JP2002086816A - Imaging apparatus with advertising function, advertisement method and advertising system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize a printer function and promote positive use of a printer by reducing running costs. SOLUTION: Advertisement is executed with the utilization of an image display function or an image printing function of the printer 2. At the same time, printing charges are discounted or the balance is paid back in accordance with an advertisement execution situation by obtaining and outputting the advertisement execution situation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an advertisement function having an advertisement display function or an advertisement printing function. The present invention relates to an advertising method and an advertising system for returning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, some image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers are equipped with a network interface, a memory card slot, an image display and the like. For example, an image forming apparatus having a network interface can be shared by a plurality of client PCs via a network, and can be connected to a maintenance server or the like on the Internet via a gateway. With a slot, it is possible to easily add font data and the like.Furthermore, with an image display, it is easy to check the setting status and operation status, and to attach the touch panel to the operation panel. However, the equipment is hardly used except during printing, and the equipment is not effectively used.

In the above-described image forming apparatus, running costs such as purchase costs of consumables such as toner and photoreceptor, maintenance costs for repair and inspection, and the like are generated. Since the cost also increases, there is a possibility that active use of the image forming apparatus may be hindered.

Thus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-192760, it is possible to effectively use an image forming apparatus as an advertisement medium by printing an advertisement image when printing a predetermined image on a print sheet. Although it has been proposed, synthetic printing of advertisement images may cause disgust of users, and synthetic printing of advertisements is not only limited printing space but also static advertisement expression However, it was difficult to obtain a high advertising effect only by printing advertisements.

[0005] Further, the above publication is based on the assumption that a charging type copying machine or the like is installed in a convenience store or the like, and allows the user to select execution / non-execution of advertisement printing. A copy service is provided at a lower price than usual, and an image forming apparatus installed in an office or the like cannot contribute to effective use or active use of the image forming apparatus.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and one object of the present invention is to make it possible to execute an advertisement using an image display function of an image forming apparatus. It is possible to display an advertisement on a monitor such as an operation panel together with operation means such as touch buttons,
It eliminates the disgust of printing advertisements on paper and makes it possible for the user who operates the advertisements to visually recognize the advertisements. Moreover, the advertisement display is not only static but also dynamic based on the monitor function. It is also possible to display in a variety of contents including various items, and the range of use of the operation monitor can be expanded. In addition, by storing the acquired advertisement implementation status and outputting the stored advertisement implementation status, it is possible to reduce the print charge and cashback according to the advertisement implementation status, thereby effectively utilizing the equipment of the image forming apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus with an advertisement function and an advertisement method that can reduce running costs and encourage active use of the image forming apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to execute an advertisement using the image forming function of the image forming apparatus, to store the obtained advertisement execution state, and to output the stored advertisement execution state. This enables discounts and cashbacks on print charges according to the state of advertisement implementation, thereby effectively utilizing the equipment of the image forming apparatus, reducing running costs, and encouraging active use of the image forming apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus with an advertisement function and an advertisement method.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide an advertisement server connected to an image forming apparatus via a network such as the Internet so as to calculate points according to the state of advertisement output from the image forming apparatus. It is possible to charge an advertiser for an advertisement fee according to the implementation status, or to provide a user with a compensation according to the advertisement implementation status, thereby enabling an advertisement medium using the image forming apparatus to be used. It is an object of the present invention to provide an advertisement system that can be established and that can automate billing for advertisements and user return.

