JP2017084053A - Image forming system and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system and image forming device capable of downloading fonts from a server even when the image forming device cannot directly communicate with the server.SOLUTION: It is featured by that the image forming device includes an MFP which stores fonts to be used for printing and provides a Web page for indicating the stored fonts, and a portable device which displays the Web page; the Web page has a download button for receiving, from the server, a command for downloading fonts not stored by the MFP; the portable device downloads the fonts from the server to the MFP (S119) when the download button receives the command (S116); and the MFP stores the fonts which are downloaded at S119 and transmitted from the portable device to the MFP.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system and an image forming apparatus that execute printing using fonts.

  When an image forming apparatus that does not store at least a part of fonts used in the print data executes printing based on the print data, the image forming apparatus uses the fonts used in the print data. There is a possibility that the quality of the printed matter may be deteriorated, for example, a font that is not stored is ignored and printed, or is replaced with a substitute font. Therefore, an image forming apparatus that downloads fonts from a server is conventionally known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP2013-221958A

  However, the conventional image forming apparatus has a problem that it must be configured to be able to communicate with the server.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming system and an image forming apparatus that can download fonts from the server to the image forming apparatus even if the image forming apparatus cannot directly communicate with the server.

  An image forming system according to the present invention includes: a font storage unit that stores a font used for printing; and a Web page providing unit that provides a Web page indicating the font stored in the font storage unit. An electronic device including a Web page display unit for displaying the Web page, and the Web page includes an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction for downloading the font that is not stored in the font storage unit from the server. The electronic device downloads the font from the server to the image forming apparatus when the instruction input unit inputs an instruction to the instruction receiving unit and the instruction input unit inputs an instruction to the instruction receiving unit. Font download means for Onto storage means, and to store the font that has been transmitted are downloaded from the electronic apparatus to the image forming apparatus by the font downloading means.

  With this configuration, the image forming system of the present invention can download fonts from the server to the image forming apparatus via the electronic device in accordance with an instruction input to the electronic device, so that the image forming apparatus communicates directly with the server. Even if this is not possible, the font can be downloaded from the server to the image forming apparatus.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the image forming apparatus includes address information display means for displaying address information indicating an address of the Web page, and the electronic device displays the address displayed by the image forming apparatus. Address acquisition means for reading the information to acquire the address may be provided, and the Web page display means may display the Web page based on the address acquired by the address acquisition means.

  With this configuration, the image forming system according to the present invention does not require the user to directly input the web page address of the image forming apparatus to the electronic device, so that the font can be easily downloaded from the server to the image forming apparatus. .

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the electronic device may be a portable device.

  With this configuration, the image forming system of the present invention can easily download fonts from the server to the plurality of image forming apparatuses by moving the electronic apparatus to each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus including a font storage unit that stores a font used for printing, and a Web page providing unit that provides a Web page indicating the font stored in the font storage unit. The Web page includes an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction to download the font that is not stored in the font storage unit from a server, and the image forming apparatus receives the instruction by the instruction receiving unit. When the electronic device displaying the Web page is notified that the font is downloaded from the server to the electronic device, the font storage means is downloaded from the server by the electronic device. The photo transmitted from the electronic device. And to store the door.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can download the font from the server via the electronic device according to the instruction input to the electronic device. Can be downloaded.

  The image forming system and the image forming apparatus of the present invention can download fonts from the server to the image forming apparatus even if the image forming apparatus cannot directly communicate with the server.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MFP shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the top screen of the web page shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of the portable apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of the server shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the basic screen displayed on the display part shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP shown in FIG. 2 when displaying a two-dimensional code indicating the URL of the top screen of a Web page. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen containing the two-dimensional code shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the mobile device shown in FIG. 4 when displaying a Web page. It is a figure which shows an example of URL displayed on the display part shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP shown in FIG. 2 when an instruction to start downloading fonts is issued from the mobile device. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the server shown in FIG. 5 when a font download command is issued from the MFP. 4 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP shown in FIG. 2 when data transmitted from a server is received.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming system 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 10 includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 20 as an image forming apparatus, a mobile device 30 such as a smartphone as an electronic device, and a server 40 that provides fonts.

  The MFP 20 and the portable device 30 can communicate with each other via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable 11. The portable device 30 and the server 40 can communicate with each other via a network 12 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet.

