JP4312218B2 - Information providing system, server device, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing system, a server device, and a program, and more specifically, an information providing system including an image processing device and a server device for providing information such as advertisements and guidance to a user, and the server device. , And a program for incorporating them.

  There are devices and systems that allow a dedicated card reader to read the recorded information from a card that records customer information such as a membership card and provide information according to the read recorded information.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, the improvement of the effect of attracting customers is effectively promoted by providing a customer service using a membership card, and the amusement park side is accompanied by a voucher issuing operation which is indispensable for the customer service. A customer management system is disclosed which prevents an increase in the burden on the customer.

  In the system described in Patent Document 1, when the input terminal reads an ID code that can identify a registered customer from a member card through a card reader and determines that the member card is appropriate, Information on the set customer service is displayed on the monitor. In addition, when an operation for receiving the displayed customer service is performed, the input terminal issues a voucher necessary for receiving the customer service by a printer, and transmits data related to the customer service to the POS terminal and the host. Send to computer.

  Patent Document 2 describes an environment in which member information cannot be inquired by real-time communication to a data center that collectively manages member information, or an environment in which all information cannot be held in each store due to a large number of members, or In an environment where equipment for reading external storage media such as IC cards and magnetic cards cannot be installed (referred to as a local environment), sales to special people at special prices, or specific information at the time of purchase to specific people And a POS system for grasping an accurate purchase age in order to analyze sales results more accurately.

In the system described in Patent Document 2, a membership card in which a membership number converted from gender and date of birth is considered in consideration of security is used, and the gender and date of birth as member information are encrypted and scanned by a scanner. The coded membership card is read, the code of the product is read by the scanner, the sex and date of birth of the member, and the preferential information of the product stored in the PLU (Price Look Up) master file If the member is eligible for special treatment, the special treatment information stored in the PLU master file is output.
JP-A-8-103549 JP 2004-157920 A

  However, service information that can be provided by the system of Patent Document 1 is prepared in advance according to identification information for identifying a service member. Similarly, information that can be provided by the system described in Patent Document 2 is prepared in advance according to member information.

  Therefore, in the systems of Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is impossible to provide information to non-members, and information cannot be provided to a wide range of people. Information provided to members is also an information service related to the association. It is not prepared to provide information on products or services unrelated to the member.

  Furthermore, in the systems of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the user operation screen for providing information is not versatile, and even if a third party tries to provide information on the system, the third It is difficult for a person to directly generate information that he wants to provide, and he has to ask a business operator who operates the system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of providing image information such as advertisements and guidance without being limited to a specific user, and in a form as desired by the provider of the image information. An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system, a server device, and a program to be incorporated therein that can easily provide information.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a first technical means of the present invention includes a digital multifunction peripheral having an image reading means for optically reading an image of a document and a display means for displaying a user operation screen, and the digital composite machine to be connected via a network, and a server apparatus having a storage means for storing a user operation screen information for said plurality of providing image information digital MFP, user provided image information in the digital MFP An information providing system that provides image information extraction means for extracting image information from a document image read by the image reading means, and a plurality of providing image information stored in advance in the storage means, and an image information selection means for selecting provides image information related to the image information extracted by the image information extracting unit, the digital multifunction peripheral , Receiving the user operation screen information transmitted from the server apparatus, possess means for displaying by the display means and the image information output means for outputting the provided image information selected by the image information selecting means The image information extracting means extracts information indicating that the card is a membership card of a predetermined service and color information of the membership card as the image information, and the image information selecting means provides a plurality of provisions prepared in advance. The image information for provision related to the information and the color information extracted by the image information extracting means is selected from the image information for use .

According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, the digital multi-function peripheral receives the user operation screen information transmitted from the server device, and receives the providing image information by the display means. It is characterized by being displayed by being incorporated in operation screen information.

According to a third technical means, in the first or second technical means, the server device provides the providing image information selected based on the image information extracted by the image information extracting means or selected by the image information selecting means. Based on the above, user operation screen information to be transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral is selected.

  According to a fourth technical means, in any one of the first to third technical means, the image information selecting means is provided in the server device.

According to a fifth technical means, in any one of the first to fourth technical means, the image information extracting means is provided in the digital multi-function peripheral .

  A sixth technical means is any one of the first to fourth technical means, wherein the image information extracting means is provided in the server device.

  A seventh technical means is any one of the first to sixth technical means, wherein the image information selecting means selects a plurality of providing image information related to the image information extracted by the image information extracting means. And means for presenting the user with the summary information regarding the selected plurality of image information for provision, and the user with the summary information of the provision image information that the user desires to output from among the plurality of presented summary information. Selecting the provisional image information related to the selected summary information as an output target in the image information output unit, and the summary information is incorporated into the user operation screen information by the display unit. It is characterized by being displayed.

