JP2013126212A - Image forming apparatus which can move to power saving state and controller for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which can efficiently and highly precisely determine a date that is to be set by a manual operation when an energy saving operation is managed by combining learning and the manual operation.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus includes: an automatic pattern update section which learns transit time to a power saving mode for each time zone of each day on the basis of a running situation in a past week unit; a first determining section 1078 which receives designation of the date circulating in a month unit and determines whether there is periodicity in the running situation of an image device on the basis of the past running situation corresponding to the date; a second determining section 1082 which determines a schedule candidate of the transit time of the designated date on the basis of the running situation in the past month unit; a second determining section 1086 which compares the candidate with the schedule of the learned transit time and determines whether the number of time zones where both sides differ is a threshold or more; and a notice section 1088 which informs a user of the date as a candidate date of a specified running date when determination is positive.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an operation mode operable in so-called power saving (power saving state), and a control device for controlling the power saving operation of the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a control apparatus having a function of controlling a time until shifting to a mode.

  As one type of image processing apparatus that is an electronic device, an image forming apparatus (typically a copier) that forms an image on a recording sheet is introduced in many offices (company, office, etc.). In such offices, there are many cases where an image forming apparatus having a printer function or a copy function is connected to a network and used (shared) by a plurality of users. A multifunction peripheral (MFP (Multi Function Peripheral)), which is one type of such an image forming apparatus, has a plurality of basic operation modes such as a copy mode, a facsimile mode, a network compatible printer mode, and a scanner mode. . In these image forming apparatuses, each user selects an operation mode and sets functions such as double-sided printing and aggregation (2 in 1 to make 2 pages into 1 and 4 in 1 to make 4 pages into 1). The image is formed on the recording paper in a desired manner. Furthermore, these multiple functions are often used in appropriate combinations.

  Consider a digital machine equipped with an image forming unit for an electrophotographic process as an image forming apparatus. In such an image forming apparatus, a toner image recorded and reproduced on a photoreceptor is transferred onto a recording sheet. The heat fixing unit has a heat source such as a heater, and fixes the toner transferred onto the recording paper onto the recording paper at a predetermined temperature and pressure. Therefore, in order to provide an environment in which image formation can always be performed, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the heat fixing unit constant. For this purpose, it is necessary to always control the energization of the heater. When such control is performed, there is a problem that power consumption naturally increases. In particular, the heater requires a large amount of electric power, which is a problem from the viewpoint of energy saving. Recently, it is important to save power consumption at offices, and it is not appropriate to always require such a large amount of power.

  In view of this, it is conceivable that the installation of the image forming apparatus controls the energization of the heat fixing unit after grasping the operation status while the power of the image forming apparatus is turned on. However, if energization to the heat fixing unit is excessively suppressed, there is a problem that even if energization to the heat fixing unit is started to form an image, image formation cannot be started immediately. This is because the temperature of the heat fixing unit is lowered. Until the heat fixing unit reaches a predetermined temperature, an image cannot be formed, and the user waits. For this reason, it is not preferable to cut off the power supply to the heat fixing unit in a very short time after the operation of the image forming apparatus is completed.

  On the other hand, depending on the time zone, the operation of the apparatus may be concentrated, or the apparatus may not be used and the standby state may continue for a long time. If the operating state of the image forming apparatus is carefully observed and the time until the power supply to the heat fixing unit is cut off is appropriately determined, it is considered that there is room for further reducing power consumption.

  In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-30325 (Patent Document 1) creates accumulated data by acquiring the number of times of printing in each time zone while the power is on, and the accumulated data. Discloses a printing apparatus that sets the transition time to the power saving mode based on the number of times of printing in each time zone included in.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of standby time according to time of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows an example of changes in the number of output sheets and the number of jobs per time. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the standby time per time, the number of output sheets, the number of jobs, and the like show a fixed pattern. However, these patterns vary from department to department and vary seasonally. It will change depending on the day of the week.

  The printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 learns the transition time to the power saving mode based on the printing frequency history, thereby shortening the time until the suspension in the time zone where the printing frequency is small, for example, In the time zone in which printing is performed relatively frequently, the printing apparatus is controlled so that the time until the stop becomes longer. With such control, it is possible to reduce the probability that the printing apparatus is in a dormant state when starting to use the printing apparatus and it takes a long time to form an image.

  Here, in the installation destination of the image forming apparatus, there may be a case where a busy day and a time zone are determined in advance. If the transition time to the power saving mode is set short on busy days and hours, the efficiency of the work is reduced. Therefore, in such a specific day (hereinafter may be referred to as a specific day) and a specific time zone (hereinafter may be referred to as a specific time zone), the transition time to the power saving mode is not set short. In addition, it is more preferable that the transition time to the power saving mode can be manually set.

  For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-71269 (Patent Document 2) discloses an image processing system in which a power saving mode for a predetermined day and time zone can be manually set based on calendar data. Therefore, as in Patent Document 1, while the learning function is operated and the day when the business is busy is specified every month, the setter performs “specific date and specific time zone” as in Patent Document 2. It is also possible to prevent the efficiency of the work from decreasing by manually setting and operating at a specific power saving setting (time to shift to the power saving mode) on a specific day and a specific time zone.

JP 2007-30325 A JP 2005-71269 A

  When the operation pattern of the image forming apparatus is well understood by the user, in order to reflect the operation status of the image forming apparatus, it is also possible to combine manual setting with learning as described in Patent Document 2. It is done. However, in such a case, if the relationship between manual setting and learning is not processed well, the accuracy of learning may be reduced. Patent Document 2 does not describe such a problem. Manual setting itself is not always easy to reflect the actual situation. If the manual setting is inaccurate, there is a problem that an energy saving effect cannot be obtained as a result. If the manual setting is to be made accurate, the operation status of the image forming apparatus must be accurately grasped for this purpose, resulting in a problem that the burden on the user increases. In the first place, there is a problem that it is extremely difficult for the user to know what days it is appropriate to set manually instead of learning results. When setting such days, you only have to make predictions to the extent that the user knows, such as having a specific schedule or different processing. Perhaps the same operation pattern as usual is acceptable, but the user has a hard time setting the operation pattern manually, and vice versa. There is also the danger of not thinking about setting at all. In such a case, the management of the energy saving operation pattern becomes inefficient, and the energy saving effect of the image forming apparatus is likely to be reduced.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to efficiently and accurately determine a day on which an energy saving operation pattern should be set manually in managing energy saving operation patterns by combining learning and manual setting, and An object of the present invention is to provide a control device for an energy saving operation pattern of an image forming apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of shifting from a normal state to a power saving state in response to a lapse of a certain transition time without performing a predetermined operation in the normal state. is there. This image forming apparatus is based on an operation status based on a past first cycle of a storage unit for storing operation day information for distinguishing between a normal operation day and a specific operation day. By learning, a first determination means for determining a transition time in each time zone of each day of the image forming apparatus, and a designation of a date to circulate in a second period different from the first period, Based on the second cycle, based on the operation status of the image forming apparatus for the past multiple days corresponding to the specified date, it is determined whether the operation status of the image apparatus for the past multiple days has periodicity. In response to the positive determination made by the first determination unit and the first determination unit, the date is designated based on the operating status of the image forming apparatus based on the past second period. 2nd to determine schedule candidates for transition time The setting means, the schedule candidates, and the schedule of the transition times determined by the first determination means for each of the past plural days are compared, and the number of time zones in which the transition times are different is a threshold value In response to the affirmative determination by the second determination means and the second determination means for determining whether or not the above is true, the user is notified of the specified date as a candidate date for a specific work day. Based on the working day information stored in the notifying means and the storage means, the transition time determined by the first determining means and the specific working day are prepared for the normal working day and the specific working day, respectively. And a switching unit for switching the state of the image forming apparatus using the transition time.

  Usually, the image forming apparatus operates in accordance with the transition time schedule determined by the first determination unit based on the operation status based on the past first period. The first determination means receives the designation of the date to be circulated in the second cycle, and based on the operation status of the image forming apparatus in the past for a plurality of days corresponding to the date designated according to the second cycle, It is determined whether the operation status of the image forming apparatus for a plurality of days has periodicity. If there is periodicity, there is a possibility that the specified date should be registered as a specific work day. In order to determine whether or not it is necessary, the second determination means determines a schedule candidate for the transition time on that date. The second determination unit compares the schedule candidate with the schedule determined by the first determination unit for a plurality of days used in the determination by the first determination unit. If there are many time zones with different transition times between the two, it can be determined that the specified date has periodicity based on a second period different from the first period. Therefore, the notification means presents the designated date to the user.

  Therefore, the user can easily know a candidate for a specific working day that is repeated in a second cycle different from the first cycle based on the past operating status of the image forming apparatus. As a result, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can efficiently and accurately determine the day on which the energy saving operation pattern should be manually set when managing the energy saving operation pattern by combining learning and manual setting.

  Preferably, in response to the determination by the second determination unit being affirmative, the notifying unit performs image formation so as to operate on the designated date on the schedule of the transition time determined by the second determination unit. Includes recommended means to recommend setting up the device.

  With the recommendation means, the user can know the schedule transition time for operating the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine when performing registration on a specific day.

  More preferably, the image forming apparatus further includes setting means for setting the image forming apparatus in accordance with the setting recommended by the recommendation means. In response to the determination by the second determination unit being affirmative, the notification unit transmits an e-mail including address information to be accessed by the user to operate the setting unit to a specific address. including.

  A user who has received an e-mail at a specific address can access the setting means based on the address information of the setting means. As a result, the user can easily set the image forming apparatus according to the setting recommended by the recommendation means by operating the setting means.

  The notification unit may further include a confirmation unit that requests the user to confirm whether to apply the setting by the recommendation unit to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus further includes setting means for setting the image forming apparatus according to the setting in response to the confirmation operation being performed on the confirmation means.

  The confirmation unit requests the user to confirm whether to apply the setting by the recommendation unit to the image forming apparatus. When the user performs a confirmation operation, the setting unit sets the image forming apparatus according to the setting recommended by the recommendation unit. As a result, the image forming apparatus can be accurately and easily set according to a transition time schedule that is repeated according to a second period different from the first period.

  A control device according to a second aspect of the present invention is a control device for controlling an image forming apparatus capable of shifting from a normal state to a power saving state. The control device includes a storage unit for storing operation day information for distinguishing between a normal operation day and a specific operation day, and learning based on an operation state based on a past first cycle of the image forming apparatus. Accordingly, the first determining means for determining the transition time in each time zone of each day of the image forming apparatus and the date of the circulation in the second period different from the first period are designated, and the first of the image forming apparatus A first determination is made based on the operation status of the image forming apparatus for a plurality of past days corresponding to the date based on the period of 2 to determine whether the operation status of the image apparatus for the past plurality of days has periodicity. In response to the positive determination by the determination unit and the first determination unit, a schedule candidate for the transition time for the date is determined based on the operating status of the image forming apparatus based on the past second period. Second determining means for determining and schedule Complement and the transition time schedule determined by the first determination means for each of a plurality of past days, and whether or not the number of time zones in which the two transition times are different is greater than or equal to a threshold value In response to the positive determination by the second determination means, the determination by the second determination means, a notification means for notifying the user as a candidate date for a specific work day, and storage in the storage means Based on the obtained work day information, using the transition time determined by the first determination means and the transition time prepared for the specific day, respectively, on the normal work day and the specific work day Switching means for switching the state of the image forming apparatus.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when managing an energy saving operation pattern by combining learning and manual setting, an image forming apparatus capable of efficiently and accurately determining a day on which an energy saving operation pattern should be set manually. And a control device for the image forming apparatus.

6 is a graph illustrating an example of a standby time for each time of the image forming apparatus. 6 is a graph showing changes in time zones of the number of output sheets per hour and the number of jobs per hour of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example in which an operation mode of the image forming apparatus is displayed in an easily understandable manner in the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus in the image forming system shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration example of a network system including the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing functions related to an operation mode related to energy saving in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a job log recorded in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an energy saving setting screen in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows the example of the panel which sets a specific day in the screen which performs energy saving setting of a specific day. It is a figure which shows the example of the panel which sets the energy saving operation pattern of a specific day in the screen which performs the energy saving setting of a specific day. It is a figure which shows the example of the panel which sets a holiday in the screen which performs energy saving setting of a specific day. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen which displays the list of holidays. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline of the auxiliary function regarding a specific day. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline of the creation process of the pattern B among the auxiliary functions regarding a specific day. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline of the creation process of the pattern C among the auxiliary functions regarding a specific day. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline of the creation process of the pattern D outline among the auxiliary functions regarding a specific day. It is a schematic diagram which shows the data structure for the energy-saving pattern setting of a specific day used in the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program that displays a learning result of an energy saving operation pattern in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program for visually displaying temporal changes in an energy saving operation pattern such as a learning result of an energy saving operation pattern and an operation mode set by a user in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. In the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 4, a control structure of a program for registering whether to operate according to a schedule of an energy-saving operation pattern automatically learned or to operate according to a user-set schedule It is a flowchart which shows. 5 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program for saving a user pattern that is a schedule of an energy saving operation pattern created by a user in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program for updating the content of energy saving settings displayed on the screen in accordance with a user's selection in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program for updating a display according to a correction result when a user corrects a user pattern in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control structure of a program for automatically learning an energy saving operation pattern of an image forming apparatus based on job logs other than a specific day for a predetermined period of time in the embodiment of the present invention. 12 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program executed by the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention to output the screens shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. 10 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a specific date registration processing program executed by the image forming apparatus when an OK button is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. 9. It is a flowchart which shows the control structure of the program for producing the default energy saving operation pattern of a specific day. It is a flowchart which shows the control structure of the program for implement | achieving a specific day assistance function. It is a figure which shows the screen which asks a user whether registration with the specific day and the energy-saving operation pattern with which registration is recommended by a specific day assistance function is performed. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the network system 1100 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  In the following description, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components. Their functions and names are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

[First Embodiment]
<Outline>
As described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation status of the image forming apparatus of the system according to the present embodiment differs depending on the department, the time zone, and the day of the week. For this reason, the time until the heat fixing unit is in the resting state also differs depending on the time of day, the day of the week, and the department where the image forming apparatus is installed. Therefore, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment automatically learns the energy saving operation pattern from the operation status for each time zone and each day of the week, as in Patent Document 2. In order to solve the problem of the prior art that it is difficult for the user to understand what operation to perform, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment provides the learning result to the user in the form shown in Table 50 shown in FIG. Display clearly.