  The MFP 20 and the server 40 are not directly communicable without going through the portable device 30.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MFP 20.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the MFP 20 includes an operation unit 21 that is an input device such as buttons for inputting various operations, and a display unit 22 that is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information. And a printer 23 that is a printing device that performs printing on a recording medium such as paper, a scanner 24 that is a reading device that reads an image from a document, an external facsimile apparatus (not shown), and a communication line such as a public telephone line Via a fax communication unit 25 that is a fax device that performs fax communication, a network communication unit 26 that is a communication device that communicates with an external device via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, and the USB cable 11 (see FIG. 1). U is a communication device that communicates with external devices An SB communication unit 27, a semiconductor memory that stores various data, a storage unit 28 that is a nonvolatile storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and a control unit 29 that controls the entire MFP 20 are provided. .

  The storage unit 28 can store a plurality of fonts 28 a used for printing by the printer 23.

  The storage unit 28 stores a font information database 28 b that includes information on the font 28 a stored in the storage unit 28.

  The storage unit 28 stores a web page 28 c indicating the font 28 a stored in the storage unit 28. That is, the web page 28c is a web page for displaying the contents of the font information database 28b.

  The storage unit 28 stores a font management program 28d for managing the font 28a used for printing by the printer 23. The font management program 28d may be installed in the MFP 20 at the manufacturing stage of the MFP 20, or may be additionally installed in the MFP 20 from a storage medium such as an SD card or a USB memory, or additionally installed in the MFP 20 from the network. May be.

  The control unit 29 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing programs and various data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area of the control unit 29 CPU. And. The CPU of the control unit 29 executes a program stored in the ROM of the control unit 29 or the storage unit 28.

  The control unit 29 executes the font management program 28d stored in the storage unit 28, thereby providing the font storage means 29a for storing the font 28a used for printing in the storage unit 28 and the Web page providing the Web page 28c. It functions as a means 29b and an address information display means 29c for displaying a two-dimensional code as address information indicating a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) as an address of the Web page 28c.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the top screen 50 of the Web page 28c.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the top screen 50 includes a font name area 51 and a font support status area 52, and the font name and support status are displayed for each font. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, it is indicated that the font name “Courier” is supported by the MFP 20, that is, stored as the font 28 a in the storage unit 28. Similarly, it is shown that the font with the name “Century” is supported by the MFP 20, that is, stored as the font 28 a in the storage unit 28. On the other hand, it is indicated that the font name “Arial” is not supported by the MFP 20, that is, is not stored as the font 28 a in the storage unit 28.

  The top screen 50 includes a download button 53 as an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction to download a font that is not stored in the storage unit 28 from the server 40. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, a download button 53 is arranged in association with a font having a font name “Arial” that is not supported by the MFP 20. For the fonts supported by the MFP 20, the download button 53 may not be arranged as shown in FIG. 3, or the download button 53 which is grayed out and cannot be operated is arranged. May be.

  The top screen 50 includes a button 54 for closing the web page 28c.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the mobile device 30.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile device 30 includes an operation unit 31 that is an input device such as buttons for inputting various operations, a display unit 32 that is a display device such as an LCD that displays various information, a camera, and the like. 33, a network communication unit 34 that is a communication device that communicates with an external device via the network 12 (see FIG. 1), and a communication device that communicates with an external device via the USB cable 11 (see FIG. 1). A USB communication unit 35, a storage unit 36 that is a non-volatile storage device such as a semiconductor memory storing various data, and a control unit 37 that controls the entire portable device 30.

  The storage unit 36 stores a font confirmation program 36a for confirming the font stored in the MFP 20 (see FIG. 1). The font confirmation program 36 a is a dedicated application for communicating with the MFP 20. The font confirmation program 36a may be installed in the portable device 30 at the manufacturing stage of the portable device 30, or may be additionally installed in the portable device 30 from a storage medium such as an SD card or a USB memory. It may be additionally installed on the mobile device 30 from above.

  The control unit 37 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM that stores various data, and a RAM that is used as a work area of the CPU of the control unit 37. The CPU of the control unit 37 executes a program stored in the ROM of the control unit 37 or the storage unit 36.

