JP2023097677A - server and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

To change information utilized for managing a printer.SOLUTION: An increase instruction that is an instruction to increase the available capacity of a printer is accepted. A notification of the increase of the available capacity is given to the printer in response to the accepted increase instruction. A first increase instruction which is a first increase instruction for a first printer and which is associated with a first manager is accepted. A second increase instruction which is a second increase instruction for a second printer and which is associated with a second manager is accepted. A third increase instruction which is a third increase instruction for the first printer and which is associated with a third manager is accepted without an instruction from the first manager. A fourth increase instruction which is a fourth increase instruction for the second printer and which is associated with the third manager is accepted without an instruction from the second manager.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present specification relates to technology for managing printers.

Techniques for providing print services using printers have been proposed. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses the following technique. The server includes a server storage unit that associates and stores user identification information that identifies a user with a permitted print amount that permits printing by the print unit. The program causes the computer to execute a first display process of displaying a selection screen for allowing the user to select the amount of printing by the printing unit on the display unit of the information processing apparatus. In addition, in response to the user's selection of the print amount from the selection screen displayed by the first display process, the program causes the selected print amount to be printed in the permitted print amount corresponding to the user identification information of the user. Execute the addition process that causes the server to add the amount.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-018621

By the way, various types of information are used for printer management (for example, usable amounts of consumables such as paper, ink, toner, and photosensitive drums). There was room for ingenuity in changing the information used to manage printers.

This specification discloses techniques for changing information used to manage printers.

The technology disclosed in this specification can be implemented as the following application examples.

[Application Example 1] A server comprising: a reception unit that receives an increase instruction that is an instruction to increase the usable amount of a printer; a notification unit for notifying an increase in the available amount, wherein the reception unit receives a first increase instruction for the first usable amount of the first printer, the first increase instruction being associated with a first administrator. receiving a second increase instruction for a second usable amount of a second printer, the second increasing instruction being associated with a second administrator; receiving a second instruction for increasing the first usable amount of the first printer; receiving the third increase instruction associated with a third administrator without an instruction from the first administrator, and receiving a fourth increase instruction for the second usable amount of the second printer; A server that receives the fourth increase instruction associated with the third administrator without an instruction from the second administrator.

According to this configuration, the server can increase the first usable amount of the first printer using the first increase instruction and the third increase instruction. Also, the server can increase the second usable amount of the second printer using the second increase instruction and the fourth increase instruction.

It should be noted that the technology disclosed in this specification can be implemented in various aspects. It can be realized in the form of a recorded recording medium (for example, a non-temporary recording medium).

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a system according to an embodiment; FIG. (A)-(C) are schematic diagrams showing examples of data 400, 300, 310, respectively. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print processing; FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of order processing; 6 is a flowchart showing an example of order processing; 6 is a flowchart showing an example of order processing; (A) to (D) show examples of images displayed on the display unit 240 of the terminal device 200. FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a support screen; 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of history display processing; 4 shows an example of a history screen.

A. First example:
A1. Device configuration:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the system of this embodiment. This system 1000 includes printers 100A and 100B, terminal devices 200A, 200B and 200C, a service server 500, and a settlement server 700. In this embodiment, printers 100A and 100B have the same hardware configuration. Hereinafter, when the printers 100A and 100B are not distinguished from each other, they are simply referred to as the printer 100 by omitting the letter at the end of the reference numeral. Moreover, in this embodiment, the terminal devices 200A, 200B, and 200C have the same hardware configuration. Hereinafter, when the terminal devices 200A, 200B, and 200C are not distinguished, they are simply called the terminal device 200 by omitting the letters at the end of the reference numerals.

Service server 500 is provided by a print service provider. The print service provider provides the printer 100 to the user who has applied for the print service. The service server 500 gives the printer 100 the number of printable sheets. The printer 100 allows the user to print the number of printable sheets. The administrator of the printer 100 can use the terminal device 200 to purchase the number of printable sheets. When the printable number is purchased, the service server 500 provides the printer 100 with the printable number updated by the purchase. Note that the number of printable sheets is managed for each printer 100 .

Terminal devices 200A, 200B, and 200C are terminal devices of different administrators. In this embodiment, the first terminal device 200A is the terminal device of the first administrator of the first printer 100A. When the first printer 100A is used at home, the first administrator can be a family member (eg, father, mother, etc.). If the first printer 100A is used within a company, the first administrator may be a representative selected from the employees. The second terminal device 200B is the terminal device of the second administrator of the second printer 100B. The second manager, like the first manager, can be a family member and can be a representative selected from the employees. A third terminal device 200</b>C is a terminal device of a third administrator who maintains the printer 100 . When the printer 100 has a problem, the administrator of the printer 100 requests the print service provider to solve the problem. Upon request, the third administrator performs maintenance (eg, inspection, repair, etc.) of the printer 100 . For maintenance purposes, a third administrator may cause printer 100 to print. This printing reduces the number of printable sheets. The third administrator compensates for the decrease in the number of printable sheets due to printing for maintenance free of charge (details will be described later).

In this embodiment, there are two types of administrators: administrators who are registered to use the print service and administrators who perform maintenance according to instructions from the print service provider. Hereinafter, the type of administrator registered to use the print service will be referred to as the first type, and the type of administrator for maintenance will be referred to as the second type. The first administrator and the second administrator are the first type administrators. A first-type administrator can be a general user. A third administrator is a second type administrator.

The payment server 700 is provided by a payment business operator. The settlement server 700 processes settlement for purchasing the number of printable sheets.

These devices 100A, 100B, 200A, 200B, 200C, 500, 600 are connected to a network NT. Network NT may include the so-called Internet. The network NT may also include so-called local networks.

The printer 100 has a processor 110 , a storage device 115 , a display section 140 , an operation section 150 , a print execution section 160 and a communication interface 180 . These elements are connected to each other via buses. Storage device 115 includes volatile storage device 120 and non-volatile storage device 130 . The processor 110 is a device that performs data processing, such as a CPU. The volatile memory device 120 is, for example, a DRAM, and the non-volatile memory device 130 is, for example, a flash memory.

The print executing unit 160 prints an image on a sheet such as paper (an example of a print medium) using a printing material (for example, toner or ink) by a predetermined method (for example, a laser method or an inkjet method). It is a device that prints

The display unit 140 is a device that displays images, such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and an LED display. The operation unit 150 is a device that receives user operations, such as buttons, levers, and a touch panel overlaid on the display unit 140 . The communication interface 180 is an interface for communicating with other devices (for example, the communication interface 180 includes one or more of a USB interface, a wired LAN interface, and an IEEE802.11 wireless interface). In this embodiment, the communication interface 180 is connected to the network NT.

The nonvolatile storage device 130 stores the program PG1 and control data 400. FIG. The program PG1 is pre-stored in the non-volatile storage device 130 as firmware by the manufacturer of the printer 100 . Processor 110 executes various processes described later by executing program PG1. Details of the control data 400 will be described later.

The terminal device 200 is a computer such as a smart phone. The terminal device 200 has a processor 210 , a storage device 215 , a display section 240 , an operation section 250 and a communication interface 280 . These elements are connected to each other via buses. Storage 215 includes volatile storage 220 and nonvolatile storage 230 . The processor 210 is a device that performs data processing, such as a CPU. The volatile memory device 220 is, for example, a DRAM, and the non-volatile memory device 230 is, for example, a flash memory.

