JP2003058387A - Image processor, program and management unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of preventing overlapping of the processing request of management information required for management from a management device during rewriting the firmware of the image processor. SOLUTION: When a request transmission interval (request interval) of transmitting of the management information from a management terminal is not longer than the predicted rewriting time of the firmware (step S288; NO), the picture processor divides the firmware so as to complete rewriting of the firmware within the request transmission interval of the management information (step S297). Then, the divided firmware is registered in a firmware management table (step S299) and rewriting of the firmware is instructed to the image processor (step S291).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for executing a predetermined response processing in response to a processing request for management information from a management terminal, a program for the image processing apparatus, and a management unit connected to the image forming apparatus. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image processing apparatus may be used by being connected to a plurality of client terminals via a LAN or the like. A management terminal that manages the entire network and each device is connected to the network to which the plurality of devices are connected. The management terminal, for example, in order to monitor and manage the image processing apparatus, information (hereinafter referred to as “management information”) such as the job status of the image processing apparatus, the amount of toner, the total number of prints, and the paper cassette (hereinafter referred to as “management information”). Have been regularly obtained from.

On the other hand, the image processing apparatus has a ROM capable of rewriting firmware for controlling the basic operation of the apparatus.
I remember. This firmware is, for example, a startup program, a control program, control data, etc., and is usually not rewritten. However, in order to improve the performance of the image processing apparatus, it is necessary to rewrite the firmware.

The firmware used for rewriting is attached to an e-mail and transmitted to the image processing apparatus to be rewritten, for example, at the terminal device of the manufacturer's service center. In response to this, the image processing apparatus acquires the firmware from the email and rewrites the firmware.

[0005]

Generally, the image processing apparatus cannot execute other processing when the rewriting of the firmware is started. This is because an existing communication line for transmitting / receiving control signals and the like is used as a communication line for transmitting / receiving data at the time of firmware rewriting, and this communication line is occupied.

On the other hand, the capacity of firmware in recent years tends to be large, and the rewriting time thereof is longer than the transmission interval for transmitting a request for management information. Therefore, when the image processing apparatus starts the rewriting of the firmware, the management information requests from the management terminal are overlapped, and the following problems occur. Since the image processing apparatus cannot respond to the request for the management information from the management terminal or the response is delayed, the management information request is repeatedly generated to the management terminal, and the management processing load of the management terminal and the network. Increase the communication load. Furthermore, if the image processing apparatus remains unresponsive, the management terminal determines that the image processing apparatus is out of order, even though the firmware is being rewritten, and the image processing apparatus is not correctly managed by the management terminal.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful image processing apparatus that solves the above problems, a program used in a computer of the image processing apparatus, and a management unit connected to the image processing apparatus. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus which executes a predetermined response process in response to a processing request of management information from a management terminal. Therefore, an acquisition unit that acquires the firmware required for image processing from the firmware storage unit, a rewriting unit that rewrites the existing firmware with the acquired firmware, and the response process and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap. A scheduling means for scheduling the rewriting of the firmware, and an instructing means for instructing the rewriting means to rewrite according to the schedule.

This is characterized in that the scheduling means divides the acquired firmware and determines a rewriting timing for each divided firmware. With this configuration, the management information processing request is not transmitted from the management terminal while the firmware is being rewritten, and the image processing apparatus can perform a response process in response to the management information processing request from the management terminal. You can

The management terminal further comprises transmission schedule acquisition means for acquiring information about a transmission schedule for transmitting the management information processing request, and the scheduling means divides the firmware based on the transmission schedule information. Means and a timing determining means for determining a rewriting timing for each of the divided firmware. Therefore, it is possible to accurately divide the firmware used for rewriting the firmware.

Moreover, the rewriting time calculating means for calculating the rewriting time of the firmware, and the rewriting of the firmware for which the rewriting time is calculated based on the information about the transmission schedule and the rewriting time of the firmware transmits the next management information. The dividing means calculates the rewriting time when it is determined that the rewriting of the firmware is not completed by the transmission schedule of the next management information. It is characterized by dividing the firmware that has been updated into a size that allows the firmware to be rewritten before the next management information is scheduled to be sent. The firmware used for rewriting can be divided, and the management information can be processed. It is possible to perform the response process against determined.

