JPH08115125A - Remote maintenance managing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the efficiency of maintenance and check work for respective peripheral equipments in a system to which plural peripheral equipments are connected through a network and to reduce burden imposed on a manager. CONSTITUTION: A PC 1 prepares maintenance managing information showing the fault conditions and use conditions of respective peripheral equipments based on an execution instructing processing for instructing the execution of self-diagnostic functions to the peripheral equipment, an analysis processing for receiving the self-diagnostic result of peripheral equipment from transmitting means respectively mounted on the peripheral equipment and analyzing those self- -diagnostic result, and the analyzed result corresponding to the self-diagnostic result. Then, electronic mail transmission processing for transmitting electronic mail, in which that maintenance managing information is described, to a PC 9 and facsimile transmission processing for preparing the maintenance managing information and transmitting that maintenance managing information to facsimile equipment 8 are executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote maintenance management device used in a system in which a plurality of peripheral devices having a self-diagnosis function such as a printing device, a facsimile device and a copying machine are connected via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a printing apparatus, a facsimile apparatus,
Peripheral devices such as copying machines are provided with a self-diagnosis function for diagnosing the occurrence of a failure that prevents proper operation.
When a failure occurs, a message indicating that a failure has occurred is displayed by the self-diagnosis function, and the display informs the user that a failure has occurred in the peripheral device. After confirming the occurrence of the failure, the user takes measures to remove the failure from the peripheral device. For example, if the disability is mild, the user removes the disability, but if the disability is severe, the user contacts the service person and the service person takes action to remove the disability. Done.

In recent years, a system in which a large number of peripheral devices such as a printing device, a facsimile device, and a copying machine are connected via a network has appeared. Since this system has a large number of peripheral devices, each peripheral device is connected. The administrator who manages is set in advance, and the peripheral device is regularly maintained and inspected by the administrator. When a user of a peripheral device confirms that a fault has occurred in the peripheral device, the user notifies the administrator of the peripheral device in which the fault has occurred and the degree of the fault, and the notification is given. The administrator who has received the fault performs measures such as contacting a service person for the peripheral device in which the fault has occurred.

[0004]

However, as described above, in a system in which a large number of peripheral devices are connected via a network, the peripheral devices are regularly maintained and inspected by an administrator. The efficiency of maintenance and inspection work for peripheral devices is low, and the burden on the administrator is large.

An object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of maintenance and inspection work for each peripheral device in a system in which a plurality of peripheral devices are connected via a network, and reduce the burden on the administrator. It is to provide a remote maintenance management device capable of performing the above.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A remote maintenance management device used in a system in which a plurality of peripheral devices having a self-diagnosis function such as a printing device, a facsimile machine, and a copying machine are connected via a network, and the self-diagnosis is executed for each of the peripheral devices. An instructing means for instructing via the network, and a transmitting means mounted on each of the peripheral devices and transmitting through the network the result of the self-diagnosis executed by the peripheral device based on the instruction from the instructing means, Analyzing means for receiving the self-diagnosis result of the peripheral device from each transmitting means and analyzing the result of the self-diagnosis, and maintenance management for indicating the failure status and the usage status of each peripheral device based on the analysis result of the analyzing means. And maintenance management information creating means for creating information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the remote maintenance management device according to the first aspect further comprises a notification means for notifying the maintenance management information of the system to the maintenance management source of the system.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance management apparatus according to the first aspect, the instructing means, the analyzing means and the maintenance management information creating means use the peripheral device via the network. It is characterized by being installed in the device.

[0009]

In the remote maintenance management apparatus according to claim 1, the instruction means instructs each of the peripheral devices to execute self-diagnosis via the network, and the transmission means mounted on each of the peripheral devices gives an instruction from the instruction means. The result of the self-diagnosis executed by the peripheral device based on the above is transmitted through the network, and the analysis means receives the result of the self-diagnosis of the peripheral device from each transmitting means, analyzes the self-diagnosis result, and maintains the The creation means creates maintenance management information indicating the failure status and usage status of each peripheral device based on the analysis result of the analysis means.

