JP2015179101A - Monitoring device, control method for monitoring device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring device for monitoring a use situation of consumables in an image forming device.SOLUTION: A monitoring device for monitoring an image forming device which operates by mounting consumables includes: reception means for receiving, from the image forming device, information regarding a consumption degree of taken-out consumables recorded in taking out of the consumables, and information regarding the consumption degree of the consumables mounted on the image forming device for replacement of the consumables; determination means for determining whether or not the information regarding the consumption degree after the replacement shows a new product; comparison means for comparing the information regarding the consumption degree before and after the replacement; and generation means for generating an alarm for indicating that special use of the consumables is performed by the image forming device, according to at least one of the results of the determination and the comparison.

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring device, a monitoring device control method, and a program, and in particular, a monitoring device that detects use of a special consumable from consumable information, generates a pseudo alarm, and notifies the same, and a control method for the monitoring device And the program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an equipment management system that remotely monitors the operating status of equipment such as an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral. In this device management system, a monitoring device installed on the customer side and a central management device are connected via the Internet. The device data collected by the monitoring device is transmitted to the central management device using a network protocol such as HTTPS or SMTP, and centrally managed by the central management device. In the central management device, customer information, monitoring device information, monitoring device information, and the like are centrally managed, and transmission data is stored when monitoring information is transmitted from a registered monitoring device. The monitoring device monitors the status of the various consumables provided in the monitoring device, and notifies the central management device when it detects that the wear level information indicating the wear level of the consumables has decreased or disappeared. To do. In response to this, the central management apparatus provides services such as automatic delivery.

  Regarding this consumable item, a contract including a consumable item cost is concluded as a form of maintenance contract. For this reason, it is assumed that the delivered consumables (hereinafter referred to as “delivery goods”) will be used with monitoring equipment that has signed a maintenance contract, but in the market, delivery goods are used with equipment outside the contract. Alternatively, a consumable item that is not a delivery item may be used in the contract target device. For example, Patent Document 1 has been proposed for a case where a delivery product is used in a non-contracted device. In Patent Document 1, a consumable for a specific application (contracted) is used for general use (no contract) by holding a contract ID and consumption level information indicating the degree of consumption of the consumable for each application in the consumable storage element. Then we suppress use.

  In addition, in cases where consumables that are not delivery products are used in the equipment, products that are not legitimate support products that have been confirmed to operate may be used, and in terms of performance and durability of the contract equipment, More problems are expected to occur than in use. In such a case, it is necessary to take measures such as performing maintenance of the contract device more frequently. For these reasons, it is important for maintenance contracts to track the usage status of consumables, perform data analysis, and take appropriate measures.

JP 2008-164892 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, since a mechanism is required on both the consumables and the device side, it cannot be applied to a device that does not have a mechanism, and it is difficult to detect a case that is not expected in normal operation. In addition, when consumables that are not delivery items are used, the consumables cannot be detected, which is unsuitable for tracking the usage status of consumables in the market.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring device that monitors the usage status of consumables in an image forming apparatus, such as detecting a case that is not expected in a normal operation flow.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a monitoring device that monitors an image forming apparatus that operates with a consumable item mounted thereon, and the taken-out recorded when the consumable item is taken out from the image forming device. Receiving means for receiving information on the degree of wear of the consumables, information on the degree of wear of the consumables attached to the image forming apparatus for replacement of the consumables, and information on the degree of wear after replacement A determination unit that determines whether or not a new product is present, a comparison unit that compares information about the degree of wear before and after replacement, and a special item of consumables by the image forming apparatus according to the result of at least one of the determination and the comparison And generating means for generating an alarm indicating that the use is being performed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to analyze a usage trend of consumables at a customer who has concluded a maintenance contract by detecting a case that is not expected in an operation flow of a normal market, and accumulating and analyzing the central management device. . Furthermore, it is possible to analyze data such as the usage trend of the consumables and the failure occurrence rate of the monitoring device.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of an apparatus management system. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a central monitoring apparatus, a monitoring apparatus, and a proxy server. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the software structure of a monitoring apparatus. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the software configuration of a central monitoring apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a monitoring apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the consumables confirmation process of a monitoring apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the consumables use confirmation process of a monitoring apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire device management system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, in the device management system, a plurality of customer systems including the customer systems 100 and 110 and a central management apparatus 121 are connected via the Internet 150. In addition, although not illustrated in the present embodiment, for example, a normal sales company system may be connected. Information acquired from the customer systems 100 and 110 is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 and stored in the database 122. The database 122 is a database as history storage means for accumulating information for monitoring, counters of image forming apparatuses collected from customers, failure history information, failure pattern tables, and the like.

  The central management apparatus 121 and the database 122 are connected by a LAN 123, and the LAN 123 can be connected to the Internet 150. Note that the database 122 may physically exist in the central management apparatus 121, or may exist in another location via the Internet 150 as long as it can be accessed from the central management apparatus 121. The central management apparatus 121 collects and stores information on the image forming apparatuses (102a to 102c and 112a to 102c) to be monitored and information (including failure information) from the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 to be described later. It has the function of processing and providing warnings etc. to the outside. Then, the central management apparatus 121 may have a function of distributing these pieces of information to the outside such as a sales company.

