JP2006048503A - Print service system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system that presents print stores in association with print orders, presents print stores popular among customers in association with print orders, and presents the print stores to which a print order desired by a customer should be ordered. <P>SOLUTION: Each print store and information of print instructions and orders received by the print store are preserved and managed in a database in association with each other, and contents, the cumulative total, etc. of print instructions and order information which the print store has undertaken are detected from the database, and pieces of information are ranked variously and presented to customers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print service system via the Internet, and more particularly to a print system using print instructions, print data, and print order information.

  Conventionally, there is a print service system via the Internet.

  For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a means for searching for a product of the same type as the ordered product is provided based on the received order information, and the product information such as the name and unit price of the searched product is ordered. There has been a system provided with means for generating a product candidate list, displaying the candidate list on an ordering terminal, and prompting a user of the ordering terminal to select a product to order.

  However, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 prompts selection of the same type of product from the order information, and does not prompt selection of the store itself.

  Moreover, as shown in Patent Document 2, the transaction history and transaction incentive information for inducing a new transaction are stored, specific transaction incentive information is searched based on the stored transaction history, and the searched transaction There was a system to manage the distribution of arousal information.

  However, in the system shown in Patent Document 2, the store side acquires the results of involvement as a consumer as information, and the consumer side is provided with privilege information according to the results. The side could not get information about which stores were receiving what orders.

  Moreover, as shown in Patent Document 3, there has been a system that can provide music or the like grouped according to the needs of consumers and can easily confirm desired contents.

  However, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 3, product information and content are managed, but not the order information but the order information is not used for the customer's store selection.

  Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 4, by collecting and distributing information on a plurality of image forming apparatuses installed in an output center, a minilab, or the like on a network and handling the information on the image forming apparatuses, There has been a method of using a server connected to a network for managing and managing information and a server system.

  However, in the system shown in Patent Document 4, information related to a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a store is managed, but only information related to the image forming apparatus is used for the customer's store selection. It was not a system used for selection.

  In the system disclosed in Patent Document 5, order information and purchaser information are stored in association with each other, and order information indicating the order quantity for each manufacturer, each date of sale and each product is generated from the order information. There was.

However, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 5, the order information is used for prediction of the final number of orders, manufacturing / sales, and the like, and is not used for selection of a customer's store.
JP-A-9-054801 JP 2001-344510 A JP 2001-93044 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-316020 JP 2002-74081 A

  However, in any of the systems shown above, the conventional print service cannot first present which print store receives what print order to the customer. 2) Which print order is popular for which print order cannot be presented; Third, which print store should be entrusted to the printing object desired by the customer There was a problem that it was not possible.

  The present invention provides a print data input means, a print store selection means, a print instruction input means, an order information input means, a print service display means, an ordering I / F means, a job ticket creation means, an order ticket Creating means, inter-user I / F means, print service control means, user management means, print store information management means, order information management means, order statistical information extraction means, database management means, ranking information By constructing a print service system comprising a calculation means and an I / F means between print stores, each print store and the print instruction and order information received by each print store are stored in association with the database. Manage and detect from the database the contents of print instructions and order information that have been contracted by each printing store, and the totals, etc. In which it was to be presented to.

  The present invention can solve the above problems by providing the following configuration.

  (1) A print data input means for inputting print data to be printed, a print shop selection means for selecting a print shop as an ordering destination from a plurality of pre-registered print shops, and a print shop Display of print instruction input means for inputting print instructions, order information input means for inputting order information to a print store, and display of multiple print store options, print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistics ranking information, etc. I / O on the client side for exchanging print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistical ranking information, user information, print progress information, and the like between the print service display means to perform and the client and the print service management server F ordering side I / F means, job ticket creation means for creating a job ticket from a print instruction received from a client, Print data, print instructions, print order information, and print between the order ticket creation means that creates an order ticket from the order information received from the client (desired delivery date, delivery location, payment method, etc.) and the print service management server Inter-user I / F means, which is a server-side I / F, for exchanging statistical ranking information, user information, printing progress information, and the like, the print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistical ranking information, user Print service control means for controlling a print service based on information and print progress information, user management means for managing the user information, print shop information management means for managing print shop information, and ordering job tickets and order tickets Order information management means to manage as information, job ticket and order ticket Order statistical information extraction means that extracts statistical information from sentence information, and a database that creates an order statistical information database from the extracted order statistical information, registers additional order statistical information, and searches for existing order statistical information Management data, ranking information calculation means for calculating ranking information using order statistical information extracted from the order statistical information database, and print data, job tickets, order tickets, and printing between the print store and the print service management server A printing service system comprising: an inter-print store I / F means which is an I / F on the server side for exchanging progress information and the like.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to present which print store receives what print order.