  According to an eighth technical means, in any one of the first to seventh technical means, the image information selection means includes means for presenting to a user whether or not providing image information to be selected exists, The presence / absence of the presence is displayed by being incorporated into the user operation screen information by the display means.

  According to a ninth technical means, in any one of the first to eighth technical means, the image information selecting means includes means for presenting charging information for the providing image information to be selected to the user. The display unit displays the information by being incorporated in the user operation screen information.

  According to a tenth technical means, in any one of the first to ninth technical means, the providing image information selected by the image information selecting means is attached with guarantee information for guaranteeing the output form. It is characterized by.

  An eleventh technical means is any one of the first to tenth technical means, wherein the server device totalizes the providing image information selected by the image information selecting means and output by the image information output means. It is characterized by having a totaling means.

  In a twelfth technical means according to any one of the first to eleventh technical means, the providing image information includes advertisement information of goods or services related to the image information, goods or services related to the image information. Including application information, procedure guide information related to the image information, latest information related to the image information, detailed information related to the image information, and appendix information related to the image information Is.

A thirteenth technical means is a server device in the information providing system in any one of the first to twelfth technical means.

A fourteenth technical means is a program incorporated in the server device in the information providing system according to any one of the first to twelfth technical means, wherein the computer functions as the server device.

  According to the present invention, not only a specific user but also image information such as advertisements and guidance can be provided, and information can be easily provided in a form desired by the provider of the image information. .

The information providing system according to the present invention relates to a membership card brought by the user ( applicable to catalogs, magazines, wrapping paper (packaging boxes), etc. of other cards, products or services) and related to them by a digital multifunction peripheral . This is a system for providing the user with image information (providing image information) such as advertisements and guidance. The information providing system is a system which connects a network and a server device and a digital MFP stores the provided image information they carry out the advertisement cooperate for further digital MFP from the server apparatus User operation screen information is also transmitted, and the user performs an operation on the screen displaying this information. As a result, the provider of the providing image information can display in a desired form without being conscious of the display form of the digital multifunction peripheral . The digital multifunction peripheral according to the present invention has various functions including a copy function and a printing function, but the present invention can also be applied to image processing apparatuses other than the digital multifunction peripheral. In the following example, application examples other than the membership card will also be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of an information providing service using the information providing system according to the present invention. Here, a configuration example of a network system for providing providing image information held by a server device (hereinafter referred to as a server) 20 to a digital multifunction peripheral 10 connected via a communication line is shown.

  The information providing service is operated at the head office 2 of the affiliated store 1 such as the A store, the B store, and the C store. Examples of the affiliate store 1 include a convenience store. The head office 2 is provided with a server 20 for operating this information providing service. Each affiliated store 1 is provided with at least a digital multifunction peripheral 10 and a PC (PC terminal) 11. The digital multifunction device 10 is preferably connected or built with a charging device 10a. The PC terminal 11 functions as a server in the affiliated store 1, and is connected to the digital multifunction peripheral 10 and the POS terminal 12 and the like. The server 20 is connected to the PC terminal 11 of each affiliated store 1 via the Internet / intranet 31 or directly connected to the digital multi-function peripheral 10.

  For example, the server 20 is connected to servers 40 and 50, which are provided with providing image information providers 4 and 5, respectively, via the Internet / intranet 32. A network system such as an in-house LAN is connected to the servers 40 and 50 as shown in the figure. For example, a plurality of PCs 41, FAX 42, digital multi-function peripheral 43, and printer 44 are connected to this network system. The number of providers and the configuration of the network system installed there are not limited to this. Further, the providing sources 4 and 5 may send the providing image information directly to the head office 2 by a recording medium or the like, or the head office 2 may provide the providing image information in response to a request from the providing sources 4 and 5. It may be generated.

  Since the providers 4 and 5 can easily generate user operation screen information for the digital multifunction peripheral 10 together with the image information for provision as described later, user operation screen information for displaying the operation screen unique to the provider Can be provided to the head office 2. The providers 4 and 5 can also request the head office 2 to generate only the user operation screen information.

  In the configuration example as described above, information relating to the present invention can be provided by the network system of the in-house LAN or the digital multifunction peripheral 10 installed in each affiliated store 1. In addition, when A store, B store, and C store are not affiliated stores or include stores that are not affiliated, it is an installation place other than the store (a store in a station, a public facility such as a library or a government office). In some cases, the head office 2 corresponds to a manufacturer that sells the digital multi-function peripheral 10 or its sales company.