  The operating state of the image forming apparatus may be, for example, a state where the toner is out, the door is open, the drum is replaced, the cartridge is not present, the cooling fan is abnormal, the substrate is abnormal, the platen glass is dirty, the staple is out, the light quantity of the paper feed sensor is insufficient. . However, the present invention is not limited to these, and may be, for example, font memory overflow, rendering error, fixing device abnormality, counter abnormality, duplex unit abnormality, paper jam, and the like. Also, as counter information, a billing counter subject to billing by the sales company, a department counter counted by customer's department, a counter by size aggregated by paper size, a parts counter indicating the degree of wear of parts in the image forming apparatus, etc. It may be.

  Further, information regarding the image forming apparatus to be monitored by the central management apparatus 121 and settings related to monitoring can be registered in the central management apparatus 121. The central management apparatus 121 can collectively manage registered image forming apparatuses to be monitored and settings related to monitoring. In addition, monitoring settings can be made for the monitoring devices 101 and 111. Note that the service by the device management system according to the present embodiment is provided based on a maintenance contract between the sales company and the customer. Therefore, in the present embodiment, only the image forming apparatus that is determined as the monitoring target by the sales company based on the contract is set as the monitoring target of the device management system. In FIG. 1, one central management apparatus 121 and one database 122 are shown. However, in practice, a plurality of central management devices and databases may be distributed in order to collect information from many image forming apparatuses and monitoring apparatuses and to distribute the load of firmware distribution.

  Next, the system configuration on the customer side will be described. There are several different customer environments. In FIG. 1, customer systems 100 and 110 are shown. Customer systems 100, 110 are different customers and may have different configurations. In the present embodiment, only three image forming apparatuses are illustrated in the customer system 100, but in reality, a remote monitoring program in which hundreds to thousands of devices are installed in a general-purpose PC in a large-scale environment. May be monitored. On the other hand, the customer system 110 is an example of remote monitoring that monitors a relatively small number (several tens of units), and has a system configuration in which monitoring data and the like are stored in a built-in storage device without separately providing a database. Hereinafter, since there is essentially no difference between the customer systems 100 and 110, the customer system 100 will be described in detail and the description of the customer system 110 will be omitted.

  In the customer system 100, the image forming apparatuses 102a, 102b, and 102c connected to the LAN 103 connected to the Internet 150 are monitored by the monitoring apparatus 101. The monitoring apparatus 101 communicates with the central management apparatus 121 via the Internet 150 via the proxy server 105. Note that an HTTP / SOAP protocol can be used for communication among the monitoring apparatus 101, the central management apparatus 121, and the image forming apparatus 102 described above. Here, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol for calling data of another computer from one computer based on XML (eXtended Markup Language).

  In this embodiment, SOAP is assumed to be implemented on HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and SOAP communication exchanges SOAP messages with additional information attached to XML documents. Therefore, a computer that supports SOAP includes a SOAP message generation unit that generates a SOAP message and a SOAP message interpretation unit that interprets the SOAP message. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the status information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 by a SOAP message.

  The monitoring apparatus 101 stores information collected from the image forming apparatuses 102 a, 102 b, and 102 c and processing results of collected data in the database 104. Also, settings related to monitoring of the image forming apparatus are stored in the database 104 or the built-in storage device. Each time the monitoring apparatus 101 receives status information of an image forming apparatus (for example, occurrence of a failure) from the image forming apparatuses 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, the monitoring apparatus 101 stores the information in the database 104 and transmits it to the central management apparatus 121.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111, which are information processing apparatuses, and the central monitoring apparatus 121 and the host. Note that the configuration of the present embodiment can also correspond to the configuration of an information processing apparatus installed in a back end (not shown). In FIG. 2, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201 is a control unit of the information processing apparatus. The CPU 201 executes an application program, a printer driver program, an OS (Operating System) stored in the hard disk (HD) 205, a device management program according to the present embodiment, and the like. In the present embodiment, one CPU is provided. However, a plurality of CPUs may be provided as necessary.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 202 is a non-rewritable storage means, and stores therein a basic I / O program, a program for controlling each process on the apparatus, and data. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 203 controls to temporarily store information, files, and the like necessary for program execution, and functions as a main memory, work area, and the like of the CPU 201. In addition, the process of each step of the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 in each flowchart mentioned later shall be implement | achieved when CPU performs the process based on the program code stored in the memory | storage means.

  The external device I / F 204 is an interface for connecting an external storage device or the like. By connecting an external storage device, a program or the like stored in the storage medium can be loaded into the information processing device. Note that the storage medium is not limited to the configuration of the present embodiment. For example, any storage medium such as an FD, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a PC card, a DVD, an IC memory card, an MO, and a memory stick can be used. It may be a storage medium.