The display unit 240 is a device that displays images, such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and an LED display. The operation unit 250 is a device that receives user operations, such as buttons, levers, and a touch panel overlaid on the display unit 240 . The communication interface 280 is an interface for communicating with other devices (for example, the communication interface 280 includes one or more of a USB interface, a wired LAN interface, and an IEEE802.11 wireless interface). In this embodiment, the communication interface 280 is connected to the network NT.

The nonvolatile storage device 230 stores a program PG2 and account data 231. FIG. Although illustration is omitted, an operating system (for example, ANDROID (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), etc.) is running on the terminal device 200 . Various applications may run on the operating system. The program PG2 is a program of an application (also called an order application) for transmitting an instruction to increase the number of printable sheets (that is, an order for the number of printable sheets) to the service server 500 . The program PG2 may be an application program that runs on the operating system. Alternatively, the program PG2 may be a program of an application running on another application (such programs are also called mini-programs). Program PG2 is downloaded to terminal device 200 from a server (not shown). Alternatively, program PG2 may be provided stored on a portable storage device (eg, CD-ROM, USB flash drive, etc.). Processor 210 executes various processes, which will be described later, by executing program PG2.

The account data 231 indicates the administrator identifier of the administrator who owns the terminal device 200 and the identifier of the printer 100 associated with the administrator identifier (referred to as printer identifier). An administrator identifier is assigned to the administrator by the print service provider. A correspondence relationship between the administrator identifier and the printer identifier is determined by the print service provider. Account data 231 is pre-stored in non-volatile storage 230 for use with the ordering application.

The servers 500, 700 have processors 510, 710, storage devices 515, 715, and communication interfaces 580, 780, respectively. In each server 500, 700, these elements are connected together via a bus. Storage devices 515, 715 include volatile storage devices 520, 720 and non-volatile storage devices 530, 730, respectively. The processors 510 and 710 are devices that perform data processing, such as CPUs. Volatile memory devices 520 and 720 are, for example, DRAMs, and non-volatile memory devices 530 and 730 are, for example, flash memories. The communication interfaces 580 and 780 are interfaces for communicating with other devices (for example, each of the communication interfaces 580 and 780 uses one or more of a USB interface, a wired LAN interface, and an IEEE802.11 wireless interface. include). In this embodiment, the communication interfaces 580, 780 are each connected to the network NT.

Non-volatile storage devices 530 and 730 pre-store programs PG5 and PG7 for operations of corresponding servers 500 and 700, respectively. Processors 510 and 710 execute various processes described later according to programs PG5 and PG7.

The nonvolatile storage device 530 of the service server 500 further stores management data 300 and account data 310 . The non-volatile storage device 730 of the payment server 700 further stores payment data 731 . Details of these data will be described later.

Although illustration is omitted, an operating system for servers is running on the servers 500 and 700 . The programs PG5 and PG7 may be application programs that run on the operating system. Alternatively, the programs PG5, PG7 may be programs built into the operating system.

A2. Data structure:
2A-2C are schematic diagrams showing examples of data 400, 300, 310, respectively. FIG. 2A shows an example of control data 400 stored in non-volatile storage device 130 of printer 100 (FIG. 1). The control data 400 indicates a cumulative charged number D43 and a cumulative printed number D44. Hereinafter, the cumulative charge number D43 is also simply referred to as the cumulative charge number D43. Also, the cumulative number of printed sheets D44 is also simply referred to as the cumulative number of printed sheets D44. The cumulative charge number D<b>43 is the cumulative value of the printable number given to the printer 100 . The charged number indicates the number of printable sheets given to the printer 100 . The cumulative number of printed sheets D44 is the cumulative value of the number of sheets printed by the printer 100. FIG. Although the details will be described later, the processor 110 of the printer 100 updates the accumulated charge number D43 according to the instruction from the service server 500, and updates the accumulated print number D44 according to the execution of printing. The printer 100 is required to print various numbers of sheets NP (NP is an integer equal to or greater than 1). The processor 110 executes printing when "NP+D44" is less than or equal to "D43".

FIG. 2B shows an example of management data 300 stored in the nonvolatile storage device 530 of the service server 500 (FIG. 1). The management data 300 includes a plurality of printer data 301 provided for each printer 100 . The printer data 301 associated with the first printer 100A is also called first printer data 301A, and the printer data 301 associated with the second printer 100B is also called second printer data 301B. Configurations common to a plurality of printer data 301 will be described without distinguishing between individual printer data 301A and 301B.

The printer data 301 indicates a device D31, an accumulated charged number D33, an accumulated printed number D34, a charge plan list D35, and an order list D36. Hereinafter, the cumulative charge number D33 is also simply referred to as the cumulative charge number D33. Also, the cumulative number of printed sheets D34 is also simply referred to as the cumulative number of printed sheets D34.

A device D31 indicates the identifier of the printer 100 corresponding to the printer data 301. FIG. The cumulative charge number D33 is the cumulative value of the charge number. Although the details will be described later, the processor 510 of the service server 500 (FIG. 1) adds the purchased number of printable sheets to the accumulated charge amount D33. In addition, when printing for maintenance is performed, the third administrator can instruct the service server 500 to increase the cumulative number of charged sheets D33 free of charge. Processor 510 notifies printer 100 of updated cumulative charge amount D33. In response to the notification, the processor 110 of the printer 100 updates the cumulative charge number D43 (FIG. 2A) to the same value as the cumulative charge number D33.

The cumulative print count D34 is the cumulative value of the number of sheets printed by the printer 100 (FIG. 1). Although the details will be described later, the processor 110 of the printer 100 notifies the service server 500 of the updated cumulative print count D44 (FIG. 2A) in accordance with the execution of printing. Processor 510 of service server 500 updates cumulative print count D34 to the same value as cumulative print count D44 in response to the notification.

The charge plan list D35 shows a list of plans that can be selected for ordering the number of printable sheets. In the example of FIG. 2B, the charge plan list D35 indicates multiple plans including a first plan D35a and a second plan D35b. The first plan D35a is, for example, a pay plan for an increase of 100 tickets, and the second plan D35b is a pay plan for an increase of, for example, 200 tickets. Although illustration is omitted, the charge plan list D35 may include free plans (also called coupons). A plan can be set with the number of times it can be used. For example, the number of times a coupon can be used can be set to one. The plans included in the charge plan list D35 are predetermined by the printing service provider. Also, as will be described later, the second type administrator can add a new plan to the charge plan list D35.

The order list D36 indicates a list of orders received by the service server 500. FIG. The first type managers (for example, the first manager and the second manager) can select a plan for ordering from the charge plan list D35. A second type administrator (for example, a third administrator) can issue an order for reimbursement that is not on the charge plan list D35. In the example of FIG. 2B, the order list D36 shows multiple orders including a first order D36a and a second order D36b. Each order shows multiple pieces of information including content, status and date.