  Further, according to the present invention, the provision of the same function in the servers 40 and 50 without passing through the server 20 of the head office 2 allows the providing image information and the user to be provided directly from the providers 4 and 5 to the digital multifunction peripheral 10 side. Operation screen information can also be transmitted.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the digital multifunction peripheral and the server in the system of FIG. In order to be able to provide information according to the present invention, the server 20 includes a storage unit 21 and a search unit 22 which will be described below. The server 20 may be a distributed type such as separating file servers. On the other hand, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 includes an image reading unit 13, a display unit 15a, and an image information output unit 15 described below.

  The storage unit 21 stores a plurality of image information for provision and user operation screen information for the digital multifunction peripheral 10. The providing image information is information to be selected by an image information selection unit 22b described later, and the user operation screen information is information to be selected by a screen information selection unit 22a described later, and is an operation screen of the digital multifunction peripheral 10. This is information to be displayed. These pieces of information 22a and 22b may be updated as appropriate by reading from a portable recording medium via a network or directly.

  The server 20 transmits this user operation screen information by a communication means (not shown) in response to some request regarding information provision from the digital multifunction peripheral 10. The display unit 15a displays a user operation screen of the digital multi-function peripheral 10 itself and a user operation screen transmitted from the server 20 as will be described later. However, since the display unit 15 a can function as one of the image information output units 15, the display unit 15 a is included in the image information output unit 15.

  The image reading unit 13 corresponds to a device such as a scanner that optically reads an image of a document, and is a unit that is normally provided in the digital multifunction peripheral 10.

  Here, as reading targets (scan targets), for example, membership cards (rentals, clubs), point cards, bank cards, credit cards, employee ID cards, student ID cards, insurance cards, licenses, product catalogs (electric products, cars) Etc.), service catalogs (substituting services, cleaning services, etc.), pamphlets (travel, etc.), covers (back-to-back magazines such as weekly magazines, continuing books such as comic books), back cover, sweets And outer boxes of toys. As exemplified in the case of bank cards and credit cards, the cards include identification information such as member information, and a magnetic recording type or IC card in which the identification information is read by a dedicated reader such as a card reader. However, at least the information provision according to the present invention is performed by optically reading the information on the front surface or the back surface of the card medium.

  The information providing system according to the present invention includes an image information extracting unit 14 for extracting image information from a document image read by the image reading unit 13, and a plurality of providing image information stored in advance in the storage unit 21. Image information selecting means 22b for selecting providing image information related to the image information extracted by the image information extracting means 14. The extracted image information and the providing image information to be selected are naturally different, and new image information (providing image information) is selected based on the image information.

  The image information extraction unit 14 may be provided in either the digital multifunction peripheral 10 or the server 20. In the former case, the extracted image information can be transmitted instead of the document image, so that the communication load is small. The image information selection unit 22b may be provided in part on the digital multifunction peripheral 10 side, but is preferably provided in the server 20.

Performing addition, the image information extracting unit 14, as the extraction of the image information, (including the case a color) color is to extract information, extraction of the text (text information), including any of extraction of images, wherein It is preferable. Extraction of image features means extraction of shape information (shape feature information) having features such as logo marks. The text extraction may be executed by text search after OCR.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the server 20 has the following screen information selection means 22a. The screen information selection unit 22a receives user operation screen information to be transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 10 based on the image information extracted by the image information extraction unit 14 or based on the provision image information selected by the image information selection unit 22b. select. If the screen information selection means 22a is not provided, a fixed screen is transmitted and displayed, or the screen is not transmitted and a screen provided in advance in the digital multi-function peripheral 10 is used.

  The search means 22 includes the image information selection means 22b and the screen information selection means 22a described above, and returns the selection results. The server 20 preferably includes the following designation means 23. The designation unit 23 designates the association between the image information and the provision image information in the image information selection unit 22b, the association between the image information and the user operation screen information, or the association between the provision image information and the user operation screen information. The specifying means 23 may not be provided, but it is necessary to associate at least in advance.

  The digital multi-function peripheral 10 receives the user operation screen information transmitted from the server 20 and displays it on the display means 15a. In order to display the user operation screen transmitted from the server 20, for example, a general-purpose browser such as an XML browser may be incorporated in the display unit 15a. In that case, the user operation screen information transmitted from the server 20 is generated in the XML format, and when a touch panel is employed, the user operation screen information may be made operable. Further, it is not necessary to use a general-purpose browser as long as the manufacturer of the digital copying machine 10 makes the source public.

  Further, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 receives the user operation screen information transmitted from the server 20, and the display unit 15a converts the image information for provision provided by the image information output unit 15 into the received user operation screen information. Incorporating and displaying is preferable. As a result, service operation information that can be provided based on the image data obtained by reading the document image can be displayed on the operation panel or the like.

  The image information output means 15 can also be referred to as image information providing means, and provides the image information to the user by outputting the providing image information selected by the image information selecting means 22b. Here, the image information output means 15 performs display processing on the display means 15a, printing processing on the printing means 15b, and other file storage processing and file transmission processing on the image information selected by the image information selection means 22b. The output may be performed by any one or a plurality of processes.