  The hard disk (HD) 205 stores various data such as programs and data related to each process of the apparatus, temporary data, information about the image forming apparatus to be monitored according to the present embodiment, and data collected from the image forming apparatus. To do. In the present embodiment, one hard disk is provided, but a plurality of hard disks may be provided as necessary. An input device 206 that is an instruction input unit is a keyboard, a pointing device, or the like. For example, it is an apparatus for a user of a management system such as a service person, an operator, or an administrator to give an input instruction for setting, operation, etc. to the information processing apparatus.

  A display 207 as a display means displays an instruction input from the input device 206 and the state and settings of the image forming apparatus to be managed. Actually, there are cases where the graphic card interprets the drawing command issued by the application through the OS mechanism, and the information converted into an analog signal or a digital signal is displayed on the display means. The display control in the present embodiment includes processing for generating a drawing command via the OS so as to display on the display means. A network I / F 208 connects to a LAN or the Internet via a network and exchanges information with the outside. The information processing apparatus exchanges data with an external apparatus via the network I / F 208. The system bus 209 manages the data flow of the above-described components (CPU 201 to Network I / F 208) in the information processing apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the printer control unit and its peripheral parts of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. The printer controller 301 includes an external device 322 such as a host computer (for example, the monitoring devices 101 and 110 in FIG. 1) and a communication unit 316 for executing transmission / reception of various data using a predetermined protocol. Also, a video I for performing communication and reception of image data, developing the received image data into information that can be printed by the printer, and exchanging signals and serial communication with a printer engine control unit 302 described later. / F317 etc.

  The CPU 312 of the printer controller 301 comprehensively controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 322 based on a control program stored in the ROM 314 or the HD (external memory) 319. In addition, an image signal as output information is output to a printer engine connected via the video I / F 317. A RAM 313 is a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 312. A disk controller (DKC) 315 controls access to an external storage medium 319 such as a hard disk (HD) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, setting files, and the like. The operation unit 320 includes input means such as a display unit 321 and a keyboard. The operation unit 320 provides information to the operator and inputs instructions from the operator via the input / output I / F 318.

  The engine control unit 302 exchanges signals with the printer controller 301 and controls each unit of the printer engine via serial communication. Here, the paper conveyance control unit 303 feeds and conveys the paper to be printed, and executes paper conveyance until printing after printing based on an instruction from the engine control unit 302. The optical control unit 304 executes driving of the scanner motor and laser ON / OFF control based on an instruction from the engine control unit 302. The high voltage system control unit 305 executes high voltage output necessary for the electrophotographic process such as charging, development, and transfer based on an instruction from the engine control unit 302, and the fixing device temperature control unit 306 is based on the instruction from the engine control unit 302. In addition to controlling the temperature of the fixing device, detection of the fixing device or more is performed. The jam detection unit 307 detects a conveyance failure during sheet conveyance, and the failure detection unit 308 detects a failure of a functional unit in the printer. The print completion notifying unit 309 detects that printing has been normally performed and notifies the engine control unit 302 of it. The counter control unit 310 updates various counter information after printing. The consumables detection unit 313 detects the removal and installation of consumables such as a toner bottle and a toner cartridge, and notifies the engine control unit 302 of the removal. Also, consumable information such as consumable ID and remaining amount is acquired. The consumption level information indicating the consumption level of the consumable item indicates, for example, the remaining amount of toner in the toner bottle.

  The engine control unit 302 includes a device information management unit 311 that manages information of each unit of the printer engine. In response to a request from the external device 322, the device information management unit 311 acquires, for example, consumption level information indicating the consumption level of the consumable item from the consumable item detection unit 313, and passes it to the video I / F 317. As a result, the consumable information is transmitted to the external device 322 via the video I / F 317 and the communication unit 316. In addition, when there is an information acquisition request from the external device 322, information is acquired from each unit as appropriate. Further, the counter information acquired from the counter control unit, the jam information notified from the jam detection unit 307, and the error information notified from the failure detection unit 309 are also managed by the device information management unit 311. These pieces of information are also transmitted to the external apparatus 322 via the video I / F 317 or the like when an event notification request has been made in advance from the external apparatus 322.

  The monitoring unit 323 performs an operation when the monitoring function is set to be valid. Monitor data such as counter information and error information is appropriately collected from the device information management unit 311 and transmitted to the central management apparatus 121. In the present embodiment, the external PC is described as the monitoring devices 101 and 111, but the monitoring unit 323 in the image forming apparatus may be configured as a monitoring device. Further, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment can be applied to the laser beam printer using the above-described electrophotographic method, the ink jet printer using the ink jet method, the thermal head printer using the thermal transfer method, or the copying machine. .

  Next, FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration in the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111. The reception data analysis unit 401 analyzes the reception data received from the central management apparatus 121 and the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 via the communication unit 403, and passes the reception data to an appropriate processing unit for each data. The transmission data generation unit 402 generates transmission data corresponding to the communication protocol in response to a request from each processing unit. The generated transmission data is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 and the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 via the communication unit 403. The communication unit 403 transmits / receives data to / from external information processing apparatuses such as the central management apparatus 121 and the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 via a network such as a LAN and the Internet. The database access unit 404 controls input / output to the database 104. When necessary data such as monitoring data and setting data is stored in a built-in storage device or the like, it controls input / output to this storage device.