[0009]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus with an advertisement function for forming an image on a forming medium based on print image data. The apparatus includes image display means for displaying an image based on display image data, advertisement image data storage means for storing advertisement image data to be displayed on the image display means, and display status for acquiring a display status of the advertisement image data. It is characterized by comprising an acquisition unit, a display status storage unit for storing the obtained display status, and a display status output unit for outputting the stored display status.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus with an advertisement function for forming an image on a forming medium based on print image data. Advertising image data storage means for storing image data, additional image forming means for performing image formation based on the advertisement image data in addition to image formation based on the print image data, and additional status for acquiring the status of the additional image formation It is characterized by comprising an acquisition unit, an additional status storage unit for storing the obtained additional image formation status, and an additional status output unit for outputting the stored additional status.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an advertising method using an image forming apparatus.
The advertisement method includes a step of displaying at least an advertisement image based on the advertisement image data stored in advance in the storage means on the image display means of the image forming apparatus, or additionally forming an image on the formation medium; and displaying the advertisement image. Or a step of acquiring an advertisement implementation status including the number of times of image formation.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an advertisement system using an image forming apparatus and an advertisement server connected to a network, wherein the image forming apparatus forms an image on a forming medium. Image forming means, image display means for displaying an image on a display screen, storage means for storing at least advertisement image data, and an advertisement display state of the image display means based on the advertisement image data;
Alternatively, the advertisement server includes an advertisement status acquisition unit that obtains an advertisement execution status including an advertisement formation status of the image forming unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the advertisement execution status via the network. It is characterized by having receiving means for receiving, and point calculating means for calculating points according to the advertisement implementation status.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an advertisement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an advertisement system according to this embodiment includes a network 1 such as a LAN, a printer 2 as an image forming apparatus connected to the network 1, and a client connected to the network 1. It includes a personal computer 3, the Internet 5 connected to the network 1 via a gateway 4, and an advertisement server 6 connected to the Internet 5.

The image forming apparatus 2 forms an image on a print sheet 7 based on print image data transmitted from the client personal computer 3 or the like, and links the print sheet 7 to the operation of the image forming section 8. Paper transport unit 9 that transports paper
Display 10 for displaying setting information and the like as images
A control unit 11 for controlling each component according to a predetermined control program; and a network interface 12 for connecting the control unit 11 to the network 1.

The paper transport section 9 carries out a paper feed path for carrying out the print paper 7 from the paper feed cassette and supplying it to the image forming section 8.
A paper discharge path for transporting the image-formed printing paper 7 to the paper output tray, and a two-sided paper sheet that reverses the image-formed printing paper 7 carried out of the image forming unit 8 and returns it to the paper feeding path; It has a printing transport function.

The display 10 is composed of, for example, a color liquid crystal display of 2.5 inches or more, and a touch panel 13 is arranged on the display screen in a superposed manner. That is, the display 10 of the present embodiment is
Is used not only for displaying an image of setting information and the like, but also for an image forming apparatus operation panel for prompting a touch operation of the touch panel 13 by graphically displaying operation buttons and the like.

The control unit 11 is a CP for controlling each component.
U, a flash memory (electrically rewritable memory) storing a predetermined control program to be executed by the CPU,
U has a RAM used as a work area and a non-volatile memory for storing various setting parameters and the like. Further, any one of the memories serves as an image data storage memory 14 for storing print image data or display image data. A storage area, a storage area as an advertisement image data storage memory 15 for storing advertisement image data for printing or display, and a storage area as an advertisement result data storage memory 16 for storing advertisement result data are secured. . The flash memory includes a control program group for controlling each component, an advertisement display program for displaying an advertisement image on the display 10 based on the advertisement image data, and an image formation based on the print image data. An advertisement printing program for forming an image based on the image data, and periodically transmitting advertisement result points to be added according to the advertisement implementation status, and based on the returned new advertisement image data, an advertisement image data storage memory 15 And a point transmission program that rewrites

The image forming apparatus 2 of the present invention has a normal print mode and a draft print mode, and can select these modes to form an image.

The normal print mode is a mode for forming an image having an image quality that can endure a so-called aesthetic appearance, and controls the image forming section 8 so as to form the highest image quality at which the image forming apparatus 2 can form an image.

