READING DEVICE AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20100185750A1
• Filed: 01/19/2010
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: NAKAYAMA, Hiroto
• Granted Patent: US 8,805,961 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00464 using browsers, i.e. interfaces based on mark-up languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A reading device, comprising: a reading unit configured to read a document and to generate image data representing the read document; an uploading unit configured to upload the image data read by the reading unit to an server on a network; a storage time limit setting unit configured to set a storage time limit within which the image data is stored on the server; a judgment unit configured to judge whether the storage time limit has expired with respect to the image data uploaded on the server; and a data management unit configured to delete, from the server, the image data for which the judgment unit judges that the storage time limit has expired.

Claims

1. A reading device, comprising:

a reading unit configured to read a document and to generate image data representing the read document;

an uploading unit configured to upload the image data read by the reading unit to an server on a network;

a storage time limit setting unit configured to set a storage time limit within which the image data is stored on the server;

a judgment unit configured to judge whether the storage time limit has expired with respect to the image data uploaded on the server; and

a data management unit configured to delete, from the server, the image data for which the judgment unit judges that the storage time limit has expired.

2. The reading device according to claim 1,

further comprising:

a download data storing unit configured to store the image data downloaded from the server;

a re-upload unit configured to re-upload, to the server, the image data designated from data stored in the download data storing unit by a user command externally inputted by a user; and

a storage time limit re-setting unit configured to set again a storage time limit within which the image data is stored on the server for the image data to be re-uploaded by the re-upload unit,

wherein the data management unit is configured to download, from the server, the image data for which the judgment unit judges that the storage time limit has expired, and to store the downloaded image data in the download data storing unit,

wherein the judgment unit is configured to judge whether the storage time limit set by the storage time setting unit has expired with respect to the image data uploaded to the server by the uploading unit, and to judge whether the storage time limit set by the storage time re-setting unit has expired with respect to the image data uploaded to the server by the re-upload unit.

3. The reading device according to claim 2,

further comprising a data deletion unit configured to delete the image data from the download data storing unit after a predetermined time has elapsed from a time when the image data is stored in the download data storing unit.

4. The reading device according to claim 3,

further comprising a saving time storing unit configured to store a predetermined saving time within which the image data is stored in the download data storing unit, the predetermined saving time being defined for each of a plurality of types of image data,

wherein the data deletion unit is configured to:

judge a type of the image data stored in the download data storing unit; and

delete the image data from the download data storing unit after the predetermined saving time corresponding to the type of the image data to be deleted has elapsed from a time when the image data is stored in the download data storing unit.

5. The reading device according to claim 1,

further comprising:

a notification target setting unit configured to set a notification target to which a notification indicating deletion of the image data from the server is sent, with respect to the image data to be uploaded by the upload unit; and

a notifying unit configured, when the image data for which the notification target has been set is deleted from the server by the data management unit, to send the notification to the notification target set for the image data deleted from the server.

6. The reading device according to claim 2,

further comprising:

a notification target setting unit configured to set a notification target to which a notification indicating deletion of the image data from the server is sent, with respect to the image data to be uploaded by the upload unit; and

a notifying unit configured, when the image data for which the notification target has been set is deleted from the server by the data management unit, to send the notification to the notification target set for the image data deleted from the server,

wherein the re-upload unit is configured to re-upload, to the server, the image data designated from data stored in the download data storing unit in accordance with the user command received from the notification target.

7. The reading device according to claim 6, wherein the storage time limit re-setting unit is configured to set the storage time limit in accordance with a user command received from the notification target.

8. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein the storage time limit setting unit is configured to set the storage time limit in accordance with a user command inputted externally from a user.

9. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit is configured to read the document and generate the image data in accordance with a user command inputted externally by a user.

10. A communication system, comprising:

a server; and

a reading device according to claim 1,

wherein the server and the reading device are connected to each other via a network.