  The device information acquisition unit 405 acquires device information such as the state and capability information of the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 and consumable information. The device information management unit 406 manages the device information acquired from the device information acquisition unit 405 for the monitoring target image forming apparatus registered in the central management apparatus 121. Various types of information are stored in the database 104 via the database access unit 404. The device monitoring unit 407 performs monitoring processing of the monitoring device. Further, according to the transmission schedule instructed by the central management apparatus 121, the device information acquisition unit 405 collects monitoring information before transmission. The monitoring information is managed by the device information management unit 406, processed into transmission data by the transmission data generation unit 402 according to the transmission schedule described above, and transmitted to the central management device 121 by the communication unit 403. Furthermore, the device monitoring unit 407 also processes device event data such as addition of monitoring devices and removal / mounting of consumables. The device monitoring unit 407 performs a consumable item confirmation process when detecting a consumable event, generates a pseudo alarm by the transmission data generation unit 402 as appropriate, and transmits the pseudo alarm to the central management device 121 by the communication unit 403.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration in the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112. The reception data analysis unit 501 analyzes the reception data received from the central management device 121 and the monitoring devices 101 and 111 via the communication unit 503, and passes the reception data to an appropriate processing unit for each data. The transmission data generation unit 502 generates transmission data corresponding to the communication protocol in response to a request from each processing unit. The generated transmission data is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 and the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 via the communication unit 503. The communication unit 503 transmits / receives data to / from external devices such as the central management device 121 and the monitoring devices 101 and 111 via a network such as a LAN and the Internet.

  The device information acquisition unit 504 acquires status information such as service calls, jams, and consumables that have occurred in the image forming apparatus. In addition, counter information, consumable information, and the like held in the image forming apparatus are acquired according to instructions from the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111. The acquired data is processed into transmission data by the transmission data generation unit 502 and transmitted to the acquisition request source such as the monitoring devices 101 and 111 by the communication unit 503. The device information management unit 505 manages and controls the device information collected by the device information acquisition unit 505 in response to an instruction from the device monitoring unit 506 when the monitoring function is validated. When the monitoring function is validated, the device monitoring unit 506 performs monitoring inside the device like the external monitoring device. According to the transmission schedule instructed by the central management apparatus 121, the device information acquisition unit 504 collects monitoring information before transmission. The monitoring information is managed by the device information management unit 505, processed into transmission data according to the transmission schedule, and transmitted to the central management device 121 by the communication unit 503. Further, as with the external monitoring device, the device event data is also processed and appropriately transmitted to the central management device 121.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration in the central management apparatus 121. The reception data analysis unit 601 analyzes the reception data received from the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 and the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 via the communication unit 603, and passes the reception data to an appropriate processing unit for each data. The transmission data generation unit 602 generates transmission data corresponding to the communication protocol in response to a request from each processing unit. The generated transmission data is transmitted to the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 and the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 via the communication unit 603. A communication unit 603 transmits / receives data to / from external information processing apparatuses such as the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 and the image forming apparatuses 102 and 112 via a network such as a LAN and the Internet.

  The database access unit 604 manages input / output to / from the database 122. The monitoring control unit 605 manages a schedule for acquiring monitoring information, charging information, and the like from all the monitoring devices, and controls monitoring contents and methods. In addition, the monitoring control unit 605 transmits an instruction and a response to the monitoring devices 101 and 111 under management through the transmission data generation unit 602 and the communication unit 603 as necessary. The acquired information processing unit 606 stores the information received from the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 under management as it is (or processed) in the database 122 via the database access unit 604. In addition, the acquired information processing unit 606 notifies the responsible service person and the customer side of the counting information, error information including the pseudo alarm, and the like based on the information received from the monitoring devices 101 and 111 and the data stored in the database 122. To do. The pseudo-alarm is a special alarm that indicates the possibility of special use of consumables. For devices that can acquire the remaining toner amount or consumable ID (consumables identification information) before and after replacement, May be included. The consumable item includes a toner bottle, and the consumable item ID includes a bottle ID.

  FIG. 7 is a main flowchart showing the operation of the monitoring apparatuses 101 and 111 according to this embodiment. Below, in order to simplify description, the monitoring apparatus 101 is demonstrated. Since the monitoring apparatus 111 has the same flow, the description thereof is omitted. Note that the processing of each step in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 to 9 is realized when the CPU 201 provided in the monitoring apparatus 101 reads and executes a control program stored in a nonvolatile storage unit such as the ROM 202 or the HD 205. Shall be. Moreover, in this flow, only the process which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated, and description is abbreviate | omitted about another process. Further, in the following description, the image forming apparatus is referred to as a monitoring device or simply a device.

  First, the system is initialized as the program starts (step S701). Specifically, processing such as initialization of variables for reading initial setting information (in the case of initial setting, an information table regarding all monitored devices) as a device list is performed, and the device monitoring unit 407 starts monitoring the monitoring device. To do. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the device monitoring process is mainly performed by the device monitoring unit 407. Next, as part of the device monitoring process, it is determined whether or not a monitoring device registration request has been received (step S702). This registration request is executed by an instruction on the registration UI, a device addition by import processing, or the like.