In the remote maintenance management apparatus according to the second aspect, the maintenance management information is notified to the maintenance management source of the system by the notification means.

According to another aspect of the remote maintenance management apparatus of the present invention, the instructing means, the analyzing means, and the maintenance management information creating means are mounted on the terminal device which uses the peripheral equipment via the network.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a network in which an embodiment of the remote maintenance management apparatus of the present invention is used, and FIG. 2 shows the main part of the remote maintenance management apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the personal computer which comprises it.

In the network system, as shown in FIG. 1, each peripheral device of the printer 2, the facsimile device 3, the copying machine 4 and a terminal device such as a personal computer using each peripheral device via a network 5 (not shown). Personal computer for centralized management (hereinafter, P
C) 1 and an administrator PC 9 that manages this network system are connected.

Each of the peripheral devices such as the printer 2, the facsimile device 3, and the copying machine 4 is provided with a means for executing a self-diagnosis function and a transmission means for transmitting the result of the self-diagnosis. The self-diagnosis function includes the function of diagnosing failure conditions such as the occurrence of failures, and the function of managing usage conditions such as usage time and consumption of consumable materials. It includes diagnostic result information about information and management information about usage.

A facsimile device 8 is connected to the PC 1 through a telephone line 6 and a public line network 7, and the facsimile device 8 is installed at a service center for inspecting and repairing the above-mentioned peripheral devices.

The PC 1 has a memory 11 as shown in FIG.
The CPU 10 includes a CPU 10 that executes calculations and processes based on a control program stored in the.

The control program stored in the memory 11 includes a system control program, an execution instruction program for instructing the peripheral device to execute the self-diagnosis function, and a transmission means installed in each of the peripheral devices. A program to receive the self-diagnosis result of peripheral devices of
An analysis program for analyzing the self-diagnosis result,
An e-mail transmission program for creating maintenance management information indicating the failure status and usage status of each peripheral device based on the analysis result of the self-diagnosis result, and sending an e-mail describing the maintenance management information to the PC 9, A facsimile transmission program for creating maintenance management information and transmitting the maintenance management information to the facsimile device 8 is included.

The memory 11 stores the above-mentioned control program and information about maintenance of the peripheral devices. For information on maintenance of this peripheral device, maintenance,
It includes standard operating hours that require inspection.

The CPU 10 is connected to the memory 11 via the bus 15 together with the modem / NCU 12 and the network I / O.
F13 and the external storage device 14 are connected.

The modem / NCU 12 is used at the time of facsimile transmission, and the facsimile device 8 is connected via the telephone line 6.
Make a connection with.

The network I / F 13 connects the CPU 10 to each device on the network 5.

The external storage device 14 stores the analysis result of the self-diagnosis result.

CPU 10, control program stored in memory 11, modem / NCU 12, network I
/ F13, the external storage device 14, and the transmission means provided in each peripheral device cooperate with each other to form a remote maintenance management device for maintaining and managing each peripheral device.

Next, the maintenance and management operation for each peripheral device by the PC 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of maintenance and management operations for each peripheral device by the PC 1 in the network system of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, first, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed since the previous self-diagnosis by each peripheral device was executed (step S31). This determination is a determination for causing each peripheral device to periodically perform self-diagnosis.

When a predetermined time has passed since the self-diagnosis was last executed by each peripheral device, the execution instruction program is started, and a self-diagnosis execution instruction is issued to each peripheral device via the network I / F 3 and the network 5 ( Step S32).

After the execution of the self-diagnosis, the reception operation state is maintained for a certain time so that the self-diagnosis result is received from each peripheral device (steps S33, S34).