The draft printing mode is an image forming mode which is generally called "toner save" or "test printing". The image forming unit 8 is controlled. More specifically, control is performed such as replacing a bold font with a thin font, thinning out dots forming an image, and forming an image by reducing images of a plurality of pages on one print sheet. In a color image forming apparatus, a monochrome image is formed.

The print image data is data for executing image formation in the image forming apparatus 2. The print image data is generated by the client personal computer 3 and transmitted via the network 1. It is generated by the scanner unit mounted as the image data and transmitted to the control unit 11. Specifically, ASCII, Shift JIS,
Character codes represented by EUC, Postscript (registered trademark of Adobe), LIPS (registered trademark of Canon Inc.), page description language represented by ESC / P (registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation), bitmap, TIFF, It includes binary codes represented by GIF 98a, JPEG, and JBIG, or mixed data of these. The display image data is data for displaying an image on the display 10 which is an image display unit of the image forming apparatus 2, and is stored in the image data storage memory 14 or the advertisement image data storage memory 15 in advance. Is transmitted via the network interface 12 which is a network connection means.
Specifically, character code, binary code,
It includes a programming language such as JAVA (registered trademark), BASIC, and C, a control description language represented by HTML and XML, or a mixed data of these.

The advertisement image data is print image data for forming an advertisement image on a print sheet 7 as a forming medium in the image forming section 8 of the image forming apparatus 2 or an advertisement on the display 10 of the image forming apparatus 2. Any one of display image data for displaying an image, which is stored in advance in any of the advertisement image data storage memories 15 or transmitted via the network interface 12 which is network connection means.

The display status of the present invention is information indicating the result of displaying an advertisement image on the display 10 of the image forming apparatus 2, stored in the advertisement result data storage memory 16, and transmitted via the network interface 12 and the network 1. And transmitted to the advertisement server 6. Specifically, the number of times the advertisement image is displayed on the display 10, the cumulative time in which the advertisement image is displayed, the number of times the advertisement image is displayed for a certain time or more, or a combination thereof, and the time and the number of times are predetermined. It is a display result point (point) converted based on the association. In addition, in displaying an image with a high advertising effect such as displaying an image with sound, it is also possible to perform processing such as multiplying or adding a constant to the time, the number of times, and the score.

The additional status of the present invention is information indicating the actual result of forming an advertisement image as an additional image on the printing paper 7 as a forming medium in the image forming section 8 of the image forming apparatus 2. The information is stored in the storage memory 16 and transmitted to the advertisement server 6 via the network interface 12 and the network 1. Specifically, the number of times the advertisement image was formed, the area, the number of characters, the number of times the advertisement image was formed with a certain area or more, or a combination of these, and further, the number of times and the area were converted based on a predetermined association. Print result points (points). Further, in the formation of an image having a high advertising effect such as a color advertisement image, it is possible to perform a process of multiplying or adding a constant to the area, the number of times, and the score.

The advertisement execution status of the present invention is the above-mentioned additional status, display status or a mixture thereof, and is stored in the advertisement performance data storage memory 16, and is transmitted via the network interface 12 and the network 1 to the advertisement server 6. Sent to. The advertisement implementation status is converted into advertisement performance points in order to facilitate the calculation of the advertisement fee or the calculation of the return to the user of the image forming apparatus 2.

Next, control procedures of the advertisement display program, advertisement print program, and advertisement information transmission / reception program, which are main parts of the present invention, will be described with reference to flowcharts.
However, the printer user sets the print mode (normal print mode or draft print mode) on the touch panel 13 or the client personal computer 3, sets whether to use the back paper, sets whether to display the advertisement, and sets the advertisement. The setting as to whether or not to perform printing, the setting as to whether or not to permit advertisement printing on the front side of the printing paper 7, the setting as to whether or not to permit advertisement printing at the time of the draft printing mode or the backing paper printing, etc. are performed in advance. Shall be