  If there is a registration request in step S702 (Yes), the device information acquisition unit 405 acquires device capability information from the device Dx with the device to be registered as Dx (step S703). Specifically, the device monitoring unit 407 generates transmission data for acquiring device capability by the transmission data generation unit 403 and transmits the transmission data to the device Dx by the communication unit 403. When there is a response from the device Dx via the communication unit 403, the response data is analyzed by the reception data analysis unit 401, and the device information acquisition unit 405 receives the response. The received information is stored in the database 104 by the device information management unit 406 via the database access unit 404 as data of the device Dx. Since the data transmission / reception with the device is all the same, a detailed description is omitted below.

  Next, the device monitoring unit 407 determines from the received device capability information whether or not the device monitoring unit 407 has a consumable ID acquisition capability (step S704). That is, it is determined whether or not the consumable ID can be acquired. If the consumable ID can be acquired in step S704 (Yes), the consumable ID: Tx is acquired from the device Dx (step S705). If there are a plurality of consumables, consumable IDs are acquired for all consumables that can be acquired. On the other hand, if it is not possible to acquire the consumable ID in step S704 (No), the process proceeds to step S706. Then, a consumption level (remaining amount of consumables) R of the consumables is acquired from the device Dx (step S706). Also in this process, as in step S705, when there are a plurality of consumables, the wear level R is acquired for each of the consumables that can be acquired. Then, the acquired device information is registered.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the series of device registration processes has been completed normally (step S707). In step S707, if the registration process is completed normally (Yes), that is, if the device information can be registered normally, the consumable information is added to the used consumables list of the device Dx (step S708). The used consumables list is maintained for each monitoring device, and the consumable degree R and the state (Set (mounted) or Remove (removed)) are stored for each consumable ID. In the present embodiment, the state is described as Set (mounted). Next, the monitoring process for the device Dx is started (step S709). On the other hand, if the registration process has not ended normally in step S707 (No), the process returns to step S703 to continue the process.

  In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the consumable item is properly used based on the consumable item ID and the depletion degree R. In addition, for example, it is possible to delete old data held in the used consumables list by holding the status update date and time in addition to the consumable status. Consumables such as toner may be used in the case where printing is performed at a time when there are no people, such as at night, when a consumable with a small remaining amount is temporarily replaced with a consumable with a large remaining amount. For this reason, it is necessary to hold the used consumables list to some extent. For this reason, for example, the old data may be deleted if the state update date and time of the consumable in the Remove state elapses from the current date and time. Since this process is different from the essence of the invention, the description is omitted in this flow, but the process may be performed as another process (step S721).

  On the other hand, if there is no registration request in step S702 (No), it is determined whether or not removal of consumables from the device has been detected (step S710). This is detected by notifying a consumable take-out event from the device. If removal of the consumable item is detected in step S710 (Yes), the consumable item taken out from the device Dy that is the device that detected the consumable item removal is used as the consumption level information indicating the consumption level of the consumable item before replacement. A consumption level (remaining amount of consumables) R1 is acquired (step S711). Here, on the device side, it is assumed that the remaining amount of consumables is updated whenever there is a change, and even when consumables are taken out, the consumption level information immediately before taking out can be acquired. For devices that are cleared at the time of removal, settings such as acquiring wear level information regularly or at a frequency according to the print amount may be made. In this case, since the value at the time of taking out cannot be accurately obtained, it is necessary to allow for an error in the comparison process with the wear level information when the consumable is mounted.

  Next, it is determined whether the device Dy can acquire the consumable ID (step S712). This is implemented by referring to the device capability information of the acquired device Dy from the database 104 as in step S703. If the consumable ID can be acquired in step S712 (Yes), the pre-replacement consumable ID: Ty for the device Dy is specified and acquired (step S713). This pre-replacement consumable ID is acquired from the event data when the consumable ID taken out is attached to the consumable take-out event. If it is not attached to the event data, it is acquired by an inquiry to the device Dy. Then, the consumption level of the consumable ID: Ty in the used consumable list of the device Dy is updated with R1, and the state is updated with Remove (step S714). On the other hand, if the consumable ID cannot be acquired in step S712 (No), the consumption level R1 before replacement of the device Dy is stored (step S715). Specifically, since the consumable ID cannot be acquired, the consumable attribute (for example, color CMYK (cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), black (K)) in the case of toner) is used). save.

  On the other hand, if the removal of the consumable item is not detected in step S710 (No), it is determined whether the installation of the consumable item in the device is detected (step S716). If it is detected in step S716 that a consumable item has been mounted (Yes), a consumable level (remaining consumable amount) R2 after replacement of the device Dz in which the consumable item has been detected is acquired (step S717). Next, it is determined whether or not the device Dz can acquire a consumable ID (step S718). This is carried out by referring to the device capability information of the acquired device Dz from the database 104 as in step S712.