  Here, as an example of a combination of [scan target: provided image information], [membership card: latest information and campaign information], [point card: campaign information, product information, point information], [bank card: loan] Brochures and application forms for initial services] [Credit card: Campaign information], [Employee ID and student ID: Employee discount information], [Insurance card, License: Procedure guide information], [Product catalog: Latest information and details [Information], [Service catalog: Latest information and detailed information], [Brochure: Latest information and detailed information and additional information], [Book: Latest issue], [Outer box of sweets and toys: Free gift information and appendix information (Appendix) Including itself)]. In addition, information on various products and services can be provided for all of these scan targets. However, the information to be provided is information suitable for the scan target, so that there are many merit in providing the information. Therefore, the information is selected by the image information selection means 22b. More specific examples of the image information to be selected and provided will be described later.

  As described above, the provided image information includes the advertisement information of the product or service related to the image information, the application information of the product or service related to the image information, the guide information of the procedure related to the image information, the latest information related to the image information. It is preferable to include any of information, detailed information related to image information, and appendix information related to image information.

Further, the digital multifunction peripheral 10, is usually provided, although mentioned as printing unit in the following example, the digital multifunction peripheral according to the present invention is Ru comprises an image processing means and image output means. The image processing means performs image processing on the document image itself read by the image reading means 13, and the image output means outputs document image information processed by the image processing means. It can be said that the image information output means 15 is a means for outputting the image information after the image processing means performs various kinds of image processing on the image information, except that the image output means is different from the output target.

  The server 20 can be configured by a computer (that is, a server computer), and its storage device corresponds to the storage means 21, and the search means 22 and the designation means 23 are stored in a rewritable ROM, HDD, or the like as a server program. . The server program is read into a volatile memory such as a built-in RAM, which is a work area, and executed by an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU built in the server computer. And this invention can take not only the form of the server 20 but the form as such a server program. Further, the image information extraction unit 14 and the like in the digital multi-function peripheral 10 may be incorporated as a program so that the control unit of the digital multi-function peripheral 10 functions as these means. Further, such a server program and a control program for the digital multi-function peripheral 10 can be distributed through a network or stored in a recording medium.

As described above, in the present invention, the image information to be provided to the user is selected based on the image data obtained by reading not only the membership card brought by the user but also various documents as a document image. It can also be applied to output. That is, by applying the present invention , when predetermined image information such as the characteristics of a document is confirmed by extraction from a document image, new provisional image information is selected based on the extracted image information. Output can also be provided. Further, even when there are a plurality of pieces of extracted image information, a plurality of image information for provision based on each of them can be provided.

  In the present invention, image information that can be provided is extracted based on the document image information read by the scanner, and operation screen information as a service for providing the extracted image information is provided to the digital multifunction peripheral 10 side. Then, the providing image information requested on the operation screen can be transmitted from the digital multifunction peripheral 10 side to the digital multifunction peripheral 10 side. As a result, the user operation screen can be changed to a screen desired by the provider of the image information for provision, and the screen can be easily generated by the provider, and the effect of advertising and the like can be enhanced.

  3 is a block diagram for explaining an internal configuration example of the digital multi-function peripheral in the system of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a top view showing an appearance of a scanner unit in the digital multi-function peripheral of FIG. 3, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the user I / F part in the digital multi-functional peripheral. With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 together, the digital multi-function peripheral 10 (and server 20) in FIG. 2 will be described with a specific configuration example.

  The digital multifunction peripheral 10 includes a user I / F unit 100 including an operation unit 101 and a display unit 102. The operation unit 101 includes a hard key group 101b such as a numeric keypad and buttons for performing various settings, a touch panel 101a, and the like, and enables an input operation by a user. The display unit 102 corresponds to the above-described display unit 15a, includes a liquid crystal panel that displays various information screens, and may be configured to be included in the above-described touch panel.

  When displaying the user operation screen information transmitted from the server 20, a series of information is stored in a storage unit 113, a temporary memory, etc., which will be described later, or only one piece of information is stored. You may make it access the server 20 whenever it changes. The display unit 102 is also configured to output image information provided to the user by display processing. Accordingly, the display unit 102 can function as one of the image information output unit 15 and the image output unit described above together with the control units 104 and 114 that select an output target and issue a display instruction.

  The digital multifunction machine 10 includes an I / F unit 103 for reading / writing data from / to a recording medium such as a USB memory. The I / F unit 103 is configured to output data such as image information to a recording medium for file storage processing. In addition to the control units 104 and 114 that select and designate an output target, the I / F unit 103 is configured as described above. It can function as one of the image information output means 15 and the image output means.