A first order D36a shows an example of an order issued by a first-class manager. The content D61a of the first order D36a indicates the content of the plan. The state D62a is selected from a first state indicating that progress is allowed, a second state that indicates that progress is possible, and a third state that indicates processing completion. As will be described later, when a paid plan is selected, the status of the pending order is set to the first status. After that, the state of the order is changed to the second state according to the settlement completion. If the free plan is selected, the status of the order is set to the second status. The date D63a indicates the reception date of the first order D36a.

A second order D36b shows an example of an order issued by a second type manager. The content D61b of the second order D36b indicates the content of "compensation" (including that the order type is "compensation" and the number of increased orders). For "refill" orders, the state D62b is selected from the second state (progress possible) and the third state (process completed). The date D63b indicates the reception date of the second order D36b.

FIG. 2C shows an example of the account data 310 stored in the non-volatile storage device 530 of the service server 500 (FIG. 1). Account data 310 indicates the correspondence between administrator identifiers, administrator types, and printer identifiers. In the example of FIG. 2(C), the account data 310 indicates correspondence relationships among a plurality of administrators including a first administrator 801, a second administrator 802, and a third administrator 803. FIG.

The type of the first administrator 801 is the first type, and the first administrator 801 is associated with one or more printers 100 including the first printer 100A. The type of the second administrator 802 is the first type, and the second administrator 802 is associated with one or more printers 100 including the second printer 100B. A first-class administrator is allowed to order the number of printable sheets for the printer 100 associated with the account data 310 . Yield orders for printers 100 that are not mapped by account data 310 are prohibited. Correspondence between administrator identifiers and printer identifiers is registered in advance.

The type of the third administrator 803 is the second type. The second type administrator has no printer 100 restrictions regarding multiple printers 100 included in a specific printer group. A second type administrator is allowed to order the number of printable sheets for any printer 100 among the plurality of printers 100 included in a specific printer group. In this example, the specific printer group includes a first printer 100A and a second printer 100B.

A particular printer group is determined by the print service provider. Any method may be used to determine the specific printer group. For example, a particular printer group may be determined based on a geographic area such as country or region. Also, a print service application can be accepted by a plurality of sales companies. In this case, a specific printer group may be formed for each sales company. The second type administrator's printer identifier is set to a value indicating that there is no limit within a specific printer group. The same applies to the account data 231 of the terminal device 200 (FIG. 1) of the second type administrator. Hereafter, the service server 500 processes one printer group. If the service server 500 processes multiple printer groups, the account data 310 may be prepared for each printer group.

A3. Print processing:
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print processing. FIG. 3 shows an example of processing when the printer 100 executes printing. An example of management data 300 and control data 400 before printing is shown in the upper part of the figure. Here, D33=D43=1000 and D34=D44=943.

At S110, the printer 100 receives a print request from an external device. The print request sending device may be any device that can communicate with the printer 100 . For example, if the communication interface 180 of the printer 100 (FIG. 1) includes a USB interface, the print request sending device may be an external device (for example, a personal computer) connected by wire to the USB interface. If the communication interface 180 includes an IEEE802.11 wireless interface, the print request sending device may be an external device (for example, a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) wirelessly connected to the wireless interface. Also, the printer 100 may receive a print request from the service server 500 . The service server 500 may transmit a print request to the printer 100 according to an instruction from a user's terminal device (not shown).

A print request may contain a variety of data. In this embodiment, the print request includes image data of an image to be printed (referred to as target image data). The data format of the target image data may be any data format. The target image data is, for example, bitmap data (JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), PNG (Portable Network Graphics), etc.), or image data described in a page description language (PDF (Portable Document Format), XPS (XML Paper Specification), etc.). Hereinafter, it is assumed that target image data indicates NP images to be printed on NP sheets (NP is an integer equal to or greater than 1). The number NP is called the number of printed sheets NP.

In S115, the processor 110 refers to the control data 400 (FIG. 2A) and obtains the cumulative charge number D43 and the cumulative print number D44.

In S120, the processor 110 determines whether the sum of the cumulative number of prints D44 and the number of prints NP is equal to or less than the cumulative charge number D43. D43<D44+NP indicates that the cumulative print count D44 exceeds the cumulative charge count D43 by printing NP sheets. In this case (S120: No), processor 110 terminates the process without executing printing. Note that the processor 110 may execute processing for notifying the user that printing was not executed. For example, the processor 110 may display, on the display unit 140, information indicating the shortage of the accumulated charge number D43.

If D44+NP is less than or equal to D43 (S120: Yes), in S125 the processor 110 causes the print execution unit 160 to print NP sheets using the target image data. For example, processor 110 generates print data using target image data. Processor 110 supplies the print data to print execution unit 160 . The print executing unit 160 executes printing according to the print data. The data format of the print data may be any data format suitable for the print executing unit 160 . Alternatively, processor 110 may provide target image data to print executor 160 (i.e., print executor 160 may be configured to print an image using the target image data). .

In this manner, printing is permitted when the number of printed sheets NP is equal to or less than "D43-D44". The difference (D43-D44) between the cumulative charge number D43 and the cumulative print number D44 indicates the number of printable sheets.

At S<b>130 , processor 110 updates control data 400 . Specifically, the processor 110 adds the number of prints NP to the cumulative number of prints D44. For example, if the cumulative number of prints D44 before update is 943 and the number of prints NP is 10, the cumulative number of prints D44 after update is 953 (=943+10).

At S<b>135 , the processor 110 sends a status notification to the service server 500 . The status notification includes data indicating the printer identifier associated with the printer 100 and data indicating the latest cumulative print count D44. In addition, the transmission conditions for transmitting the status notification may be various conditions. For example, processor 110 may send a status notification in response to performing printing. Processor 110 may also periodically send status notifications.

At S145, the processor 510 of the service server 500 updates the management data 300 according to the status notification. In this embodiment, the processor 510 sets the cumulative print count D34 of the printer data 301 corresponding to the printer identifier indicated by the status notification to the same value as the cumulative print count D44 indicated by the status notification. For example, if D44=953, the cumulative number of prints D34 is set to 953. Then, the process of FIG. 3 ends.

Note that when the number of printed sheets NP exceeds the number of printable sheets (D43-D44), the processor 110 of the printer 100 may permit printing of the number of printable sheets (D43-D44) of the number of printed sheets NP. For example, when NP=10 and D43-D44=3, the processor 110 causes the print executing unit 160 to print three sheets and does not cause the print executing unit 160 to print the remaining seven sheets. you can go In this case, at S130, the processor 110 adds the number of sheets actually printed to the cumulative number of prints D44.

A4. Order processing:
4-6 are flow charts showing examples of order processing. FIGS. 4-6 show the processing for orders from the first type manager and the processing for orders from the second type manager. First, processing for an order from the first type administrator will be described. In the following, it is assumed that the first administrator 801 orders the number of printable sheets by operating the first terminal device 200A.

In S205, the first administrator 801 operates the operation unit 250 of the first terminal device 200A (FIG. 1) to activate the order application and input an order processing instruction. Processor 210 of first terminal device 200A transmits an order processing request to service server 500 . The order processing request contains data indicating the identifier of the first administrator 801 indicated by account data 231 . Hereinafter, the manager identifier indicated by the order processing request is also called the noted manager identifier.

At S210, processor 510 of service server 500 receives an order processing request from first terminal device 200A. Hereinafter, the terminal device that has transmitted the order processing request is also referred to as a transmission source terminal device. Here, the source terminal device is the first terminal device 200A (also referred to as the source terminal device 200A).