  If the consumable ID can be acquired in step S718 (Yes), the consumable ID: T of the consumable after replacement is specified and acquired (step S719). Similarly to step S713, if the consumable item ID taken out is attached to the consumable item mounting event, it is acquired from the event data. If it is not attached to the event data, it is acquired by an inquiry to the device Dy. On the other hand, if the consumable ID cannot be acquired in step S718 (No), the process proceeds to step S720. Then, a consumable item confirmation process is performed (step S720). The consumable item confirmation process in step S720 will be described later with reference to FIG. Thereafter, other processing is performed (step S721). This process is a maintenance process of the used consumables list and other monitoring processes as described above. Since the other monitoring processes are different from the essence of the present invention, the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the consumable item confirmation process in step S720 of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, unless otherwise described, this processing is executed mainly by the device monitoring unit 407. First, in step S801, IN arguments and process variables used in the consumable item confirmation process are represented. Here, the target device (device): D, the consumable ID after replacement: T, and the degree of consumption after replacement: R2 are obtained as IN arguments. Further, it is assumed that the device ID for specifying the target device D is I.

  Next, it is determined whether or not to check the consumables (consumables confirmation process) (step S802). The consumables confirmation process is an unnecessary process in an environment operated as expected. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that a consumable special use pseudo alarm has not been generated for a certain period from the start of operation, or that the consumables check in the setting file has been turned off by manual specification by a service person. Yes. If the consumable item check is not performed in step S802 (No), that is, if the consumable item check is OFF, the consumable item confirmation process is terminated. On the other hand, when the consumables check is performed in step S802 (Yes), it is determined whether or not the post-replacement consumable ID: T is an effective value (step S803). When a device having a consumable ID acquisition capability can acquire the consumable ID: T, a numerical value (effective value) is set. In this embodiment, if the device does not have a consumable ID acquisition capability, NOT_AVAILABLE. If the device has a consumable ID acquisition capability but cannot be acquired due to a problem with the consumable item itself, UNKNOWN (identification No) is set.

  In step S803, if the consumable ID after replacement: T is a valid value (Yes), it is determined whether there is a consumable with the consumable ID: T in the used consumable list of the device D (step S804). . In step S804, if there is a consumable item with consumable ID: T (Yes), the consumption level (remaining amount of consumable item) R1 of the consumable item with consumable ID: T is determined from the used consumable item list of device D. Obtain (step S805). Next, it is determined whether or not the consumption level information indicating the consumption level of the consumable item is appropriate by determining whether or not the consumption level R1 and the consumption level R2 after replacement are equal (step S806). Here, as a precondition, it is assumed that the same value can be acquired before and after replacement when consumables are not added and removed. For example, when the amount of consumables fluctuates by shaking the consumable case, it is necessary to provide an error range for the determination condition here.

  If it is determined in step S806 that the wear level R1 is equal to the post-replacement wear level R2 (Yes), that is, if the wear level information is not appropriate, consumable use confirmation processing is performed on all monitoring devices (step S807). Also, in step S804, if there is no consumable item with the consumable item ID: T (No), the consumable item use confirmation process is performed for all the monitoring devices in step S807. The consumable use confirmation process in step S807 will be described later with reference to FIG. Then, the used consumable list is added and updated with the consumable ID of the consumable ID ID: T of the device D as R2 and the state as Set (mounted) (step S808). On the other hand, if the consumption level R1 is not equal to the consumption level R2 after replacement (No) in step S806, and after the process in step S808 is completed, the consumable item confirmation process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the post-replacement consumable ID: T is not a valid value in step S803 (No), it is determined whether the consumable ID: T is UNKNOWN (step S809). In other words, it is determined whether or not the device has a problem with the consumable ID itself and cannot be acquired (the consumable cannot be identified) even though the device has the consumable ID acquisition capability. If the consumable item cannot be identified in step S809 (Yes), a consumable item identification unknown pseudo alarm is generated (step S810). At least the device ID of the device that has occurred is added to the pseudo alarm as information. That is, in this embodiment, the device ID is I. Next, the generated pseudo alarm is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 (step S811).

  On the other hand, if the consumable item can be identified in step S809 (No), T is NOT_AVAILABLE, that is, the device has no ability to acquire the consumable item ID, so the device D stored in step S714 in FIG. The wear level R1 is acquired (step S812). Next, the acquired consumption level R1 is compared with the exchanged consumption level R2, and it is determined whether or not the consumption level information indicating the consumption level of the consumable item is appropriate (step S813). Here, it is determined whether or not the degree of wear R1 is equal to the degree of wear R2 after replacement, or whether or not the degree of wear R2 after replacement is 100 (%) (whether the consumable is a new article). Here, if the wear level R1 and the wear level R2 after replacement are equal, it indicates that the wearer R1 has been remounted without replacement. When the consumption level R2 is 100%, it indicates that a new article (toner full) has been replaced. If it is determined in step S813 that the remaining wear amount R1 is equal to the consumption level R2 after replacement, or the consumption level R2 after replacement is 100 (%) (Yes), the process ends. On the other hand, in step S813, if the wear level R1 and the wear level R2 after replacement are not equal, or if the wear level R2 after replacement is not 100% (No), a special use of the consumable is being performed. Is generated (step S814).

