Image forming apparatus, server device, information processing method, and computer-readable storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9626137-B2
Application number	US-201414287989-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2014
Priority date	May 29, 2013
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes first and second token request transmission units, first and second token reception units, a storage unit, and a device resource request transmission unit. The first token request transmission unit transmits a first token acquisition request containing device credential information. The first token reception unit receives a first token corresponding to the device credential information. The storage unit stores the received first token. The second token transmission unit acquires the stored first token and sends a second token acquisition request containing the acquired first token and identification information for identifying a management unit that manages a device resource. The second token reception unit receives a second token corresponding to the identification information. The device resource request transmission unit transmits a request for a process related to a device resource, the request containing the received second token.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the least one processor, cause the information processing apparatus to execute:
a management unit that manages a device resource,
a first token request transmission unit configured to transmit, to a server device, a first token acquisition request containing device credential information,
a first token reception unit configured to receive, from the server device, a first token corresponding to the device credential information,
a storage unit configured to store the first token received by the first token reception unit,
a second token request transmission unit configured to acquire the first token stored in the storage unit and transmit, to the server device, a second token acquisition request containing a valid first token and identification information for identifying the management unit that manages the device resource, wherein, in a case where the first token stored in the storage unit is not valid, the second token request transmission unit transmits, before transmitting the second token acquisition request, a third token acquisition request and, in response, receives a third token that is used for refreshing the first token, and then acquires the refreshed first token and restores the not valid first token with the acquired refreshed first token as the valid first token in the storage unit,
a second token reception unit configured to receive, from the server device, a second token corresponding to the identification information; and
a device resource request transmission unit configured to transmit, to a resource server, a request for a process related to the device resource, wherein the request contains the second token received by the second token reception unit,
wherein, in response to determining that an expiration date of the first token stored in the storage unit is reached between performance of sequencing process to acquire the first token and performance of the sequencing process to acquire the second token, it is determined that the first token stored in the storage unit is not valid.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an acquisition unit configured to acquire the third token, wherein the third token corresponds to privilege information regarding a user who logs in onto the image forming apparatus;
a fourth token request transmission unit configured to transmit, to the server device, a fourth token acquisition request containing the third token acquired by the acquisition unit, the device credential information, the identification information for identifying the management unit, and access scope information corresponding to the privilege information regarding the user;
a fourth token reception unit configured to receive, from the server device, a fourth token corresponding to the identification information; and
an access control request transmission unit configured to transmit, to the server device, an access control process request for a device resource on the server device, wherein the access control process request contains the fourth token received by the fourth token reception unit.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the fourth token request transmission unit changes the access scope information contained in the fourth token acquisition request in accordance with the privilege information regarding the user.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second token received by the second token reception unit is not a refresh token of the second token.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein information regarding a user of the image forming apparatus who is allowed to manage and edit the electronic document is deleted from the resource server.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the device resource is an electronic document stored in the resource server,
wherein the process related to the electronic document is a process that allows a user to manage and edit the electronic document, and
wherein, even though information regarding a user who is allowed to manage and edit the electronic document is deleted from the resource server, the utilization of the valid first token, the identification information for identifying the management unit that manages the device resource, and the second token allows the user to manage and edit the electronic document.

7. An information processing method for use in an image forming apparatus having a management unit that manages a device resource, the information processing method comprising:
transmitting, to a server device, a first token acquisition request containing device credential information;
receiving from the server device, a first token corresponding to the device credential information;
storing the received first token in a storage unit;
acquiring the first token stored in the storage unit and transmitting, to the server device, a second token acquisition request containing a valid first token and identification information for identifying the management unit that manages the device resource, wherein, in a case where the first token stored in the storage unit is not valid, transmitting includes transmitting, before transmitting the second token acquisition request, a third token acquisition request and, in response, receives a third token that is used for refreshing the first token, and then acquires the refreshed first token and restores the not valid first token with the acquired refreshed first token as the valid first token in the storage unit;
receiving, from the server device, a second token corresponding to the identification information; and
transmitting, to a resource server, a request for a process related to the device resource, wherein the request contains the received second token,
wherein, in response to determining via at least one processor that an expiration date of the first token stored in the storage unit is reached between performance of sequencing process to acquire the first token and performance of the sequencing process to acquire the second token, it is determined that the first token stored in the storage unit is not valid.

8. The information processing method according to claim 7 , further comprising:
acquiring the third token, wherein the third token corresponds to privilege information regarding a user who logs in onto the image forming apparatus;
transmitting, to the server device, a fourth token acquisition request containing the acquired third token, the device credential information, the identification information for identifying the management unit, and access scope information corresponding to the privilege information regarding the user;
receiving, from the server device, a fourth token corresponding to the identification information; and
transmitting, to the server device, an access control process request for a device resource on the server device, wherein the access control process request contains the received fourth token.

9. The information processing method according to claim 8 , wherein transmitting the fourth token acquisition request includes changing the access scope information contained in the fourth token acquisition request in accordance with the privilege information regarding the user.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to cause an image forming apparatus to perform an information processing method, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a management unit that manages a device resource, the information processing method comprising:
transmitting, to a s

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Mihara Makoto

Classifications

• G06F3/1222

  Increasing security of the print job · CPC title

• G06F3/1238 Primary

  Secure printing, e.g. user identification, user rights for device usage, unallowed content, blanking portions or fields of a page, releasing held jobs · CPC title

• G06F3/1288

  in client-server-printer device configuration · CPC title