US Patent 7587494 Image storage system and image accumulation apparatus

An image accumulation apparatus for retaining image information transferred via a communication line in an image storage section. The image accumulation apparatus includes a storage are management section for managing a storage area of the image storage section and a customer information management section for managing customer information concerning a customer making a request for storing the image information. The storage area management section acquires the maximum number of pixels of the image information, calculates the data capacity required for ensuring a predetermined number of images that can be retained for one customer from the maximum number of pixels, and sets the storage area.