At S220, processor 510 refers to account data 310 (FIG. 2(C)) to acquire the type of noted administrator identifier. Processor 510 then determines whether or not the type of the noted administrator identifier is the second type.

The type of the first administrator 801 is the first type. Therefore, when the order processing request from the first terminal device 200A is processed, the determination result of S220 is No. In this case, at S225, the processor 510 obtains the target printer identifier, which is the identifier of the printer 100 for which the order was placed. In this embodiment, the processor 210 of the transmission source terminal device 200A (FIG. 1) causes the first administrator 801 to select the printer 100 from the printer identifier indicated by the account data 231. FIG. Hereinafter, the selected printer will also be referred to as a target printer. Here, it is assumed that the first printer 100A is selected (the first printer 100A is also called the target printer 100A). Processor 210 transmits attention printer data indicating the identifier of the attention printer to service server 500 . Processor 510 of service server 500 refers to the noted printer data and acquires the noted printer identifier.

In S230, the processor 510 refers to the first printer data 301A corresponding to the noted printer 100A among the plurality of printer data 301 of the management data 300 (FIG. 2B) to acquire the charge plan list D35. Processor 510 then transmits plan list data indicating charge plan list D35 to transmission source terminal device 200A.

At S240, the processor 210 of the transmission source terminal device 200A displays a plan selection screen on the display unit 240. FIG. 7A to 7D show examples of images displayed on the display unit 240 of the terminal device 200. FIG. FIG. 7A shows an example of the plan selection screen. The plan selection screen 910 is an operation screen displayed by the ordering application (the screen displayed by the application is also called an application window). The plan selection screen 910 has a plan list area 911 and an order button 912 . A plan list area 911 indicates the charge plan list D35 indicated by the plan list data. In the example of FIG. 7A, the plan list area 911 shows selection check boxes, plan names, number of sheets, and amounts for each plan. In this embodiment, the operation unit 250 includes a touch panel overlaid on the display unit 240 . The first administrator 801 can operate the element by tapping a portion of the touch panel that overlaps the displayed element (hereinafter simply referred to as the first administrator 801 operating the element).

In S250 (FIG. 4), the first administrator 801 selects one plan by operating the checkbox. Then, the first manager 801 inputs an order progress instruction by operating the order button 912 . Processor 210 sends an order for the number of printable pages (that is, an increase instruction) to service server 500 in accordance with the progress instruction. The increase instruction does not contain data indicating the number of sheets to be added, but contains data indicating the identifier of the selected plan. In this way, processor 210 issues an increase instruction in response to an instruction from first administrator 801 . Processor 510 of service server 500 receives the increase instruction from source terminal device 200A.

At S260, processor 510 determines whether service server 500 can communicate with noted printer 100A. Any method may be used for this determination. For example, processor 510 may send a response request to noted printer 100A. If the service server 500 receives a response from the printer of interest 100A within a predetermined waiting time (for example, one minute), the processor 510 may determine that the server 500 can communicate with the printer of interest 100A. If no response arrives within the waiting time, processor 510 may determine that server 500 cannot communicate with printer of interest 100A. Also, the service server 500 may establish a constant connection with the noted printer 100A. If a constant connection has been established, processor 510 may determine that server 500 can communicate with noted printer 100A. If a constant connection has not been established, processor 510 may determine that server 500 cannot communicate with noted printer 100A. A connection server (not shown) may establish a constant connection with the printer 100 . The service server 500 may then communicate with the printer 100 via the connection server.

If it is determined that server 500 cannot communicate with noted printer 100A (S260: No), processor 510 does not accept the increase instruction and notifies source terminal device 200A of an error in S270.

At S275, the processor 210 of the transmission source terminal device 200A displays an error screen on the display unit 240 in response to the notification of the error. FIG. 7B shows an example of the displayed error screen. The error screen 920 has a message 921 indicating that the noted printer 100A is not online, and a button 922 for closing the error screen 920. FIG. After S275, the order processing ends.

If it is determined that server 500 can communicate with noted printer 100A (S260: Yes), processor 510 accepts an increase instruction in S280. If the number of uses is set for the plan indicated by the increase indication, processor 510 subtracts one from the number of uses. Then, if the usable count becomes zero as a result of the subtraction, the processor 510 deletes the plan from the charge plan list D35 (FIG. 2(B)). For example, if the coupon can only be used once, the coupon is deleted from the charge plan list D35 after being used once.

At S290, processor 510 generates order data corresponding to the increase instruction. Processor 510 then adds the generated order data to order list D36 of printer data 301A corresponding to noted printer 100A in management data 300 (FIG. 2B). The order data includes data indicating the contents of the plan indicated by the increase instruction, data indicating the state, and data indicating the reception date of the increase instruction. Processor 510 obtains the reception date by referring to a timer (not shown). Processor 510 sets the state to a first state if the plan is a paid plan. Processor 510 sets the state to a second state if the plan is a free plan. Hereinafter, the order data newly generated in S290 will also be referred to as noted order data.

In S300, the processor 510 increases the cumulative charge amount D33 of the noted printer 100A in the management data 300 (FIG. 2B) in accordance with the increase instruction.

At S310 (FIG. 5), processor 510 determines whether the state of the noted order data is the second state. If the status is not the second status (S310: No), in this embodiment, the noted order data indicates a chargeable order and the status is the first status (that is, payment for the order has not been completed).

If the order is charged, payment processing (S320) is performed. The processor 210 of the transmission source terminal device 200A (FIG. 1) proceeds with the settlement according to the instruction of the first administrator 801. FIG. Processor 210 transmits a payment request to payment server 700 . The payment request includes data indicating the amount of the plan indicated by the noted order data and data indicating the identifier of the first administrator 801 indicated by the account data 231 . The processor 710 of the payment server 700 refers to the payment data 731 in response to the payment request and advances the payment processing. The payment data 731 indicates information used for payment processing (for example, correspondence between administrator identifiers and transfer accounts). Processor 710 transmits an instruction to display a settlement confirmation screen to transmission source terminal device 200A. Processor 210 of transmission source terminal device 200A displays a confirmation screen on display unit 240 in response to the display instruction. FIG. 7C shows an example of the confirmation screen. The confirmation screen 930 has a message 931 indicating the amount and settlement method, and a settlement button 932 for proceeding with settlement. The first administrator 801 can input payment instructions by operating the payment button 932 . Processor 210 transmits the input payment instruction to payment server 700 . Processor 710 of payment server 700 completes payment in accordance with the payment instruction. Processor 710 transmits a payment completion notification to transmission source terminal device 200A and service server 500 . The settlement process (S320) is performed at various timings after issuing the increase instruction (FIG. 4: S250).

If the state of the order data of interest is not the second state (S310: No), in S330, the processor 510 of the service server 500 determines whether or not the settlement of the order data of interest has been completed. If the processor 510 has not received payment completion from the payment server 700 (S330: No), the processor 510 repeats S330 until the payment is completed.

When the settlement of the noted order data is completed (S330: Yes), in S340, the processor 510 updates the state of the noted order data in the management data 300 (FIG. 2B) from the first state to the second state. . The processor 510 then moves to S310.