Further, the information about the transmission schedule is a transmission interval for transmitting a management information processing request, and the dividing unit divides the firmware into a size at which the rewriting of the firmware is completed at each transmission interval, and the timing is set. Since the deciding means decides the rewriting timing so that the divided firmware is rewritten at each transmission interval, the firmware can be rewritten efficiently within the transmission interval of the management information.

On the other hand, the acquired firmware can be divided for each functional unit, and the scheduling unit divides the firmware for each functional unit, and the timing for rewriting the firmware divided by the dividing unit. And a timing determining means for determining. With this configuration, the firmware can be easily divided.

Further, an acquisition step of acquiring the firmware required for the image processing from the firmware storage means in the computer of the image processing apparatus which executes a predetermined response processing in response to a management information processing request from the management terminal, and the acquisition. Rewriting step of executing rewriting of existing firmware with the rewritten firmware, a scheduling step of scheduling rewriting of the firmware so that the response process and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap, and the rewriting means according to the schedule. And a command step for instructing to rewrite the firmware. According to this configuration, the management terminal does not send a processing request for management information while the firmware is being rewritten, and the image processing apparatus executes a response process in response to the processing request for management information from the management terminal. be able to.

Further, the management unit is connected to the image processing apparatus and executes a predetermined response processing required for management of the image processing apparatus in response to a processing request of management information from a management terminal. In order not to overlap the rewriting of the firmware, a scheduling means for scheduling the rewriting of the firmware and an instruction means for instructing the image processing apparatus to rewrite the firmware according to the schedule are provided. During rewriting, the management terminal will no longer send management information processing requests,
The management unit can execute response processing in response to a management information processing request from the management terminal.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> 1. Overall Structure FIG. 1 shows a system 10 on the user side including an image processing apparatus.
0 and a service center side service system 200 including a centralized management device 91 that centrally and remotely manages an image processing device. Hereinafter, a case where the image processing apparatus is applied to the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.

The system 100 on the user side is a LAN (L
The image processing apparatus 1 is connected to the LAN 3 via the print controller 2. Since the image forming apparatus 1a and the print controller 2a have the same configurations as the image forming apparatus 1 and the print controller 2, the image forming apparatus 1 and the print controller 2 will be described below.

The LAN 3 is connected to the Internet 300 via the router 7 and the system 10 is connected to the router 7.
A firewall 8 that restricts communication that invades 0 is connected. The firewall 8 has functions of packet filtering, proxy, etc.
Only a packet whose address, destination IP address, source port number, and destination port number satisfy predetermined conditions is allowed to pass.

The service system 200 is provided with a LAN 94, and the centralized management device 91 is connected to this LAN 94. The LAN 94 is connected to the Internet 300 via a router 96, and a firewall 97 for restricting communication invading the service system 200 is connected to the router 96. The mail server 6 is connected to the LAN 3 of the system 100 and the service system 2
The mail servers 95 are connected to the LAN 94 of 00,
Receive e-mail collection and distribution services.

The centralized management device 91 manages, for example, rewriting of the firmware incorporated in the image forming apparatus 1. When the rewriting is necessary, the rewriting firmware is attached to an electronic mail and the electronic mail is sent. E-mail to SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer)
r Protocol) to the mail server 6. The firewalls 8 and 97 are SMT
Communication at P, that is, passage of electronic mail is set to be permitted.

In response to this, the print controller 2
The email is downloaded from the mail server 6 and the firmware attached to the email is acquired. The print controller 2 transmits the acquired firmware to the image forming apparatus 1 and instructs the image forming apparatus 1 to execute rewriting of the existing firmware.

The firmware is software installed in the ROM for controlling the basic operation of the image forming apparatus 1. For example, the program and data which are not dynamically changed by the computer during computer processing, or the user. Programs, data, etc. that are not changed by the environment settings performed by, such as a boot program, an input / output program, a control program, control data, and the like, an OS, an interpreter, a compiler, a BIOS.
Etc.