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the advertisement display program. The program provides the printer 2 with a function of displaying an advertisement image using the display 10 and a function of acquiring the advertisement display status as a display result point. To add. That is, the advertisement display program first determines whether or not the advertisement display condition is satisfied based on the setting content. If the determination result is YES, the advertisement image for display is read from the advertisement image data storage memory 15. The data is read, and an advertisement image is displayed on the display 10 based on the advertisement image data. Then, in the advertisement image display state, it is determined whether or not X time has elapsed from the start of display, and when the determination result is YES, a predetermined point is added to the display result point, and thereafter, the display is performed. Reset the time timer and continue displaying ads. On the other hand, in the advertisement display state, when a print instruction from the client personal computer 3 or a touch panel operation by the user is detected, the advertisement image display is deleted and the display 10 is returned to the normal display mode.
This resets the display time timer and returns to the upper routine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the advertisement printing program. The program prints the advertisement image on the printing paper 7 using the image forming unit 8 and obtains the advertisement printing status as a printing result point. A function or the like is added to the printer 2. That is, the advertisement printing program first determines whether or not the advertisement printing condition is satisfied based on the setting content. If the determination result is NO, the advertisement printing program executes printing without adding an advertisement image. On the other hand, when the determination result is YES, the advertisement image data for printing is read from the advertisement image data storage memory 15 and it is determined whether the advertisement printing on the front surface is permitted, and the determination is YES here. In this case, a margin on the printing paper 7 is detected based on the print image data. If there is a margin, the advertisement image data is combined with the margin of the print image data while adjusting the position, and the combined image is printed on the surface of the printing paper 7. Points are added. Also, if advertising printing on the surface is not allowed or if there is no margin on the surface,
It is determined whether or not advertisement printing on the back side is possible (when backing paper is used and double-sided printing is not possible), and if the determination result is NO, printing is performed without adding an advertisement image. On the other hand, if the determination result is YES, an image is formed on the front surface based on the print image data, and an image is formed on the back surface based on the advertisement image data. Thereafter, a predetermined point is added to the actual print points. Will do.

As another example of the advertisement printing conditions shown in FIG. 3, an advertisement image can be added in the draft printing mode because of a strong test printing element. On the other hand, in the normal printing mode, distribution materials and the like are provided. Therefore, control such as prohibiting the addition of an advertisement image can be performed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the advertisement transmission / reception program. The program sends the display result points accumulated according to the advertisement display state or the print result points accumulated according to the advertisement print state to the advertisement server 6. Advertisement image data storage memory 15 based on new advertisement image data transmitted from advertisement server 6
Is added to the printer 2. That is, the advertisement information transmission / reception program determines whether or not a predetermined period has elapsed from the previous transmission / reception, and if the determination result is YES, the advertisement result points (display result points) stored in the advertisement result data storage memory 16. And print result points) to the advertisement server 6. Then, when the advertisement server 6 receives the advertisement result point, the advertisement result point is reset, the new advertisement image data transmitted from the advertisement server 6 is received, and the advertisement is received based on the received new advertisement image data. The contents of the image data storage memory 15 will be updated.

On the other hand, the advertisement server 6 includes an advertisement result totaling module 17 for totalizing the advertisement result points transmitted from the printer 2, an advertisement information providing module 18 for providing the advertisement image data to the printer 2, and predetermined components. A control unit 19 for controlling according to a control program of
And a network interface 20 that connects the Internet 5 to the Internet 5. Hereinafter, a control procedure of an advertisement management program executed in the advertisement server 6 will be described with reference to flowcharts.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the advertisement management program, which is a function of totalizing the advertisement result points transmitted from the printer 2 and billing the advertiser an advertisement fee according to the totaled advertisement result. Function, a function to return the price (cashback or print charge discount) to the printer user according to the totaled advertising performance,
The advertisement server 6 is provided with a mechanism for distributing new advertisement image data to the printer 2. That is, the advertisement management program totals the advertisement result points periodically transmitted by the printer 2 for each advertiser, and charges the advertiser an advertisement fee based on the total result. In addition, for each printer user, a price corresponding to the advertisement result point is calculated, and for the printer user who wants cashback, the price is transferred to a settlement account of the printer user,
In addition, for a printer user who wishes to reduce the maintenance service cost, the payment is transferred to the settlement account of the maintenance service company with the printer user name. To transmit new advertisement image data.