  The control unit 37 executes the font confirmation program 36a stored in the storage unit 36, thereby reading the two-dimensional code displayed by the MFP 20 and acquiring the URL, and the Web page 28c (see FIG. 3). .) Is displayed on the Web page display means 37b, the instruction for the download button 53 (see FIG. 3) on the Web page 28c, that is, the instruction input means 37c for inputting a font download instruction, and the font by the download button 53. When the download instruction is received, the font download unit 37d functions to download a font from the server 40 (see FIG. 1) to the MFP 20.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the server 40.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the server 40 includes an operation unit 41 that is an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard to which various operations are input, a display unit 42 that is a display device such as an LCD that displays various types of information, A network communication unit 43 that is a communication device that communicates with an external device via the network 12 (see FIG. 1); a storage unit 44 that is a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD that stores various data; And a control unit 45 that controls the entire server 40.

  The storage unit 44 stores a plurality of fonts 44a that are not stored in the MFP 20 (see FIG. 1).

  The control unit 45 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM that stores various data, and a RAM that is used as a work area for the CPU of the control unit 45. The CPU of the control unit 45 executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 44 of the control unit 45.

  Next, the operation of the image forming system 10 will be described.

  First, the operation of the MFP 20 when displaying a two-dimensional code indicating the URL of the top screen 50 of the Web page 28c indicating the font 28a stored in the storage unit 28 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a basic screen 60 displayed on the display unit 22 of the MFP 20.

  The control unit 29 of the MFP 20 basically displays a screen 60 shown in FIG.

  A screen 60 shown in FIG. 6 displays a button 61 for various settings and a two-dimensional code indicating the URL of the top screen 50 of the Web page 28c indicating the font 28a stored in the storage unit 28. Button 62.

  When the button 62 is pressed via the operation unit 21, the address information display unit 29c of the MFP 20 performs the operation illustrated in FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP 20 when displaying a two-dimensional code indicating the URL of the top screen 50 of the Web page 28 c indicating the font 28 a stored in the storage unit 28.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the address information display means 29c displays a screen 70 including the two-dimensional code 71 shown in FIG. 8 on the display unit 22 (S101).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the screen 70 including the two-dimensional code 71.

  A screen 70 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes a two-dimensional code 71 indicating the URL of the top screen 50 of the Web page 28c indicating the font 28a stored in the storage unit 28, and a button 72 for closing the screen 70. . In FIG. 8, a QR code (registered trademark) is shown as an example of the two-dimensional code 71, but a two-dimensional code other than the QR code may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the address information display unit 29c determines whether or not the button 72 has been pressed until it is determined that the button 72 has been pressed after the processing of S101 (S102).

  If the address information display means 29c determines in S102 that the button 72 has been pressed, it closes the screen 70 and displays the original screen, for example, the screen 60 (S103), and ends the operation shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the mobile device 30 when displaying the Web page 28c indicating the font 28a stored in the storage unit 28 of the MFP 20 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the operation of the mobile device 30 when displaying the Web page 28c indicating the font 28a stored in the storage unit 28 of the MFP 20.

  When the two-dimensional code 71 (see FIG. 8) displayed by the MFP 20 is read by the camera 33, the address acquisition unit 37a of the portable device 30 acquires a URL from the two-dimensional code 71 as shown in FIG. S111).

  Next, the address acquisition unit 37a displays the Web browser on the portable device 30 on the display unit 32 (S112), and then displays the URL acquired in S111 on the Web browser as shown in FIG. 10 (S113).

  The web page display unit 37b of the portable device 30 does not access the URL displayed in S113 until it is determined that the access to the URL displayed in S113 is instructed via the operation unit 31 after the process of S113. It is determined whether or not an instruction has been given via the operation unit 31 (S114).

  When the Web page display unit 37b determines in S114 that access to the displayed URL is instructed via the operation unit 31, the Web screen display unit 37b uses the Web browser on the portable device 30 to display the top screen 50 (FIG. 3) of the Web page 28c on the MFP 20. (Refer to FIG. 5) is displayed (S115). The user can access the font information database 28b on the MFP 20 through the web page 28c displayed by the web browser on the portable device 30.

  Next, the instruction input unit 37c of the portable device 30 determines an instruction input via the operation unit 31 (S116).

  When it is determined in S116 that the font name area 51 of any font has been pressed, the Web page display unit 37b displays information on the font in which the font name area 51 is pressed in the Web page 28c. This page is displayed by the Web browser (S117). Here, the Web page 28c for displaying information on individual fonts includes information on each font, such as a supported symbol set, and a button for closing the current page.

  The Web page display unit 37b determines whether or not this button has been pressed until it is determined that the button for closing the current page of the Web page 28c has been pressed after the processing of S117 (S118).