1) Configuration of System on User Side In addition to the image forming apparatus 1, the system 100 on the user side includes:
The management device 4, the client device 5-x, the mail server 6, the router 7, the firewall 8 and the like are connected to the LAN 3. The mail server 6, router 7, and firewall 8 are as described above.

The image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus that forms an image by executing a print job, a copy job, etc., which will be described later. Although the image forming apparatus 1 is connected to the LAN 3 via the print controller 2, some of them may be integrally provided with the print controller 2, and the image forming apparatus 1 may include the print controller 2 in a broad sense. Therefore, the "image forming apparatus 1" referred to below may include the print controller 2.

The management device 4 is a device that manages the entire system 100, and provides the image forming apparatus 1 with information necessary for managing the image forming apparatus 1 via the print controller 2 (hereinafter, simply referred to as "management information"). .) Is periodically requested to execute predetermined management / monitoring processing with the management information collected from the image forming apparatus 1, and the management information held in the image forming apparatus 1 is changed regularly or irregularly. In addition to setting the environment of the image forming apparatus 1 and executing the requested processing, the event notification is received from the print controller 2 when an abnormality occurs in the image forming apparatus 1.

The print controller 2 manages the print job received from the client device 5-x, acquires the firmware from the electronic mail sent from the centralized management device 91 on the service center side, and sends the firmware to the image forming device 1. In addition to issuing a rewriting instruction and the like, management information response processing of transmitting the information collected from the image forming apparatus 1 as management information to the management apparatus 4 in response to a request for management information from the management apparatus 4 is performed.

1-1) Image Forming Apparatus and Management Apparatus The image forming apparatus 1 and the management apparatus 4 use the SNMP (Si) for network management system known as a communication protocol.
mpl Network Management P
The print controller 2 and the image forming apparatus 1 operate as SNMP agents, and the management apparatus 4 operates as an SNMP manager.

The management information possessed by the image forming apparatus 1 as an SNMP agent is MIB (Management).
Information Base), and in the present embodiment, it conforms to the Internet standard printer MIB (RFC1759). SNMP
The manager sends a MIB to the SNMP agent.
Requesting or requesting modification of the MIB definition.
On the other hand, the SNMP agent collects the SNMP of the collected MIB according to the request and the instruction from the SNMP manager.
In addition to transmitting to the manager and changing the definition in the MIB, when an event such as a failure occurs in the SNMP agent, the SNMP manager is notified of the event.

The MIB management information is roughly classified into network configuration management, user management, traffic management, failure management, security management, etc. In the present embodiment, the configuration information, setting information of the image forming apparatus 1, Job management information and the like are also handled as management information. The above configuration information is, for example, the specifications of the image forming apparatus 1, the apparatus configuration such as its address, the type of mounting option, the ready
There are the status of the entire device such as standby, sleep, busy, etc., the amount of toner, the number of remaining paper cassettes, and the like.

The setting information is a priority paper feed port for recording paper, an image processing mode (for example, mode setting such as double-sided printing, enlarging / reducing printing, parameter setting, etc.), and job management information is a job processing mode. (Priority jobs, non-priority jobs,
(For setting job modes such as job composition and job division), and request for job end notification. When making a job reservation, do not accept other jobs during the time period when the reserved job is executed, secure memory for the data size of the job, and print the print text of the reserved job. Reservation of resources such as securing printing paper is also made at the same time.

2) Configuration of service system In addition to the central management device 91, the service system 200 includes
Mail server 95, router 96, firewall 97
Etc. are connected to the LAN 94. The mail server 95, router 96, firewall 97
Is as described above.

In this embodiment, the system 100 and the service system 200 are connected to the Internet 300 via the respective routers 7 and 96, and the communication protocol thereof is TCP / IP, which is used for sending and receiving electronic mail. S
A combination of MTP is used. When sending an electronic mail from the service center side to the user side, the mail server 95 on the service center side becomes an SMTP server, and the mail server 6 on the user side is POP (Po
st Office Protocol) server.

2. Configuration of Each Apparatus 1) Image Forming Apparatus 1-1) Configuration FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 1 is a so-called M
FP (Multiple Function Peri)
(Pheral).

