Image forming device capable of acquiring data from web server

• US 20030164987A1
• Filed: 02/21/2003
• Published: 09/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Kondo, Yoshiyuki, Kokubo, Masatoshi, Aoki, Kazuma, Enomoto, Katsunori
• Granted Patent: US 7,639,379 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/400
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00212 Attaching image data to computer messages, e.g. to e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00925 Inhibiting an operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0048 Type of connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0082 Image hardcopy reproducer H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0086 Image transceiver H04N2201/0093 and H04N2201/0094 take precedence

Abstract

A facsimile device downloads data from a web server if a URL of the web server is not listed in an access prohibited database. If it is determined that the downloaded data is of the type for which image formation is prohibited, then a printing function is set to OFF. If the printing function is ON, then a display unit displays an outline of the downloaded data, enabling a user to determine whether or not the downloaded data should be printing out. If the user input a print instruction, then the downloaded data is printed out. On the other hand, if the user input a cancel instruction, then the downloaded data is not printed out.

Claims

1. An image forming device comprising:

an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium;

a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network;

a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from a web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit;

a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data acquired by the data acquiring unit;

an identifying unit that identifies a type of the web data; and

a determining unit that determines whether or not to form images based on the web data based on the type of the web data, wherein

the control unit prohibits the image forming unit from forming images based on the web data when the determining unit determines that images should not be formed based on the web data.

2. The image forming device according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit includes:

a first memory that stores server data indicating web servers that provides web data based on which images should not be formed; and

a server identifying unit that identifies a type of web data that a web server provides, based on the server data, prior to the data acquiring unit acquiring the web data.

3. The image forming device according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit includes:

a second memory that stores keywords;

a searching unit that searches the web data for the keywords; and

a type identifying unit that identifies a type of the web data based on the search results of the searching unit.

4. The image forming device according to claim 3, further comprising a harmful data notifying unit, wherein the keywords stored in the second memory includes keywords for identifying harmful data, and the harmful data notifying unit determines whether or not the web server is providing harmful web data based on search results of the searching unit and notifies an external party of the determination results when determines that the web server is providing the harmful web data.

5. The image forming device according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit includes:

a third memory that stores history data indicating web data based on which the image forming unit has formed images; and

a data identifying unit that identifies, based on the history data, whether or not the web data is of a type based on which images have been formed previously.

6. The image forming device according to claim 1, wherein:

the determining unit includes an authorization notifying unit that determines, based on the type of the web data, whether or not the web data is of a type that requires user authorization, and that notifies a user of the determination results when the web data is determined to be of the type that requires the user authorization; and

the determining unit checks the user'"'"'s authorization based on authorization data that the user inputs via external operations within a predetermined period of time after the authorization notifying unit has notified the use of the determination result, and determines that images based on the web data should not be formed when authorization fails.

7. The image forming device according to claim 1, wherein the data acquiring unit includes a fourth memory that stores addresses of web servers and a periodic acquiring unit that acquires web data from web servers corresponding to the addresses stored in the fourth memory at prescribed intervals.

8. The image forming device according to claim 7, wherein the periodic acquiring unit acquires web data from a web server every time a notification is obtained from an external source indicating that web data on the web server corresponding to the addresses stored in the fourth memory has been updated.

9. The image forming device according to claim 7, wherein the determining unit determines that images based on the web data should not be formed, regardless of the type of the web data, during an output prohibit period between when a user inputs a prohibit instruction and when the user inputs a release instruction.

10. The image forming device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit stores web data that the data acquiring unit acquired during the output prohibit period into a fifth memory.

11. The image forming device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stores web data, based on which the control unit prohibits the image forming unit from forming images, into a fifth memory.

12. The image forming device according to claim 1, further comprising a transferring unit, wherein the communicating unit performs bi-directional communications with a LAN terminal provided on a local area network, and the transferring unit transfers the web data to the LAN terminal via the communicating unit.