When a certain period of time elapses or when the self-diagnosis result is received from each peripheral device, the analysis program analyzes the self-diagnosis result of the peripheral device received within the certain period of time and outputs the analysis result of the self-diagnosis result. Based on this, it is determined whether or not a minor error (fault) has occurred (step S35). When the result of self-diagnosis of a peripheral device is not received within a fixed time, the peripheral device is considered to be in a state of not being powered on. In addition, a minor error is an error that can be recovered without being processed by a service person.
Out of paper, out of toner, jam (paper jam), etc.

When a minor error occurs, the e-mail transmission program can e-mail the information indicating the ID (or name) of the peripheral device in which the minor error occurs and the content of the error. Thus, the text information is converted, and the text information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S36). For example, the maintenance management information stored in the memory 11 has the following contents.

"×××× Copier of △△△ Co. Ltd. runs out of toner.""Printer of XXX Division of XX Co. Ltd. runs out of paper." When a minor error does not occur Whether or not a serious error has occurred based on the analysis result of the self-diagnosis result after the maintenance management information indicating the name of the peripheral device in which the minor error has occurred and the content of the error is stored in the memory 11. Is determined (step S37). The serious error is a fatal error that cannot be repaired without the help of a serviceman.

When a serious error occurs, the e-mail transmission program can e-mail the information indicating the ID (or name) of the peripheral device in which the serious error occurs and the content of the error. As described above, the text information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information, and the text-converted information is converted into image information by a facsimile transmission program so that the text can be transmitted by facsimile.
The image information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S38). For example, the maintenance management information consisting of text information or image information indicates the following contents.

"A fatal error has occurred in the fax machine of XXX business division." Peripheral devices when a serious error has not occurred or a serious error has occurred After the maintenance management information indicating the name and the error content thereof is stored in the memory 11, the information about the usage status included in the self-diagnosis result and the information about the maintenance stored in the memory 11 are compared for each peripheral device. Then, it is determined whether maintenance or inspection is required for the peripheral device (step S39).

When maintenance or inspection is required, information indicating the name of the peripheral device requiring maintenance or inspection is converted into text information by an electronic mail transmission program so that the text information can be transmitted. In addition to being stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information, the facsimile transmission program converts the text information into image information so that it can be transmitted by facsimile, and the image information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S40). ). For example, the maintenance management information including text information or image information indicates the following contents.

"×××× Co., Ltd. Copier of △△△ section requires maintenance and inspection." When maintenance or inspection is not required, or maintenance management information indicating the name of peripheral equipment requiring maintenance or inspection is available. After being stored in the memory 11, it is determined whether or not all peripheral devices on the network 5 are instructed to execute the self-diagnosis (step S41). It is determined whether or not a serious error has occurred based on the analysis result for (step S37). If there is a peripheral device for which the execution of the self-diagnosis is not instructed, the processing from step 32 is repeated in order to instruct the peripheral device to execute the self-diagnosis.

When the self-diagnosis execution instruction has been completed for all the peripheral devices, it is determined whether or not the maintenance management information to be transmitted by electronic mail is stored in the memory 11 (step S42).

When the maintenance management information to be transmitted by electronic mail is stored in the memory 11, the maintenance management information consisting of text information is written in the electronic mail by the electronic mail transmission program, and the electronic mail is transmitted via the network I / O.
It is transmitted to the administrator's PC 9 via the F13 and the network 5 (step S43).

Whether the maintenance management information to be sent by e-mail is not stored in the memory 11, or whether the maintenance management information to be sent by facsimile after sending the maintenance management information by e-mail is stored in the memory 11 or not. A determination is made (step S44).

When the maintenance management information to be transmitted by facsimile is stored in the memory 11, the maintenance management information consisting of image information is transferred to the service center of the service center via the modem / NCU 12, telephone line 6 and public line network 7 by the facsimile transmission program. The data is transmitted to the facsimile machine 8 (step S45).

When the maintenance management information to be transmitted by facsimile is not stored in the memory 11, or after the maintenance management information is transmitted by facsimile, the maintenance management information stored in the memory 11 is stored in the external storage device 14 (step S46).