The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image reading unit 10 for obtaining image data by reading an original, and the image data obtained by the image reading unit 10, or transmitted from the client device 5-x via the LAN 3. The image forming section 11 forms an image based on the received image data and print data. The image reading unit 10 is a known unit that reads an image of an original or the like placed on a platen glass (not shown) by moving a scanner 12 having a CCD. The image data read by the image reading unit 10 is subjected to various data processing in the control unit 13 and converted into processed image data.

The control section 13 sends the processed image data to the print head section 14 and drives a laser diode built in the print head section 14 to expose the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 to form an electrostatic latent image. To do. Toner developing unit 16
In order to develop the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 15 in synchronization with the rotation of the photoconductor drum 15.
6 is driven.

On the other hand, the recording paper in the paper cassette 18 is supplied to the transfer drum 17 according to an instruction from the control unit 13.
This recording paper is wound around the transfer drum 17, the toner image developed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred to the recording paper by the transfer charger 19, and then the recording paper is separated from the surface of the transfer drum 17. . The toner image transferred onto the recording paper is easily peeled off, and the toner is fixed on the surface of the recording paper by being pressed while being heated in the fixing device 20 and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 21.

In the image forming apparatus 1 having the above-described structure, a process in which a user reads an original placed on the platen glass by the image reading unit 10 and forms the image on a recording sheet is called a "copy job". A process of forming a print image on a recording sheet based on print data or image data received from each client device 5-x is called a “print job”.

1-2) Circuit Configuration FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 1 includes, for example, four control modules 110 and 12 that individually execute the operation of the entire apparatus, print processing, image reading processing, and image quality correction processing.
0, 130, 140, each control module 110,
The CPUs 120, 130 and 140 are controlled by the respective CPUs. When executing a copy job, a print job, etc., control signals and image data are transmitted and received between the control modules.

Here, the control modules 110, 120,
Reference numerals 130 and 140 are functional blocks having a control function including a CPU or a control circuit including the CPU. Each control module 110, 120, 130, 140 will be described below. 1-2-1) Control Module 110 The control module 110 is a module that controls the entire image forming apparatus 1, and includes a CPU 111 and a flash ROM 11.
2, S-RAM 113, NV-RAM 114, and these are connected by an internal bus.

Flash ROM 112 and CPU 111
Are arranged close to each other and use a high-speed communication line for the internal bus. Therefore, when the power of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, the program can be quickly loaded into the CPU 111 and the program data can be loaded. The effect of noise is reduced. The control module 12
Also in 0, 130, and 140, the same internal bus is used, and the flash ROM and the CPU are arranged close to each other.

The flash ROM 112 is a rewritable non-volatile memory and stores firmware executed by the control module 110. CPU 111
The entire image forming apparatus 1 is controlled according to the firmware stored in the flash ROM 112. S-RAM
Reference numeral 113 is a work area memory used when the CPU 111 executes the firmware. NV-
The RAM 114 is a battery-backed memory that stores various set values for the control module 110 to perform various controls.

The control module 110 is a serial I / F for transmitting / receiving control data to / from the control module 120.
115, a serial I / F 116 for transmitting and receiving control data to and from the control module 130, and is connected to the control module 120 and the control module 130 via a serial cable. The control module 110 has a serial I / F 117 for transmitting / receiving control data to / from the print controller 2, and a video I / F for receiving image data of a print job from the print controller 2.
Equipped with F118.

The control module 110 has an operation panel 119 operated by the user.
Reference numeral 9 includes a ten-key pad, a PRINT key, a display unit, and the like. The serial I / F is a serial interface. Here, each serial I / F 115-1
The control data transmitted / received by the control unit 17 includes data for management information when the management information is generated and transmitted to the print controller 2 in response to a request for the management information transmitted from the management device 4, data for rewriting firmware, and the like. In addition, the control module 110 and the other control modules 120 and 130
It also includes control signals to and from. The same applies to the control data used below.

1-2-2) Control Module 120 The control module 120 is a module that mainly controls print processing, and includes a CPU 121 and a flash ROM 1.
22, S-RAM 123, NV-RAM 124, etc., and these are connected by an internal bus. The CPU 121 controls the print processing according to the firmware stored in the flash ROM 122. Since the S-RAM 123 and the NV-RAM 124 are substantially the same as the control module 110, description thereof will be omitted here.