In the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the printer 2 includes a display 10 for displaying an image based on the display image data, and an advertisement for storing the advertisement image data to be displayed on the display 10. An image data storage memory 15, an advertisement display program for acquiring the display status of the advertisement image data, an advertisement performance data storage memory 16 for storing the acquired display status, and an advertisement information transmitting / receiving program for outputting the stored display status. Have. That is, since the advertisement is implemented using the display 10 of the printer 2, the dislike of printing the advertisement on the printing paper 7 can be eliminated, and the advertisement display is not only static but also dynamic. It is also possible to display with a variety of contents including typical ones, it is possible to expand the range of use of the display 10, and furthermore, the display 10 is provided with a touch panel 13, which is also used as an operation panel. In this embodiment, the advertisement can be visually recognized every time the user operates the touch panel 13, and the advertisement can be displayed with a high effect.

In addition, the advertisement display status on the display 10 is acquired, the acquired advertisement implementation status is stored, and the stored advertisement implementation status is output. Thus, the equipment of the printer 2 can be effectively used, and the running cost can be reduced to encourage the active use of the printer 2.

Further, the printer 2 has a network interface 12 connected to the network 1 and an advertisement information transmission / reception program for transmitting an advertisement display status via the network 1. Therefore, unlike the case where the advertisement display status is output using a storage medium such as a memory card, not only is there no inconvenience of labor, but also the totalization of the advertisement display status can be automated.

The advertisement image data storage memory 15
Is able to rewrite the advertisement image data for display, not only can the advertisement content displayed on the display 10 be appropriately updated to enhance the advertisement effect, but also can actively display the advertisement to the printer user. Can be promoted.

Moreover, the printer 2 receives the display interface image data transmitted via the network 1 and the network interface 12 connected to the network 1 and displays the display image data stored in the advertisement image data storage memory 15. Has an advertisement information transmission / reception program for rewriting the advertisement image data for display to the received advertisement image data for display, and thus has an advantage that the update of the advertisement image data displayed on the display 10 can be automated.

The printer 2 can select execution / non-execution of the advertisement display on the display 10 and can also display the advertisement according to the usage conditions of the printer user.

As described above, the advertisement displayed on the display 10 is printed out on the printer.
The printer 2 of the present invention performs image formation based on advertisement image data in addition to image formation based on print image data,
And an advertisement printing program for acquiring the status of advertisement printing;
It has an advertisement result data storage memory 16 for storing the acquired advertisement print status, and an advertisement information transmission / reception program for outputting the stored advertisement print status. Therefore, an advertisement can be implemented using the image printing function of the printer 2, and the acquired advertisement printing status is stored, and
By outputting the stored advertisement printing status, it is possible to discount the print charge and cash back in accordance with the advertisement printing status, so that the printer function can be effectively used, and the running cost can be reduced and the printer 2 can be actively used. Can be promoted.

Further, the printer 2 has a network interface 12 connected to the network 1 and an advertisement information transmission / reception program for transmitting the advertisement print status via the network 1, and uses a storage medium such as a memory card. As in the case where the advertisement print status is output, there is no inconvenience of labor, and the totalization of the advertisement print status can be automated, and the advertisement image data storage memory 15 stores the advertisement image for printing. The data can be rewritten, so that not only can the advertisement content printed on the printing paper 7 be appropriately updated to enhance the advertisement effect, but also encourage the printer user to actively use the advertisement printing. .