  Referring to FIG. 3, table 50 has a two-dimensional table format. In Table 50, the horizontal axis represents the day of the week, and the vertical axis represents 24 hours a day divided into time zones of one hour.

  In the image forming apparatus of the system according to the present embodiment, each cell represents the energy saving operation pattern set for the time zone of the day of the week by the display color of the cell. Since FIG. 3 is not a color and is represented by different hatching, for example, the cell 66 is the most frequently used “high performance” mode and is displayed in red. The cell 64 is a “performance” mode in which the image forming apparatus 100 is used at a considerably high frequency although not as high as “high performance”, and is displayed in pink. The cell 62 indicates a time zone that is less frequently used than the time zone in the “performance” mode, and is indicated in light blue. Cell 60 is the least frequently used time zone and is shown in green. Thus, by displaying the cells in different colors, the four energy saving operation patterns can be clearly understood visually. Regardless of whether the table 50 is displayed on either the touch panel display 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 or the display of a personal computer for administrator (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 190, the image forming apparatus 100 operates in accordance with the time period. The administrator can easily and intuitively understand what is being done.

  When the energy saving operation pattern is “high performance”, the time from when the heat fixing unit of the image forming apparatus stops operating until it shifts to the preheating mode (hereinafter, this time is referred to as “transition time”) is the longest. The time for “performance” is set to the next longer time. In the case of “balance”, the image forming apparatus shuts off in a much shorter time than in the case of “performance”. In the case of “power saving”, the image forming apparatus shuts off in the shortest time after the operation is completed.

  The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has a function of automatically learning such an energy saving operation pattern based on a past job log. Further, the image forming apparatus 100, in addition to the day for determining the energy saving operation pattern by learning as described above, for a specific day, the user can manually set the energy saving operation pattern. It has a function of manually setting the energy saving operation pattern of the image forming apparatus 100 in the day. In this case, the energy saving operation pattern can be set manually for each time zone. The mode that can be set is one of the four modes described above, but it is also possible to specify to use the learning result. During the above-described learning, among the specific days set in this way, the time zone in which the operation mode is manually set (hereinafter referred to as “specific time zone”) is the subject of learning. In the learning of the energy saving operation pattern on another day, the job log of the specific time zone on the specific day is not used for learning.

  Details of these functions in the image forming apparatus of the system according to the present embodiment and a configuration for realizing these functions will be described in detail later.

"Constitution"
This image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording sheet by an electrophotographic method. This image forming apparatus has a copy mode, a facsimile mode, a document filing mode, and a mail mode as operation modes. This image forming apparatus may further have a network printer mode. The printing method is not limited to the electrophotographic method as long as it has a portion that takes a relatively long time until it becomes operable after being in a pause state like the heat fixing unit.

<Image forming apparatus: control block configuration>
Referring to FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 100 of the system according to the present embodiment includes a document reading unit (scanner) 102, an image forming unit 104, a paper feeding unit 106, a paper discharge processing device 108, and an operation unit 120. . The operation unit 120 includes a touch panel display 130 and an operation key unit 140. The touch panel display 130 includes a display panel 132 configured by a liquid crystal panel or the like, and a touch panel 134 that detects a position pressed by a user's finger arranged on the display panel 132. In the operation key unit 140, several function keys (not shown) and a numeric keypad are arranged.

  Referring to FIG. 4, image forming apparatus 100 further includes an operation unit 120 that operates as an operation display panel capable of setting functions related to various operation modes, and a read-only memory (ROM) for storing programs and the like. : Read-only memory) 172, a hard disk 168 that is a non-volatile storage device capable of storing programs and data even when power is cut off, and a Random for providing a storage area when executing the program And Access Memory (RAM: read / write memory at any time) 174.

  The image forming apparatus 100 further includes a document reading unit 102, an image forming unit 104, a FAX communication unit 160, an operation unit 120, a CPU 166, a ROM 172, a hard disk 168, and a bus 176 connected to the RAM 174. The CPU 166 controls each part of the image forming apparatus by loading a program stored in the hard disk 168 or the like into the RAM 174 and executing it, and realizes various functions for image formation.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 100 can communicate with each unit of the image forming apparatus 100 via the bus 176, and a sheet feeding unit 106 for executing sheet feeding control regarding the image forming unit 104 in accordance with a command from the CPU 166. A paper discharge processing device 108 that is also connected to the bus 176 and controls the discharge of the recording paper from the image forming unit 104 in accordance with a command from the CPU 166.

  The hard disk 168 stores image data files of originals scanned by the image forming apparatus 100 together with a storage date and a user name for each folder. The hard disk 168 stores initial screen data for each operation mode.

  The ROM 172 stores programs and data necessary for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 100. As the data stored in the ROM 172 together with the program, initial screen data for each operation mode may be stored. The CPU 166 controls the image forming apparatus 100 according to the program and data stored in the ROM 172 and executes control related to each function of the image forming apparatus 100.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a public line is connected to the FAX communication unit 160 of the image forming apparatus 100, and a network I / F 170 is connected to the network line. A computer or the like using the image forming apparatus 100 as a network compatible printer is connected to the network line, or a computer or the like specified by a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) designated via the Internet is connected. . When connected to the Internet in this way, the image forming apparatus 100 can acquire necessary information via the Internet. As will be described later, the learning result of the energy saving operation pattern in the image forming apparatus 100 and the energy saving operation pattern on a specific day can be confirmed, corrected, or added from the administrator computer on the network.

  The RAM 174 provides a function as a working memory that temporarily stores the results of computation and processing by the CPU 166 and a function as a frame memory that stores image data.

  The CPU 166 controls the document reading unit 102, the image forming unit 104, the touch panel display 130 constituting the operation unit 120, the paper feeding unit 106, the paper discharge processing device 108, the operation key unit 140, and the ROM 172, the hard disk 168, and the RAM 174. This is done by executing a predetermined program. Note that the operation unit 120 communicates with the CPU 166 via the input / output I / F.

  The operation unit 120 is a plate-like panel provided so as to be inclined so that the user can easily see it. On the surface of the operation unit 120, a touch panel display 130 is provided in the left area, and an operation key unit 140 is provided in the right area. The touch panel display 130 and the operation key unit 140 are configured so that the operation unit 120 is integrated as a whole.

<Energy-saving operation pattern learning process>
Hereinafter, the energy saving operation pattern learning process in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. The image forming apparatus 100 automatically learns an energy saving operation pattern based on a job log, displays a learning result in an easy-to-understand manner for a user, allows a user to set an energy saving operation pattern, and learns a set user mode. It has features such as easy-to-understand display with the results, and a plurality of energy-saving operation patterns that can be set by the user can be registered in advance.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus 100 normally communicates with a plurality of PCs 190, 192, 194, etc. via a network system 180, performs a printing process in response to a print request from these, and forms an image. An image scanned by the apparatus 100 is transmitted to a specific server, or is transmitted as a mail to a desired mail address. However, the details of items not related to the setting of the energy saving operation pattern are not described here for easy understanding.

  In FIG. 5, it is assumed that the PC 190 is for the administrator of the image forming apparatus 100, and the PCs 192 and 194 are for general users. The display and setting change of the energy saving operation pattern according to the table 50 as described with reference to FIG. 3 may be performed by the operation unit 120 of the image forming apparatus 100, but it is convenient if it can also be performed from the administrator PC 190. It is. Such processing is also possible in the image forming apparatus 100.

  FIG. 6 shows only the functional part related to the energy saving operation mode related to the energy saving setting in the image forming apparatus 100 as the energy saving setting unit 260. Referring to FIG. 6, the energy saving setting unit 260 stores a job log acquired by the log acquisition unit 270 and a log acquisition unit 270 that acquires an operation record of each functional unit of the image forming apparatus 100 as a job log. The log storage unit 272 of the image forming apparatus 100 and the schedule of the energy saving operation pattern of the image forming apparatus 100 are automatically updated based on the job log of the past predetermined period which is activated by a trigger given from the outside and stored in the log storage unit 272. Energy saving operation created (updated) by the auto pattern update unit 274, a timer 276 for triggering schedule update processing by the auto pattern update unit 274 periodically (for example, every day at midnight), and the like. The schedule pattern of the pattern is stored and given to the heat fixing unit of the image forming unit 104 And a pattern storage unit 278. Note that the auto-pattern update unit 274 does not use the job log specified by the user for a specific day in a monthly unit on a specific time zone when learning an energy saving operation pattern for each day of the week. In this way, by excluding the job log for the specific time zone on the specific day from the learning data for pattern update, the energy saving operation pattern other than the specific time zone for the specific day is affected by the operation pattern for the specific time zone. Can be prevented.

  The energy saving operation pattern in the image forming apparatus of the system according to the present embodiment is expressed in four stages according to day of the week and time zone as described later. These are represented by the numerical values 1, 2, 3 and 4. The energy saving operation pattern includes seven records for each day of the week. Each record includes a name (identifier) of an energy saving operation pattern to which the record belongs, a value indicating a day of the week, and a set of values indicating an energy saving operation pattern for each time zone. For example, in the example of Monday in FIG. 3, the portion of the record showing the energy saving operation pattern for each time zone is “1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,4, 3, 1, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1 ". If the energy saving operation pattern is uncertain, such as when the device is shipped, the value representing the energy saving operation pattern is 0.

  In the following embodiments, the working days of the image forming apparatus are classified into seven first groups according to the day of the week on a weekly basis, and the energy saving operation pattern is learned for each group. Categorized into 31 second groups only by day of year, month, day, specify a specific group (that is, a specific day), and specify both energy saving operation pattern manually use. Of course, these classification methods are only examples, and various other classification methods are possible. For example, in an office where work is performed with 10 days as one cycle, it is reasonable to set the number of the first group to ten. It is reasonable to set the number of the first group to 14 in an office where work is performed with two weeks as one cycle. As for the second group, it is desirable to divide the working days into 6 × 31 = 186 groups in a business office where specific work is performed, for example, on a semi-annual basis. However, a method in which the first group is classified by day of the week and the second group is classified only by day will be most common.

  The log storage unit 272, the pattern storage unit 278, and the like are realized by the hard disk 168 shown in FIG.

  The energy saving setting unit 260 further includes a web server 280 connected to the network I / F 170. The web server 280 operates in the image forming apparatus 100 in order to perform settings related to various functions of the image forming apparatus 100 from an external PC on a browser basis. The web server 280 has a function of distributing a process to an appropriate program or processing unit according to a parameter associated with each request for various requests given from the outside, and returning a web document as a processing result to the browser. Here, in order to simplify the explanation, among the functional blocks that process requests given from the outside via the web server 280, those other than those related to the setting of the energy saving operation pattern are not shown.

  In response to a request received from the outside via the web server 280, the energy saving setting unit 260 further reads out the energy saving operation pattern schedule currently set in the image forming apparatus 100 from the pattern storage unit 278 and visually displays it. A request for changing the contents of the schedule displayed on the external PC via the display processing unit 286 for creating and returning a web document for reply and the web server 280, and an energy saving operation pattern determined according to the request An update processing unit 288 for creating and returning a web document for visually displaying the schedule, and a request for setting a pattern of the energy saving operation schedule of the image forming apparatus 100 received from the outside via the web server 280 To register the set pattern in the pattern storage unit 278 in response to And a processing section 290.

  The energy saving setting unit 260 further processes a request related to a process of creating an energy saving operation schedule pattern using the external PC via the web server 280, and when saving of the created pattern is designated by the user. When a user creates an energy saving operation schedule pattern on an external PC via a user pattern storage processing unit 292 that stores the pattern in a computer-readable format and the web server 280, in response to a user input A table update processing unit 294 for creating and returning a web document for rewriting the display of the energy saving operation schedule on the external PC, and a user pattern stored by the user pattern storage processing unit 292 are stored together with a pattern name of each user pattern. User pattern storage unit 284 for An auto flag indicating whether or not the image forming apparatus 100 is in an operation mode in which learning of an energy saving operation pattern is automatically performed, a pattern name when the current energy saving operation pattern schedule is a user pattern, and a time zone And a setting storage unit 282 for storing settings related to the energy saving operation pattern of the image forming apparatus 100, such as what processing is performed when there is no blog. The setting storage unit 282 can be referred to from each unit of the energy saving setting unit 260, and each functional block operates based on the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 282. The information stored in the setting storage unit 282 includes an operation rate calculation method used for determining the transition time, and rules for determining how to determine an energy saving pattern based on the operation rate.

  Table 1 below shows a method for calculating the operating rate in the image forming apparatus of the system according to the present embodiment. Table 2 shows the calculated operation rate, the energy saving pattern name adopted according to the operation rate, and the operation (transition time and state after the transition) corresponding to each energy saving pattern.

  The auto flag indicates an auto mode when it is 1, and a manual mode when it is 0. The default value of the auto flag is preferably 1. This is because it is desirable to automatically learn the energy-saving operation pattern after the device is actually installed until the administrator can grasp the operation status.

  The energy saving setting unit 260 further has a function for allowing the user to set a specific day, a function for allowing the user to set an energy saving operation pattern for a specific day (referred to as a “specific day pattern”), a function for allowing the user to set a holiday, and a specific day pattern. A function for creating a default pattern with respect to and a function for performing learning by excluding a log of a day registered as a specific day from learning data when learning a weekly energy saving operation pattern from the log.