The control module 120 is a serial I / F for transmitting / receiving control data to / from the control module 110.
125 and a serial I / F 126 for transmitting / receiving control data to / from the control module 140, and is connected to the control module 110 and the control module 120 via a serial cable. The control module 120 includes a print load controller 127, and controls various drive loads such as a motor for the photoconductor drum 15 or the transfer drum 17, a heater for the fixing device 20, and the like.

1-2-3) Control Module 130 The control module 130 is a module that mainly controls the document image reading process.
Similar to 0 and 120, CPU 131, flash ROM
132, S-RAM 133, NV-RAM 134, and these are connected by an internal bus. The CPU 131 controls the image reading process according to the firmware stored in the flash ROM 132. The S-RAM 133 and NV-RAM 13
Since 4 is substantially the same as the control module 110, description thereof will be omitted here.

The control module 130 is a serial I / F for transmitting / receiving control data to / from the control module 110.
135, and is connected to the control module 110 via a serial cable. The control module 130
IR load control unit 136, image input unit 138, image processing A
It has a SIC 137. The IR load controller 136
Various drive loads such as a motor and a lamp of the image reading unit 10 are drive-controlled. The image input unit 138 scans a document image on the platen glass and outputs image data photoelectrically converted by a CCD or the like to the image processing ASIC 137.

The image processing ASIC 137 includes the image input unit 1.
The processed image data obtained by performing various kinds of image processing on the image data input from 38 is output to the control module 140. The image processing executed by the image processing ASIC 137 includes
For example, shading correction, reflectance-density conversion, MT
There are F correction, density correction, error diffusion correction and the like. 1-2-4) Control Module 140 The control module 140 is a module that mainly controls the image quality correction processing.
Similar to 0 and 130, CPU 141, flash ROM
142, an S-RAM 143, and an NV-RAM 144, which are connected by an internal bus. The CPU 141 controls the image quality correction process according to the firmware stored in the flash ROM 142.

The control module 140 is a serial I / F for transmitting / receiving control data to / from the control module 120.
145 and is connected to the control module 120 via a serial cable. In addition, the control module 14
0 indicates the control module 1 via the image quality correction control unit 146.
10 and the control module 130. The image quality correction control unit 146 executes image quality control on the processed image data output from the image processing ASIC 138 of the control module 130 and the image data output from the control module 110. The image quality control performed here includes smoothing, halftone reproduction processing, image quality correction, and the like.

The image output unit 147 includes an image quality correction control unit 14
The laser diode of the printer head unit 14 is driven in accordance with the image data output from 6 to form an electrostatic latent image. The control module 110 uses the serial I / Fs 115, 116, 125, and
The firmware data is transferred to the target control modules 120, 130, 140 using 126, 135, 145.

Serial I / Fs 115, 116, 125,
Since 126, 135, and 145 are configured according to the size of control data that is normally communicated, the communication capacity per unit time is small. Therefore, it takes a long time to transfer a large amount of data such as firmware. 2) Print Controller The print controller 2 manages the print job received from the client device 5-x, acquires the firmware from the email sent from the centralized management device 91,
In response to a firmware transmission and rewriting instruction to the image forming apparatus 1 and a request for management information from the management apparatus 4, the information collected from the image forming apparatus 1 is transmitted to the management apparatus 4 as management information.

The print controller 2, in addition to the above,
When the firmware is acquired, the scheduling for rewriting the firmware is determined so that the rewriting and the request for the management information from the management device 4 do not overlap, and the image forming device 1 is instructed to rewrite the firmware according to this schedule. In the scheduling described above, for example, the acquired firmware is divided, and the divided firmware is used to determine the timing for rewriting the existing firmware to perform the firmware rewriting scheduling.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the circuit configuration of the print controller 2. The print controller 2 is C
PU201, EP-ROM202, S-RAM203,
The NV-RAM 204 and the fixed storage device 205 are provided, and the CP
U201 operates according to a program stored in EP-ROM202. The print controller 2 is connected to the control module 110 of the image forming apparatus 1 via the serial I / F 206 and the video I / F 207, and the NIC.
Each is connected to the LAN 3 via a (network interface card) 209.

