JP2001142803A - Device and method for reporting event of electric equipment, and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make reportable an event such as operating condition or a fault of electric equipment to a user at a distant place by an electronic mail of high accessibility. SOLUTION: When any prescribed event such as operating condition (incoming of FAX, end of transmission of FAX, end of copy, end of image reading due to a scanner part 3 or end of printing due to a printer part 2) or a fault (exhaustion of recording paper, clogging of recording paper, exhaustion of ink, disability in telephone call origination to the party of FAX or occurrence of fault) occurs in an MFP having a printer function, scanner function, copy function and FAX function, a control part 2 reports it by transmitting electronic mail to a preset prescribed electronic mail address.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a computer-readable storage medium for notifying an event of an electric apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for notifying a remote user of a predetermined event occurring in the electric apparatus. It is suitable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a facsimile apparatus or a multifunction printing apparatus having a facsimile function which notifies the operating status of the apparatus to a pager terminal such as a pager.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-74858,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 1-261074 discloses a facsimile apparatus for notifying a pager of an incoming fax and running out of recording paper via a public telephone line.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-117244 discloses an apparatus for notifying an incoming fax or running out of recording paper to a pager terminal by voice or text message in a multifunction machine having a combination of facsimile, copy and printer functions. Have been.

[0005]

In each of the above-mentioned conventional examples, a pager terminal is used for notification. However, the pager terminal has a drawback that if the radio wave condition is poor or the power is forgotten to be turned on, the message cannot be delivered. is there.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-117244 discloses that a call is made a plurality of times, but it does not mean that any fundamental improvement has been made.

[0006] Although not particularly mentioned, in the above-mentioned conventional example, it is not economical to have a pager terminal only for the above-mentioned notification, so that the pager terminal is not possessed for another purpose. It is thought that it is premised on diverting what you have.

However, portable telephone terminals (cellular phones, PHSs, etc.) have become widespread today,
Since the mobile phone terminal itself has a function similar to a pager, the spread of pager terminals such as pagers has been on a declining trend, and the purchase and possession of a new pager terminal only for the purpose of the above-mentioned notification is not possible for the user. It is not an acceptable situation.

By the way, in recent years, integration of telephone terminals such as mobile telephone terminals and the Internet has progressed, and a service has been implemented in which a large number of mobile telephone terminals and pager terminals can transmit and receive electronic mail (e-mail). In addition, the spread of the Internet has been remarkable, and for example, it has become common for companies to give an e-mail address to each employee.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional example, and changes in today's social situation, and has been made so that various events can be notified using electronic mail having higher accessibility. The purpose is to do.

[0010]

First, an event reporting apparatus for an electric device according to the present invention has a storage means for storing an e-mail address associated with a predetermined event of an electric device, and an electronic mail transmission device. The electronic mail sending means, and when the predetermined event occurs in the electrical device, sends an electronic mail to the electronic mail address stored in the storage means by the electronic mail sending means, and generates the predetermined event. And control means for notifying the user.

Second, the electric device has a printer function,
The feature is that the device has at least one of a scanner function, a copy function, and a fax function. Third, the storage means is characterized in that a plurality of electronic mail addresses respectively associated with a plurality of events can be stored. Fourth, the information on the predetermined event and the e-mail address stored in the storage means can be set and changed.

Fifth, there is provided an e-mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail from the outside, and an extracting means for extracting information about an event and an e-mail address of a notification destination from the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving means. Prepared,
It is characterized in that information on the event extracted by the extraction means and an e-mail address of a notification destination are stored in the address storage means.

Sixth, the extracting means is characterized in that a source address of the external electronic mail is extracted as the electronic mail address of the notification destination. Seventh
The extracting means is characterized in that the e-mail address of the notification destination is extracted from the description of the mail body of the external e-mail. Eighth, the extraction means is characterized in that information on the event is extracted from the description of the mail body of the external e-mail.

Ninth, the present invention is characterized in that a message storage means for previously storing a message for notifying the predetermined event is provided. Tenth, the message is rewritable.