  Specifically, the energy saving setting unit 260 further uses a specific day setting screen generation unit 302 for generating a specific day setting screen (FIGS. 9 to 11) and a specific day registration screen 680 shown in FIG. A specific day registration unit 300 for registering a specific day by dialogue with the user or starting a specific day auxiliary function to be described later, and a specific day pattern registration screen 720 shown in FIG. A holiday registration unit 298 for performing registration and a specific day pattern registration unit 296 for performing registration of a specific day pattern for determining an energy saving operation on a specific day using the holiday registration screen 830 shown in FIG. 11 are included. All of these are selectively executed based on the form data received by the web server 280 under the control of the web server 280. Each processing unit executes a designated process, and then transmits a screen indicating the result to the web browser of the counterpart terminal for display. Screens output by the specific day registration unit 300, holiday registration unit 298, and specific day pattern registration unit 296 are the specific day registration screen 680, the specific day pattern registration screen 720, and the holiday registration shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11, respectively. It is a screen 830.

  The energy saving setting unit 260 is further connected to the specific day pattern registration unit 296, the holiday registration unit 298, the specific day registration unit 300, and the specific day setting screen generation unit 302, and the specific day pattern registration unit 296, the holiday registration unit 298, the specific date Specific date information storage unit 304 for storing specific date information, specific day pattern information, and holiday information set using the date registration unit 300, and job log and specific date information storage stored in the log storage unit 272 Based on the specific day information stored in the unit 304, in response to receiving a request for creating a default pattern for a specific day from the specific day pattern registration unit 296, the log of the day corresponding to the specific day of the previous month is read. A default pattern creating unit 306 for generating a default energy saving operation pattern for the specific day and returning it to the specific day pattern registration unit 296; Including.

  The energy saving setting unit 620 is further connected to the log storage unit 272, the pattern storage unit 278, and the specific date registration unit 300, and according to an instruction received from the counterpart terminal via the web server 280 and the specific date registration unit 300, Specific date auxiliary unit 308 for realizing a specific day auxiliary function for selecting a date to be registered as a specific day or proposing an energy saving operation pattern for a specific day for a specified date, and a specific day auxiliary screen generating unit When registration of the specific date proposed by 308 and the energy saving operation pattern is instructed by the user, a record relating to the specific date is stored in the specific date information storage unit 304, and the energy saving operation pattern is stored in the pattern storage unit 278. And a specific date update unit 310 for performing each registration process. Details of the function of the specific day auxiliary unit 308 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 9, 13 to 16, and 28. Details of the function with the specific date update unit 310 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 7, the job log 320 stored in the log storage unit 272 generally includes a job ID (identifier), a job mode, the name of the computer that has submitted the job, the user name, and the user login. The name, the start date and time when the image forming apparatus 100 started the job, the end date and time when the job was started, the day of the week when the job was started, and the number of recording sheets printed by the job are recorded for each job. Such a function of obtaining the job log 320 is not limited to the image forming apparatus 100 but is provided as a standard in a current general image forming apparatus. For example, when an image forming device breaks down, such a job checks the previous operation to find out the cause of the failure, or looks at the type of job to focus on what functions will be used at the next replacement. It can be used to examine whether the model should be determined in consideration of the above, or to check which user uses the image forming apparatus and how much recording paper is used. In the system of the present embodiment, such a job log 320 is used for learning an energy saving operation pattern.

  FIG. 8 shows an energy saving setting screen for setting an energy saving operation pattern in the image forming apparatus 100 of the system according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 8, the energy saving setting screen is displayed in the center part with a registration button 350, an update button 352, a mode selection radio button 354, and a user pattern name setting pull-down menu 356 displayed in the header part. The image forming apparatus 100 includes an energy saving operation pattern table 358 that visually displays the energy saving operation patterns currently set in the image forming apparatus 100, as in the example shown in FIG.

  The tail portion of this screen further includes a check box 360 for the user to set whether or not to edit the user pattern, and an energy saving mode selection pull-down that becomes active when the check box 360 is checked. The energy saving operation pattern table 358 according to a menu 362, a pull-down menu 364 for selecting a day of the week, a start time pull-down menu 366 and an end time pull-down menu 368 for specifying a setting time zone, and conditions specified by these elements. A table update button 370 for instructing to update the display is displayed. Below these are further a pattern name field 372 in which the user inputs the pattern name when saving the user pattern, a save button 374 used when instructing to save the user pattern, a registration button 380, and An update button 382 is displayed.

  Buttons 660 and 662 for calling up a screen (specific date operation setting screen) for registering information relating to operation settings of the image forming apparatus 100 on a specific date are arranged above and below the screen shown in FIG. This specific date information registration screen includes a specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9, a specific date pattern registration screen 720 shown in FIG. 10, and a holiday registration screen 830 shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 9, a specific day registration screen 680 includes a tab area 690 in which tabs for switching the panels of the above-described specific day registration screen 680, specific day pattern registration screen 720, and holiday registration screen 830 are displayed. A registration button 692 for instructing to register the input specific date information in the specific date information storage unit 304 (FIG. 6) in the image forming apparatus 100, and a first for registering a maximum of three specific dates. , Second and third specific day information designation areas 694, 696, and 698, and a specific day auxiliary area 700 for activating the specific day auxiliary function.

  The tab area 690 includes a specific day tab 710 for displaying the specific day registration screen 680, a pattern tab 712 for displaying the specific day pattern registration screen 720, and a holiday tab 714 for displaying the holiday registration screen 830. including.

  The first, second, and third specific date information designation areas 694, 696, and 698 have the same configuration. Therefore, the first specific date information designation area 694 will be described below as a representative example.

  The first specific date information specifying area 694 includes a check box 730 for specifying whether or not to register the first specific date, a specific date setting area 732 for inputting information for specifying the specific date, and this specific The operation pattern (specific date pattern) for the image forming apparatus 100 for the day is selected from some predetermined specific date patterns and a default pattern (a pattern automatically set by the image forming apparatus 100) to be described later Pull-down menu 734 for performing the operation and a holiday operation designation area for designating whether the specific day is advanced before the holiday, deferred after the holiday, or the holiday operation is not executed when this specific day falls on a holiday 736.

  The specific day setting area 732 includes two radio buttons for selecting whether to specify a specific day of each month as that date or as the end of every month, and to select that date when specifying the date. Including a pull-down menu.

  The holiday operation designation area 736 includes three radio buttons for selecting whether to advance, decrement, or not execute a specific day during holidays.

  The specific day auxiliary area 700 is a screen for starting the specific day auxiliary function, and the date to be examined is between an arbitrary date of each month, the end of each month, and a specific day of the week of each month. A radio button group 702 for selecting, a pull-down menu 704 for selecting an arbitrary date of each month, a pull-down menu 706 for specifying a specific day of the week for each month, and the specified date as a specific day 6 includes a start button 708 for starting up the specific date auxiliary unit 308 shown in FIG. 6, which aggregates auxiliary information for considering whether or not to specify.

  Referring to FIG. 10, specific date pattern registration screen 720 specifies a specific date pattern number and a name of the specific date pattern in addition to specific date tab 710, pattern tab 712, holiday tab 714 and registration button 692. Pattern identification area 750, pattern display area 752 for displaying the contents of a specific day pattern to be set, and a specific day pattern, one day is divided into 24 hours, and four operation modes set in advance for each time zone And a schedule setting area 754 for designating which operation mode out of five options in total for the week, and the settings designated by the method in the system of the present embodiment for the week. A registration button 756 having the same function as the registration button 692 is displayed at the bottom of the specific day pattern registration screen 720.

  The pattern identification area 750 includes a pull-down menu 770 for selecting first to fifth specific day patterns as targets to be set, and a text field 772 for inputting a pattern name of the target specific date pattern to be set. Including. In the present embodiment, the pattern name is limited to 20 characters in full-width and half-width.

  The pattern display area 752 includes a schedule display area 790 that displays the schedule of the operation mode of the setting target specific day pattern for 24 hours in units of one hour, and a specific date pattern that is the basis of the setting target specific date pattern. A pull-down menu 792 for specifying the specific date pattern and a copy execution button 794 used by the user when copying the specific date pattern specified by the pull-down menu 792 to the specific date pattern to be set are included. As will be described later, the pull-down menu 792 displays not only the first to fifth specific date patterns but also the numbers of default patterns that are automatically generated when a new specific date is designated.

  The schedule setting area 754 has a pull-down menu 812 for specifying the start time of the target time zone, a pull-down menu 814 for specifying the end time, and an energy saving operation mode to be set in the time zone specified by the pull-down menus 812 and 814. And five radio buttons 810 for designating. The operation modes that can be set by the five radio buttons 810 are the first and second job start priority modes, the first and second energy saving priority modes, and the operation mode according to the weekly setting.

  In the first job start priority mode, when the image forming apparatus 100 is not operated for one hour after the image forming apparatus 100 is used, the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 100 is shifted to auto power shut-off. In the second job start priority mode, when the image forming apparatus 100 is not operated for 30 minutes after the image forming apparatus 100 is used (that is, when an operation event does not occur), the second job start priority mode is set. Change the operation mode to auto power shut-off. In the first energy saving priority mode, when the image forming apparatus 100 is not operated for 5 minutes after the image forming apparatus 100 is used, the image forming apparatus 100 is shifted to the auto power shut-off. In the second energy saving priority mode, when the operation on the image forming apparatus 100 is completed, the image forming apparatus 100 shifts to the automatic power shut-off in the shortest time. In the operation mode according to the weekly setting, the image forming apparatus 100 is operated according to the weekly schedule set by the same processing as that performed in the image forming apparatus 100 of the system of the present embodiment.

  Further, the schedule setting area 754 is used to set the operation mode of the specific day pattern specified in the pattern identification area 750 in the time zone set in the pull-down menus 812 and 814 to the operation mode specified by the radio button 810. An add schedule button 816 operated by the user is included. When a time zone to be processed is selected from the pull-down menu 812 and the pull-down menu 814, an operation mode to be set is selected using the radio button 810, and an add button 816 is pressed, a pull-down menu among schedules displayed in the schedule display area 790 is displayed. The part designated by 812 and 814 is changed to a color corresponding to the operation mode selected by the radio button 810.

  Referring to FIG. 11, holiday registration screen 830 includes a specific day tab 710, a pattern tab 712, a holiday tab 714, a button 840 for displaying a holiday list, and a day-of-week designation area for designating days of the week for holidays. 842, a registration button 862 for registering a holiday specified by a day of the week in the specific day information storage unit 304, a period specifying area 844 for individually specifying a specific day in a certain period, and a period specifying area 844 A registration button 890 for storing the specified specific date as a holiday in the specific date information storage unit 304.

  In the day designation area 842, seven check boxes 860 for designating whether or not to set a holiday for each day of the week are displayed.

  A period designation area 844 includes a pull-down menu 880 for designating a period for which a holiday is designated in units of three months, and a final registration time field for displaying the date and time when the holiday of the period designated by the pull-down menu 880 was last registered. 882, a check box column 884 in which a check box for designating whether or not to make a holiday every day is displayed for each of the three months specified by the pull-down menu 880, and all the items displayed in the check box column 884 A check button 886 for checking all check boxes and a deselect button 888 for unchecking all check boxes.

  Referring to FIG. 12, holiday list screen 910 displayed when button 840 shown in FIG. 11 is pressed includes OK buttons 920 and 926 for closing this screen, and area 922 for displaying days of the week specified holidays. And an area 924 for displaying holidays individually designated by the period designation.

  With reference to FIG. 13, a specific date auxiliary information counting method by the specific date auxiliary unit 308 shown in FIG. 6 will be described. Here, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, for example, a case will be described in which it is examined whether or not the first day of every month should be designated as a specific day. That is, it is assumed that “monthly” is selected from the radio button group 702 in the specific day auxiliary area 700 of FIG. Furthermore, it is assumed that the three months immediately before this processing are July, August, and September. Although three months are assumed here, this number may be plural, and is not limited to three.

  In this case, the specific day auxiliary unit 308 obtains an energy saving pattern to be set for each time zone from the operation results on the date corresponding to the specified date among the logs of the immediately preceding three months. That is, the specific day auxiliary unit 308 examines the energy saving operation patterns on July 1, August 1, and September 1. When these are assumed to be Friday, Monday, and Thursday, respectively, and each corresponding day is shown in each corresponding day, a table of energy saving operation patterns as shown in FIG. 13 is obtained. This table is hereinafter referred to as “pattern A”. If there is something common to these energy saving operation patterns, these days of the week are different. Therefore, on the first day of every month, there is some sort of one month that is different from the repetition in which the image forming apparatus circulates in units of weeks. You can think of it as operating in a periodic pattern.

  In the table shown in FIG. 13, for example, the energy saving patterns of the cells 580, 582, and 584 in the time zone from 9 o'clock to 10 o'clock are not all the same (cells 580 and 584 are in mode 3, whereas cells 582 is mode 2). Similarly, the energy saving patterns of the cells 586, 588, and 590 in the time zone from 17:00 to 18:00 do not match (cells 586 and 588 are in mode 1 whereas cell 590 is in mode 2). However, in other time zones, the energy saving patterns of these three cells are all the same. For example, the energy saving pattern from 0 to 8 o'clock, 12 o'clock and 18 o'clock to 23 o'clock corresponds to mode 4 for all three days, and the energy saving pattern at 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock and 13 o'clock is All of these three days correspond to mode 2. Similarly, the energy saving pattern from 14:00 to 16:00 corresponds to mode 1 for any of these three days.

  From the table shown in FIG. 13, it is considered that it is sufficient to set the energy saving pattern for the time zones that should be set to the same energy saving pattern for all three days described above. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, a new energy saving operation pattern is created by setting these energy saving patterns for the time periods when the same energy saving pattern is obtained for all three days. This pattern is referred to as “pattern B”. In the pattern B, the pattern is undecided for the time zone when the energy saving patterns of the three days do not match.

  Specifically, the pattern B is created as follows. As shown in the lower middle column of FIG. 14, the time zone (indicated by a blank cell) that has the same energy saving pattern on all three days matches the energy saving pattern on all three days. The time zones corresponding to the cells 600 and 604 are divided into cells 602 and 606 indicating that the energy saving pattern has not been determined, and the other cells are classified into three times. Set the energy saving pattern that was the same for all days. Thereby, the pattern B is obtained.