As described above, the PC 1 centrally manages the maintenance management information indicating the occurrence of errors in each peripheral device on the network 5 and the necessity of maintenance and inspection, and the manager or the service center can manage the maintenance management information as needed. Since the notification is given, the efficiency of maintenance and inspection work for each peripheral device can be improved, and the burden on the administrator can be reduced.

Further, since the PC 1 constitutes the main part of the remote maintenance management device, the management of the remote maintenance management device can be facilitated as compared with the case where the remote maintenance management device is installed separately.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The structure of this embodiment has the same structure as that of the first embodiment.

Next, the maintenance and management operation for each peripheral device by the PC 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
6 is a flow chart showing a procedure of maintenance and management operations for each peripheral device according to the second embodiment of the remote maintenance management apparatus of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not the self-diagnosis result has been received from each peripheral device (step S51). The determination is repeated until the self-diagnosis result is received from the peripheral device.

When the self-diagnosis result is received from each peripheral device, the analysis program analyzes the self-diagnosis result of the peripheral device received within a fixed time, and a slight error (failure) is generated based on the analysis result of the self-diagnosis result. It is determined whether or not has occurred (step S52).

When a minor error has occurred, the e-mail transmission program can e-mail the information indicating the name (or ID) of the peripheral device in which the minor error has occurred and the content of the error. As described above, the text information is converted, and the text information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S53). For example, the maintenance management information stored in the memory 11 has the following contents.

"×××× Copier of △△△ Co. Ltd. runs out of toner." When a minor error does not occur, or the name of a peripheral device in which a minor error occurs and its error content After the maintenance management information indicating is stored in the memory 11, it is determined whether a serious error has occurred based on the analysis result of the self-diagnosis result (step S54).

When a serious error occurs, the e-mail transmission program can e-mail the information indicating the name (or ID) of the peripheral device in which the serious error occurs and its error content. As described above, the text information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information, and the text-converted information is converted into image information by a facsimile transmission program so that the text can be transmitted by facsimile.
The image information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S55). For example, the maintenance management information consisting of text information or image information indicates the following contents.

"Fatal error has occurred in the facsimile machine of XXXXX Co., Ltd." Peripheral devices in which a serious error has not occurred or a serious error has occurred After the maintenance management information indicating the name and the error content thereof is stored in the memory 11, it is determined whether or not there is information requesting maintenance and inspection in the self-diagnosis result for each peripheral device (step S56).

When maintenance or inspection is requested, information indicating the name of the peripheral device for which maintenance or inspection is requested is converted into text information by an e-mail transmission program so that the text information can be transmitted. In addition to being stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information, the facsimile transmission program converts the text information into image information so that it can be transmitted by facsimile, and the image information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S57). ). For example, the maintenance management information including text information or image information indicates the following contents.

[×××× Co., Ltd. △△△ Copiers require maintenance / inspection.] Maintenance, when maintenance is not required, or maintenance management that indicates the name of peripheral equipment for which maintenance / inspection is requested After the information is stored in the memory 11, it is determined whether or not the cause of the error that has occurred in the peripheral device has been removed (step S5).
8).

When the cause of the error that has occurred in the peripheral device is removed, the name of the peripheral device from which the cause of the error has been removed and information indicating that the cause of the error has been removed are sent by electronic mail by the e-mail transmission program. The text information is converted so that it can be transmitted, and the text information is stored in the memory 11 as maintenance management information (step S59). For example, the maintenance management information including text information or image information indicates the following contents.

"The toner running out in the copier of XXXXX Co., Ltd. has been resolved." When the cause of the error that occurred in the peripheral device has not been removed yet, or the cause of the error Is stored in the memory 11 and the maintenance management information indicating that the cause of the error has been removed is stored in the memory 11, and then whether the maintenance management information to be transmitted by e-mail is stored in the memory 11 or not. A determination is made (step S60).