Eleventh, the predetermined event is characterized in that it relates to a predetermined operation state of the electric device. Twelfth feature is that the predetermined event is related to a predetermined failure of the electric device. Thirteenth
It is characterized in that the predetermined event relates to predetermined maintenance of the electric device. Fourteenth,
It is characterized in that it is incorporated in the electric equipment.

Fifteenth, the event notification method for an electric device according to the present invention provides a storage procedure for storing an e-mail address associated with a predetermined event of the electric device, and an e-mail transmission for transmitting the e-mail. A control that, when the predetermined event occurs in the electric device, sends an e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the storage procedure according to the e-mail sending procedure and notifies the occurrence of the predetermined event. And a procedure.

Sixteenth, a computer-readable storage medium of the present invention has a storage procedure for storing an e-mail address associated with a predetermined event of an electric device, and an e-mail transmission for transmitting an e-mail. A control that, when the predetermined event occurs in the electric device, sends an e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the storage procedure according to the e-mail sending procedure and notifies the occurrence of the predetermined event. The feature is that a program for executing the procedure is stored.

According to the present invention as described above, if an event occurs in an electric device, for example, if the electric device is a multifunction printing device having a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, a facsimile function, etc., the operation status ( Received a fax, finished sending a fax, finished copying, finished reading an image with a scanner, finished printing on a printer, etc.) or an obstacle (the recording paper ran out, (E.g., clogged, out of ink, or no call to the fax partner) can be notified as an e-mail message to a predetermined address set in advance.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a multi-function printer (hereinafter referred to as "MF") according to a first embodiment.
P ”). Reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit that controls the entire apparatus, and includes a CPU, a Flash-ROM,
It is composed of AM and the like. The control section 1 constitutes a control means according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a printer unit, which performs a printing operation of image data and the like. Although not specifically shown, the printer unit 2 is provided with sensors for detecting events such as “paper out” and “ink out”, and the control unit 1 performs the control based on signals from these sensors. Determine whether an event has occurred. Reference numeral 3 denotes a scanner unit that optically reads a document to generate image data.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a modem for performing communication via a public telephone line. The modem 4 has a data communication function as well as a facsimile communication function. Therefore, this device is connected to an Internet service provider's access point via PPP (Point to Point Protocol).
col) it is possible to connect to the Internet.
Thereby, a predetermined SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer P
rotocol) E-mail transmission and POP using server
(Post Office Protocol) E-mail reception using a server is realized. The apparatus according to the present embodiment is a “BJC-10
00MFP@canon.canon.com ". In the e-mail address, the product name BJC-1000MFP is set in the account part.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an operation panel, which is provided with an LCD display and about ten to several tens of input buttons, and allows a user to instruct and set various operations and to display the operation status of the apparatus.
Display on display. Reference numeral 6 denotes a USB interface for connecting to an external personal computer (not shown).

The present apparatus as described above operates as a printer or scanner as a peripheral device of a personal computer connected to the USB interface 6, and outputs an image read by the scanner 3 to the printer 2. It also operates as a facsimile device which transmits image data read by the scanner unit 3 by fax from the modem 4 or outputs a fax communication image received by the modem 4 to the printer unit 2. . That is, a multifunction printing apparatus (MFP) in which four functions of a printer, a scanner, a copy, and a facsimile are combined as the entire apparatus.

[0024] In the above configuration, the MFP performs various events,
For example, the operation status (fax has been received, fax transmission has been completed, copying has been completed,
Image reading by the printer, printing by the printer unit 2 is completed, etc., or a failure (recording paper is exhausted, recording paper is jammed, ink is exhausted, fax recipients cannot be called, Etc.),
Via the Internet connected by the above-mentioned PPP, an e-mail message is sent to a predetermined address set in advance.

In the present embodiment, a different e-mail address can be set for each event to be notified as a predetermined address for notifying the e-mail message. FIG. 2 shows the correspondence between the event to be notified and the e-mail address of the notification destination. This correspondence is set by an operation on the operation panel 5, and is stored in the Flash-ROM of the control unit 1 as a notification event table as shown in FIG.
Is stored. Note that the Flash-ROM of the control unit 1 constitutes a storage unit according to the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the first column shows a notification event 50.
In the first and second columns, sub-event 5 associated with each notification event 501
In the second and third columns, e-mail addresses 503 associated with the notification events 501 are stored.