  In this pattern B, when the number of time zones with the same energy saving pattern occupies a certain ratio or more with respect to the total number of time zones (for example, 80% or more), July 1 There is a possibility that the operation status of the image forming apparatus is correlated between the day, August 1, and September 1, and “1st of every month” should be designated as the specific day. Therefore, it is examined whether or not the specified day (“1st of every month” in the above example) is a specific day by the method described below.

  Referring to FIG. 15, this pattern B610 and Monday, Thursday, and Friday (in no particular order), which are the days of July 1, August 1, and September 1, are set by learning on a weekly basis. The energy saving operation patterns 612, 614 and 616 are compared, and the difference between the pattern B610 and the energy saving operation patterns of the moon, tree, and gold is investigated, and the difference between them is expressed from the result. A new pattern (referred to as “pattern C”, which is pattern C618 in FIG. 15) is created. Specifically, each time zone of the pattern B610 is compared with the energy saving pattern of the same time zone among the energy saving patterns of the month, the tree, and the gold, and the pattern C618 is created based on the result. In the example shown in FIG. 15, a time zone of an energy saving pattern that matches any of the energy saving patterns of the moon, tree, and gold (these are referred to as “all matching time zones” for convenience), and the month, tree, and gold. A time zone that is different from any of the above (except for time zones that are different from all other times, these are called “different time zones” for the sake of convenience), and a time that is different from any of the time zones of the month, Thursday, and Friday. The band is distinguished from the band (this is called “completely different time zone” for convenience). In this comparison, if there is a time zone in which the energy saving pattern is not determined in the pattern B610, they are not counted as a different time zone or a completely different time zone (not determined). If there are many completely different time zones in pattern C, the specified date is likely to be repeated on a monthly basis and is considered different from the weekly basis, and at least a specific date for that time zone. It is thought that the need for suggestion will increase. In the present embodiment, a pattern C618 is created by distinguishing all coincidence time zones, different time zones, and completely different time zones, and if the number of completely different time zones in the pattern C618 exceeds three, The specified date is suggested to the user as a specific date.

  In the example shown in FIG. 15, all the energy saving patterns match in the time zone from 0:00 to 8:00, the time zone from 10:00 to 13:00, and the time zone from 19:00 to 23:00. For these time zones of the pattern C618, a value indicating “all matches” is set. In the 9 o'clock time zone, the energy saving pattern of the cells 620 and 632 of the pattern B610 is undecided, and thus a value indicating “not determined” is set for the cells 624 and 636 of this time zone of the pattern C618. Further, in the time zone from 14:00 to 16:00, the energy saving pattern of the pattern B610 does not match any of the energy saving patterns of the moon, the tree, and the gold. Therefore, a value indicating “total disagreement” (complete dissimilarity) is set in the cell 630 in this time zone of the pattern C618. The time zone at 18:00 matches the energy saving pattern of Monday and Friday, and does not match the energy saving pattern of Thursday. Therefore, a value indicating “partial mismatch” (difference) is set in the cell 642 in this time zone of the pattern C618.

  The energy saving operation pattern of the moon, tree and gold is learned from the operation status in the past week. If there is a day in which the difference from the repetitive pattern learned in units of weeks becomes large, the necessity of suggesting the day as a specific day increases. In this case, it is considered that a time zone that is particularly different from the energy saving operation pattern obtained by learning is appropriate as the time zone to be suggested. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in FIG. 16, the number of completely different time zones is obtained for the energy saving pattern of pattern C618. If the number is larger than 3, the day is designated as a specific day candidate (a recommended date as a specific day) to the user. Suggest. At this time, the pattern C618 is also suggested to the user as a schedule candidate (recommended schedule) for the transition time of the day.

  That is, if the above condition is satisfied on the first day of every month, as shown in FIG. 16, the energy saving pattern obtained by the pattern B shown in FIG. 14 is set for the time zone 652 from 14:00 to 16:00 on the first day of every month. To do. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the energy saving pattern obtained by learning is set for other time zones, and as a result, the energy saving operation pattern 650 (referred to as “pattern D”) on a specific day is obtained. .

  The specific day auxiliary unit 308 illustrated in FIG. 6 newly creates an energy saving operation pattern 650 when the specified date is a date to be suggested as the specific day by the method described above. The specific day auxiliary unit 308 transmits the energy saving operation pattern 650 to the partner terminal via the web server 280 in a form that is easy for the user to see and displays the pattern. The user of the partner terminal can register the specific date using the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the energy saving operation pattern 650 is displayed on the browser of the partner terminal via the web server. However, the energy saving operation pattern 650 is transmitted to a predetermined address by e-mail, or the energy saving operation pattern 650 is displayed. An HTML document for display may be created, and an address for accessing the HTML document may be transmitted to the user by e-mail.

  Referring to FIG. 17, specific date information 940 stored in specific date information storage unit 304 (see FIG. 6) includes three specific date information records 950 for storing information on three specific dates, and four specific dates. A specific day pattern record 952 for storing information related to a pattern, a day-specific flag record 954 for storing whether or not a holiday is specified for each day of the week, and a holiday specified individually by a period specification for 24 months A period holiday record 956 to be stored.

  The specific date information record 950 is for storing information specified by the specific date registration screen 680 (FIG. 9). Each record of the specific date information record 950 includes a use flag indicating whether or not a specific date corresponding to the record is designated, a date of the specific date, a number of a specific date pattern used for the specific date, It includes a holiday action flag indicating whether this specific date is advanced, deferred, or not executed on a holiday, and the last update date of this specific date information record 950. The date of a specific day is designated by 1-31 or 99. 1-31 indicate the designated date, and 99 indicates the end of the month. The holiday action flag is represented by one of three values of 0-2. 0, 1 and 2 represent the advance on the specific day, the subordinate, and no execution on the specific day, respectively.

  The specific date pattern record 952 is for storing information set by the specific date pattern registration screen 720 (FIG. 10). Each record includes a pattern number (1 to 4) of the specific date pattern, a pattern name, an array of operation patterns by time according to the pattern, and a last update date of the pattern.

  The day-specific flag record 954 is for storing information set by the day-of-week designation area 842 in the holiday registration screen 830 (FIG. 11). The day-by-day flag record 954 includes seven flags prepared for each day of the week indicating whether or not it is a holiday.

  The period holiday record 956 is for storing information set by the period designation area 844 in the holiday registration screen 830 (FIG. 11). Each record of the period holiday record 956 includes a day-by-day holiday arrangement for the first month, the second month, and the third month of the three-month period corresponding to the record, and last registered date and time information.

<Program structure>
In the following description, in order to simplify the description, only the configuration in the case of setting the energy saving operation pattern of the image forming apparatus 100 from the external PC via the web server 280 will be described. In the apparatus 100, an energy saving operation pattern can be set by interactive processing using the touch panel display 130. When the browser is activated on the touch panel display 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 and the web server 280 is accessed, a program for performing stand-alone settings in the image forming apparatus 100 is not necessary.

  Referring to FIG. 18, the program for realizing display processing unit 286 shown in FIG. 6 is called and started from a menu screen displayed by logging into the web server of image forming apparatus 100. This program reads step 330 for reading out the setting relating to the energy saving operation pattern among the settings of the image forming apparatus 100 from the setting storage unit 282 shown in FIG. 6, step 332 for outputting the header portion of the screen shown in FIG. Step 334 for reading the schedule of the energy saving operation pattern being executed by the image forming apparatus 100 from the pattern storage unit 278, and a document for displaying the energy saving operation pattern table 358 of FIG. 8 based on the information read in step 334 Are generated and output, and step 338 is executed to output the tail portion of the screen shown in FIG.

  In the system of the present embodiment, the program is configured so that a document transmitted to the PC via the web server 280 by this program becomes a web document, and the screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the PC by a normal web browser. Can be displayed.

  Referring to FIG. 19, the program routine of step 336 shown in FIG. 18 is called as a subroutine here because it is called by a process different from this process. When this processing is realized using a script-type programming language, this part of the program is actually made an independent file, and the script in this file is included in another program at the time of execution. Is preferred.

  In order to display the energy saving operation pattern table 358 in the web document, this program performs step 400 of outputting a table start tag and steps 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412 described below for all time zones. Step 402 for creating the table body by repeating the above, and Step 414 for outputting the table end tag and completing the processing after the repetition of Step 402 is completed.

  The processing executed for each time zone in Step 402 includes a step 404 for outputting a start tag of a line displaying information on the time zone, a step 406 for outputting characters indicating the time zone, and Monday through Sunday. Step 408 for creating one row of the table relating to a specific time zone by repeating the following step 410 for each day of the week, and step 412 for outputting a line end tag indicating the end of the row created by step 408, including. In step 410, a start tag and an end tag are output for each cell. At this time, the horizontal width of the cell is designated as a fixed value, and the background color of the cell is assigned to the time zone of the day by pattern. The information to be specified according to the energy saving operation pattern is embedded in the start tag.

  By executing the program of FIG. 19, a display like the energy saving operation pattern table 358 shown in FIG. 8 can be realized.

(Registration program)
The registration program shown in FIG. 20 is started by the web server 280 when the registration button 350 or the registration button 380 shown in FIG. 8 is pressed. At this time, parameters corresponding to the values set for the elements on the screen of FIG. 8 are passed as arguments to the program. The arguments include information on whether the auto mode or manual mode is specified as the operation mode, the user pattern name selected when the manual mode is specified, and whether to edit the user pattern. Flag (state of check box 360), energy saving pattern name (selection result of pull-down menu 362 for selecting energy saving mode), day of the week (pull-down menu 364 for selecting day of the week) which is effective when the check box 360 is checked. Selection time), the start time (start time pull-down menu 366) and the end time (end time pull-down menu 368) of the time zone to be set. The information in the pattern name field 372 is not passed to this program.

  The registration program determines whether the auto mode is designated or the manual mode is designated based on the argument, and a step of storing 1 in the auto flag of the setting storage unit 282 when the auto mode is designated. And step 424 for updating the energy saving operation pattern based on the latest job log by executing 422 and auto pattern update processing (processing by the auto pattern update unit 274 in FIG. 6).

  The program further includes step 426 for storing 0 in the auto flag of the setting storage unit 282 in FIG. 6 when the operation mode is determined not to be auto in step 420, and a user pattern designated by the user based on the argument. Is read from the user pattern storage unit 284 of FIG. 6 and written to the pattern storage unit 278, and step 430 is stored in the setting storage unit 282 of the pattern name of the written user pattern.

  In this program, after step 424 and step 430, the flow of control is merged, and step 432 for reading the current energy saving operation pattern stored in the pattern storage unit 278 is executed, and the result and the setting storage unit According to the setting conditions stored in 282, step 434 for outputting the header portion of the energy saving setting screen shown in FIG. 8, step 436 for creating the energy saving operation pattern table 358, and outputting the tail portion, the process is terminated. Step 438. In step 436, the program shown in FIG. 19 is executed.

(User pattern storage program)
The user pattern saving program shown in FIG. 21 is called by the web server 280 when the save button 374 is pressed in FIG. At this time, the arguments passed to this program are a specific value of the energy saving pattern corresponding to the displayed energy saving operation pattern table 358 and the user pattern name input in the pattern name field 372.

  This program is input when there is a step 450 for determining whether or not a user pattern with the same name is stored in the user pattern storage unit 284 (see FIG. 6) based on the argument, and when the same name exists. Step 452 of updating the user pattern having the same name as the user pattern name with the pattern represented by the energy saving operation pattern table 358, and when the same name does not exist, the pattern represented by the energy saving operation pattern table 358 is updated by the user pattern storage unit. Step 454 to be added to H.284 and step 456 to save the added pattern name in the index area of the user pattern storage unit 284 are included.

  In this program, after steps 452 and 456, the flow of control is merged, and in step 458, the user pattern updated in step 452 or added in step 454 is read from the user pattern storage unit 284, and this user pattern is read. Is used to output the header portion (step 460), the table is created and output (step 462), the tail portion is output (step 464), and the processing is terminated. As a result of this processing, the user pattern designated to be saved by the user is saved in the user pattern storage unit 284, and an energy saving operation pattern table 358 according to the saved user pattern is displayed on the energy saving setting screen.

(Pattern update)
Referring to FIG. 22, the program that realizes update processing unit 288 shown in FIG. 6 is activated when update button 352 or update button 382 shown in FIG. 8 is pressed. This program executes step 480 for determining whether the designated operation mode is the auto mode or the manual mode based on the argument received from the mode selection radio button 354, and is being executed when the designated operation mode is the auto mode. When the energy saving operation pattern is read from the pattern storage unit 278 and when the designated operation mode is the manual mode (when the determination at step 480 is negative), the user pattern name setting pull-down menu 356 Step 484 for determining whether or not a user pattern having a pattern name as an argument exists in the user pattern storage unit 284, and when there is a user pattern having a designated pattern name, the pattern is read from the user pattern storage unit 284. Step 486 and the user of the specified pattern name And a step 500 of outputting the error for the header portion when there is no pattern.

  In this program, after step 482 and step 486, the control flow is merged, and in step 488, the header portion is output. Thereafter, the table is created and output in step 502, the tail portion is output in step 504, and the execution of this program is terminated. When a user pattern having the designated pattern name does not exist (when the determination at step 484 is negative), after executing step 500, the control merges with step 502.

(Table update program)
Referring to FIG. 23, the program for realizing table update processing unit 294 in FIG. 6 is activated when table update button 370 in FIG. 8 is pressed. In FIG. 8, the pull-down menu 362 for energy saving mode selection, the pull-down menu 364 for day selection, the start time pull-down menu 366, the end time pull-down menu 368, and the table update button 370 are checked when the check box 360 is checked. Only active. When the check box 360 is not checked, these are not active, so the table update button 370 is not pressed and the program of FIG. 23 is not executed. When this program is started, the table data, the energy saving pattern name, the day of the week, the start time, and the end time that are the basis of the energy saving operation pattern table 358 are passed from the web server 280 as arguments.