  That is, in step S814, the consumption level (remaining amount) R1 of the consumables before replacement is greater than the consumption level (remaining amount) R2 of the consumables after replacement, and the consumption level R2 of the consumables after replacement is not new. The case is judged to be a special use, and a pseudo alarm is generated. Also, if the consumption level R1 before replacement is less than the consumption level R2 after replacement, or if there is no consumption level R1 before replacement, and the consumption level R2 after replacement is not new, it is judged as a special use, and a pseudo alarm is issued. Generate. The pseudo alarm in step S814 adds at least the device ID (device ID: I in this embodiment) of the generation target device and the wear levels R1 and R2 before and after replacement as information. Next, the pseudo alarm generated in step S814 is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 (step S815), and the consumable item confirmation process is terminated.

  Next, the consumable use confirmation process in all the monitoring devices in step S807 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, this process is a part of the consumable item confirmation process, and is executed mainly by the device monitoring unit 407 unless otherwise described. The IN argument used in this process is shown in step S901, and the process variable is shown in step S902. In the consumable item confirmation process, the target device: D, the consumable item ID after replacement: T, and the degree of consumption after replacement: R are acquired as IN arguments. The processing variables are L for the registered device list in which all the monitoring devices of the monitoring apparatus 101 are registered, N for the number of registered devices in the registered device list L, and Ln (n: 0 to (N−1) for the nth device of L. )) The device ID of the device D is set to Ia, n is initialized to 0, the device ID: Ib of the comparison target device Ln is initialized to 0, and a variable P that holds wear level information indicating the wear level before replacement is initialized to 0 Turn into.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the post-replacement consumable ID: T is registered in the used consumable list of the device Ln (step S903). If T is registered in the used consumables list in step S903 (Yes), the wear level S of the corresponding consumable T is acquired from the used consumables list of the device Ln (step S904). On the other hand, if T is not registered in the used consumables list (No), it is assumed that 0 is set, and the process proceeds to step S910. Next, it is determined whether the consumed level R and the consumed level S after replacement are equal (step S905). In step S905, if the consumed degree R and the consumed degree S after replacement are equal (Yes), the consumable use confirmation process in all the monitoring devices is performed because the consumable to be checked is simply replaced from the device Ln to the device D. Exit.

  On the other hand, in step S905, if the consumed degree R after replacement and the consumed degree S are not equal (No), it is determined whether the consumed degree (remaining amount) R after replacement is greater than the consumed level (remaining amount) S. (Step S906). In step S906, if the consumed degree R after replacement is larger than the consumed degree S (Yes), it is a pattern that cannot be normally assumed. For example, it is assumed that consumables are added. Therefore, the consumption level S is set in the variable P of the consumption level before replacement (step S907), and the process proceeds to step S912.

  On the other hand, when the consumption level R after replacement is smaller than the consumption level S in step S906 (No), it is determined whether the consumption level (remaining amount) P before replacement is smaller than the consumption level (remaining amount) S (step S906). Step S908). If the consumption level P before replacement is smaller than the consumption level S in step S908 (Yes), the consumption of the consumables of the device Ln is determined from the consumption level information indicating the consumption level of the consumables held at the consumption level P before replacement. Since the wear level information indicating the degree is smaller, it can be assumed that the device Ln has been installed recently. In addition, this determination can be substituted by the status update date and time. Therefore, the consumption level S is set as the consumption level P of the consumables before replacement, and the device ID of Ln is set in the device ID: Ib that identifies the device used before the consumables are attached to the device D ( Step S909).

  Next, n is incremented (the variable value is incremented by 1), and it is determined whether or not all registered devices (until n becomes N) have been evaluated (step S910). In step S908, if the consumption level P before the replacement is greater than the consumption level S (No), since there is no need to update the consumption level P before the replacement, the process proceeds to step S910. If all registered devices have been evaluated in step S910 (Yes), it is determined whether the degree of wear P before replacement is not 0 (step S911).

  If the consumable degree P before replacement is not 0 in step S911 (Yes), there is a record that the consumable is used in another device, but the consumable ID before and after the replacement is different. A use pseudo alarm is generated (step S912). Here, the pseudo alarm in step S912 adds at least the target consumable ID: T, the remaining amounts P and R before and after replacement, and the device IDs Ib and Ia before and after replacement as information. The pseudo alarm generated in step S912 is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121 (step S913), and the consumable use confirmation process for all the monitoring devices is terminated.

