present invention can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), but a device composed of a single device (for example, a copier, a facsimile machine, etc.). You may apply to.

  Also, an object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium (or storage medium) in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or CPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved when the MPU) reads and executes the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the recording medium on which the program code is recorded constitutes the present invention. Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the recording medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function is based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. When the present invention is applied to the recording medium, the program code corresponding to the flowchart described above is stored in the recording medium.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system according to an exemplary embodiment. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of an image forming apparatus that constitutes an image forming system of an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a control unit of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the print client of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the control client of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed GUI of the mailer of this embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure until image data is transmitted from the print client of the present embodiment to the image forming apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from when the image forming apparatus receives image data sent in the form of being attached to an e-mail from the print client according to the present embodiment until printing is performed. FIG. 9 is a detailed example of step S606 in FIG. 8, and is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for printing an attached file. It is the figure which showed the example of the address book of the mailer of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a table which memorize | stores the correspondence with the print processing function name of this embodiment, print processing function description, and an e-mail address. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure until an e-mail is transmitted from the control client of the present embodiment to the image forming apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure until an image forming apparatus receives an electronic mail sent from a control client according to the present exemplary embodiment and performs a printing process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for setting a mailbox on the image forming apparatus side according to the present exemplary embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a GUI for setting a mailbox on the image forming apparatus side of the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a GUI for setting a mailbox on the image forming apparatus side of the embodiment. 1 is an overview of a black and white image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a general-view figure of the paper discharge apparatus of this embodiment. It is a block diagram showing an example of the conventional image forming system. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print control screen of a conventional printer driver. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from a conventional print client to transmission of a print job to a first image forming apparatus. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from when a conventional first image forming apparatus receives a print job transmitted from a print client and prints an image on paper based on the received data. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from transmission of print data to a first image forming apparatus from a conventional print client. It is a figure which shows GUI of the conventional downloader program. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from when a conventional first image forming apparatus receives image data transmitted from a print client and prints an image on paper based on the received data. It is a figure which shows GUI of the management software of the image forming apparatus performed on the conventional control client.

Claims (15)

A peripheral device control method for controlling a peripheral device from a control computer,
A method for controlling a peripheral device, comprising: allocating a different mail address to each of the different functions of the peripheral device in order to control each of the different functions of the peripheral device with a difference in mail address.   2. The peripheral device control method according to claim 1, wherein the mail content transmitted to the mail address includes a setting content of a function corresponding to the mail address.   2. The peripheral device control method according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence between the mail address and the function is set in the peripheral device or set from the control computer.   The peripheral device control method according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral device is an image forming apparatus, and different mail addresses are assigned to the image forming instruction and the function setting.   The function settings correspond to different e-mail addresses, respectively, black and white print settings, draft mode print settings, resolution conversion, print settings to add carriage return to the line feed, and increase the number of characters in the horizontal direction of the paper size Print settings, settings that do not request LTR and A4 paper size change, settings that feed paper from the manual feed tray, settings that perform recovery when a jam occurs, or settings that perform smoothing processing Item 5. A peripheral device control method according to Item 4.   5. The function setting according to claim 4, wherein the function setting includes setting of a printing function such as the number of copies, the number of copies, double-sided printing, or various functions corresponding to different mail addresses. Peripheral device control method. A network system having a peripheral device, a communication computer, and a control computer,
The communication computer is
Data transmission means for transmitting data to a mail address for data reception of the peripheral device;
The control computer is
E-mail address setting means for setting different e-mail addresses corresponding to different functions of the peripheral device,
The peripheral device is
A receiving means for receiving an email addressed to a predetermined email address;
A network system comprising: function setting means for receiving data or setting a function corresponding to a mail address of a received mail. Monitoring means for monitoring reception of mail addressed to each of a plurality of different mail addresses;
A peripheral device comprising: function setting means for setting a function corresponding to a mail address of a received mail when a mail is received. A management means for managing each of a plurality of different e-mail addresses in association with functions according to an instruction from the outside;
Receiving means for receiving mail addressed to each of a plurality of different mail addresses;
A peripheral device comprising: function setting means for setting a function corresponding to a mail address of a received mail.   The peripheral device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the function setting means sets a function corresponding to the mail address based on a mail content.   The peripheral device according to claim 8, further comprising a mail address input unit that inputs correspondence between the mail address and a function.   12. The peripheral device according to claim 8, wherein the peripheral device is an image forming apparatus, and the function setting means performs image formation and function setting in response to mail reception to different mail addresses. The peripheral device according to one.   The function settings correspond to different e-mail addresses, including black and white print settings, draft mode print settings, resolution conversion, print settings for adding carriage return to the line feed, and the number of characters in the horizontal direction of the paper size. It includes a setting to increase printing, a setting not to request to change the LTR and A4 paper size, a setting to feed paper from the manual feed tray, a setting to recover when a jam occurs, or a setting to perform smoothing processing The peripheral device according to any one of claims 8 to 11.   9. The setting of the function includes setting of a printing function such as the number of printed sheets, the number of copies, double-sided printing, etc., or various functions of a paper discharge unit corresponding to different mail addresses. The peripheral device according to any one of 13. A receiving step for receiving mail addressed to each of a plurality of different mail addresses;
And a function setting step for setting a function corresponding to the mail address of the received mail.

Images