  The billing unit 105 corresponds to the billing device 10a and collects a copy fee from the user, a fee for providing image information provided by the present invention, and the like. The charging unit 105 can execute any one of various methods such as payment with a non-contact IC card or payment by coin insertion.

  The control unit 104 controls the user I / F unit 100, the I / F unit 103, and the charging unit 105. For example, a non-volatile memory such as a ROM storing a control program for controlling them is built in or connected to the control unit 104. The control program is read and executed by a processing unit such as a CPU built in the control unit 104 into a volatile memory such as a built-in RAM as a work area. In addition, the control unit 104 controls the entire digital multi-function peripheral 10 with any of the control units 114 described later as a main control unit. Hereinafter, a case where the control unit 1114 becomes a main control unit and the control unit 104 becomes a sub-control unit will be described.

  The network communication unit 111 configures an I / F with a predetermined communication network such as a public line network or a LAN so that the server 20 can be accessed. Data acquired from the communication network by the network communication unit 111 is held in the storage unit 113 or a temporary memory. The storage unit 113 is a storage unit such as an HDD or a rewritable ROM. In the case of use in the network communication unit 111 or in particular in the office, the storage unit 113 also selects the output object and controls the above-described images together with the control units 104 and 114 for instructing file transmission including file transmission and file saving. It can function as one of the information output means 15 and the image output means.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the scanner unit 112 reads a document image from a document such as a card C placed on the document table 112 a by the user to acquire a document image (document image data), and stores the document 113 or a temporary image. Stored in a typical memory. At this time, the user I / F unit 100 starts scanning and the like. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the touch panel 101 a has a graphical operation so that an operation of performing “normal copy” and an operation of requesting provision of image information for provision by performing “reading a document such as a card” can be performed. A user I / F (GUI) is incorporated. Further, by displaying only the latter image on the GUI, an operation of simply copying may be facilitated. User operation screen information can be received and displayed as a GUI.

  The print unit 115 reads out document image data read by the scanner unit 112 or print data input from the outside via the network communication unit 111 from the storage unit 113 or a temporary memory, and prints it on a paper such as paper. Output by processing. The print unit 115 can function as one of the image information output unit 15 and the image output unit described above together with the control units 104 and 114 that select an output target and issue a print instruction.

  The control unit 114 controls the network communication unit 111, the scanner unit 112, the storage unit 113, the printing unit 115, and the control unit 104. For example, a non-volatile memory such as a ROM storing a control program for controlling them is built in or connected to the control unit 114. The control program is read and executed by a processing unit such as a CPU built in the control unit 114 into a volatile memory such as a built-in RAM as a work area. The control program incorporated in the control unit 114 is a program for causing the control unit 114 (internal processing unit) of the digital multi-function peripheral 10 to function as the image information extraction unit 14 or the like as described above.

  By executing this program, the control unit 114 extracts image information from the document image read by the scanner unit 112, accesses the server 20, receives user operation screen information, and displays it on the display unit 102. The image information for provision selected in relation to the image information is received and controlled to be output by the printing unit 115 or the like. Information for extraction (information on what kind of information is extracted, information on pattern matching, etc.) may be stored in the storage unit 113 or the ROM or included in the program as a parameter.

  6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a magazine to be scanned in the digital multifunction peripheral of FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a summary information list displayed on the display unit when the magazine of FIG. 6 is scanned. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of billing information displayed on the display unit when the comic A is selected by the user from the summary information list of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 illustrates processing examples illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 8. FIG.

  Hereinafter, it demonstrates along the flow illustrated in FIG. However, in the following description, the image information extraction on the digital multifunction peripheral 10 side is not limited to this, such as transmitting the extracted image information to the server 20.

  First, the user selects “read document such as card” on the touch panel 101 a in FIG. 5, and the control unit 114 recognizes this. When the magazine 121 illustrated in FIG. 6 is placed on the document table 112a and scanned by the scanner unit 112 as in the card C of FIG. 4 (I), the read image data is transmitted to the control unit 114 ( II). Here, the control unit 114 controls the network communication unit 111 to access the server 20 via the intranet 31 and transmits the image data to the server 20. Along with II, the control unit 114 requests user operation screen information as a service start. It should be noted that the server 20 is accessed when “reading of a document such as a card” is pressed so that the user can receive the information providing service (even before scanning) or when the provided hard key is pressed. Then, the user operation screen information may be requested.