  This program saves the energy saving operation pattern in the range specified by the start time and the end time of the day of the week specified by the argument among the energy saving operation pattern data displayed in the energy saving operation pattern table 358 by the energy saving pattern name. Step 520 for replacing with the energy saving operation pattern shown, Step 522 for outputting the header portion based on the data of the energy saving operation pattern updated in this way, Step 524 for creating and outputting the energy saving operation pattern table 358, and the tail Step 526 is included to output the portion and end processing.

(Auto pattern update program)
Referring to FIG. 24, a program for realizing auto pattern update unit 274 shown in FIG. 6 is periodically executed by timer 276 shown in FIG. In the system according to the present embodiment, this auto pattern update process is executed even when the auto flag is 0, that is, when the energy saving operation pattern is not automatically learned from the operation status of the image forming apparatus 100. Save the results. By doing this, even when operating manually, the energy saving operation pattern updated according to the actual operation status can be displayed, and can be referred to when the administrator sets the image forming apparatus 100. .

  This program reads step 540 for reading all job logs for the immediately preceding predetermined period (for example, one week) using the date and time of the job log stored in the log storage unit 272 as a key, and a specific date information record 950 shown in FIG. Referring to step 970 for determining whether or not a specific date has been specified and branching the control flow according to the determination result, and when the determination in step 970 is affirmative, the specific date shown in FIG. A pattern record 952, a day-by-day flag record 954, and a period holiday record 956 are read, and a job log of a day not designated as a specific day by these records and a job log of a day designated as a specific day Use only the job log for the time period set to “according to the weekly schedule”, and output the image forming apparatus 100 by day of the week and time period. Based on the job log read at step 540 and the number of jobs, the number of jobs, and the waiting time, the number of output sheets of recording sheets by the image forming apparatus 100, the number of processed jobs, And step 542 for calculating the operating rate by totaling the total waiting time.

  In step 972, when a specific day is set, the auto pattern update unit 274 further reads a specific day pattern record 952, a day-by-day flag record 954, and a period holiday record 956 from the specific day information 940. Further, the auto pattern update unit 274 specifies the day on which the specific day pattern is set based on the read information and the specific pattern is specified. At this time, by referring to the date of the specific day information record 950 and the information read from the day-by-day flag record 954 and the period holiday record 956, the day specified as the specific day in the specific day information record 950 is a holiday. Determine whether or not. When it is determined that the specific day falls on a holiday, it is further determined by referring to the holiday operation flag of the specific date information record 950 whether the specific date is to be advanced, to be decreased, or not to be the specific date.

  After determining the day for executing the schedule for the specific day in this way, the auto pattern update unit 274 sets the time set to “according to weekly setting” among the days for executing the schedule for the specific day. Based on the logs acquired in step 540, the number of output sheets of the image forming apparatus 100, the number of jobs, and the standby time are tabulated for each day of the week and for each time zone for all the time zones that are not designated as specific days. (Step 972). From the result obtained by this processing, the operation rate of the image forming apparatus 100 can be calculated for each of the time zone in which “according to weekly setting” is set on a specific day and all time zones other than the specific day.

  This program is further executed after step 972 is executed or after step 542 is executed, and for each time zone of each day of the week, step 544 for repeating processing 546 described later, and setting storage unit 282 (FIG. 6). Step 562 for determining whether or not the auto flag stored in the reference) is 1, and when the auto flag is 1, the energy saving operation pattern stored in the pattern storage unit 278 with the energy saving operation pattern created in step 544 And the process ends, and when the auto flag is 0, the energy saving operation pattern created in step 544 is added and stored in the user pattern storage unit 284 as a backup, and the process ends. including. Thus, the energy saving operation pattern stored in the user pattern storage unit 284 is automatically learned, but can be handled in the same manner as the user pattern.

  The processing 546 executed for each time zone of each day of the week in step 544 executes steps 548, 550, 552, 554, 556, 558 and 560 described below for each time zone of the day of the week.

  The process 546 determines whether or not the number of output sheets, the number of jobs, and the waiting time counted for the time zone of the day of the week satisfy any of the conditions for setting the operation rate to “high”; When it is determined in step 548 that the condition is satisfied, the energy saving operation pattern for the corresponding time zone on the corresponding day is set to “high performance”, and the processing for this time zone is terminated on this day of the week. When it is determined in step 550 that the condition is not satisfied, step 550 for determining whether the total result corresponds to one of the conditions for setting the operation rate “somewhat high” and the condition is satisfied in step 550 Step 558 for setting the energy saving operation pattern for the corresponding time zone of the corresponding day to “performance” and ending the processing for this day of the week. When it is determined in step 550 that the condition is not satisfied, step 552 determines whether the total result corresponds to one of the conditions for setting the operation rate to “medium”, and the condition is satisfied in step 552 When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, the energy saving operation pattern of the corresponding time zone of the corresponding day of the week is set to “balance”, and the processing of this time zone is terminated at step 560 and the determination at step 552 that the condition is not satisfied. The power saving operation pattern for the corresponding time zone of the corresponding day is set to “power saving” and the processing for this time zone is terminated on this day of the week.

(Specific day setting screen generation program)
A program that realizes the process of displaying the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 (corresponding to the function of the specific date setting screen generation unit 302) when the button 660 or 662 shown in FIG. 8 is pressed is as follows. It has a simple control structure. This program includes a script that operates on the server side and can switch and display the specific day registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9, the specific day pattern registration screen 720 shown in FIG. 10, and the holiday registration screen 830 shown in FIG. It has a function of generating an HTML source and transmitting it to the partner terminal via the web server 280.

  Referring to FIG. 25, this program reads out specific date information 940 (see FIG. 17) from specific date information storage unit 304 shown in FIG. Based on the information read from the information record 950, a step 992 for generating an HTML source for displaying the specific date registration screen 680 (FIG. 9), and a specific date pattern record 952 among the information read by the step 990 is shown. Step 994 for generating an HTML source for displaying the specific day pattern registration screen 720 (FIG. 10) based on the information read out from, and among the information read out in Step 990, the day-specific flag record 954 and the period Based on the information read from the holiday record 956, a holiday registration screen 830 (see FIG. 11) is displayed. HTML code for generating the HTML source to be executed and the script that is first displayed on the specific date registration screen 680 is executed when the HTML source generated in this way is displayed on the browser of the counterpart terminal. A step 998 of writing a specific variable and its value in the document and a step 1000 of transmitting the HTML source form thus generated to the partner terminal via the web server and terminating the process are included.

  The specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9, the specific date pattern registration screen 720 shown in FIG. 10, and the holiday registration screen 830 shown in FIG. 11 are screens each displaying an HTML source composed of one or more forms. Each form describes a file name of a program to be executed next via the web server 280 when a predetermined button or the like in the form is pressed. When the button is pressed, the file name to be executed next is transmitted to the web server together with the data to be processed by the program and processed. Such processing is well known as form processing by a web server.

  The specific date registration screen 680, the specific date pattern registration screen 720, and the holiday registration screen 830 are switched by pressing the specific date tab 710, the pattern tab 712, and the holiday tab 714 as described above. In this switching, UI parts constituting each screen are grouped by screen, and when a certain tab is pressed, only UI parts of the screen corresponding to the tab are displayed, and UI parts of other screens are displayed. It is only necessary to set the properties of each UI component so as not to be performed. This process is realized by a script executed by the browser on the terminal side. However, the script itself is created on the image forming apparatus 100 side in the program shown in FIG. 25 and embedded in the HTML source.

  Of course, the specific day registration screen 680, the specific day pattern registration screen 720, and the holiday registration screen 830 may all be created by separate programs. In this case, each time a tab is pressed on the browser of the counterpart terminal, the corresponding program is executed by the image forming apparatus 100, and a screen corresponding to the pressed tab may be transmitted to the browser of the counterpart terminal.

  The specific day pattern registration screen 720 in FIG. 10 and the holiday registration screen 830 in FIG. 11 can be realized in the same way as a master maintenance program in a normal system. However, in the case of the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9, in this embodiment, in addition to the processing for normal master maintenance, a default specific date pattern is generated for user assistance when creating a specific date pattern. It is conceivable to execute processing.

  A user who sets a specific date and a specific time zone needs to set both the specification of the specific date and the specific date and the operation pattern at that date and time. Although the specific date and the specific date and time can be set relatively easily, the user may not be able to clearly know what operation pattern is appropriate for the date and time. In such a case, in the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 automatically provides a certain default operation pattern. By mounting such a function on the image forming apparatus 100, the burden on the user can be reduced. Moreover, since the default value is obtained by processing the job log, it may not be completely matched with the user's intention, but can be set to a value of “do not hit or stay away”.

  In this case, as described above, in the present embodiment, the specific date is specified in units of months. Therefore, it is necessary to count the default pattern on a monthly basis, not on a weekly basis like a normal energy saving operation pattern. A control structure of a program that executes such processing will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Specifically, as one method for realizing this processing, an item “default setting” is provided in the pull-down menu 734 in the specific date registration screen 680 in FIG. 9 as described above. When the user selects “default setting” from the pull-down menu 734 and presses the “registration button 692”, a default operation pattern is generated by a program showing a control structure below, and is set as an operation pattern for a specified specific day. .

(Registration on a specific day)
The program having the control structure shown in FIG. 26 (implementing a function corresponding to the specific date registration unit 300 in FIG. 6) is displayed when the user presses the registration button 692 on the specific date registration screen 680 in FIG. It is executed by the forming apparatus 100. Referring to FIG. 26, this program determines whether or not the check box 730 (see FIG. 9) of the first specific day is checked, and if it is not checked, the process for the first specific day is skipped. Step 1020 for proceeding to the processing on the second specific day, step 1022 for determining whether or not a default menu is designated by the pull-down menu 734 when the determination at step 1020 is affirmative, and determination at step 1022 When affirmative, step 1024 (a function corresponding to the default pattern creation unit 306 in FIG. 6) for generating a default pattern for the first specific date is realized by executing a predetermined routine (described later). ). A temporary pattern number is assigned to the default pattern generated here, and a corresponding specific day pattern record is temporarily generated. If the determination in step 1022 is negative, control proceeds to step 1026. Similarly, when the determination in step 1022 is negative and the execution of step 1024 is completed, the control proceeds to step 1026. In step 1026, the record of the first specific day is updated according to the input. At this time, if any one of the specific date patterns is specified by the pull-down menu 734, the specific date pattern is substituted into the “use pattern number” of the specific date information record 950. If the default pattern is specified by the pull-down menu 734, the temporary pattern number of the default pattern generated in step 1024 is specified as “use number”.

  When the process of step 1026 ends, control proceeds to step 1028. Also when the determination at step 1020 is negative, the control proceeds to step 1028. In step 1028, the same processing as steps 1020 to 1026 is performed on the second specific day. The processing target at this time is information input to the second specific date information designation area 696 in FIG.

  Similarly, when the process for the second specific day is completed, in step 1030, the process for the third specific day is performed. The processing target is information input to the third specific date information designation area 698 in FIG.

  When step 1030 ends, in step 1032, the screen of the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed with contents corresponding to the processing results in steps 1020 to 1030. When the default patterns are specified, they need to be corrected by the specific date pattern registration screen 720 shown in FIG. 10 and assigned to the first to fifth specific date patterns. A message to this effect may be displayed and the pattern number temporarily assigned to the default pattern may be highlighted. The user views the temporary pattern number, specifies the temporary pattern number in the pull-down menu 792 in FIG. 10 and clicks the copy execution button 794, thereby specifying the first to fifth specific day patterns. It is possible to set the initial value according to the default pattern, and to correct the desired pattern.

  It is necessary to delete the default pattern created in this way. The timing of deletion can be, for example, when the default pattern number is not stored in any of the specific day pattern numbers of the first to third specific days.

  Referring to FIG. 27, in step 1024 of FIG. 26, a program having the following control structure is executed. Referring to FIG. 27, in step 1050, logs for the past month are read from the job logs stored in log storage unit 272 of FIG. In the following step 1052, the number of sheets output by the image forming apparatus 100, the number of jobs processed by the image forming apparatus 100, and the waiting time of the image forming apparatus 100 are totaled for each time zone corresponding to the day designated as the specific day. . Thereafter, in step 1054, predetermined processing is performed for each time slot.

  The processing performed for each time slot in step 1054 corresponds to one of the conditions for setting the operation rate “high” in the processing target time slot among the results totaled in step 1052. Step 1054 for determining whether or not the condition is satisfied in step 1054, the energy saving operation pattern for the corresponding time zone is set to “high performance” and the processing for this time zone is terminated when it is determined that the condition is satisfied. When it is determined in step 1054 that the condition is not satisfied, in step 1060 and step 1060, it is determined whether or not the aggregation result corresponds to one of the conditions for setting the operation rate “slightly high”. When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, set the energy saving operation pattern for the corresponding time zone to “Performance” and end the processing for this time zone. Steps 1064 and 1064 for determining whether or not the total result corresponds to one of the conditions for setting the operation rate to “medium” when it is determined in Step 1062 and Step 1060 that the condition is not satisfied. When it is determined that the condition is satisfied in step 1066, the energy saving operation pattern for the corresponding time zone is set to “balance”, and the processing in this time zone is ended. In step 1066, it is determined that the condition is not satisfied. And the step 1068 of setting the energy saving operation pattern of the corresponding time zone to “power saving” and ending the processing of this time zone.

  When the processing of steps 1056 to 1068 is completed for all the time zones in step 1054, a temporary pattern number is attached to this pattern in step 1070 and output to the pattern storage unit 278 in FIG. The name and the pattern number are output to the specific date information storage unit 304, and the process ends. The temporary pattern number is returned to the parent routine shown in FIG. 26, and is substituted into the pattern number of the first specific day in step 1026, for example.

(Special day assistance function)
FIG. 28 is a flowchart of a computer program for realizing the specific day auxiliary unit 308 shown in FIG. This program is activated by the web server 280 when the user sets a specific date and presses the start button 708 in the specific date auxiliary area 700 of the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. At the time of activation, information specifying the designated date is sent from the counterpart terminal to this program via the web server 280.