  In addition, it is possible to present which print store is popular for what print order, and it is possible to present which print store the customer wants to print. Thus, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a user-friendly printing store selection method to the customer.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration block showing the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, 101 is a client of a user who orders a print order, 102 is a print data input unit for inputting print data to be printed, and 103 is a plurality of print stores registered in advance. A print store selection unit that selects a print store as an order destination from among them, 104 a print instruction input unit that inputs a print instruction to the print store, and 105 an order information input unit that inputs order information to the print store, A print service display unit 106 displays a plurality of print store options, print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistics ranking information, and the like. 107 represents print data and print between the client and the print service management server. An I / F on the client side for exchanging instructions, print order information, print statistics ranking information, user information, print progress information, etc. A ordering side I / F unit.

  Reference numeral 108 denotes a print service management server that manages print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistical ranking information, user information, print progress information, and the like between the client and the print store. 109 denotes a client and the print service management server. An I / F unit 110 between users, which is a server-side I / F for exchanging print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistical ranking information, user information, print progress information, etc. A print service control unit 111 that controls a print service based on data, print instructions, print order information, print statistical ranking information, user information, print progress information, and the like creates a job ticket from a print instruction received from a client The job ticket creation unit.

  An order ticket creation unit 112 creates an order ticket from order information received from the client (desired delivery date, delivery location, payment method, etc.), and 113 represents print store information (print store name, print store capability information, and printing). 114 is a user management unit that manages user information (user name, order information for each user, printing progress information for each user, and server access information for each user). , 115 is an order information management unit that manages job tickets and order tickets as order information, 116 is an order statistical information extraction unit that extracts statistical information from the order information of job tickets and order tickets, and 117 is an order statistical information database. Ranking information calculation unit that calculates ranking information using order statistical information extracted from A.

  A database management unit 118 creates an order statistical information database from the extracted order statistical information, registers additional order statistical information, searches for existing order statistical information, and the like. 119 includes an extracted order statistical information. An information database 120 includes an I / F between print stores, which is an I / F on the server side for exchanging print data, job tickets, order tickets, print progress information, and the like between a print store and a print service management server. The F section 121 is a print store that processes and outputs print data using the sent job ticket, order ticket, and print data.

  In the present embodiment, as a specific example, a print service constituted by three clients, a print service management server, and a print store, which are connected via a network, is taken as an example. Next, the processing flow will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

  First, in the client (101), the user logs in to the print service management server (108) (S201). After the login is permitted, the user selects a print store (S202), and the user uploads print data to the print service management server (S203).

  Next, information such as a print instruction (number of copies, paper type, imposition instruction, delivery method, etc.) and order information (payment method, desired delivery date, etc.) is input (S204). Here, the process is temporarily terminated and the user logs out from the print service management server (S205).

  Thereafter, various notifications (settlement notification, delivery notification, etc.) are received from the print service management server (S206), and finally the service completion notification is waited (S207). If the service completion notification is received (S208), Is completed by receiving the actual printed matter.

  Next, the print service management server checks whether the reception is from the user or from the printing store (S301). If the reception is from the user, the process proceeds to the reception correspondence processing from the user (S303). In step S401, the user authenticates login for receiving the print service.

  Next, in S402, the order information management unit (115) extracts past order statistical information associated with each print store from the database (119).

  In step S403, ranking information is calculated from the extracted order statistical information. In step S404, display data is processed from the print store information and the ranking information.

  For example, for each of a plurality of printing stores, the order types are ranked in descending order of the orders received, and for each printing store, the order contents that are good at the most order types are displayed together with the names of the printing stores (FIG. 5). ) Processing, or, for example, for each of a plurality of printing stores, the order types of the orders received are ranked in descending order, and the selected printing stores are ordered in descending order of orders received in the past. Processing such as displaying types (FIG. 6), or, for example, for each specific order type (for example, color printing, black and white printing, poster printing, in-house newsletter printing, etc.) The printing stores are ranked, and for each selected order type, processing is performed such that the printing stores are displayed in the order of the order received (FIG. 7).

  In step S405, the processed display data is transmitted to the client.

  For example, there is a method in which display data is created by HTML or the like, and a client is referred to by a WWW browser.