  In the server 20, the search means 22 extracts image information from the image data, and the screen information selection means 22a extracts user operation screen information stored in the storage means 21 based on the extracted image information. To select (III). At this time, the user operation screen information may be selected from the image data without extracting the image information. In the example of FIG. 2, it has been described that the server 20 does not perform image information extraction, but here, the search unit 22 performs. As image information, title information 122 (for example, the largest text) indicating that it is a weekly comic, date information 123 indicating what month it is, and comic title information such as what kind of comic is published 124, 125 (for example, small text that cannot be assumed to be the author). Then, for example, the screen 130 illustrated in FIG. 7 is selected as the user operation screen information. Alternatively, as described later, only the framework of the screen 130 is selected as the user operation screen information, and the content thereof is selected as the providing image information.

  Subsequently, the server 20 transmits the user operation screen information (operation screen data) selected in III above to the digital multifunction peripheral 10 (IV). In the digital multi-function peripheral 10, the control unit 114 receives the operation screen data via the network communication unit 111 and controls the control unit 104 to display the operation screen data on the operation screen (touch panel 101 a) of the display unit 102. As a result, the screen 130 of FIG. 7 is displayed on the touch panel 101a (V). On the screen 130, a list of comics A131, comics B132, etc. serialized in the weekly manga 121 is displayed. The comic A131, the comic B132, and the like are displayed so as to be selectable by the user. If the comic is extracted but not yet released, the comic may be blacked out and displayed so that the user cannot select it.

  When the user selects, for example, the July issue of comic A on the screen 130 by the operation unit 101, the information is transmitted to the control unit 114 via the control unit 104, and the control unit 114 transmits the information via the network communication unit 111. The selection data (acquisition request data for the July issue of Comic A) is sent to the server 20 for notification (VI). In the server 20, the image information selection means 22b selects image information for provision (here, the July issue of Comic A) according to this selection (VII).

  In the above VII, the selection result may be stored in the storage means 21 for aggregation together with this selection or confirmation of payment described later. As described above, the server 20 preferably includes a totaling unit that totals the providing image information selected by the image information selection unit 22b and output by the image information output unit 15. By collecting the actual image information provided, you can not only get statistics on how much advertising activities have been done, but also charge for the location where the image information is provided, If the information is a magazine or the like, the number of copies sold can be grasped.

  Further, in the above VII, it is preferable to extract the presence / absence of charging. Therefore, the image information selection unit 22b may include a unit that presents charging information for the image information for provision to be selected to the user. In order to present to the user, the server 20 transmits billing information (billing screen data) as one of user operation screen information to the digital multi-function peripheral 10. The billing information includes an image in which whether or not to approve billing (start key 141 / cancel key 142) is posted together with the amount as shown in the screen 140 illustrated in FIG. Displayed in the operation screen information (IX). The billing information is also transmitted to the billing unit 105. Then, when the user deposits with the billing unit 105 and depresses the start key 141, the deposit data (payment completion data) is transmitted to the server 20 (X). The server 20 confirms payment by receiving the payment data (XI).

  As described above, it is preferable that the charging information of the information that can be provided is transmitted together, and that the digital multifunction peripheral 10 performs the settlement process when outputting the image information based on the charging information. In the case of comics, all of them are often sold for a fee. However, when monochrome printing is set as a basic color, charging information may be notified to the digital multifunction peripheral 10 as a fee and charging may be performed by the charging unit 105. . Further, when the map is printed as image information for provision, it is preferable that the map is in color, and the user's desire is strong, so there is no problem even if charging is performed. The billing by the billing unit 105 is not limited to this example, and the server 20 may perform the billing according to an instruction from the server 20 even when the provision of the provision image information exceeds a certain condition such as the number of provisions.

  In addition, in order to enable selection of color / monochrome printing, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 has printing conditions such as printing size, monochrome / color setting, and aggregation processing (n in 1 or N-up) to the user. It is preferable to provide setting means for setting. As a result, printing can be performed under the output conditions specified by the user. This setting means may also be provided from the server 20 as one piece of user operation screen information.

  Subsequent to XI, the server 20 transmits the image information for provision (here, the July issue of comic A) selected in VII to the digital multi-function peripheral 10 (XII). Here, the providing image information may be transmitted with different resolutions depending on the performance of the digital multi-function peripheral 10. In the digital multi-function peripheral 10, the control unit 114 instructs the printing unit 115 to print the provision image information received from the server 20 and stored in the storage unit 113 or the temporary memory, and the printing unit 115 performs printing. Thus, the user will have the July issue of comic A printed (XIII).

  Moreover, it is preferable that the image information selection means 22b has a means for presenting to the user information regarding whether or not the providing image information to be selected exists, that is, the presence or absence of information that can be provided. The presence / absence of existence is not shown, but may be displayed by being incorporated in the user operation screen information by the display means 15a. In the guidance by this presentation, even when there is no image information for provision for the card etc. that the user brought and read, there is no misperception such as a failure.