  Referring to FIG. 28, this program determines, based on the information received from the counterpart terminal, step 1072 for determining which day is the “specific date” to be determined, and among the logs for the past three months, Based on the log corresponding to the day determined in 1027 (if it is the first day of every month, “1 day” for the past three months) from the log storage unit 272 and the log read in step 1074, Step 1076 for creating pattern A as shown in FIG. 13 and step 1078 for creating pattern B 610 as shown in FIG. 14 by comparing pattern A created in step 1076 with each other, And step 1080 of substituting 0 into a variable indicating “number”. The total number of non-matching cells is a time zone in which all of the energy saving patterns for each time zone of pattern B610 are inconsistent when compared with the corresponding time zones of the energy saving operation patterns obtained as pattern A. The number of This number is calculated by the process described below.

  This program further repeats the following processing 1084 for each time zone of the pattern B610, so that the energy saving pattern in the time zone of the pattern B610 is the same as the time zone of the energy saving operation pattern of the pattern A. Step 1082 for calculating the number of different time zones (referred to as “total number of unmatched cells”), and after step 1082, it is determined whether or not the number of all unmatched cells calculated in step 1082 is greater than 3. If the determinations in step 1086 and step 1086 are affirmative, a pattern such as pattern D shown in FIG. 16 is generated from pattern B 610 and proposed to the user (administrator) via web server 280 for processing. Ending step 1088. If the determination in step 1086 is negative, in the present embodiment, a message indicating that the day specified in step 1090 is not appropriate as the specific day is displayed on the partner terminal via the web server 280, and the process is terminated. . Note that “3”, which is the threshold value for determination in step 1086, is an example, and is not limited to this number. Preferably, this value can be set by the user.

  FIG. 29 shows a screen displayed on the partner terminal in step 1088. Referring to FIG. 29, in this example, as a result of processing by the specific day auxiliary unit 308 for the day specified by the user (for example, the first day of every month), it is determined that it is appropriate to register this screen as the specific day. This is a specific date registration screen 1150 that is created in step 1088 of FIG. 28 and displayed on the browser screen of the partner terminal via the web server 280.

  The specific day registration screen 1150 includes a message indicating that it is determined to be appropriate to register the specified day as the specific day, the energy saving operation pattern 1160 generated by the specific day auxiliary unit 308, and the specified specific A registration button 1162 that asks the user to perform an operation of registering the energy saving operation pattern 1160 as the energy saving operation pattern, and a cancel button 1164 that the user operates when the specified date is not registered. Is displayed.

  When the user presses the registration button 1162, the specified date is set as the specific date, the displayed energy saving operation pattern 1160 is set as the energy saving operation pattern, and a request to be registered is sent to the specific date update unit 310 via the web server 280. Sent. In response to this request, the specific date update unit 310 adds a record for the specified date to the specific date information record 950 in FIG. 17 and a specific date pattern to the specific date pattern record 952 respectively. As a result, the image forming apparatus is set to operate with the specified energy saving operation pattern on the specified date. At this time, the specific date update unit 310 sets the usage flag of the specific date information record 950 to ON, sets the date to the specified date, and sets the usage pattern number to the specific date pattern record 952 as a new record. Set to the pattern number. A default value is set for the holiday operation flag. The last update date is the date when this process is executed. On the other hand, as a pattern number of the specific day pattern record 952, a number that is determined according to a predetermined agreement and does not overlap with an existing one is assigned. The pattern name is the same. The hourly pattern arrangement is set according to the contents shown in the energy saving operation pattern 1160 of FIG. The last update date is the date when this process is executed.

  The cancel button 1164 is associated with the specific date setting screen generation unit 302 in the present embodiment, and when the user presses the cancel button 1164, the specific date setting screen generation unit 302 is activated, for example, the specific date registration screen of FIG. 680 is displayed on the partner terminal.

  On the other hand, the screen displayed in step 1090 is not particularly shown. For example, a message such as “The specified day is not valid as a specific day” may be displayed at the bottom of FIG.

<Operation>
The image forming apparatus 100 operates as follows. In the following description, only the operation related to the energy saving setting unit 260 among the functions of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described, and the operations of other normal functions will not be repeated.

<Collecting logs>
When the power of the image forming apparatus 100 is turned on, the log acquisition unit 270 starts acquiring the job log of the image forming apparatus 100. The job log is stored in the log storage unit 272.

<Automatic pattern update processing>
The timer 276 measures time, and activates the auto pattern update unit 274 every hour.

  Referring to FIG. 24, auto pattern update unit 274 acquires logs for a predetermined period (one week in the system of the present embodiment) from log storage unit 272 (step 540), and performs the following processing: do. First, the auto pattern update unit 274 counts the number of output sheets of the image forming apparatus 100, the number of jobs, and the standby time for each day of the week and each time period based on the acquired log (step 542). From the result obtained by this process, the operating rate can be calculated. Further, steps 548 to 554 are repeated for each day of the week from Monday to Sunday. With this process, an energy saving operation pattern for each time zone of each day of the week is set.

  Subsequently, at step 562, it is determined whether or not the auto flag is equal to 1. If the result is positive, the energy saving operation pattern stored in the pattern storage unit 278 is updated with the newly calculated energy saving operation pattern (step 564), and the process is terminated. If the result of step 566 is negative, the newly calculated energy saving operation pattern is stored in the user pattern storage unit 284 as a backup pattern (step 566), and the process is terminated.

  This is the end of the update processing of the pattern storage unit 278.

<Display and update of energy-saving operation pattern>
When the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 100 from the administrator PC 190 shown in FIG. 5, for example, a management menu of the image forming apparatus 100 is displayed on the screen of the administrator PC 190 (not shown). In this menu, an item “display and update of energy saving operation pattern” is displayed. When the user selects this item, this request is given to the display processing unit 286 by the web server 280 shown in FIG. That is, the program shown in FIG. 18 is started.

  First, the display processing unit 286 reads various settings stored in the setting storage unit 282 (step 330 in FIG. 18). This setting includes an operating rate calculation table, an energy saving pattern setting table, an auto flag, and an energy saving operation pattern currently used. Subsequently, the display processing unit 286 creates and outputs a header portion of the energy saving setting screen shown in FIG. 5 based on the read setting (step 332). This output is transmitted to the administrator's PC 190 via the web server 280 and displayed by a web browser operating on the administrator's PC 190. In step 334, the display processing unit 286 reads the currently executing energy saving operation pattern from the pattern storage unit 278 (step 334). In accordance with the read energy saving operation pattern, the display of the energy saving operation pattern table 358 of FIG. 8 is created and output in step 336. This display is also transmitted to the administrator's PC 190 via the web server 280, and the browser of the administrator's PC 190 additionally displays it on the screen. As a result, the header portion and the energy saving operation pattern table 358 (see FIG. 8) are displayed in the browser window of the administrator PC 190. Further, the display processing unit 286 outputs the tail portion. This display is also given to the browser of the administrator's PC 190 via the web server 280 and displayed. As a result, a screen as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the administrator PC 190.

  When creating the display data, the display processing unit 286 displays the mode selection radio button 354 and the user pattern name setting pull-down menu 356 according to the settings. The check box 360 is not checked, and the pull-down menu 362 for energy saving mode selection, the pull-down menu 364 for day selection, the start time pull-down menu 366, the end time pull-down menu 368 and the table update button 370 are not active. The layout is displayed.

  Here, as the operations that the user can perform, (A) switching between auto mode and manual mode (switching of modes), (B) editing and saving of user patterns, (C) energy saving operation patterns set in the image forming apparatus 100 There is a change (registration). These will be described below.

(A) Mode switching When switching the mode to be used, the user presses the radio button of the mode to be selected from among the mode selection radio buttons 354. When the selected mode is the manual mode, it is further selected which pattern is used in the pull-down menu 356 for setting the user pattern name.

  When the user presses the update button 352, the update processing unit 288 shown in FIG. 6 is activated, and the energy saving operation pattern table 358 is updated as follows.

  Referring to FIG. 22, at step 480, it is determined whether or not the selected mode is the auto mode. When the result is affirmative, the current energy saving operation pattern is read from the pattern storage unit 278, and when the result is negative, the user pattern specified by the user pattern name setting pull-down menu 356 is read from the user pattern storage unit 284. .

  After step 482 and step 486, the control flow is merged, the header portion is output at step 488, the energy saving operation pattern table 358 is output at step 502, and the tail portion is output at step 504, according to the read pattern. To finish the process.

  With this processing, when the auto mode is designated, the energy saving operation pattern learned from the log is displayed in the energy saving operation pattern table 358. When the manual mode is designated, the designated user pattern is displayed in the energy saving operation pattern table 358. Is displayed.

(B) Editing and saving a user pattern When a schedule of an energy saving operation pattern is displayed in the energy saving operation pattern table 358, when the user clicks the check box 360, the check box 360 is checked, and an energy saving mode selection is made. A pull-down menu 362, a pull-down menu 364 for selecting a day of the week, a start time pull-down menu 366, an end time pull-down menu 368, and a table update button 370 are activated. This processing is executed not on the server side but on the web browser side of the client.

  The user designates the day of the cell desired to be set from the cells displayed in the energy saving operation pattern table 358 by using the pull-down menu 364 for selecting the day of the week, and sets the time zone to the start time pull-down menu 366 and the end time pull-down menu. The energy saving pattern to be set in the cell is set by the pull-down menu 362 for energy saving mode selection. When the table update button 370 is pressed, a table update request is transmitted to the server, and processing for updating the table is executed in accordance with user input. That is, the table update processing unit 294 shown in FIG. 6 is activated and the program shown in FIG. 23 is executed.

  Referring to FIG. 23, among the data currently displayed in energy saving operation pattern table 358, a value indicating the specified energy saving operation pattern is input to each cell of the day of the week and time zone specified by the user input ( Step 520). Subsequently, in steps 522, 524, and 526, the screen shown in FIG. 8 is created again according to the corrected value, and is displayed on the browser of the client via the web server 280.

  When the user repeats the above process and creates a desired pattern, the user stores the user pattern in the user pattern storage unit 284. For this purpose, the user displays a desired user pattern name in the pattern name field 372 and presses a save button 374 shown in FIG. As a result, a user pattern saving request is transmitted to the web server 280, and the user pattern saving processing unit 292 is activated. The user pattern storage processing unit 292 executes the program shown in FIG. In the pattern name field 372, the user pattern name displayed in the energy saving operation pattern table 358 is displayed by default.

  Referring to FIG. 21, in step 450, it is determined whether or not a user pattern having the same name as the user pattern name input by the user is already stored in user pattern storage unit 284. If the result is positive, the user pattern with the same name stored in the user pattern storage unit 284 is updated with the user pattern input by the user (step 452). If the result of step 450 is negative, a new user pattern is added to the user pattern storage unit 284 (step 454), and the user pattern name designated by the user is stored in the index of the user pattern storage unit 284 (step 456). .

  After steps 452 and 456, the control flow merges, and the pattern updated in step 452 or the pattern added in step 454 is read from the user pattern storage unit 284 (step 458), and steps 460, 462, and 464 are performed. In accordance with this pattern, an energy saving setting screen is created and displayed on the browser of the administrator PC 190, and the process ends.

  This completes the editing and saving of the user pattern.

(C) Setting of Energy Saving Operation Pattern When the pattern called by the update button 352 is set in the image forming apparatus 100, the user presses the registration button 350. As a result, a pattern registration request is sent to the web server 280 shown in FIG. 6, and the registration processing unit 290 is activated. The registration processing unit 290 executes a program whose control structure is shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 20, in the registration process, it is determined whether the energy saving operation mode designated by the user is the auto mode or the manual mode (step 420). If the result is affirmative, the auto flag stored in the setting storage unit 282 is updated to 1 (step 422), and the auto pattern update process shown in FIG. 24 is executed (step 424). If the result of step 420 is negative, the auto flag is updated to 0 (step 426), the user pattern designated by the user is written to the pattern storage unit 278 (step 428), and the pattern name of the written pattern is currently executed. The pattern name is stored in the setting storage unit 282.

  After step 424 and step 430, the flow of control merges, the currently executing pattern is read from the pattern storage unit 278 (step 432), and in steps 434, 436 and 438, an energy saving setting screen (FIG. 8) is created, transmitted to the client, and the process is terminated.

  In such a system according to the present embodiment, the energy saving operation pattern is automatically determined in units of weeks. Since a significant part of business activities are conducted on a weekly basis, it is reasonable to determine patterns in this way on a weekly basis. However, not all business activities are performed on a weekly basis, and it may be better to specify an energy saving operation pattern on a monthly basis, for example, when a specific day of each month is a busy day for business. In addition, there may be a case where the energy saving operation pattern has to be determined in an annual cycle. When there is such a day, the energy saving operation pattern determined on a weekly basis as described above is often not appropriate. Therefore, for example, the energy saving operation pattern may be set manually only on such days.

  However, if the method of automatically learning the energy saving operation pattern and the method of manually setting the energy saving operation pattern only on a specific day are used in this way, the learning accuracy of the energy saving operation pattern is reduced. There is a problem.

  For example, even if it is a day of the week (for example, Wednesday) that is normally set in a pattern that prioritizes energy saving operation, it may become busy at the end of the month. In order to deal with such circumstances, when the end of the month is Wednesday, it is assumed that the energy saving operation pattern is set manually only on that day.

  However, in this case, the following problems occur. That is, assume that the end of the month happens to be Wednesday. Since it was busy at the end of the month, quite a lot of logs are recorded. Next, when it is time to automatically set the energy saving pattern on Wednesday, the Wednesday log at the end of this month is read out along with the log on the other day (assuming it was not so busy) as the Wednesday log. Based on the above, an energy saving operation pattern for Wednesday is set. As a result, even if it is a day of the week that is not so busy, if there is a day when the end of the month occurs during the log period for setting the energy saving operation pattern, the energy saving operation pattern is changed from the original energy saving priority setting. There is a possibility of shifting in the direction of setting priority for efficiency.