The print controller 2 is the operation panel 2
The operation panel 210 includes a display unit for displaying various setting information, information related to a copy job (recording paper size, number of copies, etc.), and a cursor position on the display unit. Up and down keys, selection keys for selecting various functions (for example, F1 to F4 keys), and alphanumeric keys for inputting various setting data are provided.

The S-RAM 203 is a work area memory used when the CPU 201 executes a program. The NV-RAM 204 is a battery-backed memory, such as the client device 5-.
x, data such as communication settings for communicating with the mail server 6 is stored. The communication setting data includes the IP address and mail account of the image forming apparatus 1, the IP address of the mail server 6 and the password. Although the print controller 2 receives the electronic mail addressed to the image forming apparatus 1 in the present embodiment, the print controller 2 directs the electronic mail to the print controller 2 instead of the image forming apparatus 1. It may be done.

The fixed storage device 205 stores various data such as print data of a print job and firmware data. The print controller 2 stores the data in the fixed storage device 205 when the firmware is acquired from the e-mail from the centralized management device 91, and when the print job is received from the client device 5-x, the print data is stored in the fixed storage device 205. To store.

The print controller 2 registers the address where the print data is stored in the fixed storage device 205 in the job management table T3 (see FIG. 15A), which will be described later, in order to manage the print job. Further, in order to manage the rewriting of the firmware, the address at which the data of the firmware is stored in the fixed storage device 205 is set to the firmware management table T4 (FIG. 15B).
Registered).

The print data stored in the fixed storage device 205 is processed by the image expansion unit 208 in the PDL (Page Dess).
The image data (bitmap data) is developed from the print data described in the description language) to the intermediate code, and from the intermediate code.
The expanded image data is transmitted from the video I / F 207 to the image forming apparatus 1, and the control command related to this image data is also transmitted from the serial I / F 206.

The print data of the print job received by the print controller 2 or the image data read by the image reading unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 is output as an image via a data bus capable of high speed communication in the image forming apparatus 1. An image of each data is formed in the section 147. That is, from the reception of print data such as a print job in the print controller 2 to the input of image data to the image output unit 147 in the image forming apparatus 1,
That is, NIC 209-image development unit 208-video I / F
207-Video I / F 118 of control module 110-
The image quality correction control unit 146 to the image output unit 147 of the control module 140 are connected by a data bus capable of high-speed communication.

Also in the image forming apparatus 1, from the reading of the original image to the image output, that is, the image input section 138 to the image processing ASIC 13 of the control module 130.
7 to the image quality correction control unit 146 to the image output unit 147 are connected by a data bus capable of high-speed communication. 3) Management Device The management device 4 is a device that manages the entire network 100, and via the print controller 2, the image forming device 1
The image forming apparatus 1 is managed by transmitting a request for management information to the image forming apparatus 1, transmitting a change request for changing the definition, and receiving an event notification from the image forming apparatus 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the management device 4. The management device 4 includes a CPU 401 and a ROM 40.
2, a RAM 403 and a fixed storage device 404, CP
The U 401 operates according to the program stored in the ROM 402. The management device 4 receives the LA via the NIC 407.
It is connected to N3, requests management information from the print controller 2 via the LAN 3, and receives management information, event notification, and the like.

The fixed storage device 404 stores the registration information of the image forming apparatus 1 managed by the management device 4 and the transmission time when the request for the management information is transmitted in a registration information table T2 (see FIG. 13) described later. ing. The registration information is information such as the model of the image forming apparatus 1, its IP address, and a request interval for transmitting a request for management information. The management device 4 includes a display control unit 405 and an input control unit 406, and the display control unit 405.
A display 42 is connected to the input control unit 406, and a keyboard 43 and a mouse 44 are connected to the input control unit 406. The keyboard 43 is provided with function keys for selecting various functions (for example, F1 to F10), alphanumeric keys for inputting alphanumeric characters, enter key for input determination, and the like.

4) Client Device FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the client 5-x. The client device 5-x is a personal computer or the like, and mainly requests the image forming apparatus 1 for a print job. The client device 5-x has a CPU 50.
1, ROM 502, RAM 503, fixed storage device 50
4, a display control unit 505 and an input control unit 506.