For example, in the first line, if an event such as "paper out" occurs, the address "suzuki@canon.canon.c
om ".

In the second line, when “copying is completed” using the scanner unit 3 and the printer unit 2, the address “suzu
ki@canon.canon.com "is set to be sent to e-mail. This is effective when a time-consuming copy such as a large number of copies or a color copy is executed.

In the third line, "copy end" is registered as the notification event 501 as in the second line, but the difference is that "error only" is registered as the sub-event 502. When the sub-event 502 is registered, an e-mail is set to be transmitted only when both the notification event 501 and the sub-event 502 are satisfied. Therefore, only when the copy operation ends with an error, an e-mail is sent to the address "suzuki@canon.canon.com".

In the fourth line, when a “system error”, that is, an error requiring service maintenance occurs, another address “service@canon.canon.
com ".

In the fifth line, when the transmission of the job number 1234 is completed, another address "saito @ cano"
Email is sent to "n.canon.com". In this device, when a transmission job is submitted,
Since a job number for identifying the job is issued and displayed on the LCD display of the operation panel 5, the sender may perform a registration operation for notifying an event based on the job number.

In the sixth line, the telephone number "0123-45"
When the fax reception from the transmission source of "67" is completed, an e-mail is transmitted to the address "asano@canon.canon.com". The sender's phone number is
ITU-T Recommendation T. 30 TS
I signal or V.I. Alternatively, the information may be obtained by using a source number notification service provided by the network with a demodulation function of 23.

The notification event table may be registered from the externally connected personal computer via the USB interface 6 instead of being registered from the display panel 5 as described above. Also, in consideration of use by a plurality of users, a plurality of e-mail addresses may be set and stored in advance so that they can be selected and designated for each operation.

Next, the operation of the MFP according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S10, the control unit 1 sets the above-described notification event table (notification circumstances and e-mail addresses associated with the notification events) and the e-mail address of the present apparatus in response to input from the operation panel 5.

In step S11, occurrence of an event is awaited. Then, after confirming that a certain event has occurred, the control unit 1 proceeds to step S12, and confirms whether or not a destination e-mail address is set for the event in the notification event table. That is, in steps S11 and S12, occurrence of an event for which an e-mail address is set is awaited.

When an event in which an e-mail address is set occurs, the control unit 1 connects to the Internet by PPP using the modem 4 in step S13, and converts the corresponding message into e-mail in step S14. Sends a message to a predetermined SMTP server. FIG.
In the case where the recording paper is exhausted (FIG. 4 (a)), and
An example of a message to be notified when copying is completed (FIG. 4B) is shown. In the figure, an event that has occurred as a subject in the mail header portion is described, and detailed information of the event is described in the body of the mail.

Thereafter, the operation from step S11 (step S10 when the destination electronic mail address is reset or selected and designated) is repeated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to receive an event such as the operation status of the MFP or a failure by e-mail. For example, the reception of a fax or the completion of time-consuming copying of a plurality of copies can be performed. Can be known while being away from the apparatus. Moreover, since e-mail is used today and will become more widespread in the future, there is no need for a special terminal on the receiver side, and messages can be easily sent to existing personal computers and mobile phone terminals used by individuals. You can receive.

In the present embodiment, the message (see FIG. 4) corresponding to the event is sent to the Flash-RO
Although it is assumed that the data is fixedly stored in M, the data may be rewritten by the user from the operation panel 5 or an external personal computer as appropriate.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a notification event table (a notification condition and an e-mail address associated with the notification event) is registered by inputting on the operation panel 5 of the MFP. However, in the second embodiment, the notification event table can be set by e-mail transmitted from the remote terminal.

The operation of the MFP when setting the notification event table will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S20, P
The user connects to the Internet with the PP and obtains an e-mail addressed to the own device from a predetermined POP server.

In step S21, the contents of the obtained e-mails are analyzed one by one, and a set of a notification event and an e-mail address associated with the notification event is extracted from each e-mail.