  In order to efficiently save energy, it is necessary to avoid such problems. Also, it is desirable that the user's work for that purpose be as simple as possible. Furthermore, there is a problem of holidays in corporate activities. For example, in the above example, even if the end of the month is Wednesday, if the day happens to be a corporate holiday, it will not always be busy. Probably the day before will be a busy day. Conversely, the day after the holiday may be busy. In some cases, the system can be busy despite corporate holidays. That is, when a specific day as described above falls on a holiday, there is a problem of how to process the log and calculate the energy saving pattern.

  In such a case, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment operates as follows to cope with the above-described problem.

<Registration on a specific day>
When a user who registers on a specific day accesses the web server of the image forming apparatus 100 from a browser on the PC 190, for example, an energy saving setting screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. Of the various UI components displayed on this screen, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when a button other than the buttons 660 and 662 is operated is the same as the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 of the system according to the present embodiment. Assume that the user clicks button 660 or 662.

  By this operation, a request specifying the file name of the program for realizing the specific date setting screen generation unit 302 is transmitted from the browser of the PC 190 to the web server 280 of the image forming apparatus 100. Upon receiving this request, the web server 280 selects an execution system of the program according to the extension of the designated file name, and passes the file name to the execution system. The execution system that has received the file name reads the file specified by the file name from the hard disk 168 (see FIG. 4), analyzes the script included in the file, and executes it. Of course, depending on the execution system, the specified file may be a binary object file.

  The program associated with the button 660 or 662 shows the control structure in FIG. When the CPU 166 (see FIG. 4) executes this program, the specific date setting screen generation unit 302 in FIG. 6 is realized. 25 is executed by the CPU 166, and an HTML source for displaying the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 is created and transmitted to the browser of the PC 190. A specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the browser of the PC 190. Here, the HTML source transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 to the PC 190 is not only the HMTL source for displaying the specific date registration screen 680, but also the specific date pattern registration screen 720 in FIG. 10 and the holiday registration in FIG. A script for switching the screen on the client side by operating the HTML source for displaying the screen 830 and the specific date tab 710, the pattern tab 712, and the holiday tab 714 is also included. In the state of FIG. 9, only the UI parts constituting the specific date registration screen 680 are displayed, and the other UI parts are not displayed. If the pattern tab 712 is pressed, the UI parts constituting the specific day registration screen 680 and the holiday registration screen 830 are hidden, and only the UI parts constituting the specific day pattern registration screen 720 are displayed. When the holiday tab 714 is pressed, only UI parts constituting the holiday registration screen 830 are displayed, and UI parts constituting the specific day registration screen 680 and the specific day pattern registration screen 720 are hidden.

  Referring to FIG. 9, it is assumed that the user checks a check box 730, sets a specific date in a specific date setting area 732, and designates “default pattern” in a pull-down menu 734. Here, it is assumed that “advance” is selected as the operation when the specific day falls on a holiday. After setting these, the user clicks a registration button 692.

  The registration button 692 is associated with the program whose control structure is shown in FIG. 26, and a request specifying the file name of this program is transmitted from the PC 190 to the image forming apparatus 100. In the image forming apparatus 100, a program whose control structure is shown in FIG. 26 is executed. In this example, step 1024 is executed via the paths of steps 1020 and 1022.

  In step 1024, a program whose control structure is shown in FIG. 27 is executed. In steps 1050 and 1052, the job log of the specific date specified in the specific date setting area 732 in FIG. 9 (corresponding date one month before in this embodiment) is read from the log storage unit 272 (see FIG. 6), By processing the job log in steps 1054 to 1068, a default pattern is generated. A temporary pattern number is assigned to the default pattern as a pattern number and a pattern name. In step 1024, the generated default pattern record is added to the specific day pattern record 952 of FIG. In the subsequent step 1026, the temporary pattern number assigned to the use flag (ON), date, and default pattern in the record corresponding to the first specific date among the specific date information records 950 in the specific date information storage unit 304. The designated holiday action flag ("0" in this example) and the date and time when this process was executed are recorded.

  In this example, nothing is generated in steps 1028 and 1030. Finally, in step 1032, the same processing as in FIG. 25 is executed again based on the updated information, and an HTML source for displaying the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 is generated and transmitted to the PC 190. Is done.

  As a specific day pattern, not a default pattern but a pattern prepared in advance (first to fifth specific day patterns, all in the second energy saving priority mode (see the description of the radio button 810 in FIG. 10), 8: When any one of the patterns in which 00 to 18:00 is the first energy saving priority mode and 18:00 to 18:00 is the first job start priority mode is selected, the process of step 1024 is not executed. In 1026, the designated pattern number is substituted into the “use pattern number” of the specific date information record 950 corresponding to the first specific date.

  When the user wants to correct the default pattern created for the first specific date, the user presses the pattern tab 712 on the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. Then, a specific date pattern registration screen 720 shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. When the number of the specific day pattern to be corrected is designated by the pull-down menu 770, the registered pattern for the selected specific day pattern is displayed in the schedule display area 790. When the temporary pattern number of the default pattern created for the first specific day is selected from the pull-down menu 792 and the copy execution button 794 is pressed, the schedule display area 790 has already been generated for the first specific day. The default pattern is displayed.

  Using the pull-down menus 812 and 814, the user selects a time zone to be corrected from the operation modes for each time zone displayed in the schedule display area 790, and designates a new operation mode from the radio buttons 810. Then, the add button 816 is pressed. Then, the schedule display area 790 is replaced with the designated operation mode in the designated time zone. If a desired pattern is thus created, the user presses the registration button 692 or 756. Then, in the specific date pattern record 952 shown in FIG. 17, the record of the specific date pattern designated by the pull-down menu 770 of the specific date pattern registration screen 720 is updated according to the input content of the specific date pattern registration screen 720. The display of the specific day pattern registration screen 720 is also updated according to this result.

  After correcting the specific date pattern based on the default pattern in this way, by specifying the corrected specific date pattern in the first specific date pull-down menu 734 on the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. A pattern based on a pattern obtained from the job log of the same month of the previous month can be registered as the energy saving operation pattern of the day designated by the specific day setting area 732.

  When the user wants to change the holiday setting, the user presses the holiday tab 714. Then, a holiday registration screen 830 shown in FIG. 11 is displayed in the browser window. The display content at this time follows the registration content of the day-specific flag record 954 and the period holiday record 956 of the specific day information 940 (FIG. 17). However, the period displayed at this time (specified by the pull-down menu 880) is three months including the work day in this embodiment. When the user checks or unchecks the check box of the day of the week that is desired to be a holiday in the day designation area 842 and presses the registration button 862, the day-by-day flag record 954 is updated according to the operation. When the user operates the pull-down menu 880 in FIG. 11 to select a period to be set, the holiday registration unit 298 reads a record corresponding to the selected period from the period holiday record 956 of the specific date information 940, 844 is updated according to the contents. When the user checks or unchecks each check box in the period designation area 844 and presses the registration button 890, the contents of the record designated by the pull-down menu 880 in the period holiday record 956 of the specific date information 940 are displayed. Is updated according to the contents of the check box field 884. The holiday registration unit 298 updates the holiday registration screen 830 according to the update result.

  When the user views the list of set holidays, the user presses the button 840 on the holiday registration screen 830 in FIG. Then, the holiday registration unit 298 reads the day-by-day flag record 954 and the period holiday record 956 in FIG. 17, generates the HTML source of the holiday list screen 910 shown in FIG. The browser displays this HTML source in a browser window.

  Among the above processes, the specific day pattern registration screen 720 in FIG. 10, the holiday registration screen 830 in FIG. 11, and the holiday list screen 910 in FIG. 12 are generated, the specific day pattern record 952 in FIG. The process of updating 954 and the period holiday record 956 can be easily realized by using a technique for updating the master table in a normal data management system. Since the holiday list screen 910 is generated only by reading data and generating an HTML source, it can be realized more easily than the processes related to the specific day pattern registration screen 720 and the holiday registration screen 830.

<Automatic pattern update processing>
The auto pattern update unit 274 determines whether a specific date has been set in the image forming apparatus 100 based on the read information.

  If the specific date has not been set, control proceeds to step 542.

  When a specific day is set, the auto pattern update unit 274 further reads a specific day pattern record 952, a day-by-day flag record 954, and a period holiday record 956 from the specific day information 940. Further, the auto pattern update unit 274 specifies the day on which the specific day pattern is set based on the read information and the specific pattern is specified. At this time, by referring to the date of the specific day information record 950 and the information read from the day-by-day flag record 954 and the period holiday record 956, the day specified as the specific day in the specific day information record 950 is a holiday. Determine whether or not. When it is determined that the specific day falls on a holiday, it is further determined by referring to the holiday operation flag of the specific date information record 950 whether the specific date is to be advanced, to be decreased, or not to be the specific date.

  After determining the day for executing the schedule for the specific day in this way, the auto pattern update unit 274 sets the time set to “according to weekly setting” among the days for executing the schedule for the specific day. Based on the logs acquired in step 540, the number of output sheets of the image forming apparatus 100, the number of jobs, and the standby time are tabulated for each day of the week and for each time zone for all the time zones that are not designated as specific days. (Step 972). From the result obtained by this processing, the operation rate of the image forming apparatus 100 can be calculated for each of the time zone in which “according to weekly setting” is set on a specific day and all time zones other than the specific day. The subsequent processing is the same as the operation of the auto pattern update unit 274 in the system of the present embodiment.

<Special day assistance function>
When the user designates a date to be considered as a target for the specific date in the specific day auxiliary area 700 of the specific day registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 and presses the start button 708, the user is requested to activate the specific day auxiliary function. A request is sent to the web server 280. This request includes information indicating the date to be examined. The web server 280 sends this request to the specific date auxiliary unit 308 together with information indicating the date to be examined.

  When this request is given, the specific day auxiliary unit 308 determines what date should be considered as the specific day (step 1072 in FIG. 28), and based on the result, the log is recorded in the past three months. Then, the log corresponding to the designated date is read from the log storage unit 272 (FIG. 28, step 1074). Based on this log, the specific day auxiliary unit 308 further calculates the operation status for each corresponding day, and sets an energy saving pattern corresponding to the operation status for each time zone, whereby a pattern ( Pattern A) is created (step 1076 in FIG. 28). The specific day auxiliary unit 308 compares the energy saving operation patterns of the corresponding days included in the pattern A with each other so that the power saving patterns coincide with each other for the time zones of the energy saving patterns of the corresponding days. By obtaining other time zones, a pattern B610 as shown in FIG. 14 is obtained (step 1078 in FIG. 28). Subsequently, 0 is substituted into a variable representing the total number of unmatched cells (step 1080).

  The specific day assisting unit 308 further compares the energy saving pattern of each time zone of each corresponding day constituting the pattern A with the energy saving pattern of the corresponding time zone of the pattern B610, and how many time zones do not all match. Is calculated (step 1082 and processing 1084). More specifically, the specific day assisting unit 308 determines whether or not each time zone of the pattern B610 is different (inconsistent) from the energy saving pattern of the same time zone of each relevant day (step 1090). If the determination in step 1090 is affirmative, 1 is added to the total number of unmatched cells in step 1092; otherwise, process 1084 is performed for the next time zone.

  When step 1082 is completed, the specific date auxiliary unit 308 determines whether or not the total number of mismatched cells is larger than 3 (step 1086). If the determination in step 1086 is affirmative, a screen for presenting to the user that the specified date should be registered as a specific date together with the pattern D obtained by the processing in step 1082 is created for the administrator, and the web server 280 is created. (Step 1088) and the process is terminated. If the determination in step 1086 is negative, the designated date does not need to be distinguished from other days in particular, and a screen for instructing the administrator not to register the specified date as a specific date is generated. Send to.

  When the screen in step 1088 (specific date registration screen 1150 shown in FIG. 29) is displayed, the administrator refers to the energy saving operation pattern 1160 displayed on the specific date registration screen 1150 and determines whether or not to register the specific date. Determine whether. When registering, the user presses a registration button 1162. In this case, a request for registering the specified date as a specific date is transmitted to the specific date update unit 310 (FIG. 6) together with the energy saving operation pattern 1160. In accordance with the request, the specific date update unit 310 registers specific date information in the specific date information storage unit 304 and information corresponding to the energy saving operation pattern 1160 in the pattern storage unit 278, respectively. If not registered, the user presses a cancel button 1164. A request is sent to the cancel button 1164 to the specific date setting screen generation unit 302 (see FIG. 6) associated with the cancel button 1164, and the specific date setting screen generation unit 302 displays the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. It is generated and transmitted to the partner terminal via the web server 280.

  If it is displayed on the screen in step 1090 that the specified date is not suitable as the specific date, the administrator may specify another date and repeat the same process or start another process.

<< Effect of the system according to the present embodiment >>
As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 100 according to the system of the present embodiment, not only the energy saving operation pattern is automatically updated based on the log, but the pattern can be confirmed on the screen. Therefore, the administrator can know what pattern the image forming apparatus 100 is operating, and can effectively manage the image forming apparatus 100. In addition, the automatically learned pattern and the pattern created by the user can be switched and used. Therefore, when the installed department of the image forming apparatus 100 is changed, for example, when the pattern learned from the past job log does not seem to be valid, the image forming apparatus 100 can be set manually. It is possible to prevent the image forming apparatus 100 from operating with a pattern that does not match the actual state of operation.

  Accordingly, the energy consumed by the image forming apparatus 100 can be reduced while taking the operating state into consideration.

  Regarding the operation of the image forming apparatus 100, it is possible to set a schedule that is different from the schedule that is automatically calculated in units of weeks by specifying a specific day that is different from the units of weeks in a repeating unit that is not units of weeks (in units of months in the present embodiment). . Therefore, the image forming apparatus 100 can be operated with an energy saving operation schedule that is more suitable for the actual situation of the office. Furthermore, when calculating the energy saving operation pattern of the image forming apparatus 100 on a weekly basis, a time zone in which a specific energy saving operation mode is specified within a specific day is excluded from the calculation. Therefore, the energy saving operation pattern calculated on a weekly basis is not affected by the day when the image forming apparatus 100 operates with another different good operation pattern, and the accuracy of the energy saving operation pattern can be improved.