  Next, in S406, it is detected whether or not the user has selected a print store. When there is a print store selection, input of print data, order information, and a print instruction is accepted as order data (S407). , S408, S409), and S410, an order ticket (801 in FIG. 8) is generated from the order information (the user's desired delivery date, payment method, etc.), and a print instruction (the type and number of copies of the paper input by the user) in S411. The job ticket is generated from the information such as the delivery location) (802 in FIG. 8).

  In step S412, the current order statistical information is extracted from the job ticket or the order ticket, and is additionally registered in the database in association with the print store selected by the user. (S413) Next, a job ticket, print data, and the like are transmitted to the print store (S414).

  If it is received from the print store in S301, the process shifts to reception processing from the print store (S302) and receives various service notifications (payment notification, delivery notification, service completion notification, etc.) from the print store. Communicate to clients.

[Second Embodiment]
It is also possible to search and extract order statistical information from the database based on the input of search conditions by the user, calculate ranking information, and present it to the user. Next, the flow of processing will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, in the client, the user logs in to the print service management server. (S901) After the login is permitted, the user searches for a print shop by inputting conditions for searching for a print shop (S902). For example, “paper size = A4” and “many color printing” are input.

  Next, a print store is selected from the print stores displayed according to the conditions (S903), and the user uploads print data to the print service management server (S904). Next, information on a print instruction (number of copies, paper type, imposition instruction, delivery method, etc.) and order information (payment method, desired delivery date, etc.) is input (S905). Log out from (S906).

  Thereafter, various notifications (settlement notification, delivery notification, etc.) are received from the print service management server (S907), and finally a service completion notification is waited (S908). If a service completion notification is received (S909), Is completed by receiving the actual printed matter.

  Next, the print service management server checks whether the reception is from the user or from the printing store (S301). If the reception is from the user, the process proceeds to the reception correspondence processing from the user (S303). In step S401, the user authenticates login for receiving the print service.

  In step S <b> 402, the order information management unit (115) extracts past order statistical information associated with each print store from the database (119) using the received search condition.

  In step S403, ranking information is calculated from the extracted order statistical information. In step S404, display data is processed from the print store information and the ranking information.

  For example, if the search condition is an input of “paper size = A4” and “many color printing”, a plurality of print stores are selected in the order of the order received in the past under the condition of paper size = A4 and color printing. Ranking is performed, and processing is performed such that the printing stores are displayed in the order of ranking (FIG. 10).

  The processing after S405 and the processing when received from the printing store in S301 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[Third embodiment]
Based on print instructions and order information input by the user, ranking information is calculated using order statistical information adaptively searched and extracted from the database, and a print store corresponding to the user's order can be presented. Next, the processing flow will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, in the client, the user logs in to the print service management server (S1101). After the login is permitted, the user uploads the print data to the print service management server (S1102), print instruction (number of copies, paper type, imposition instruction, delivery method, etc.) and order information (payment method, desired delivery date, etc.) ) Is input (S1103).

  Next, the user selects a print store from the print stores displayed according to the print instruction input by the user himself (S1104).

  Here, the process is temporarily terminated and the user logs out from the print service management server (S1105). Thereafter, various notifications (settlement notification, delivery notification, etc.) from the print service management server are received (S1106), and finally a service completion notification is waited (S1107). If a service completion notification is received (S1108), Is completed by receiving the actual printed matter.

  Next, the print service management server checks whether the reception is from the user or from the printing store (S301). If the reception is from the user, the process proceeds to the reception correspondence processing from the user (S303). In step S1201, the user authenticates login for receiving the print service.

  Next, input of print data, order information, and a print instruction is accepted as order data (S1202, S1203, S1204). In step S1206, a job ticket is generated from the print instruction (information input by the user such as paper type, number of copies, and delivery location) (802 in FIG. 8).

  Next, in S1207, the current order statistical information is extracted from the job ticket or order ticket. Next, in S1208, the order information management unit (115) uses the current order statistical information extracted in S1207 as a search condition. The past order statistical information associated with each print store is retrieved and extracted from the database (119).

  In step S1209, ranking information is calculated from the extracted order statistical information. In step S1210, display data is processed from the print store information and the ranking information.

  For example, if the print instruction is “paper size = A4” and the order information is “delivery destination = Yokohama City...”, The order received in the past under the conditions of paper size = A4 and delivery destination = Yokohama. A plurality of print stores are ranked in descending order of the orders, and processing is performed such that the print stores are displayed in the ranked order (FIG. 13).