13. The image forming device according to claim 12, wherein:

the identifying unit determines whether or not the web data is a conforming-type data that is of a type conforming to an image forming capacity of the image forming unit;

the determining unit determines that images based on the web data should not be formed when the identifying unit determines that the web data is not the conforming-type data; and

when the identifying unit determines that web data is not the conforming-type data and the determining unit determines that images based on the web data should not be printed, the control unit controls the transferring unit to transfer the web data determined not the conforming-type data to the LAN terminal having an image forming function.

14. The image forming device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit that displays an outline of the web data when the determining unit determines that images based on the web data should be formed, enabling a user to input an instruction on whether or not images should be formed based on the web data; and

a user authorization unit that determines whether or not images based on the web data should be formed according to the instruction from the user;

wherein the control unit prohibits the image forming unit from forming images based on the web data when the user authorization determining unit determines that image based on the web data should not be formed.

15. The image forming device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a sixth memory that stores a plurality of addresses;

a storing unit that stores memo data in association with corresponding addresses into the sixth memory,

a display unit that displays a list of the memo data; and

a selecting unit that enables a user to select one of the memo data from the displayed list, wherein

the control unit controls the data acquiring unit to acquire web data from a web server corresponding to the address stored in association with the memo data that the user has selected through the selecting unit.

16. An image forming device comprising:

an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium;

a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network;

a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from the web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit;

a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data acquired by the data acquiring unit;

a display unit that displays an outline of the web data, enabling a user to input an instruction while examining the displayed outline; and

a user authorization determining unit that determines whether or not images based on the web data should be formed according to the instruction from the user, wherein

the control unit prohibits the image forming unit from forming images based on the web data when the user authorization determining unit determines that images based on the web data should not be formed.

17. An image forming device comprising:

an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium;

a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network;

a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from the web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit;

a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data;

a memory that stores a plurality of addresses;

a storing unit that stores memo data inputted externally in association with corresponding addresses into the memory;

a display unit that displays a list of the memo data; and

a selection unit that enables a user to select one of the memo data from the displayed list, wherein

the control unit controls the data acquiring unit to acquire web data from a web server corresponding to the address stored in association with the memo data that the user has selected.

18. A control program of controlling an image forming device, the image forming device including an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium, a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network, a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from the web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data acquired by the data acquiring unit, the program comprising the programs of:

a) acquiring web data from a web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit;

b) identifying a type of the web data;

c) determining whether or not to form images based on the web data according to the type of the web data; and

d) prohibiting the image forming unit to form images based on the web data when it is determined in the program c) that images should not be formed based on the web data.

19. A control method of controlling an image forming device, the image forming device including an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium, a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network, a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from the web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data acquired by the data acquiring unit, the control method comprising the steps of:

a) acquiring web data from a web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit;

b) identifying a type of the web data;

c) determining whether to form images based on the web data according to the type of the web data; and

d) prohibiting the image forming unit to form images based on the web data when it is determined in the step c) that images should not be formed based on the web data.

20. A control method of controlling an image forming device, the image forming device including an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium, a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network, a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from the web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data acquired by the data acquiring unit, the control method comprising the steps of:

a) acquiring web data from a web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit;

b) displaying an outline of the web data, enabling a user to input an instruction while examining the displayed outline;

c) determining whether or not images based on the web data should be formed according to the instruction from the user; and

d) prohibiting the image forming unit to form images based on the web data when it is determined in the step c) that images based on the web data should not be formed.

21. A control method of controlling an image forming device, the image forming device including an image forming unit that forms images on a recording medium, a communicating unit that performs bi-directional communications with a web server provided on a wide area network, a data acquiring unit that acquires web data from the web server corresponding to a specified address via the communicating unit, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form images based on the web data acquired by the data acquiring unit, the control method comprising the steps of:

a) displaying a list of memo data stored in a memory in association with corresponding addresses, enabling a user to select one of the memo data from the displayed list; and

b) acquiring data on a web server corresponding to the address stored in association with the memo data that the user has selected, via the communicating unit.