If the state of the noted order data is the second state (S330: 310: Yes), in S350 processor 510 determines whether or not service server 500 can communicate with noted printer 100A. This process is the same as the process of S260 in FIG. If it is determined that the server 500 cannot communicate with the noted printer 100A (S350: No), the processor 510 repeats S350 and waits for a communicable state with the noted printer 100A.

If it is determined that the server 500 can communicate with the noted printer 100A (S350: Yes), in S360 the processor 510 instructs the noted printer 100A to calculate the cumulative number of charged sheets D33 (FIG. 2B) according to the noted order data. Notify of an increase in This increase notification includes data indicating the updated cumulative charge number D33.

In S370, the processor 210 of the noted printer 100A updates the cumulative charge number D43 of the control data 400 (FIG. 2A) to the same value as the cumulative charge number D33 in response to the notification of the increase. An increase in the cumulative charge number D43 indicates an increase in the number of printable sheets (D43-D44). Then, the processor 210 notifies the service server 500 of the update completion of the cumulative charge number D43.

At S380, the processor 510 of the service server 500 acquires the update completion notification from the noted printer 100A. In S390, processor 510 updates the state of the noted order data in management data 300 (FIG. 2(B)) from the second state to the third state in response to the update completion notification.

In S400, processor 510 transmits a completion notification to transmission source terminal device 200A. In S410, processor 210 of transmission source terminal device 200A displays a completion screen on display unit 240 in response to the completion notification. FIG. 7D shows an example of the displayed completion screen. The completion screen 940 has a message 941 indicating that the order has been completed, and a button 942 for closing the completion screen 940 . After S410, the ordering process ends.

As described above, the accumulated charged number D33 and D43 are increased according to the increase instruction by the first administrator 801. FIG. Processing proceeds similarly when the second administrator 802 issues an increase instruction. As described with reference to FIG. 2C, the second administrator 802 can increase the number of printable sheets of the second printer 100B.

Next, a case where the third administrator 803 issues an instruction will be described. In this embodiment, the third administrator 803 increases the printable number of sheets of the printer 100 when causing the printer 100 to print for maintenance.

In S205 (FIG. 4), the third administrator 803 operates the operation unit 250 of the third terminal device 200C (FIG. 1) to activate the order application and input an order processing instruction for support. Processor 210 of third terminal device 200C transmits an order processing request to service server 500 . This order processing request includes data indicating the identifier of the third administrator 803 indicated by account data 231 . The noted administrator identifier indicates the third administrator 803 .

At S210, the processor 510 of the service server 500 receives an order processing request from the third terminal device 200C. The source terminal device is the third terminal device 200C (also referred to as the source terminal device 200C).

At S220, processor 510 determines that the type of the noted administrator identifier is the second type (S220: Yes). In this case, the process moves to FIG. At S420, the processor 210 of the transmission source terminal device 200C displays a support screen on the display unit 240. FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a support screen. The support screen 950 includes a target device area 951, a compensation name area 952 and quantity area 953 for compensation, a compensation instruction button 954, a coupon name area 955 and number area 956 for coupons, and a coupon instruction button 957. have.

The target device area 951 is an area for selecting a target printer, which is the printer 100 to be ordered. As described above, the printer identifier in the account data 231 of the third terminal device 200C (FIG. 1) indicates that there are no restrictions within a specific printer group. In this case, the processor 210 may allow the third administrator 803 to enter information indicating the printer of interest (eg, printer identifier, printer name, etc.) into the target device area 951 . Alternatively, processor 210 may display a list of selectable printers 100 in target device area 951 . The third administrator 803 may then select a printer of interest from the displayed list. In the following, it is assumed that the first printer 100A is selected.

The supplement name area 952 is an area for entering the supplement name. A third administrator 803 may enter a name to indicate coverage for support. A number-of-sheets area 953 is an area for inputting an increase in the number of printable sheets by compensation. The compensation instruction button 954 is a button for compensation using the information input to the areas 952 and 953 .

A coupon name area 955 is an area for entering the name of the coupon. A third administrator 803 may enter a name to indicate the coupon for support. A number of sheets area 956 is an area for inputting an increase in the number of printable sheets by the coupon. Coupon instruction button 957 is a button for issuing a new coupon (that is, adding a new coupon) using the information entered in areas 955 and 956 .

By operating the support screen 950, the third administrator 803 can issue either compensation (that is, instruction to increase) or instruction to add a coupon.

At S430 (FIG. 6), the processor 210 of the transmission source terminal device 200C transmits an increase instruction or a coupon addition instruction to the service server 500 according to the information input on the support screen 950 (FIG. 8). The increase instruction includes data indicating the information entered in areas 952 and 953 . The coupon addition instruction includes data indicating the information entered in areas 955 and 956 . Processor 510 of service server 500 receives the instruction from source terminal device 200C.

At S440, processor 510 determines whether the instruction is an increase instruction. If the instruction is an increase instruction (ie, compensation) (S440: Yes), at S450 processor 510 accepts an increase instruction. As described above, the increase instruction includes data indicating a variable indicating the number of printable pages to be increased. Further, an instruction from the first administrator 801 is not necessary for accepting an increase instruction from the third administrator 803 .

S460 and S470 that follow are the same as S290 and S300 in FIG. 4, respectively. In S460, the processor 510 sets the content of the order indicated by the order data to the content of "compensation", like the content of the second order D36b (FIG. 2B). The content of "compensation" includes that the order type is "compensation" and the number of increases. Processor 510 also sets the state of the order data to the second state. Processor 510 then proceeds to S310 (FIG. 5). Since the state of the order data for compensation is the second state (S310: Yes), the processor 510 proceeds to S350. The processing of S350-S410 is the same as the above-described processing of S350-S410 for the order from the first type administrator, respectively. As described above, in accordance with the increase instruction by the third administrator 803, the accumulated charge sheets D33 and D43 (and thus the number of printable sheets) of the noted printer 100A are increased. Also, when order data for compensation is processed, S320 and S330 of FIG. 5 are skipped. The processor 210 of the third terminal device 200C does not perform settlement processing for compensation. Thus, the reimbursement order data indicates no charge increase instructions.

2C, S420, and S430 (FIG. 6), the third administrator 803 selects the second printer 100B instead of the first printer 100A in the target device area 951 (FIG. 8). can. Similarly, when the second printer 100B is selected, the number of sheets that can be printed by the second printer 100B increases. Here, an instruction from the second administrator 802 is unnecessary for accepting an increase instruction from the third administrator 803 in S450 (FIG. 6).

If the instruction from transmission source terminal device 200C is a coupon addition instruction (S440: No), processor 510 adds a new coupon indicated by the coupon addition instruction to management data 300 (FIG. 2(B)) in S480. to add. Here, the processor 510 adds a new coupon to the charge plan list D35 of the first printer data 301A corresponding to the noted printer 100A of the management data 300. FIG. The added new coupon can be selected on the plan selection screen 910 of FIG. 7(A) (not shown). As shown in the plan list area 911, a plan name, number of sheets, and amount are set in the coupon. The plan name is set to the name entered in coupon name field 955 (FIG. 8). The number of sheets is set to the value set in the number of sheets area 956 . The amount is set to zero (free). After S480 (FIG. 6), the ordering process ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, the processor 510 of the service server 500 executes the following processes. At S280 (FIG. 4) and S450 (FIG. 6), processor 510 receives an increase instruction, which is an instruction to increase the usable capacity of printer 100. FIG. In S360 (FIG. 5), the processor 510 notifies the printer 100 of increasing the accumulated charged number D33 in accordance with the received increase instruction, which is the received increase instruction. An increase in the accumulated number of charged sheets D33 indicates an increase in the number of printable sheets (D33-D34).