Further, the printer 2 receives the network interface 12 connected to the network 1, the advertisement image data for printing transmitted via the network 1, and prints the advertisement image data stored in the advertisement image data storage memory 15. And an advertisement information transmitting / receiving program for rewriting the advertisement image data for printing into the received advertisement image data for printing. Therefore, the update of the advertisement image data to be printed on the printing paper 7 can be automated.

The printer 2 is capable of selecting execution / non-execution of advertisement printing. Further, the printer 2 detects at least the selection between the normal printing mode and the draft printing mode, and detects the selection of the draft printing mode. Since the advertisement printing is executed based on the advertisement printing, it is possible to perform the advertisement printing according to the usage condition of the printer user and to avoid the advertisement printing which is unintended in the normal print mode.

The printer 2 detects the margin of the printing paper 7 based on the print image data, adjusts the position so that the advertisement is printed in the detected margin, and prints based on the print image data. Since the advertisement can be printed on the back side of the printing paper 7, it is possible to avoid inconveniences such as printing the print image data and the advertisement image data in a superimposed manner, and to effectively use the margin. Can,
Further, not only can the advertisement be printed even when there is no margin on the surface, but also the advertisement effect can be enhanced by securing a large advertisement print area.

On the other hand, the advertisement server 6 connected to the printer 2 via the Internet 5 has an advertisement management program for receiving the advertisement implementation status of the printer 2 and calculating points according to the advertisement implementation status. Therefore, it becomes possible to charge the advertiser for an advertisement fee according to the state of execution of the advertisement, and to return the price corresponding to the state of execution of the advertisement to the user. In addition to establishing a medium, it becomes possible to automate the billing of advertisement fees and the return of users.

The advertisement server 6 stores the new advertisement image data provided by the advertiser, transmits the new advertisement image data to the printer 2 via the Internet 5, and responds to the advertisement implementation status. In addition to charging the advertiser for the advertisement fee and returning the price corresponding to the advertisement implementation status to the printer user, not only can the advertisement display content and the advertisement print content of the printer 2 be appropriately updated to enhance the advertisement effect. Thus, the printer user can be encouraged to actively use the advertisement function, and further, the billing operation to the advertiser and the return operation to the printer user can be automated.

The present invention is, of course, not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the advertisement image data and the advertisement result data are not necessarily transmitted and received via the network, but are attached to and detached from the printer. The exchange may be performed via a storage medium such as a flexible memory card.

The advertisement display may be either a moving image or a still image. In addition, a plurality of advertisement display images may be stored, and the advertisement image to be displayed may be switched according to switching conditions such as a time zone, a day of the week, and a user attribute.

The advertisement printing may be either color or monochrome. In addition, a plurality of advertisement print images may be stored, and the advertisement image to be printed may be switched according to switching conditions such as a time zone, a day of the week, and a user attribute.

The advertisement printing is not limited to the margin printing or the back side printing. For example, the printing image is reduced to secure the advertisement printing space, or the paper is divided into a plurality (for example, divided into four). For example, if there is a margin on the lower left and right sides, an advertisement may be displayed there, and if it is printed on the entire sheet, variations such as selecting a header / footer may be provided. Further, the size, position, and the like of the advertisement print may be arbitrarily set. It is also possible to print the advertisement lightly by adjusting the density or the like. In this case, for example, the advertisement image can be combined with a print image in which characters (page numbers, etc.) are slightly printed in the lower margin. it can. In addition, it is also possible to watermark-print an advertisement on the entire paper surface. In this case, it is possible to secure a wide advertisement space and enhance the advertisement effect.