  If only the framework of the screen 130 is selected and transmitted as the user operation screen information in the above IV, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 accesses the server 20 again to acquire and display the list information. That's fine. This form can be realized by means for selecting a plurality of items and means for presenting summary information described below.

  The image information selecting means 22b is a means for selecting a plurality of providing image information related to the image information extracted by the image information extracting means 14, and a means for presenting the user with summary information regarding the selected plurality of providing image information. Can be provided. That is, it is preferable that the provisional image information once selected by the image information selection unit 22b is guided to the user, and the transmission of the provisional image information desired to be output from the guided information is displayed. Then, the summary information is displayed on the user operation screen information by the display means 15a in the same manner as the screen 130 of FIG. The summary information may be information extracted from the image information for provision or a summary (thumbnail). The image information selection unit 22b includes a unit that allows the user to select the summary information of the image information for provision that the user desires to output from among the plurality of presented summary information, and provides the selected summary information. The image information may be selected as an output target in the image information output unit 15.

  In addition, the form including a plurality of selecting means, a means for presenting summary information, and the like are useful when hierarchically selecting providing image information.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a travel brochure to be scanned in the digital multifunction peripheral of FIG. 3, and FIG. 11 is an example of a summary information list displayed on the display unit when the travel brochure of FIG. 10 is scanned. FIG.

  When the travel brochure 151 illustrated in FIG. 10 is a scan target, Δ △ information 152 indicating that it is a travel agency, information 153 indicating that it is winter 2005, information 154 indicating that it is a hot spring trip, Hokuriku area It is preferable to extract information 155 or the like indicating image information as image information.

  By this extraction, user operation screen information such as the screen 160 illustrated in FIG. 11 can be selected by the screen information selection unit 22a. On the screen 160, a map 162 for displaying overseas information and a cancel key 163 are displayed together with a map of Japan 161 so as to be selectable by the user. In Japan map 161, it divides | segments for every area and each area is displayed so that selection is possible.

  Then, when the user selects a desired destination, the server 20 transmits a travel pamphlet for the destination. For example, if it is the spring of 2006, the latest brochure image regarding the selected destination is transmitted for the summer of 2006 in consideration of the travel application. As described above, the provisional image information is not limited to the characteristics of the place where the digital multifunction peripheral 10 is installed as the provisional image information, and the provisional image information is selected using the date and time information at which the digital multifunction peripheral 10 obtains the provisional image information. You may make it perform. The digital multi-function peripheral 10 can provide the user with a desired latest brochure by displaying, displaying, printing, and the like.

  In addition, the user's willingness to purchase changes depending on how beautiful the pamphlet or the like of the travel is displayed. Therefore, it is preferable that a travel pamphlet or the like is forcibly color-printed regardless of the user settings of the printing conditions described above. For example, the server 20 may set the attribute of the image information for provision so that only color printing can be performed. Attribute settings (guaranteed) to guarantee such an output format not only for the travel pamphlet illustrated here but also for cases where fresh fish photos are posted, etc. (Attachment of information) is valid. In addition, a condition that enables color printing only when compensation is paid may be added as guarantee information. As described above, it is preferable that the providing image information selected by the image information selecting unit 22b is attached with guarantee information for guaranteeing the output form. This guarantee information is managed in the server 20, and it is preferable that the administrator can specify what output form is to be used for each image information for provision.

  In addition, for example, when a license is a scan target, the image information includes a face photograph obtained by feature extraction, an effective date, a type, and a condition obtained by text extraction. As the image information for provision, for example, a peripheral drive guide, a license center guide, the latest car (2000 cc class), the latest motorcycle (50 cc), the latest car (light), and the latest motorcycle (medium size) are selected.

  The license center guidance may be selected only when the effective date is close according to the acquisition date of the image information for provision. Further, as necessary when selecting the peripheral drive guide, the providing image information may be selected using the characteristics of the place where the digital multifunction peripheral 10 is installed as the providing image information. Also, if there is no display of “glasses etc.” in the condition as image information and “glasses” does not exist in the face part of the photo as image information, summary information such as glasses store information and contact store information is Extraction may be performed by using conditions and face portions as image information so as not to be searched. As described above, the image information extraction unit 14 may cut out a part of the document image (here, the photograph 125) read by the image reading unit 13, and extract the image information from the cut out partial image. .

  In addition, if the student ID card is subject to scanning, information indicating that it is a student ID card, whether the face photo has glasses, etc. are extracted as image information, and information on the purchase of products related to the student, etc. May be selected from the vicinity of the installation location of the digital multifunction peripheral 10 as an output target.

  In addition, when a partner credit card of an electronic store or the like is a scan target, XX information indicating that the card is an electronic store card, color of the card, information indicating that it is a credit card, and the like are extracted as image information. Good. By this extraction, today's bargain information, electronic shop information, credit campaign information, etc. near the installation location are selected and can be output. Further, when extracting color as image information, when gold, platinum, or black is extracted, a more expensive product than usual may be displayed as providing image information.