As described in S280 of FIG. 4, the processor 510 accepts an instruction to increase the number of printable pages of the first printer 100A (FIG. 2C), which is associated with the first administrator 801. Also, at S280, processor 510 receives an instruction to increase the number of printable sheets of second printer 100B (FIG. 2C), which is associated with second administrator 802. FIG.

As described in FIGS. 2C, S420, S430, and S450 (FIG. 6), the third administrator 803 can increase the number of printable sheets of each of the first printer 100A and the second printer 100B. That is, in S450, processor 510 accepts an instruction to increase the number of printable pages of first printer 100A and is associated with third administrator 803 without an instruction from first administrator 801. FIG. In S450, the processor 510 accepts an instruction to increase the number of printable sheets of the second printer 100B, which is associated with the third administrator 803, without an instruction from the second administrator 802. FIG.

Thus, the service server 500 can increase the number of printable sheets of the first printer 100A using the increase instruction from the first administrator 801 and the increase instruction from the third administrator 803. FIG. Also, the service server 500 can increase the number of printable sheets of the second printer 100B by using the increase instruction from the second administrator 802 and the increase instruction from the third administrator 803. FIG. The third administrator 803 can increase the printable pages of both printers 100A and 100B. Therefore, the degree of freedom in managing the number of printable sheets of the first printer 100A and the number of printable sheets of the second printer 100B is improved. For example, when specific processing (for example, maintenance) is performed on the first printer 100A or the second printer 100B, the third administrator 803 can appropriately increase the number of printable pages of the printer 100 subject to the specific processing. .

2B, S225-S250 of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7A, the processor 510 sends the increase instruction for the first printer 100A to the charge associated with the first printer 100A. The first administrator 801 is made to select from the plan list D35 (also referred to as the first group). That is, processor 510 accepts an increase instruction selected from the first group and associated with first administrator 801 . A first group is a group of one or more increase instructions. Each increase instruction is predetermined at the time of plan selection. Similarly, processor 510 accepts an increase instruction selected from charge plan list D35 (also referred to as a second group) associated with second printer 100B and associated with second administrator 802 . The second group, like the first group, is also a group of one or more predetermined increase instructions. Note that the first group may be the same as the second group. Alternatively, the first group may include plans (ie, growth instructions) that are not included in the second group. The second group may contain plans not included in the first group.

Also, as described in S420, S430, S450, S460 (FIG. 6), and FIG. contains. Similarly, the increase instruction for second printer 100B associated with third administrator 803 includes a variable indicating the number of sheets to be added.

Thus, the first administrator 801 and the second administrator 802 can easily issue an increase instruction by selecting an increase instruction (here, a plan) from a group of increase instructions. The third administrator 803 can flexibly issue an increase instruction by adjusting the variable (the number of sheets area 953 (FIG. 8)) indicating the number of sheets to be added.

As shown in the plan list area 911 of FIG. 7A, the group of increase instructions associated with the first printer 100A includes both paid increase instructions and free increase instructions. Here, either the paid increase instruction or the free increase instruction may be omitted. Although not shown, the group of increase instructions associated with the second printer 100B also includes both paid increase instructions and free increase instructions. Here, either the paid increase instruction or the free increase instruction may be omitted.

5 and 6, an increase instruction for the first printer 100A associated with the third administrator 803 and an increase instruction for the second printer 100B associated with the third administrator 803 Both instructions are free augmentation instructions.

As described above, service server 500 uses the pay or free increase instruction from first administrator 801 and the free increase instruction from third administrator 803 to increase the number of printable sheets of first printer 100A. can be increased. Service server 500 also increases the number of printable pages of second printer 100B using the pay or free increase instruction from second administrator 802 and the free increase instruction from third administrator 803. can. In this way, the service server 500 can flexibly increase the printable pages of the printer 100 using paid or free increase instructions.

In S290 (FIG. 4) and S460 (FIG. 6), processor 510 generates order data corresponding to the accepted increase instruction. At S310-S340 (FIG. 5), processor 510 controls the state of the order data. At S360 (FIG. 5), the processor 510 notifies the printer 100 corresponding to the order data of the increase in the number of printable sheets according to the order data.

As described in S290 (FIG. 4), processor 510 generates order data in the first state if the accepted increase instruction is a chargeable increase instruction. As described in S330 and S340 of FIG. 5, in response to completion of payment for the order data in the first state (FIG. 5: S330: Yes), the processor 510 changes the state of the order data corresponding to the completed payment. is changed from the first state to a second state different from the first state (S340). As described in S310 and S360, when the state of the order data is the second state (S310: Yes), the processor 510 notifies the printer corresponding to the order data in the second state of an increase in the number of printable sheets. (S360). As described at S290 (FIG. 4), processor 510 generates order data for the second state if the received increase instruction is a free increase instruction.

According to this configuration, service server 500 can appropriately process pay increase instructions and free increase instructions using the status of the order data.

As described in S350 and S360 (FIG. 5), if service server 500 cannot communicate with printer 100 (S350: No), processor 510 does not notify printer 100 of an increase in the number of printable sheets. If service server 500 can communicate with printer 100 (S350: Yes), processor 510 notifies printer 100 of an increase in the number of printable sheets (S360). Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the notification from the service server 500 will not reach the printer 100 . Also, the possibility of repeated notification transmissions by the service server 500 is reduced. Thus, the load on service server 500 is reduced.

The processing of S260, S270, and S280 (FIG. 4) is for both the increase instruction for the first printer 100A by the first administrator 801 and the increase instruction for the second printer 100B by the second administrator 802. Applies. That is, when service server 500 cannot communicate with first printer 100A (S260: No), processor 510 does not accept an increase instruction for first printer 100A from first administrator 801. FIG. If the service server 500 can communicate with the first printer 100A (S260: Yes), the processor 510 accepts the first increase instruction for the first printer 100A from the first administrator 801. FIG. If the service server 500 cannot communicate with the second printer 100B (S260: No), the processor 510 does not accept the second administrator 802's increase instruction for the second printer 100B. If the service server 500 can communicate with the second printer 100B (S260: Yes), the processor 510 accepts a second increase instruction for the second printer 100B from the second administrator 802. FIG.

As described above, the service server 500 can reduce the possibility that the notification corresponding to the accepted increase instruction from the first administrator 801 will not reach the first printer 100A. Further, the service server 500 can reduce the possibility that the notification corresponding to the accepted increase instruction from the second administrator 802 will not reach the second printer 100B. In addition, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the cumulative charge number D43 of the printers 100A and 100B is not updated even though the administrators 801 and 802 have purchased the number of printable sheets.

