KR20060124872A - Secure printing method and apparatus in image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a device for printing a confidential document in an image forming device are provided to permit printing by dividing a password for printing the confidential document into a personal password and a group password to prevent unauthorized users from viewing data of the confidential document. A personal/group password input part(210) receives the password by discriminating personal authentication or group authentication. A confidential document storing part(220) stores the inputted password and the confidential document data corresponding to the inputted personal password. A confidential document selector(230) selects the confidential document to be printed in case that confidential document printing is stored job printing. A password comparator(240) compares the password of the selected confidential document with the password of the stored confidential document. A confidential document printing part(250) prints the confidential document if both passwords are matched with each other.

Description

Secure printing method and apparatus for image forming apparatus {Secure printing method and apparatus in image forming apparatus}

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multifunction apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a security document printing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating one embodiment of a method for printing a security document of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for printing a security document of an image forming apparatus in stored job printing, which can be temporarily stored on a storage medium without being printed immediately and then printed later.

In general, a printing function that temporarily stores print data on a storage medium instead of printing it immediately and then prints it later is called Stored Job Printing. The stored job printing is performed as follows. First, a storage medium for storing data transmitted from a host device such as a PC and data of the storage medium are stored. It then constructs a list of stored data and stores that list. The stored data list is displayed on an image forming apparatus panel such as a printer or a monitor.

Next, select whether the selected data is private or public, and if it is private data, verify the password to perform user authentication. Data can be output when the user is confirmed by user authentication.

However, everyone should not be able to print important documents that are rated security in an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction printer or a printer having a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) capable of storing print data.

Conventional user authentication method in secure printing (secure printing) does not use a password divided into groups or individuals, only uses a personal password. Since only a personal password is used, assuming that there is a document that can be viewed only in a certain group, each member of the group must be authenticated with an incorrect personal password. If a group has a password that can be used in common, the security document can be used more efficiently if the password is separated into individuals and groups.

In other words, in Secure Printing, which uses only one password in the related art, if there is a group (team) of A and only a group (team) of A can print the data, it is inconvenient to inform all of the group members the first password. If there is another data, another password has to be known to all members again.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to check the print rights on the data when the security graded data to be printed more efficiently, so that users can only view the data outside the authority, so that the password entered when printing the security document The present invention provides a method and apparatus for printing a security document of an image forming apparatus that enables printing by dividing into a personal password and a group password.

Security document printing method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, when the printing function to temporarily store the print data on the storage medium and then print the print function is stored job printing, In the case of the stored job printing, inputting a password by distinguishing whether it is personal authentication or group authentication; And storing the input password and security document data corresponding to the password.

The method for printing a secure document may further include displaying a password authentication mode for distinguishing a personal password from a group password and inputting a password when the secure document printing is the stored job printing. The secured document printing method may include: specifying a secured document to be printed; Comparing a password input by a user with a password of the stored secure document to print the designated secure document; And printing the security document if the passwords match.

Security document printing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, when the printing function to temporarily store the print data on the storage medium and then print later called stored job printing, personal authentication group Personal / group password input unit for inputting a password to distinguish whether the authentication; And a secure document storage unit for storing the input password and secure document data corresponding to the password.

The secure document printing apparatus may include: a secure document governor for specifying a secure document to be printed when the secure document printing is the stored job printing; Password comparison unit for comparing the password of the specified security document and the password of the stored security document; And a secure document printing unit for printing the secure document if the passwords match.

Hereinafter, a method and apparatus for printing a security document of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multifunction apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In general, a multifunction device or printer having a storage medium such as a hard disk and shared by multiple users has a Stored Job Printing function that can temporarily store data on a storage medium and print it later, instead of immediately printing data to be printed. The core concept of the present invention is to perform secure printing by using the stored job printing function and dividing a password into individuals and groups.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a security document printing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, personal / group password input unit 210, security document storage unit 220, security document support It comprises a government 230, password comparison unit 240 and secure document printing unit 250. Preferably, the security document printing apparatus further includes an authentication mode display unit 200.