  In step S1211, the processed display data is transmitted to the client. For example, there is a method in which display data is created by HTML or the like, and a client is referred to by a WWW browser.

  Next, in S1212, it is detected whether or not a print store has been selected by the user. If a print store has been selected, then in S1213, the user has selected the current order statistical information. In association with the print store, it is additionally registered in the database, and a job ticket, print data, etc. are transmitted to the print store (S1214).

  If it is received from the print store in S301, the process shifts to reception processing from the print store (S302) and receives various service notifications (payment notification, delivery notification, service completion notification, etc.) from the print store. Communicate to clients.

It is a system configuration block diagram of the 1st example. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process by the side of the client of a 1st Example. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process by the side of the server of a 1st Example. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process by the side of the server of a 1st Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the data for a display processed by the server side of a 1st Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the data for a display processed by the server side of a 1st Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the data for a display processed by the server side of a 1st Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the order ticket and job ticket which are produced in the server side of a 1st Example. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process by the side of the client of 2nd Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the data for a display processed on the server side of a 2nd Example. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process by the side of the client of a 3rd Example. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process by the side of the server of a 3rd Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the data for a display processed by the server side of a 3rd Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Client 102 Print data input part 103 Print store selection part 104 Print instruction input part 105 Order information input part 106 Print service display part 107 Order side I / F part 108 Print service management server 109 Inter-user I / F part 110 Print service control Unit 111 Job ticket creation unit 112 Order ticket creation unit 113 Print store information management unit 114 User management unit 115 Order information management unit 116 Order statistics information extraction unit 117 Ranking information calculation unit 118 Database management unit 119 Database 120 I / F between print stores Department 121 Printing store

Claims (6)

Print data input means for inputting print data to be printed;
A print store selection means for selecting a print store of an order destination from a plurality of print stores registered in advance;
A print instruction input means for inputting a print instruction to the print store;
Order information input means for inputting order information to a printing store;
A print service display means for displaying a plurality of print store options, print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistics ranking information, and the like;
An ordering side I / F that is an I / F on the client side for exchanging print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistics ranking information, user information, print progress information, and the like between the client and the print service management server. F means;
A job ticket creating means for creating a job ticket from a print instruction received from a client;
An order ticket creation means for creating an order ticket from order information received from a client (desired delivery date, delivery location, payment method, etc.);
I / F between users, which is an I / F on the server side, for exchanging print data, print instructions, print order information, print statistics ranking information, user information, print progress information, and the like between the client and the print service management server. F means;
A print service control means for controlling a print service based on the print data, print instruction, print order information, print statistical ranking information, user information, and print progress information;
User management means for managing the user information;
Printing store information management means for managing printing store information;
Order information management means for managing job tickets and order tickets as order information;
Order statistical information extraction means for extracting statistical information from job ticket and order ticket order information;
Database management means for creating an order statistics information database from the extracted order statistics information, registering additional order statistics information, searching for existing order statistics information,
Ranking information calculation means for calculating ranking information using order statistical information extracted from the order statistical information database;
It consists of I / F means between the printing stores, which is an I / F on the server side, for exchanging printing data, job tickets, order tickets, printing progress information, etc. between the printing stores and the printing service management server. Characteristic printing service system. The ranking information calculation means for calculating the ranking information from the order statistics information database ranks the order types in descending order of orders received for each of the plurality of printing stores,
2. The print service system according to claim 1, wherein the print service display means displays the most frequently used order types as accompanying information for each print store. The ranking information calculation means for calculating ranking information from the order statistical information database ranks the order types in the order of the orders received for each of the plurality of printing stores,
2. The print service system according to claim 1, wherein the print service display means displays an order type list for each selected print store in the order of the orders received in the past. A ranking information calculation means for calculating ranking information from the order statistics information database ranks a plurality of print stores in order of orders received for each specific order type,
2. The print service system according to claim 1, wherein the print service display means displays a print store list for each selected order type in descending order of orders received. It further has a search condition input means for inputting a search condition when extracting order statistical information from the database,
The print service system according to claim 1, wherein the database management unit searches for order statistical information using a search condition input by a user.   The ranking information calculation means for calculating the ranking information from the order statistics information database ranks a plurality of print stores in the order of the number of orders received for each specific order type, and according to the order type received from the client, It has a recommended print store automatic selection means for selecting a predetermined number of top companies from print stores with many orders received in the past, and the print service display means presents the selected print store The printing service system according to claim 1.

Images