  In addition, if you want to scan a candy container, etc., you can print a picture of the character as appendix information, or print a trading card that the user does not know which card will be printed. It can be expected that the frequency of use of the information providing service of the present invention will increase.

It is a figure for demonstrating the operation example of the information provision service using the information provision system which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a digital multifunction peripheral and a server in the system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an internal configuration example of a digital multifunction peripheral in the system of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating an appearance of a scanner unit in the digital multi-function peripheral of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a user I / F unit in the digital multifunction peripheral of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a magazine to be scanned in the digital multifunction peripheral of FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows the example of the summary information list displayed on a display part when the magazine of FIG. 6 is scanned. It is a figure which shows an example of the accounting information displayed on a display part, when comic A is user-selected from the summary information list of FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 8. It is a figure which shows the example of the travel pamphlet used as a scanning object in the digital multi-functional peripheral of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the summary information list displayed on a display part when the travel brochure of FIG. 10 is scanned.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Series store, 2 ... Head office, 10, 43 ... Digital compound machine, 10a ... Billing device, 11, 41 ... PC, 12 ... POS terminal, 13 ... Image reading means, 14 ... Image information extraction means, 15 ... Image information Output means, 15a ... display means, 15b ... printing means, 20, 40, 50 ... server, 21 ... storage means, 22 ... search means, 22a ... screen information selection means, 22b ... image information selection means, 23 ... designation means, 31, 32 ... Intranet / Internet, 42 ... FAX, 43 ... Printer, 100 ... User I / F unit, 101 ... Operation unit, 102 ... Display unit, 103 ... I / F unit, 104 ... Control unit, 105 ... Billing unit 111: Network communication unit 112: Scanner unit 113: Storage unit 114: Control unit 115: Print unit

Claims (14)

A digital multi-function peripheral having an image reading means for optically reading an image of a document and a display means for displaying a user operation screen; and a plurality of image information for provision and the digital information connected to the digital multi-function peripheral via a network and a server apparatus having a storage means for storing a user operation screen information for the MFP, an information providing system for providing the user with providing image information in the digital multifunction peripheral,
Image information extracting means for extracting image information from the document image read by the image reading means, and an image extracted by the image information extracting means from a plurality of providing image information stored in advance in the storage means Image information selection means for selecting image information for provision related to information,
The digital multi-function peripheral receives the user operation screen information transmitted from the server device, displays the information by the display means, and outputs image information for selection selected by the image information selection means. It possesses the means,
The image information extraction unit extracts information indicating that the card is a member card of a predetermined service and color information of the member card as the image information, and the image information selection unit includes a plurality of provisional provisions prepared in advance. An information providing system for selecting providing image information related to the information and the color information extracted by the image information extracting means from image information . The digital multi-function peripheral receives the user operation screen information transmitted from the server device, and displays the image information for provision incorporated in the received user operation screen information by the display means. Item 4. The information providing system according to Item 1. The server device selects user operation screen information to be transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral based on the image information extracted by the image information extraction unit or based on the providing image information selected by the image information selection unit. The information providing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that   The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the image information selection unit is provided in the server device. 5. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the image information extraction unit is provided in the digital multi-function peripheral .   The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the image information extracting unit is provided in the server device.   The image information selecting means presents a user with a plurality of providing image information related to the image information extracted by the image information extracting means and summary information regarding the selected plurality of providing image information. Means for causing the user to select summary information of image information for provision that the user desires to output from among the plurality of presented summary information, and providing image information for provision related to the selected summary information. 7. The image information output means is selected as an output target, and the summary information is displayed by being incorporated into the user operation screen information by the display means. Information providing system described in 1.   The image information selecting means has means for presenting to the user whether or not the providing image information to be selected exists, and the presence or absence of the presence is displayed in the user operation screen information by the display means. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the information providing system includes:   The image information selecting means includes means for presenting charging information for the provided image information to be selected to the user, and the charging information is displayed by being incorporated into the user operation screen information by the display means. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 8.   10. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein guarantee image information for guaranteeing an output form is attached to the providing image information selected by the image information selecting means. .   11. The server device according to claim 1, wherein the server device includes a totaling unit that totals the providing image information selected by the image information selection unit and output by the image information output unit. Information providing system described in 1.   The image information for provision is advertisement information of products or services related to the image information, application information of products or services related to the image information, procedure guide information related to the image information, information related to the image information 12. The information providing system according to claim 1, comprising: latest information, detailed information related to the image information, or appendix information related to the image information.   The server apparatus in the information provision system of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 12.   13. A program incorporated in a server device in the information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the program causes a computer to function as the server device.

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