The authentication mode display unit 200 provides a user interface screen that allows the user to select whether to be a personal authentication or a group authentication when printing a security document through an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction printer or a printer.

When the security document is stored job printing, the personal / group password input unit 210 accepts a password by distinguishing whether it is personal authentication or group authentication.

The secure document storage unit 220 stores the input password and secure document data corresponding to the password, and includes a print data transmission unit 222 and a print data storage unit 224. The print data transmission unit 222 may control print option information such as information on whether the security document to be printed is public data or private data, and whether or not it is data having a personal password or data having a group password if the private document is private data. command) before the security document data, and send it to a printer or multifunction device. The print data storage unit 224 stores print data transmitted from the print data transmission unit 222 and is a storage device mounted in the multifunction apparatus or the printer, and may generally be an HDD.

When the user wants to print a security document stored in a printer or a multifunction device, the security document designation unit 230 selects a security document to be printed from a document list or specifies the name thereof. The assignment is made by the user entering a name.

When the user wants to print a security document stored in a printer or a multifunction device, the password comparison unit 240 inputs a password of the security document and is stored in the password and the print data storage unit 224 input by the user. Compare passwords in secure documents.

The security document printing unit 250 prints a security document corresponding to the password if the password is identical as a result of the comparison in the password comparison unit 230.

3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating one embodiment of a method for printing a security document of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. A security document printing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, when the user sends print data that should be classified to a certain security level, the printer driver asks the user whether the data is to be printed immediately or whether the data is to be stored and stored in a storage medium (step 300). If the user selects Stored Data, the printer driver asks again whether it is a Public Job or a Private Job (step 310).

If the user selects a private job, the printer driver again asks whether it is a private job having a personal password or a private job having a group password (step 320). If the user selects a private job having a group password, the group password is entered. If the user selects a private job having a personal password, the user inputs a personal password (step 340). The user may create and manage a group folder in this step.

The options specified are converted into control commands such as PJL (Printer Job Language) and sent to the printer in front of the print data (step 350). As described above, the password-attached data is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk in the case of a stored job. Save the data (step 360).

On the other hand, if the user wants to print the stored security document, referring to Figure 4, the stored data list is selected through the printer panel or the Remote Control Program (Remote Control Program) to select the data to be printed (step 400). If the selected data is a Secure Job, a password is input from the user (step 410). If the password matches one of the passwords stored in the list (step 420), the security document is printed only when the password is matched. If the password does not match, the user inputs the password again. If the password does not exceed the predetermined number N (step 440), the printing job is terminated.

The present invention can be embodied as code that can be read by a computer (including all devices having an information processing function) in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording devices include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and the like.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

According to the method and apparatus for storing a secure document of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, a certain department (a specific department or a group) prints the secure document rather than preventing all people from accessing the documents set to the security level. By managing individual passwords and group passwords separately, you can set a group password rather than a personal password for each situation or for each security document. It provides convenience for other actions. In other words, by setting a group password, the password is set only at the first time and the password already set afterwards is used, thereby reducing the risk of being exposed by more convenient and frequent password sharing.

Claims (5)

When storing data is temporarily stored on the storage media and printed later, stored job printing is called. When the secure document printing is the stored job printing, inputting a password by distinguishing whether it is personal authentication or group authentication; And And storing the input password and security document data corresponding to the password. The method of claim 1, If the security document printing is the stored job printing, the method for printing a security document of the image forming apparatus, characterized in that it further comprises the step of displaying a password authentication mode for inputting a password by distinguishing a personal password and a group password. The method of claim 1, Designating a secure document to be printed; Comparing a password input by a user with a password of the stored secure document to print the designated secure document; And And printing a security document if the passwords match, as a result of the comparison. When storing data is temporarily stored on the storage media and printed later, stored job printing is called. A personal / group password input unit for inputting a password by distinguishing between personal authentication and group authentication; And And a secure document storage unit for storing the input password and secure document data corresponding to the password. The method of claim 4, wherein A security document governing body for designating a security document to be printed when security document printing is the stored job printing; Password comparison unit for comparing the password of the specified security document and the password of the stored security document; And And a security document printing unit for printing a security document if the passwords match.

Images