The advertisement result points can be set according to the advertisement effect such as making the advertisement print higher than the advertisement display, and the addition points can be changed according to the print location, print size, and the like. Is also good.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is described assuming a printer installed in an office. However, in addition to the printer, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, or a multifunction machine of these machines is also used. It goes without saying that it is the subject of the invention. In addition, it can be implemented in a charge-type copying machine or a facsimile installed in a convenience store or the like. In this case, based on the cashback to the convenience store or the discount of the print charge according to the advertisement implementation status,
There are advantages such as the ability to set inexpensive usage fees for copiers and faxes.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to execute an advertisement using the image display function of the image forming apparatus by using the above-described configuration, and it is possible to execute an advertisement together with operation means such as touch buttons on a monitor such as an operation panel. An advertisement can be displayed, the dislike of printing out the advertisement on paper can be wiped out, and the user who operates the advertisement can surely see the advertisement, and the advertisement display is statically based on the monitor function. It is also possible to display with a variety of contents that include dynamic things as well as dynamic things,
The range of use of the operation monitor can be expanded.
In addition, by storing the acquired advertisement implementation status and outputting the stored advertisement implementation status, it is possible to reduce the print charge and cashback according to the advertisement implementation status, thereby effectively utilizing the equipment of the image forming apparatus. In addition, the running cost can be reduced and the active use of the image forming apparatus can be promoted.

Further, according to the present invention, an advertisement can be implemented using the image forming function of the image forming apparatus.
By storing the acquired advertisement implementation status and outputting the stored advertisement implementation status, it is possible to discount or cash back the print charge according to the advertisement implementation status, so that the equipment of the image forming apparatus can be effectively used. Thus, the running cost can be reduced and the active use of the image forming apparatus can be encouraged.

Further, according to the present invention, in an advertisement server connected to an image forming apparatus via a network such as the Internet, points are calculated according to an advertisement execution state output from the image forming apparatus. It is possible to charge the advertiser for the advertiser in accordance with the advertiser, and to provide the user with a fee in accordance with the state of the advertisement implementation, thereby establishing an advertisement medium using the image forming apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to provide an advertising system that can automate billing for advertisements and user return.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an advertisement system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an advertisement display program.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an advertisement printing program.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an advertisement information transmission / reception program.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an advertisement management program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network 2 Printer 3 Client personal computer 5 Internet 6 Advertising server 10 Display 11 Controller 12 Network interface 15 Advertising image data storage memory 16 Advertising result data storage memory

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 ZEC G06F 17/60 ZEC 324 324 326 326 F Term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 AP07 AQ06 AR01 AR03 AS02 HN15 HN20 HQ12 HQ17 HR07 JJ02 JJ12 2C087 AA03 AA09 AA13 AA15 AA18 AB01 AB06 AC08 BA03 BA05 BA07 BC07 BC11 BD06 BD07 CA02 CB17 DA02 2C187 AC07 AD03 AE01 AE06 CD15 5B021 BB05 FF01 FF01 FF01 FF01