When the maintenance management information to be transmitted by electronic mail is stored in the memory 11, the maintenance management information consisting of text information is written in the electronic mail by the electronic mail transmission program, and the electronic mail is transmitted via the network I / O.
It is transmitted to the administrator PC 9 via the F13 and the network 5 (step S61).

Whether the maintenance management information to be sent by e-mail is not stored in the memory 11, or whether the maintenance management information to be sent by facsimile after sending the maintenance management information by e-mail is stored in the memory 11 or not. A determination is made (step S62).

When the maintenance management information to be transmitted by facsimile is stored in the memory 11, the maintenance management information consisting of image information is transferred to the service center of the service center via the modem / NCU 12, telephone line 6 and public line network 7 by the facsimile transmission program. The data is transmitted to the facsimile machine 8 (step S63).

When the maintenance management information to be transmitted by facsimile is not stored in the memory 11, or after the maintenance management information is transmitted by facsimile, the maintenance management information stored in the memory 11 is stored in the external storage device 14 (step S64).

As described above, the PC 1 centrally manages the maintenance management information indicating the occurrence of errors in each peripheral device on the network 5 and the maintenance and inspection requests, and
Since the manager or the service center is notified as needed, the efficiency of maintenance and inspection work for each peripheral device can be improved and the burden on the manager can be reduced.

[0061]

According to the remote maintenance management apparatus of the first aspect, the instruction means instructs each of the peripheral devices to execute the self-diagnosis via the network, and the transmitting means installed in each of the peripheral devices instructs. The result of the self-diagnosis executed by the peripheral device based on the instruction from the means is transmitted through the network, and the analysis means receives the result of the self-diagnosis of the peripheral device from each transmitting means and analyzes the self-diagnosis result. The maintenance management information creation means creates maintenance management information indicating the failure status and usage status of each peripheral device based on the analysis result of the analysis means, so that the efficiency of maintenance and inspection work for each peripheral device can be improved. , It is possible to reduce the burden on the administrator.

According to the remote maintenance management apparatus of the second aspect, since the maintenance management information is notified to the maintenance management source of the system by the notification means, the efficiency of maintenance and inspection work for each peripheral device can be further improved. It is possible to further reduce the burden on the administrator.

According to the remote maintenance management device of the third aspect, since the instructing means, the analyzing means and the maintenance management information creating means are mounted on the terminal device which uses the peripheral equipment via the network, the remote maintenance management equipment is provided. The management of the remote maintenance management device can be facilitated as compared with the case where the device is installed alone.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network in which an embodiment of a remote maintenance management device of the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a personal computer that constitutes a main part of the remote maintenance management device of FIG.

3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of maintenance and management operations for each peripheral device by the PC 1 in the network system of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the procedure of maintenance and management operations for each peripheral device according to the second embodiment of the remote maintenance management apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 PC (remote maintenance management device) 2 printer 3, 8 facsimile device 4 copying machine 5 network 6 telephone line 7 public line network 9 PC 10 CPU 11 memory 12 modem / NCU 13 network I / F 14 external storage device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A remote maintenance management apparatus used in a system in which a plurality of peripheral devices having a self-diagnosis function, such as a printing device, a facsimile device, and a copying machine, are connected via a network, each of the peripheral devices. And an instruction unit for instructing execution of self-diagnosis via the network, and a result of self-diagnosis performed by the peripheral device based on an instruction from the instruction unit, which is mounted on each of the peripheral devices, is transmitted via the network. And a result of self-diagnosis of the peripheral device from each of the transmitting means,
It is characterized by comprising: an analysis means for analyzing the result of the self-diagnosis; and a maintenance management information creation means for creating maintenance management information indicating a failure status and a usage status of each peripheral device based on the analysis result of the analysis means. Remote maintenance management device. 2. The remote maintenance management device according to claim 1, further comprising notifying means for notifying the maintenance management source of the system of the maintenance management information. 3. The remote unit according to claim 1, wherein the instruction unit, the analysis unit, and the maintenance management information creation unit are mounted on a terminal device that uses the peripheral device via the network. Maintenance management equipment.