Image forming apparatus for managing substantially simultaneous image processing requests

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of control terminals that are operated by different users;
• circuitry configured to
• authenticate the plurality of control terminals in an order that an authentication request is received from the control terminals;
• send an operational screen to each one of the plurality of control terminals that have been successfully authenticated for display at each control terminal, the operational screen being configured to accept a process request for requesting the image forming apparatus to execute an image forming process:
• receive a plurality of process requests from the plurality of control terminals that have been authenticated in an order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals;
• and
• control an image forming device to execute a plurality of image forming processes according to the plurality of process requests in the order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals;
• and
• the image forming device including reading circuitry to execute a scan process, and printing circuitry to execute a print process, the reading circuitry and the printing circuitry being configured to operate independently from each other,
• wherein when a process request for executing a copy process, which is a combination of a copy scan process and a copy print process, and a process request for executing a scan process are received at substantially a same time, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the reading circuitry is executing a current scan process, and based on a determination that the reading circuitry is executing the current scan process, the circuitry is further configured to control the reading circuitry to execute the copy scan process in the copy process, after completion of executing the current scan process.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of control terminals that are operated by different users;
• circuitry configured to
• authenticate the plurality of control terminals in an order that an authentication request is received from the control terminals;
• send an operational screen to each one of the plurality of control terminals that have been successfully authenticated for display at each control terminal, the operational screen being configured to accept a process request for requesting the image forming apparatus to execute an image forming process;
• receive a plurality of process requests from the plurality of control terminals that have been authenticated in an order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals;
• and
• control an image forming device to execute a plurality of image forming processes according to the plurality of process requests in the order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals;
• and
• the image forming device including reading circuitry to execute a scan process, and printing circuitry to execute a print process, the reading circuitry and the printing circuitry being configured to operate independently from each other,
• wherein when the process request for executing a copy process, which is a combination of a copy scan process and a copy print process, and a process request for executing a print process are received at substantially a same time, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the printing circuitry is executing a current print process, and based on a determination that the printing circuitry is executing the current print process, the circuitry is further configured to control the reading circuitry to execute the copy scan process in the copy process, and control the printing circuitry to execute the copy print process in the copy process, after completion of executing the copy scan process in the copy process.

An image forming method, comprising:

• authenticating a plurality of control terminals that are operated by different users, in an order that an authentication request is received from the control terminals;
• sending an operational screen to each one of the plurality of control terminals that have been successfully authenticated for display at each control terminal, the operational screen being configured to accept a process request for requesting an image forming apparatus to execute an image forming process;
• receiving a plurality of process requests from the plurality of control terminals that have been authenticated in an order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals:
• and
• controlling an image forming device to execute a plurality of image forming processes according to the plurality of process requests in the order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals, wherein
• the image forming device includes reading circuitry to execute a scan process, and printing circuitry to execute a print process, the reading circuitry and the printing circuitry being configured to operate independently from each other, and
• when a process request for executing the print process and a process request for executing the scan process are received at substantially a same time, the controlling step includes controlling the reading circuitry to execute the scan process, and controlling the printing circuitry to execute the print process, concurrently.

A non-transitory recording medium which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform an image forming method comprising:

• authenticating a plurality of control terminals that are operated by different users, in an order that an authentication request is received from the control terminals;
• sending an operational screen to each one of the plurality of control terminals that have been successfully authenticated for display at each control terminal, the operational screen being configured to accept a process request for requesting the image forming apparatus to execute an image forming process;
• receiving a plurality of process requests from the plurality of control terminals that have been authenticated in an order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals;
• and
• controlling an image forming device to execute a plurality of image forming processes according to the plurality of process requests in the order that the process request is accepted at the control terminals, wherein
• the image forming device includes reading circuitry to execute a scan process, and printing circuitry to execute a print process, the reading circuitry and the printing circuitry being configured to operate independently from each other, and
• when a process request for executing the print process and a process request for executing the scan process are received at substantially a same time, the controlling step includes controlling the reading circuitry to execute the scan process, and controlling the printing circuitry to execute the print process, concurrently.