  On the other hand, in step S911, when the consumption level P before replacement is 0 (No), that is, when there is no usage record in other devices, the remaining amount R of the consumables after replacement is 100 (%). (That is, whether or not the consumable after replacement is new) (step S914). In step S914, if the remaining amount R after replacement is not 100% (No), that is, since it is used by a device other than the monitoring target device, UNKNOWN (unidentifiable) is displayed in the device Ib before replacement, and the remaining amount P before replacement. Also, UNKNOWN (unidentifiable) is set (step S915). On the other hand, if the remaining amount R after replacement is 100% in step S914 (Yes), it is considered that a new product has been installed, and thus the consumable use confirmation process for all the monitoring devices is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device that monitors the usage status of consumables in the image forming apparatus and detects a special usage of the consumables that is not expected in a normal operation flow, and transmits a pseudo alarm to the central management device. Can be provided.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, processing is performed on the assumption that all consumables are delivered items within a maintenance contract. In addition, if there is a means for acquiring the delivered consumable ID, it is possible to detect a case where a consumable other than the delivered product is used. For example, the consumable IDs delivered by the delivery system are managed by the delivery system, and the monitoring apparatus 101 acquires the information via the central management device 121 and manages it as a delivered consumable list. Further, by determining whether or not the post-replacement consumable ID: T exists in the delivered consumable list before step S804 in FIG. If it does not exist in the delivered consumables list, a pseudo alarm for special use of consumables is similarly generated and transmitted to the central management apparatus 121. At least the consumable ID and the device ID on which the consumable is mounted are added to the pseudo alarm as information. This makes it possible to analyze the consumable usage status more accurately.

(Third embodiment)
In the first embodiment, with regard to the maintenance of the used consumables list of each device, a mode has been described in which old data is erased based on a comparison between the update date and time and the current date and time of the consumable status. In addition to this, if there is a means for acquiring the collected consumable ID, the list can be maintained accurately, and consumables that have not been collected can be listed. For example, the collected consumable ID is periodically acquired by the monitoring apparatus 101 via the central management apparatus 121, and the used consumable list of all the monitoring devices is maintained. In accordance with this maintenance, a consumable ID whose update date and time is equal to or longer than a certain period is generated as a pseudo alarm indicating detection of an uncollected consumable and is transmitted to the central management apparatus 121. At least a consumable ID and a device ID (a plurality of cases) on which the consumable is mounted are added to the pseudo alarm as information. As a result, information on the collection of the consumables can be obtained, and the usage status of the consumables can be analyzed more accurately.

(Other examples)
The present invention includes an apparatus or system configured by appropriately combining the above-described embodiments and a method thereof.
Here, the present invention is an apparatus or system that is a main body that executes one or more software (programs) that realize the functions of the above-described embodiments. Further, a method for realizing the above-described embodiment executed by the apparatus or system is also one aspect of the present invention. The program is supplied to the system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and the program is read and executed by one or more computers (CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus. That is, as one aspect of the present invention, the program itself or various storage media readable by a computer storing the program are included. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

  Moreover, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

Claims (9)

A monitoring device that monitors an image forming apparatus that operates with wearing consumables,
Information on the degree of consumption of the extracted consumables recorded when the consumables are taken out from the image forming apparatus, and the degree of consumption of the consumables mounted on the image forming apparatus for replacement of the consumables Receiving means for receiving information; and
Determining means for determining whether or not the information on the degree of wear after replacement indicates a new article,
Comparison means for comparing information on the degree of wear before and after replacement,
Generating means for generating an alarm indicating that a special use of a consumable by the image forming apparatus is performed according to at least one of the determination and the comparison;
The monitoring apparatus characterized by having. When the generation unit can acquire the identification information of the consumables from the image forming apparatus to be monitored, the identification information of the consumables mounted before and after the replacement of the consumables is different, and information regarding the degree of consumption after the replacement is present. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the alarm is generated when it indicates that the product is not new. When the generation unit can acquire the consumable identification information from the image forming apparatus to be monitored, the identification information of the consumables mounted before and after the replacement of the consumables is the same, and the information regarding the degree of consumption before and after the replacement The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the alarm is generated when the two are different. When the generation unit cannot obtain the consumable identification information from the image forming apparatus to be monitored, the information about the consumption level before and after replacement is different, and the information about the consumption level after replacement indicates that the information is not new. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an alarm is generated. When the generation unit cannot acquire the consumable identification information from the image forming apparatus to be monitored, the remaining amount of the consumable before replacement is larger than the remaining amount of the consumable after replacement, and the degree of consumption after replacement The monitoring apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the alarm is generated when the information on the information indicates that the information is not new. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for notifying the generated alarm. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the consumable item is a toner bottle, and the information regarding the degree of consumption is a remaining amount of toner in the toner bottle. A method of controlling a monitoring device that monitors an image forming apparatus that operates with wearing consumables,
Information regarding the degree of consumption of the extracted consumables recorded when the consumables are extracted from the image forming apparatus, and the degree of consumption of the consumables attached to the image forming apparatus for replacement of the consumables A receiving process for receiving information;
A determination step of determining whether or not the information regarding the degree of wear after replacement indicates a new product,
A comparison process to compare information about the degree of wear before and after replacement,
A generation step of generating an alarm indicating that a special use of the consumable by the image forming apparatus is performed according to at least one of the determination and the comparison;
A control method for a monitoring device, comprising: The program for functioning a computer as each means with which the monitoring apparatus of any one of Claims 1-7 is provided.

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