  When the Web page display unit 37b determines in S118 that the button for closing the current page of the Web page 28c has been pressed, the Web page display unit 37b displays the top screen 50 of the Web page 28c on the MFP 20 by the Web browser on the mobile device 30. (S115).

  When it is determined in S116 that the download button 53 for any font has been pressed, the font download unit 37d of the portable device 30 instructs the MFP 20 to start downloading the font for which the download button 53 has been pressed (S119).

  Next, the font downloading unit 37d determines whether or not the end of downloading of the font has been notified from the MFP 20 (S120).

  If the font download unit 37d determines in S120 that the end of downloading of the font has not been notified from the MFP 20, it determines whether or not a specific time has passed (S121).

  If the font download unit 37d determines in S121 that the specific time has not elapsed, the font download unit 37d executes the process of S120.

  When the Web page display unit 37b determines in S120 that the end of downloading of the font has been notified from the MFP 20 or in S121 that the specific time has passed, the Web page display unit 37b uses the Web browser on the mobile device 30 on the MFP 20 to determine. The top screen 50 of the Web page 28c is displayed (S115).

  If it is determined in S116 that the button 54 for closing the Web page 28c has been pressed, the Web page display unit 37b closes the Web page 28c on the MFP 20 displayed by the Web browser on the mobile device 30 (S122). ), The operation shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the MFP 20 when an instruction to start downloading fonts is given from the mobile device 30.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP 20 when an instruction to start downloading fonts is given from the mobile device 30.

  When the start of downloading of the font is instructed from the portable device 30 in S119, the control unit 29 of the MFP 20 issues a command for downloading the font instructed to start the download from the portable device 30 as shown in FIG. 30 to the server 40 (S131), and the operation shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the server 40 when a font download command is issued from the MFP 20 will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the operation of the server 40 when a font download command is issued from the MFP 20.

  When the font download is instructed from the MFP 20 in S131, the control unit 45 of the server 40, as shown in FIG. 12, among the fonts 44a stored in the storage unit 44, the font instructed to be downloaded from the MFP 20. It is determined whether or not there exists (S141).

  If the control unit 45 determines in S141 that there is no font that has been instructed to be downloaded from the MFP 20 in the font 44a stored in the storage unit 44, the control unit 45 generates error data indicating the occurrence of an error (S142). .

  If the control unit 45 determines in S141 that the fonts 44a stored in the storage unit 44 are instructed to be downloaded from the MFP 20, in step S141, the control unit 45 downloads the fonts 44a instructed to be downloaded from the MFP 20. Data is generated (S143).

  After the processing of S142 or S143, the control unit 45 transmits the data generated in S142 or S143 to the MFP 20 via the portable device 30 (S144), and ends the operation shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the MFP 20 when receiving data transmitted from the server 40 will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP 20 when data transmitted from the server 40 is received.

  Upon receiving the data transmitted from the server 40 in S143, the control unit 29 of the MFP 20 determines whether the data received from the server 40 is download data as shown in FIG. 13 (S151).

  When it is determined in S151 that the data received from the server 40 is download data, the font storage unit 29a of the MFP 20 adds the font included in the download data received from the server 40 to the storage unit 28 as a new font 28a. This is started (S152).

  Next, the font storage unit 29a determines whether or not the addition of the font included in the download data received from the server 40 as the new font 28a to the storage unit 28 has been appropriately completed (S153).

  When the font storage unit 29a determines in S153 that the addition of the font included in the download data received from the server 40 to the storage unit 28 as the new font 28a has been properly completed, the font storage unit 29a includes the download data received from the server 40. The font information database 28b is updated based on the information (S154).

  Next, the Web page providing unit 29b of the MFP 20 updates the Web page 28c based on the font information database 28b updated in S154 (S155).

  Next, the control unit 29 of the MFP 20 notifies the portable device 30 of the end of the font download (S156), and ends the operation shown in FIG.

  The control unit 29 determines in S151 that the data received from the server 40 is not download data, that is, error data, or stores the font included in the download data received from the server 40 as a new font 28a. If it is determined in S153 that the addition to 28 has not been properly completed, the occurrence of an error is displayed on the display unit 22 (S157), and the operation shown in FIG. 13 is terminated.

  As described above, the image forming system 10 can download the font 28 a from the server 40 to the MFP 20 via the portable device 30 in accordance with an instruction input to the portable device 30 (pressing the download button in S 116). Therefore, even if the MFP 20 cannot directly communicate with the server 40, the font 28a can be downloaded from the server 40 to the MFP 20.