6, the processing of S260, S270 and S280 (FIG. 4) is not applied to the increase processing by the third administrator 803. That is, processor 510 accepts an increase instruction for first printer 100A from third administrator 803 regardless of whether service server 500 can communicate with first printer 100A. Also, processor 510 accepts an increase instruction for second printer 100B from third administrator 803 regardless of whether service server 500 can communicate with second printer 100B. As described above, the degree of freedom in issuing an increase instruction by the third administrator 803 is improved. For example, the third administrator 803 may perform maintenance on the printer 100A while the printer 100A is not connected to the network. In such a case, the third administrator 803 can issue an increase instruction for the first printer 100A.

Also, in this embodiment, the increase instruction for the first printer 100A by the third administrator 803 is an increase instruction for maintenance of the first printer 100A. Also, the increase instruction for the second printer 100B by the third administrator 803 is an increase instruction for maintenance of the second printer 100B. As described above, the third administrator 803 can increase the number of printable sheets when the number of printable sheets is reduced due to printing for maintenance.

B. Second embodiment:
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of history display processing. In this embodiment, the processor 510 of the service server 500 executes history display processing in addition to the order processing of FIGS. 4-6. The history display process is a process of displaying the order history on the terminal device in response to a history request from the terminal device. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the first terminal device 200A issues a history request.

In S505, the first administrator 801 operates the operation unit 250 of the first terminal device 200A (FIG. 1) to activate the order application and input an instruction to display the history. The processor 210 of the first terminal device 200A acquires the target printer identifier, which is the identifier of the printer 100 for which the history request is made. The method of obtaining the noted printer identifier is the same as the method of S225 (FIG. 4). Here, it is assumed that the first printer 100A is selected by the first administrator 801 (the first printer 100A is also called the target printer 100A). Processor 210 sends a history request to service server 500 . The history request contains data indicating the noted printer identifier.

At S510, the processor 510 of the service server 500 receives the history request from the first terminal device 200A. Hereinafter, the terminal device that has transmitted the history request will also be referred to as a source terminal device. Here, the source terminal device is the first terminal device 200A (also referred to as the source terminal device 200A).

In S520, the processor 510 refers to the printer data 301 associated with the noted printer identifier indicated by the history request from the management data 300 (FIG. 2B), and acquires the order list D36. Processor 510 obtains a completed order list, which is a list of orders in the third state (processed), from order list D36. Processor 510 then generates order list data indicative of the completed order list.

At S530, processor 510 transmits the order list data to transmission source terminal device 200A.

At S540, processor 210 of transmission source terminal device 200A uses the order list data to display a history screen showing the history of orders on display unit 240. FIG. Then, the history display process ends. Thus, the order list data is an example of data for displaying the history screen.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the history screen. The history screen 960 has a history area 961 and a button 962 for closing the history screen 960 .

The history area 961 shows the date, plan name, number of sheets, price, and remarks for each order indicated by the list data. The remark indicates the type of order. The remarks of the charge order indicate the character string "display", the remarks of the coupon order indicate the character string "coupon", and the remarks of the compensation order indicate the character string "compensation". The "view" string indicates a hyperlink for viewing receipts. Each order in history area 961 indicates an increase in the number of printable pages of first printer 100A. A plan list area 911 shows a history of increases in the number of printable sheets of the first printer 100A.

A character string of "compensation" is attached to the order of "compensation". Orders under paid or free plans are marked with the word "display" or "coupon". In this way, the increase due to the increase instruction of "compensation" by the third administrator 803 and the increase due to the increase instruction based on the paid or free plan by the first administrator 801 are displayed in different manners. Therefore, when observing the history area 961, the first administrator 801 can easily distinguish between an increase due to an increase instruction by the third administrator 803 and an increase due to an increase instruction by the first administrator 801. FIG. The order list data of S530 (FIG. 9) is configured to display such a history area 961 on the first terminal device 200A. In this embodiment, the order list data includes order data indicating the details of each order. The processor 210 of the first terminal device 200A determines the display contents of the remarks according to the details of the order indicated by the order data.

Similarly, when the second terminal device 200B transmits a history request regarding the second printer 100B to the service server 500, the processor 510 of the service server 500, in S530 (FIG. 9), sends the completed order list of the second printer 100B. The shown order list data is transmitted to the second terminal device 200B. Processor 210 of second terminal device 200B uses the order list data to display a history screen similar to history screen 960 (FIG. 10) on display unit 240. FIG. Although illustration is omitted, on the history screen, the increase due to the increase instruction of “compensation” by the third administrator 803 and the increase due to the increase instruction based on the paid or free plan by the second administrator 802 are different from each other. (Specifically, the remarks are different).

Note that the difference in the display mode between the increase due to the increase instruction by the first type administrators 801 and 801 and the increase due to the increase instruction by the second type administrator 803 is not limited to the difference in the description of the remarks. , can be any difference. For example, character colors, fonts, character sizes, and other aspects may be different.

The order list data (S530) may also show open orders in addition to completed orders. For example, the order list data may indicate a list of all orders that are associated with the noted printer identifier and that have been received by service server 500 .

C. Variant:
(1) The order processing may be various other processing instead of the processing of FIGS. 4-6. For example, S350 (FIG. 5) may be omitted. In this case, processor 510 of service server 500 may repeatedly execute S360 until a completion notification is received from the noted printer.

S260, S270, and S275 of FIG. 4 may be omitted. That is, processor 510 of service server 500 may accept the increase instruction regardless of whether service server 500 can communicate with printer of interest 100 .

If the noted printer identifier (FIG. 4: S225) selected by the first type administrator is not associated with the noted administrator identifier by the account data 310, the processor 510 of the service server 500 does not accept the increase instruction. you can For example, processor 510 may notify the source terminal of an error in the printer identifier of interest.

(2) Order data statuses are not limited to the first status (waiting for permission to proceed), second status (progress possible), and third status (processing completed), but can be selected from various statuses. good. For example, the status of order data may be selected from four statuses of unsettled, settled, unsettled, and completed processing. In either case, the state of the order data is preferably configured to allow proper handling of fee-based and non-charged increase instructions.

(3) The structure of the increase instruction issued by the administrator may be various other structures instead of the above structure. For example, a first-class administrator may be allowed to adjust the number of increases in the number of printable pages. A second type administrator may select an increase instruction from a predetermined plan. A second type administrator may issue a chargeable increase instruction. In this case, the printing service provider may bear the costs. A single type 1 administrator may manage multiple printers 100 . Also, the second type administrator may be a senior administrator who manages a plurality of printers instead of a maintenance administrator. For example, if the first type manager is a person selected from the employees, the second type manager may be the leader of a plurality of personnel.

(3) In each of the above embodiments, the service server 500 manages the printer 100 using the number of printable sheets, which is an example of the usable amount of the printer 100 . When the printer 100 performs single-sided printing, the number of printable sheets is the same as the number of printable pages. When the printer 100 performs duplex printing, the number of printable pages is half the number of printable pages. The number of printable sheets may be managed using data indicating the number of printable sheets themselves instead of the combination of the cumulative charge number D33, D43 and the cumulative number of printed sheets D34, D44. The service server 500 may manage printers using other types of usable amounts instead of the number of printable sheets. For example, the usable amount may indicate any parameter that changes according to image printing, such as the number of printable pages, the usable amount of coloring material (ink, toner, etc.), the usable amount of the photosensitive drum, and the like. In either case, the order process (FIGS. 4-6) may be various processes that increase availability. Printer 100 may allow printing to the extent possible.