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a forming medium based on print image data, the image forming apparatus comprising: an image display unit for displaying an image based on display image data; Advertising image data storing means for storing advertising image data to be displayed on the display, display status obtaining means for obtaining the display status of the advertising image data, display status storing means for storing the obtained display status, and storing the stored display status. An image forming apparatus with an advertisement function, comprising: a display status output unit for outputting. 2. The advertisement function according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a network connection unit that connects to a network, and a display status transmission unit that transmits a display status via the network. Image forming device. 3. The advertisement image data storage means is capable of rewriting advertisement image data.
Or the image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to 2. 4. The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement image data storage unit is detachable from the image forming apparatus. 5. An image forming apparatus comprising: a network connection unit for connecting to a network; an advertisement image data receiving unit for receiving advertisement image data transmitted via the network; and an advertisement stored in the advertisement image data storage unit. 5. The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to claim 1, further comprising an advertisement image data rewriting means for rewriting the image data to the received advertisement image data. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an advertisement display selecting unit that selects execution / non-execution of image display by the image display unit based on the advertisement image data. An image forming apparatus with an advertising function as described in the above. 7. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a forming medium based on print image data, the image forming apparatus comprising: an advertisement image data storage unit for storing advertisement image data; In addition to image formation, additional image forming means for performing image formation based on advertisement image data, additional state obtaining means for obtaining the state of the additional image formation, and additional state storage means for storing the obtained additional image formation state And an additional status output unit for outputting the stored additional status. 8. The advertisement function according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a network connection unit that connects to a network, and an additional status transmission unit that transmits an additional status via the network. Image forming device. 9. The advertisement image data storage means is capable of rewriting advertisement image data.
Or the image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to 8. 10. The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to claim 7, wherein the advertisement image data storage unit is detachable from the image forming apparatus. 11. The image forming apparatus includes: a network connection unit that connects to a network; an advertisement image data reception unit that receives advertisement image data transmitted via the network; and an advertisement stored in the advertisement image data storage unit. 11. The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to claim 7, further comprising an advertisement image data rewriting means for rewriting the image data to the received advertisement image data. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said additional image forming unit performs execution of additional image formation based on advertisement image data.
The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to claim 7, further comprising an additional image formation selecting unit that selects non-execution. 13. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a mode selection detecting unit configured to detect at least a selection between a normal print mode and a draft print mode; and an additional image forming unit configured to execute additional image formation based on the selection detection of the draft print mode. The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to claim 7, further comprising: an execution unit. 14. An image forming apparatus comprising: a margin detecting unit configured to detect a margin of a forming medium based on print image data;
The image with an advertisement function according to claim 7, further comprising: an additional image forming position adjusting unit that adjusts an additional image forming position so that the additional image is formed in a margin of a forming medium. Forming equipment. 15. An image forming apparatus comprising: a double-sided printing means for forming an image on both sides of a forming medium; and a double-sided printing means for forming the additional image on a back side of a sheet on which an image has been formed based on print image data. The image forming apparatus with an advertisement function according to any one of claims 7 to 14, further comprising an additional image back surface forming means for operating the means. 16. An advertisement method using an image forming apparatus, wherein the advertisement method displays at least an advertisement image based on advertisement image data stored in advance in a storage unit on an image display unit of the image forming apparatus. Alternatively, an advertisement method including a step of additionally forming an image on a forming medium and a step of acquiring an advertisement implementation status. 17. The advertisement method according to claim 16, further comprising transmitting the advertisement execution status to an advertisement server. 18. The advertisement method according to claim 16, further comprising: a step of calculating an advertisement actual point according to the advertisement execution status; and a step of charging an advertisement fee according to the point. . 19. The advertisement method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of returning a price to a user of the image forming apparatus according to the points. 20. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: transmitting advertisement image data to the image forming apparatus; and storing the advertisement image data in a storage unit of the image forming apparatus. Advertising method described in. 21. An advertisement system using an image forming apparatus and an advertisement server connected to a network, wherein the image forming apparatus includes: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a forming medium; and an image display configured to display an image on a display screen. Means, storage means for storing at least the advertisement image data, and an advertisement display state of the image display means based on the advertisement image data,
Alternatively, the advertisement server includes an advertisement status acquisition unit that obtains an advertisement execution status including an advertisement formation status of the image forming unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the advertisement execution status via the network. An advertisement system comprising: receiving means for receiving; and point calculating means for calculating points according to the advertisement implementation status. 22. The advertisement server further includes advertisement image data storage means for storing advertisement image data, and transmission means for transmitting the advertisement image data via a network, while the image forming apparatus further comprises: 22. The advertisement system according to claim 21, further comprising: a receiving unit that receives the advertisement image data; and a rewriting unit that rewrites the advertisement image data stored in the storage unit with the received advertisement image data. 23. The advertisement server further has a point transmitting means for transmitting the points via a network, while a payment server connected to the advertisement server via a network pays an advertisement fee according to the points. 23. The advertisement system according to claim 21, further comprising a charging unit for charging, and a value returning unit for returning a value to the image forming apparatus user according to the points.