In this embodiment, a notification event is extracted from a keyword described in a predetermined format in the mail text. For example, in the example of an e-mail requesting notification of an event illustrated in FIG. 6, “event =”
The notification event "no paper" can be specified by a keyword "no paper" following "." If the correspondence between the keyword and the notification event is stored in the MFP in advance, the user can request notification of a desired event by transmitting an e-mail using the keyword.

On the other hand, the e-mail address which is the notification destination of the notification event is extracted from the address in the From field of the header which is the transmission source address of the e-mail, and the event is reported to the requester as a reply e-mail. Like that.

The e-mail address that is the notification destination of the notification event may be the e-mail address described in the mail text. In the example shown in FIG. 6, an e-mail address “mailt: kunishima@canon.canon.com” is described in the mail text. In this case, the event can be set to be notified to a destination different from the request source. Then, for example, if the email address of the notification destination is described in the mail text, the event is notified to the email address, and the email address of the notification destination is not described in the mail text. In
The event may be notified to the address in the From field of the header of the electronic mail.

In step S22, the set of the notification event extracted in step S21 and the e-mail address associated with the notification event is registered in the notification event table.

With the notification event table set as described above, as described in the first embodiment,
The event notification operation is executed based on the flowchart of FIG.

By inserting a keyword such as "cancel" into the text of the e-mail requesting the notification, the specific notification event and the e-mail address corresponding to the notification event can be entered from the notification event table. You may make it deleteable. Further, in order to prevent the notification event table from being rewritten by a malicious third party's e-mail, password information is set in the mail body of the e-mail requesting the notification, and the MFP side sets the notification event based on the password information. It may be determined whether to rewrite the table. Furthermore, the content of the e-mail requesting the notification may be encrypted by using a predetermined encryption technology to prevent information leakage to a third party.

(Third Embodiment) In the above embodiment, the modem 4 is used to connect to the Internet by using the modem 4.
Uses PP. This is suitable for a relatively inexpensive MFP that does not have a LAN interface. However, every time an e-mail is sent, a telephone line charge is incurred. In contrast, it has a LAN interface,
In the case of an MFP having a server function for receiving printing, facsimile communication, and the like from a client on the LAN, an e-mail may be sent directly to the SMTP server via the LAN without using PPP.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of an MFP having a LAN interface according to the third embodiment. 1 to 1 in the figure
5 is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 1, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Reference numeral 7 denotes a LAN interface, specifically, a 10-BaseT EtherNet interface. As described above, in the MFP having the LAN interface 7, it is not necessary to make a call on the telephone line to send an e-mail, so that the present invention can be carried out without calling a telephone line.

In each of the embodiments described above, it is assumed that various events (operational status or failure of the apparatus) are mainly reported to the user of the apparatus. Other applications are possible by setting other than the user.

For example, when a failure requiring repair is generated in the apparatus, if the e-mail address of the support department of the maker is set as the destination, when the failure occurs,
An email to that effect is automatically sent to the support department. This eliminates the need for the user to contact each other for repairs, and allows the support department to perform quick repair work. In particular, if the summary of the failure is described in the e-mail message, the repair work can be performed more efficiently.

For example, in the case of a device that requires regular maintenance for each predetermined number of prints, when the number of prints reaches that number, an e-mail to that effect is automatically sent to the support department. Thus, efficient maintenance work without waste can be performed.

Further, the present invention may be applied to monitoring of a remote device, for example, a copy / fax device installed in a store such as a convenience store. As a result, it is possible not only to determine whether or not there is a failure but also to know when, what functions and how many times the device has been used. Also in this case, since the e-mail widely used today is used, no special device is required on the receiving side, and such a monitoring system can be constructed inexpensively and flexibly.

(Other Embodiments) Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile, etc.) Device).

Also, in order to operate various devices to realize the functions of the above-described embodiment, an apparatus connected to the various devices or a computer in the system is required to realize the functions of the above-described embodiment. The present invention also includes a software program code supplied and implemented by operating the various devices according to a program stored in a computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus.