  In the image forming system 10, the MFP 20 may be able to directly communicate with the server 40. When the MFP 20 can directly communicate with the server 40, the MFP 20 may download the font 28 a from the server 40 without using the portable device 30.

  In the image forming system 10, in this embodiment, the MFP 20 and the portable device 30 are connected to each other via a USB cable so as to communicate with each other. However, the MFP 20 and the portable device 30 may be connected so as to communicate with each other by a mechanism other than the USB cable. For example, the MFP 20 and the portable device 30 may be connected so as to be able to communicate with each other by wireless communication such as Wi-Fi, or may be connected to be able to communicate with each other via a network such as a LAN.

  In the present embodiment, the image forming system 10 is configured to download the fonts corresponding to the download button 53 on the top screen 50 of the web page 28c one by one from the server 40 to the MFP 20, but the top screen of the web page 28c. After selecting a plurality of fonts corresponding to the 50 download buttons 53, the plurality of fonts may be downloaded from the server 40 to the MFP 20 at a time.

  When the image forming system 10 includes a plurality of MFPs 20, the font 28 a stored in the MFP 20 can be determined for each MFP 20. Therefore, for example, when royalty is paid to the seller of the font 28a according to the number of fonts 28a stored in the MFP 20, the amount of royalty can be suppressed.

  Since the image forming system 10 displays the Web page 28c based on the URL read by the portable device 30 from the display on the display unit 22 of the MFP 20 (S111 to S115), the URL of the Web page 28c of the MFP 20 is displayed on the portable device 30. There is no need for the user to input directly. Therefore, the image forming system 10 can easily download the font 28 a from the server 40 to the MFP 20.

  Note that the image forming system 10 may use a method other than the two-dimensional code as the address information indicating the URL of the Web page 28c. For example, the address information indicating the URL of the Web page 28c may be displayed as a one-dimensional code, or may be displayed as a URL character string itself. When the address information indicating the URL of the Web page 28c is the URL character string itself, the image forming system 10 uses the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technique for the URL character string displayed by the display unit 22 of the MFP 20. The mobile device 30 may acquire the information.

  In the image forming system 10, since the electronic device of the present invention is a portable device, the font can be easily downloaded from the server 40 to the plurality of MFPs by moving the portable device to each of the plurality of MFPs. it can.

  Since the image forming system 10 can check the information of the font 28a stored in the MFP 20 on the screen of the display unit 32 of the portable device 30 without printing by the MFP 20, the consumption of the recording medium can be suppressed.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an MFP in the present embodiment, but may be an image forming apparatus other than the MFP. For example, the image forming apparatus of the present invention may be a printer dedicated machine.

  The electronic device of the present invention is a portable device in the present embodiment, but may be an electronic device other than the portable device. For example, the electronic device of the present invention may be a PC (Personal Computer).

10 image forming system 20 MFP (image forming apparatus)
28a Font 28c Web page 29a Font storage means 29b Web page providing means 29c Address information display means 30 Portable device (electronic device)
37a Address acquisition means 37b Web page display means 37c Instruction input means 37d Font download means 40 Server 44a Font 53 Download button (instruction reception part)

Claims (4)

Font storage means for storing fonts used for printing;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a Web page providing unit that provides a Web page indicating the font stored in the font storage unit;
An electronic device comprising web page display means for displaying the web page,
The Web page includes an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction to download the font that is not stored by the font storage unit from a server;
The electronic device is
An instruction input means for inputting an instruction to the instruction receiving unit;
A font download unit that downloads the font from the server to the image forming apparatus when an instruction to the instruction receiving unit is input by the instruction input unit;
The font storage unit stores the font downloaded by the font download unit and transmitted from the electronic device to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes address information display means for displaying address information indicating an address of the Web page,
The electronic device includes an address acquisition unit that acquires the address by reading the address information displayed by the image forming apparatus,
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the web page display unit displays the web page based on the address acquired by the address acquisition unit.   The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a portable device. Font storage means for storing fonts used for printing;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a web page providing unit that provides a web page indicating the font stored in the font storage unit;
The Web page includes an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction to download the font that is not stored by the font storage unit from a server;
The image forming apparatus downloads the font from the server to the electronic device when the electronic device displaying the Web page is notified that the instruction is received by the instruction receiving unit.
The image forming apparatus, wherein the font storage unit stores the font downloaded from the server and transmitted from the electronic device by the electronic device.

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