  When specifying an operation pattern for a specific day, if calculation of a default pattern is specified, the default pattern creation unit 306 of the image forming apparatus 100 corresponds to the past corresponding day for the specific day (in this embodiment, the corresponding day of the previous month). A default energy saving operation pattern is generated based on the job log. Since this energy saving operation pattern is based on the job log of the corresponding day of the previous month, the operation pattern to be set as the specific day is an operation pattern of “do not hit or stay away”. The user does not need to calculate various statistics or observe the operating status of the device in order to determine the operation pattern on a specific day. As a result, the burden on the user when setting a specific day can be reduced.

  Further, when a specific date is specified, if a date is specified, information about whether or not the day should be registered as a specific date is generated from the log and presented to the user. When registering as a specific day, information about which time zone should be set to what energy saving pattern is also presented to the user. As a result, the user can reliably and easily know a specific date and whether to set the energy saving operation pattern on the specific date based on the log stored in the apparatus. When this result is displayed, a button for designating whether or not to register is displayed together with the energy saving operation pattern. Therefore, the user can easily add a new specific date.

  In the above embodiment, the specific date registration screen 680 shown in FIG. 9 is used to notify the administrator. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. As already mentioned, the link address for sending the result to a specific address by e-mail or accessing the web screen for registering a specific date based on the result is specified by e-mail It may be sent to an address.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, a specific day assistance function is implement | achieved when a user accesses the energy-saving setting part 620 from a web screen. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the computer may be set such that the process shown in FIG. Thus, when executing in the background, it is preferable to send the result to the user by e-mail. Of course, it is not limited to the first day of every month, and such processing may be executed on any day.

  Further, the processing shown in FIG. 28 may be executed every day by changing the target date from 1st to 31st. In this case, it is preferable to notify the administrator collectively rather than notifying the administrator of the results every time.

  The process shown in FIG. 28 may be automatically executed every day with that day as the target day for the specific day examination. In this case, it is preferable to notify the administrator of the result by e-mail.

  In the above embodiment, among the time zones of the energy saving operation pattern of the target day, the number of time zones (total number of unmatched cells) that do not match the energy saving patterns of all the corresponding time zones of pattern A is 3 (1/1 of the total time). When 8) is exceeded, the target date is suggested as a specific date. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, it may be two or four. Alternatively, this number may be set by the administrator. Also, regarding whether or not to create the pattern C, the threshold value is 80%, but it is not necessary to limit to this value. It is only necessary to find a certain correlation among a plurality of days corresponding to the target day, and the value of the threshold value may vary depending on the application.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment described above, the default pattern creation unit 306, the auto pattern update unit 274, the specific day pattern registration unit 296, the holiday registration unit 298, the specific day registration unit 300, and the specific day setting screen generation unit 302, The specific date auxiliary unit 308 and the specific date update unit 310 are all provided in the energy saving setting unit 260 of the image forming apparatus 100. Further, the holiday list screen 910 shown in FIG. 12 is also generated by the holiday registration unit 298. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, these functions may be realized by another server. Further, since holidays and the like are usually unified throughout the office, it is preferable that the holiday list screen 910 “is managed in a unified manner not by each image forming apparatus but by a server in the office. In this embodiment, according to such an idea, the pattern update and the comparison with the actual results, the setting of a specific day, and the like are performed by the energy saving management server, and the holidays are performed by the holiday management server. If it can be assumed that there is commonality between the establishments regarding the setting of the specific date, it may be performed uniformly by a server provided on the network.

  FIG. 30 shows a schematic block diagram of a network system 1100 according to the second embodiment. The network system 1100 differs from the network system 180 of the first embodiment in that a router 1112 that provides a connection to the Internet 1114 to the network 1100, an energy saving management server 1116 that is connected to the Internet 1114, and And a holiday management server 1118. Further, the network system 1100 has a function of communicating with the energy saving management server 1116 and the holiday management server 1118 instead of the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 1110 having

  The energy saving management server 1116 includes an auto pattern update unit 274, a specific day registration unit 300, a specific day pattern registration unit 296, a default pattern creation unit 306, and a specific day auxiliary unit in the first embodiment shown in FIG. It has a function corresponding to 308. The energy saving management server 1116 further has a function of periodically collecting job logs from image forming apparatuses such as the image forming apparatus 1110 in the network system 1100.

  The energy saving management server 1116 has a function of managing a specific date and a specific date pattern of the image forming apparatus 1110 in response to an operation from the PC 190 or the like, a function of collecting a job log of the image forming apparatus 1110 or the like, In particular, it has a function of determining an energy saving operation pattern of each image forming apparatus and a function of suggesting whether or not a specified date is appropriate as a specific date in response to a user instruction. For these, the auto pattern update unit 274, the specific date registration unit 300, the specific date pattern registration unit 296, the default pattern creation unit 306, the specific date information storage unit 304, and the specific date of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The date auxiliary unit 308 and the like are provided in the energy saving management server 1116, and holiday information can be realized by obtaining necessary information from the holiday management server 1118.

  The holiday management server 1118 has the function of the holiday registration unit 298 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, so that holiday information that should be managed by the image forming apparatus 1110 in response to an operation from the PC 190 is unified. Can be managed. The holiday management server 1118 returns necessary information if there is a request for information regarding holidays from the image forming apparatus 1110, the PC 190, or the like. The functions necessary for this are as described in relation to the holiday registration unit 298 and the holiday registration screen 830 in FIG. 11 in the first embodiment.

  Needless to say, the energy saving management server 1116 and the holiday management server 1118 may be combined into one server. In this case, the energy saving setting unit 260 shown in FIG. 6 is moved to the server almost as it is, and the log acquisition unit 270 has a function of collecting job logs of each image forming apparatus in the network system 1100, and the log storage unit 272. Has a function of storing a job log for each image forming apparatus. By performing the same processing as in the first embodiment for each image forming apparatus, the energy saving operation pattern for each day of the week, the specific day pattern for the specific day, and the actual result pattern for the specific day for each image forming apparatus And are formed. The energy saving operation pattern and the specific date pattern created for each image forming apparatus are stored in the pattern storage unit 278 and the specific date information storage unit 304 together with information for distinguishing the image forming apparatus. These pieces of information are transmitted to the corresponding image forming apparatus when appropriate and stored. Each image forming apparatus controls its own operation mode based on the energy saving operation pattern and the specific day pattern in the same manner as the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, the monthly unit is taken as an example of the aggregation unit for specific days different from the week unit. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. In many cases, auto patterns are registered in units of weeks, and specific dates may be calculated in units of months. However, specific units may be determined every three months as units longer than the month. In this case, the occupancy rate is totaled every three months together with the monthly total. It is also possible to set a specific day in units of 10 days or 2 weeks as a unit shorter than a month. These are all determined by the actual business execution process, and the system can be easily adapted to the actual business situation.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the log is collected for a certain period (for example, weekly) to determine the energy saving operation pattern of the image forming apparatus, and the specific date is provided. The energy saving operation pattern for a specific day can be determined by counting the logs in units of a period different from the fixed period (for example, one month). When business transactions or processes are repeated in two or more cycles, an optimal energy saving operation pattern can be set for both. As a result, even when the operation status of the image forming apparatus is different in different repeating units, such as a schedule that is repeated weekly and a schedule that is repeated monthly, for example, while preventing the work efficiency from being lowered, The energy-saving effect of the forming device can be maintained.

  Depending on the department, for example, the image forming apparatus 100 may be completely turned off at night. In such a case, the log of the time zone cannot be acquired. Therefore, in such a case, there is a problem that the energy saving operation pattern in that time zone cannot be determined in the auto mode. As a way of thinking in such a case, a default energy saving operation pattern (default schedule) may be determined in advance, and the default energy saving operation pattern may be assigned to a time zone when the log cannot be acquired. Normally, the default is considered to be “power saving” mode of operation. The fact that the log cannot be acquired means that it is not necessary to operate the image forming apparatus 100 during that time period.

  In such a case, the display of the energy saving operation pattern table 358 shown in FIG. 8 may be displayed differently from other parts (for example, gray display) when the default value is assigned, You may make it display the same. It would be more convenient if the two could be switched.

  In the description of the system of the present embodiment, the energy saving operation pattern is confirmed and set from the administrator PC 190 outside the image forming apparatus 100 via the web server inside the image forming apparatus 100. Yes. However, when setting the energy saving operation pattern in the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to perform the same setting using the touch panel display 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 as described above.

  In the system according to the present embodiment, the learning and setting of the energy saving operation pattern is performed on a specific day and on an hourly basis. However, the system of the present embodiment is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the time zone may be based on a shorter time unit or a longer time unit. It does not have to be the same length for all time zones. For example, management may be performed in units of one hour during the day and in units of three hours at night.

  In the system of the present embodiment, the color of each cell in Table 50 is made different. However, the system of the present embodiment is not limited to such an embodiment. You may represent an energy-saving operation pattern with a character, a figure, or an icon.

  Although the energy saving operation pattern table 358 has been shown as an example in which the entire screen is displayed on the screen, the portion of the energy saving operation pattern table 358 may be scrollable up and down in preparation for the case where the height of the screen is small. Further, tabs may be displayed for each day of the week or for each time period, and may be switched on the screen. However, as shown in FIG. 8, it is preferable to display in units of 24 hours and weeks because it is easy to understand visually.

  In the system of the present embodiment, the energy saving operation pattern is divided into four stages according to the operation rate. However, the system of the present embodiment is not limited to such an embodiment. It may be divided into more stages, or the number of stages may be reduced. Alternatively, the operating rate may be calculated numerically as in the above-described modification, and the time until the preheating mode may be continuously changed as a function of the numerical value.

  In the above embodiment, a maximum of 3 days can be set as the specific day. However, it is not necessary to limit the specific days that can be set to only 3 days. For example, in the case of a specific day repeated every year, the number may be much larger than three days. Even in such a case, basically, in the above embodiment, the number of specific tails can be easily set by setting it to an arbitrary number larger than three.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, when suggesting a specific day, the log of the past three months is used for the comparison. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, it is possible to compare logs that are longer than about six months to one year. In this case, for example, when there are a plurality of days corresponding to the designated day, the pattern A may be created by averaging them as in the learning of the energy saving operation pattern.

  The embodiment disclosed this time is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The scope of the present invention is indicated by each claim of the claims after taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording described therein are included. Including.

100, 1110 Image forming apparatus 104 Image forming unit 120 Operation unit 130 Touch panel display 140 Operation key unit 160 FAX communication unit 190 PC for administrator
260 Energy saving setting unit 270 Log acquisition unit 274 Auto pattern update unit 278 Pattern storage unit 280 Web server 286 Display processing unit 288 Update processing unit 290 Registration processing unit 292 User pattern storage processing unit 294 Table update processing unit 282 Setting storage unit 284 User pattern Storage unit 296 Specific day pattern registration unit 298 Holiday registration unit 300 Specific day registration unit 302 Specific day setting screen generation unit 304 Specific day information storage unit 306 Default pattern generation unit 358 Energy saving operation pattern table

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus capable of shifting from the normal state to the power saving state in response to a lapse of a certain transition time without performing a predetermined operation in a normal state,
Storage means for storing work day information for distinguishing between a normal work day and a specific work day;
First determination means for determining the transition time in each time zone of each day of the image forming apparatus by learning based on an operating condition based on a past first cycle of the image forming apparatus;
The operation of the image forming apparatus for a plurality of past days corresponding to the date based on the second period of the image forming apparatus in response to designation of a date to be circulated in a second period different from the first period First determination means for determining whether or not the operation status of the image device in the past for a plurality of days has periodicity based on the situation;
In response to a positive determination by the first determination unit, a transition time schedule candidate for the date is determined based on the operating status of the image forming apparatus based on the past second period. A second determining means for determining;
The schedule candidate is compared with the transition time schedule determined by the first determination means for each of the past plural days, and the number of time zones in which the transition times are different is a threshold value. Second determination means for determining whether or not the above is satisfied;
In response to a positive determination by the second determination unit, a notification unit that notifies the user of the date as a candidate date for the specific working day;
Based on the working day information stored in the storage means, for the normal working day and the specific working day, the transition time determined by the first determining means, respectively, for the specific day And a switching means for switching the state of the image forming apparatus using the transition time prepared in the above.   In response to the positive determination by the second determination unit, the notification unit operates on the date according to the transition time schedule determined by the second determination unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recommending unit that recommends setting the value. The image forming apparatus further includes a setting unit that sets the image forming apparatus according to a setting recommended by the recommendation unit,
In response to a positive determination by the second determination unit, the notification unit sends an e-mail including address information to be accessed by a user to operate the setting unit to the specific address. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits the image. The notification means further includes a confirmation means for requesting a user to confirm whether to apply the setting by the recommendation means to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a setting unit configured to set the image forming apparatus according to the setting in response to the confirmation operation performed on the confirmation unit. Forming equipment. A control device for controlling an image forming apparatus capable of shifting from a normal state to a power saving state,
Storage means for storing work day information for distinguishing between a normal work day and a specific work day;
First determination means for determining the transition time in each time zone of each day of the image forming apparatus by learning based on an operating condition based on a past first cycle of the image forming apparatus;
The operation of the image forming apparatus for a plurality of past days corresponding to the date based on the second period of the image forming apparatus in response to designation of a date to be circulated in a second period different from the first period First determination means for determining whether or not the operation status of the image device in the past for a plurality of days has periodicity based on the situation;
In response to a positive determination by the first determination unit, a transition time schedule candidate for the date is determined based on the operating status of the image forming apparatus based on the past second period. A second determining means for determining;
The schedule candidate is compared with the transition time schedule determined by the first determination means for each of the past plural days, and the number of time zones in which the transition times are different is a threshold value. Second determination means for determining whether or not the above is satisfied;
In response to a positive determination by the second determination unit, a notification unit that notifies the user of the date as a candidate date for the specific working day;
Based on the working day information stored in the storage means, for the normal working day and the specific working day, the transition time determined by the first determining means, respectively, for the specific day And a switching unit for switching the state of the image forming apparatus using the transition time prepared in the above.

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