In this case, the program code of the software realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the computer are provided.
For example, a recording medium storing such a program code constitutes the present invention. As a recording medium for storing such a program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM,
A magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the supplied program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) or other operating system running on the computer. Needless to say, even when the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized in cooperation with application software and the like, such program codes are included in the embodiments of the present invention.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in a memory provided in a function expansion board of the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or the function expansion unit is specified based on the instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that the present invention also includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the first embodiment performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in the above-described embodiments are merely examples for embodying the present invention, and these limit the technical scope of the present invention. It must not be interpreted in a way. That is, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof.

[0061]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to notify the operation status of electric equipment and events such as failures by e-mail, so that a user or the like can know while away from the electric equipment. It becomes possible. Further, depending on how to set an e-mail address, the present invention can be applied to a support operation of an electric device, remote monitoring, and the like. Moreover,
Uses e-mail, which is now widespread and will become more widespread, so there is no need for a special terminal on the receiver side, and messages can be easily received on existing personal computers and mobile phone terminals used by individuals be able to. Further, since the e-mail is held until it is read out by the receiver, the message can be reliably delivered even if the radio wave condition is poor or the receiver is not turned on, for example.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a multifunction printing apparatus (MF) according to a first embodiment;
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of P).

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification event table.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the MFP.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a message to be notified when recording paper is exhausted and when copying is completed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the MFP when setting a notification event table using electronic mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic mail for requesting notification of an event in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an MFP having a LAN interface according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Printer part 3 Scanner part 4 Modem 5 Operation panel 6 USB interface 7 LAN interface

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 5B089 GA16 GB03 JB01 KA04 KC53 LA01 LA11 LA19

Claims (16)

[Claims] A storage unit for storing an e-mail address associated with a predetermined event of the electric device; an e-mail transmission unit for transmitting an e-mail; and when the predetermined event occurs in the electric device. Control means for transmitting an e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the storage means by the e-mail transmitting means and notifying the occurrence of the predetermined event. apparatus. 2. The event notification of an electric device according to claim 1, wherein the electric device is a device having at least one of a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, and a facsimile function. apparatus. 3. The event notification device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit can store a plurality of e-mail addresses respectively associated with a plurality of events. 4. The electric apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information on the predetermined event and the e-mail address stored in the storage unit can be changed. Event notification device. 5. An electronic mail receiving means for receiving an external electronic mail, and an extracting means for extracting information about an event and an electronic mail address of a notification destination from the electronic mail received by the electronic mail receiving means, 5. The event notification device for an electric device according to claim 4, wherein information about the event extracted by the extraction unit and an electronic mail address of a notification destination are stored in the address storage unit. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the extracting unit extracts a source address of the external electronic mail as the electronic mail address of the notification destination. 7. The event notification device for an electric device according to claim 5, wherein the extraction unit extracts the electronic mail address of the notification destination from a description of a mail body of the external electronic mail. . 8. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the extracting unit extracts the information on the event from a description of a mail body of the external e-mail. 9. The event notification device for an electrical device according to claim 1, further comprising a message storage unit that stores a message for notifying the predetermined event in advance. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the message is rewritable. 11. The device for notifying an event of an electric device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined event relates to a predetermined operation state of the electric device. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined event is related to a predetermined failure of the electric device.
The event notification device for an electrical device according to any one of claims 10 to 10. 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined event is related to a predetermined maintenance of the electric device. 14. The event notification device for an electric device according to claim 1, wherein the event notification device is incorporated in the electric device. 15. A storage procedure for storing an e-mail address associated with a predetermined event of an electric device, an e-mail transmission procedure for transmitting an e-mail, and when the predetermined event occurs in the electric device. Sending an e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the storage procedure according to the e-mail transmission procedure and notifying the occurrence of the predetermined event. . 16. A storage procedure for storing an e-mail address associated with a predetermined event of an electric device, an e-mail transmission procedure for transmitting an e-mail, and when the predetermined event occurs in the electric device A program for executing an e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the storage procedure according to the e-mail transmission procedure, and executing a control procedure for notifying the occurrence of the predetermined event. Computer-readable storage medium.