System and method of managing shared printer with rfid

Abstract

A system and method of managing a shared printer with radio frequency identification (RFID) includes at least one RFID chip containing information about task permission for users, an RFID transceiver unit to periodically retrieve information about the RFID chip, a controller to determine whether to output a document based on task permission held by a user associated with the RFID chip retrieved by the RFID transceiver unit, and a printing unit to form images on a printing medium in response to a control signal from the controller. It is possible to allow, for example, printing and facsimile transmission by giving specific permission to each user and allows a manager to inspect a use specification by the RFID transceiver unit. The RFID transceiver unit is included in a printer and periodically retrieves information about an RFID chip and determines whether a document is to be output based on task permission held by a user associated with the retrieved RFID chip.

1 . An image forming apparatus to print documents based on a task permission level of a user obtained through radio frequency identification (RFID) information, the image forming apparatus comprising:
 at least one RFID chip to transmit information associated with the user;   an RFID transceiver to retrieve and receive the information transmitted from the at least one RFID chip; and   a controller to determine whether to print a document based on the task permission level held by a user associated with the at least one RFID chip received by the RFID transceiver unit;   a printing unit to print the document based on a control signal generated in accordance with the determination made by the controller, and   a memory unit to store log information and information in connection with the document.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the information comprises at least one of a printing count value, a user ID, and a manager permission level. 
     
     
         3 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein RFID transceiver periodically retrieves the information from the at least one RFID chip. 
     
     
         4 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller determines whether to control the image forming apparatus to print a document based on the received information from the at least one RFID chip. 
     
     
         5 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the image forming apparatus is connected with a server via a network. 
     
     
         6 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the server comprises an authenticating unit to determine if the received information transmitted from the RFID chips includes a user ID that corresponds to a new ID or a pre-stored ID. 
     
     
         7 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the controller comprises an authenticating unit to determine whether the received information transmitted from the at least one RFID chip includes a user ID that corresponds to a new ID or a pre-stored ID. 
     
     
         8 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein when the authenticating unit determines that the at least one RFID chip has the new ID, the information of the RFID chip having the new ID is stored in a memory unit. 
     
     
         9 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein when the authenticating unit determines that the at least one RFID chip has the pre-stored ID, the controller controls a memory unit to reduce an ID-specific printing count value for the pre-stored ID upon completion of the printing task. 
     
     
         10 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein when the controller retrieves a plurality of printing tasks, the controller assigns priority to the printing tasks in order of task permission levels of a plurality of RFID chips corresponding to each of the plurality of printing tasks. 
     
     
         11 . A method of controlling an image forming apparatus to print documents based on a task permission level of a user obtained through radio frequency identification (RFID) information, the method comprising:
 periodically retrieving and receiving information of at least one RFID chip with an RFID transceiver unit;   determining whether to print a document based on a task permission level held by a user associated with the RFID chip information retrieved by the RFID transceiver unit with a controller; and   printing the document in response to a control signal generated in accordance with the determination made by the controller.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising storing log information including a user ID-specific printing count value in a memory after a printing task is completed. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising authenticating a user ID after the periodic retrieval of the RFID chip information,
 wherein the authenticating of the user ID comprises determining if the user ID retrieved by the RFID transceiver unit is a pre-stored ID or a new ID.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , further comprising:
 reducing the user ID-specific printing count value by a number of sheets printed and storing the reduced user ID-specific printing count value in the memory unit after the printing task is completed when the user ID retrieved by the RFID transceiver unit is the pre-stored ID; and   storing information including a task permission level and the user ID-specific printing count value for the user ID stored in the memory unit when the user ID retrieved by the RFID transceiver unit is the new ID.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising, when the user ID retrieved by the RFID transceiver unit has a manager permission level, displaying, with a display unit, user ID-specific task log information stored in the memory unit and an indication as to whether the user ID is authenticated. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising storing log information including the user ID-specific printing count value in the at least one RFID chip through the RFID transceiver unit where the RFID chip is readable from and recordable thereto. 
     
     
         17 . A method of controlling a shared printer with RFID, the method comprising:
 determining whether a plurality of RFID chips are detected;   setting a task permission level to a highest permission level when the plurality of RFID chips are detected;   performing a checking operation including checking whether any of the detected RFID chips have the task permission level that is the same as the set task permission level, and if there are RFID chips that have the task permission level that is the same as the set task permission level, printing a document related to each of the RFID chips having the task permission level that is the same as the set task permission level, otherwise re-setting the task permission level to a lower level by a predetermined value.