(4) The printer 100 may be managed using a physical device representing the actual printer 100 and a logical device associated with the physical device. For example, the printer identifier associated with the administrator identifier by the account data 231 (FIG. 1) and the account data 310 (FIG. 2C) may be the identifier of the logical device. Then, the identifier of the physical device may be associated with the logical identifier. A usable amount (eg, the number of printable pages) may be given to the logical device. When replacing a printer due to a cause such as a failure, the identifier of the physical device associated with the logical device may be changed without changing the logical device. The new printer may then inherit the amount of usage granted to the logical device.

(5) The configuration of the server that processes the increase request may be various other configurations instead of the configuration of the service server 500 described above. For example, a connection server (not shown) may establish a permanent connection with the printer 100 . The service server 500 may then transmit data to the printer 100 via the connection server. Further, communication between the service server 500 and the printer 100 may be relayed not only by the connection server but also by various relay devices.

(6) In each of the above embodiments, the service server 500 (FIG. 1) accepts an increase request and notifies the printer of the increase in the number of printable sheets (FIGS. 4-6). Instead of the configuration of the service server 500, the configuration of the server that executes such processing may be various other configurations. For example, a plurality of devices (for example, computers) that can communicate with each other via a network may share the functions of processing by the server 500, and provide the functions of the server 500 as a whole (these The system with the device corresponds to the server).

In each of the above embodiments, part of the configuration implemented by hardware may be replaced with software, or conversely, part or all of the configuration implemented by software may be replaced with hardware. good too. For example, the function of controlling the status of order data in S310, S330, and S340 of FIG. 5 may be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit.

In addition, when part or all of the functions of the present invention are realized by a computer program, the program is provided in a form stored in a computer-readable recording medium (for example, a non-temporary recording medium). be able to. The program can be used while being stored in the same or different recording medium (computer-readable recording medium) as when it was provided. "Computer-readable recording medium" is not limited to portable recording media such as memory cards and CD-ROMs, but also internal storage devices such as various ROMs in computers, and hard disk drives that are connected to computers. An external storage device may also be included.

Although the present invention has been described above based on examples and modifications, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

Reference Signs List 100 Printer 100A First Printer 100B Second Printer 110 Processor 115 Storage Device 120 Volatile Storage Device 130 Nonvolatile Storage Device 140 Display Unit 150 Operation Unit 160 Print execution unit 180 Communication interface 200 Terminal device 200A First terminal device 200B Second terminal device 200C Third terminal device 210 Processor 215 Storage device 220 Volatile memory Apparatus 230 Nonvolatile storage device 231 Account data 240 Display unit 250 Operation unit 280 Communication interface 300 Management data 301 Printer data 301A First printer data 301B Second Printer data 310 Account data 400 Control data 500 Service server 510 Processor 515 Storage device 520 Volatile storage device 530 Non-volatile storage device 580 Communication interface 700 Settlement server , 710... Processor, 715... Storage device, 720... Volatile storage device, 730... Non-volatile storage device, 780... Communication interface, 731... Settlement data, NT... Network, PG1... Program, PG2... Program, PG5... Program

Claims (10)

a server,
a reception unit that receives an increase instruction that is an instruction to increase the usable amount of the printer;
a notification unit that notifies the printer of an increase in the usable amount in accordance with an accepted increase instruction, which is an increase instruction received by the reception unit;
with
The reception unit
receiving a first increase instruction for a first usable amount of a first printer, the first increase instruction being associated with a first administrator;
receiving a second increase instruction for a second usable amount of a second printer, the second increase instruction being associated with a second administrator;
accepting a third increase instruction for the first usable amount of the first printer, the third increase instruction being associated with a third administrator without an instruction from the first administrator;
accepting a fourth increase instruction for the second usable amount of the second printer, wherein the fourth increase instruction associated with the third administrator is accepted without an instruction from the second administrator;
server. A server according to claim 1,
The reception unit
receiving the first increase instruction selected from a first group of one or more predetermined increase instructions;
receiving the second increase instruction selected from a second group of one or more predetermined increase instructions;
receiving the third increase instruction including a variable indicating an increase amount of the first usable amount;
receiving the fourth increase instruction including a variable indicating an increase amount of the second usable amount;
server. A server according to claim 2,
the first group includes one or both of a paid increase instruction and a free increase instruction;
the second group includes one or both of a paid increase instruction and a free increase instruction;
the third increase instruction is a free increase instruction;
the fourth augmentation instruction is a free augmentation instruction;
server. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The notification unit
a generation unit that generates order data corresponding to the received increase instruction;
a state control unit that controls the state of the order data;
a notification execution unit that notifies a printer corresponding to the order data of an increase in usable capacity in accordance with the order data;
including
The generation unit generates the order data in a first state when the received increase instruction is a charged increase instruction,
The state control unit changes the state of the order data corresponding to the completed payment from the first state to a different state from the first state in response to completion of payment for the order data in the first state. change to the second state,
The notification execution unit notifies a printer corresponding to the order data in the second state of an increase in the usable amount when the state of the order data is the second state,
The generating unit generates the order data in the second state when the received increase instruction is a free increase instruction.
server. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The notification unit
without informing the printer of the increase in the available amount if the server is not able to communicate with the printer;
notifying the printer of the increase in the available amount if the server is able to communicate with the printer;
server. A server according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The reception unit
if the server cannot communicate with the first printer, it does not accept the first increase instruction;
receiving the first increase instruction when the server can communicate with the first printer;
not accepting the second increase instruction when the server cannot communicate with the second printer;
accepting the second increase instruction when the server can communicate with the second printer;
server. A server according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The reception unit
accepting the third increase instruction regardless of whether the server is capable of communicating with the first printer;
accepting the fourth increase instruction regardless of whether the server is capable of communicating with the second printer;
server. A server according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:
transmitting first data for displaying the history of the increase in the first usable amount to the first terminal device, and transmitting second data for displaying the history of the increase in the second usable amount to the second terminal device; a transmitter for transmitting to
The first data is configured to display the increase according to the first increase instruction and the increase according to the third increase instruction in different manners,
The second data is configured to display the increase due to the second increase instruction and the increase due to the fourth increase instruction in different manners,
server. A server according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
the third increase instruction is an increase instruction for maintenance of the first printer;
the fourth increase instruction is an increase instruction for maintenance of the second printer;
server. A computer program,
a reception function that receives an increase instruction, which is an instruction to increase the usable amount of the printer;
a notification function for notifying the printer of an increase in the usable amount in accordance with a received increase instruction, which is an increase instruction received by the reception function;
is realized on a computer,
The reception function is
receiving a first increase instruction for a first usable amount of a first printer, the first increase instruction being associated with a first administrator;
receiving a second increase instruction for a second usable amount of a second printer, the second increase instruction being associated with a second administrator;
accepting a third increase instruction for the first usable amount of the first printer, the third increase instruction being associated with a third administrator without an instruction from the first administrator;
accepting a fourth increase instruction for the second usable amount of the second printer, wherein the fourth increase instruction associated with the third administrator is accepted without an instruction from the second administrator;
computer program.

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