Printing device and printing system for controlling authentication print jobs

• US 8,456,670 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2009
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oki Data Corporation (OKI Electric Industry Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Oki Data Corporation (OKI Electric Industry Company Limited)
• Inventors: Kusakabe, Yoshiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): KAU, STEVEN Y
• Application Number:
  US12/379,209
• Publication Number:
  US 20090213423A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,568 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/608 Secure printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1222 Increasing security of the print job
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1238 Secure printing, e.g. user identification, user rights for device usage, unallowed content, blanking portions or fields of a page, releasing held jobs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1274 Deleting of print job
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1285 Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1296 Printer job scheduling or printer resource handling

Abstract

A printing device includes a processor, an attribute managing part configured to be activated by the processor to communicate with a host device and to control an authentication printing job received from the host device, a memory configured to store authentication printing job data and user information extracted from the authentication printing job data, and a deleting part configured to delete the authentication printing job data and the user information stored in the memory based on predetermined results of communication between the attribute managing part and the host device. As a result, the user is not required to consider whether the time for which the authentication printing data is stored should be extended.

Claims

1. A printing device for receiving authentication printing data transmitted by a host device through a communication network and printing an image based on the authentication printing data on a recording medium, comprising:

a receiving part configured to receive the authentication printing data and user information from the host device;

a memory part configured to store the authentication printing data an the user information;

a device specifying part configured to specify a position on the communication network of the host device by using the user information that was received at the receiving part;

a condition monitoring part configured to monitor a device condition of the host device, which is a transmission source of the authentication printing data, specified by the device specifying part;

an authentication information inputting part configured to accept an input of authentication information by the user;

a judging part configured to judge whether or not the authentication printing data and the user information need to be deleted based on a monitoring result of the condition monitoring part, and to judge whether or not to approve printing of the image based on the authentication printing data by collating the authentication information that was received by the authentication information inputting part and the user information attached to the authentication printing data;

a deleting part configured to delete, based on a judgment of the judging part, the authentication printing data and the user information stored in the memory part; and

a printing part configured to print the image on the recording medium based on the authentication printing data and based on the judgment of the judging part.

2. The printing device of claim 1 wherein,

the user information comprises network address information of the host device,

3. The printing device of claim 1, wherein

the condition monitoring part monitors power on/off conditions of the host device.

4. The printing device of claim 1, wherein

the condition monitoring part monitors login and logoff conditions of the user, which corresponds to the user information stored in the memory part, of the host device.

5. The printing device of claim 4, wherein

when the user logs out of the host device after the host device transmits the authentication printing data and the user information and when the user logs in the host device again, the judging part notifies the user that the authentication printing data and the user information have been deleted by the deleting part.

6. The printing device of claim 1, wherein

the deleting part includes a delayed deleting part configured to delete the authentication printing data and the user information after the predetermined period of time has elapsed from when the condition monitoring part identifies a defect at the host device.

7. A printing system comprising;

an information processing device including,

a document creating part configured to accept creation of a document by a user, and

a controlling part configured to convert the document created at the document creating part into authentication printing data and to transmit the authentication printing data and user information over a communication network; and

a printing device including,

a receiving part configured to receive the authentication printing data and user information from the information processing device,

a memory part configured to store the authentication printing data and the user information,

a device specifying part configured to specify a position on the communication network of the information processing device by using the user information that was received at the receiving part,

a condition monitoring part configured to monitor a device condition of the information processing device, which transmits the user information to the printing device, specified by the device specifying part,

an authentication information inputting part configured to accept an input of the authentication information by the user,

a judging part configured to judge whether or not the authentication printing data and the user information need to be deleted based on a monitoring result of the condition monitoring part, and to judge whether or not to approve printing of the image based on the authentication printing data by collating the authentication information that was received by the authentication information inputting part and the user information attached to the authentication printing data,

a deleting part configured to delete, based on a judgment of the judging part, the authentication printing data and the user information stored in the memory part, and

a printing part configured to print the image on the recording medium based on the authentication printing data and based on the judgment of the judging part.

8. The printing system of claim 7, wherein

the controlling part transmits the authentication printing data in which the user information of the information processing device is attached to the printing device as a printing job.

9. The printing system of claim 7, wherein

the user information comprises network address information of the information processing device.

10. The printing system of claim 7, wherein

the condition monitoring part monitors power on/off conditions of the information processing device.

11. The printing system of claim 7, wherein

the condition monitoring part monitors login and logoff conditions of the user, which corresponds to the user information stored in a memory, of the information processing device.

12. The printing system of claim 7, wherein

the deleting part includes a delayed deleting part configured to delete the authentication printing information and the user information after the predetermined period of time has elapsed. from when the condition monitoring part identifies a defect at the information processing device.

13. A printing device, comprising:

a processor;

an attribute managing part configured to be activated by the processor to communicate with a host device, to determine a state of the host device, and to control authentication printing data received from the host device, which is a transmission source of the authentication printing data;

a memory configured to store the authentication printing data and user information extracted from the authentication printing data; and

a deleting part configured to delete, based on the state of the host device determined by the attribute managing part, the authentication printing data and the user information stored in the memory.

14. The printing device of claim 13, wherein

the attribute managing part is further configured to transmit a ping command to the host device and to determine whether the host device sends a response to the ping command, and

the deleting part is configured to delete the authentication printing data and the user information stored in the memory if the host device fails to send the response to the ping command.

15. The printing device of claim 13, wherein

the deleting part is further configured to delete the authentication printing data and the user information based on user login and logout information transmitted periodically from the host device, the user corresponding to the user information stored in the memory.

16. A method of controlling, in a printing device, authentication printing data received from a host device, which is a transmission source of the authentication printing data, comprising:

receiving and storing, in the printing device, the authentication printing data and user information contained in the authentication printing data;

determining, in the printing device, a status of the host device subsequent to receiving the authentication printing data and the user information; and

deleting, in the printing device, the authentication printing data and the user information received from the host device based on a result of the determining of a status of the host device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein

the deleting of the authentication printing data and the user information is based on non-responsiveness of the host device to a ping command.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein

the deleting of the authentication printing data and the user information is based on a login/logout status of a user, which corresponds to the user information stored in the printing device, at the host device.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein

an inquiry of the state of the host device is delivered from the printing device to the host.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein

the state of the host device indicates an operational condition.