The client device 5-x has a NIC 507.
The print job is transmitted to the print controller 2 via the LAN 3. The display 52 is displayed in the display control unit 505.
A keyboard 53 and a mouse 54 are connected to the input control unit 506, respectively. 5) Centralized management device on the service center side The centralized management device 91 creates an e-mail according to an operator's instruction when the image forming apparatus 1 needs to rewrite the firmware, and rewrites the e-mail. The firmware is attached and transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a circuit configuration of the centralized management device 91. The centralized management apparatus 91 has a function of managing the image forming apparatus 1 on the user side, and has a CPU 901 and a CP.
ROM 902, RAM 903, fixed storage device 90 that stores programs and control data executed by the U 901
4, display control unit 905, input control unit 906, NIC90
It is composed of 7 etc.

The display control unit 905 has a display 92.
However, the input control unit 906 has a keyboard 93 and a mouse 9
4 are connected to each. The keyboard 93 is provided with function keys (for example, F1 to F10) for selecting various functions, alphanumeric keys for inputting alphanumeric characters, enter key for input determination, and the like. The fixed storage device 904 stores registration information and the like for the managed image forming apparatus 1 in a registration information table T1 (see FIG. 9) described later, and stores firmware for rewriting the image forming apparatus 1 and the like. In addition,
The firmware for rewriting can be easily read from the fixed storage unit 904 when attached to an e-mail.
Folder (directory) for each model of the image forming apparatus 1
Create the target control module 11 in the folder
It stores firmware for 0, 120, 130, 140.

3. Processing content of each device 1) Service center side CPU 9 in the centralized management device 91 on the service center side
The processing of 01 will be described below. FIG. 8 shows the CPU 90
It is a flow chart which shows 1 operation. First, the centralized management device 91 starts the processing when the operator turns on the power, and executes general initialization processing such as memory initialization and parameter initialization (step S901). Then, it is determined whether or not the operator has selected F1 on the keyboard 93. If F1 is selected, communication setting processing is performed (step S903; YES, S905).

The communication setting process is a process for registering the communication setting in the service system 200 on the service center side, and the setting data is the keyboard 9 from the operator.
When they are input by pressing the alphanumeric keys or the like on the item 3, they are stored in the fixed storage device 904. The contents of the communication settings are the IP address of the mail server 95 connected to the LAN 94 on the service center side, the electronic mail address of the centralized management apparatus 91, the password for accessing the mail server 95, and the like.

If NO in step S903 or if the communication setting process in step S905 ends, it is determined whether the operator has selected F2. If F2 is selected, registration processing of the image forming apparatus on the user side is performed (step S907; YES, S909). The image forming apparatus registration process is performed by the image forming apparatus 1 managed by the centralized management apparatus 91.
In the processing for registering information regarding the information, when the operator presses an alphanumeric key or the like on the keyboard 93, for example, in addition to the model of the image forming apparatus 1, the email address,
Other information such as the name and address of the user is input, and the information is stored in the registration information table T1 of the fixed storage device 904.
Register with.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the registration information table T1. The registration information table T1 is "model",
It has columns of "e-mail address" and "other information", and accepts operator's input to register each registration information. In the case of NO in step S907, or when the registration process of the image forming apparatus in step S909 ends, it is determined whether the operator has selected F3. If F3 is selected, firmware transmission processing is performed (step S911; YES, S913).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the firmware transmission process. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. First, the operator operates the keyboard 93 or the mouse 94 to accept the designation of the model and control module of the image forming apparatus 1 for which the firmware needs to be rewritten (step S951). Here, the model of the image forming apparatus 1 and the control module are designated because the firmware of the image forming apparatus 1 differs depending on the model and the control module.

Next, the image forming apparatus 1 registered in the registration information table T1 (see FIG. 9) of the fixed storage device 904.
The number n of registered vehicles is counted and the loop counter i is set to 1 (steps S953 and S955). Step S957
Then, the loop counter i is compared with the counted registered number n. When the loop counter i is larger than the registered number n (N
If O), the process ends. Conversely, step S9
57, if the loop counter i is less than or equal to the registered number n (Y
In the case of ES), the model of the image forming apparatus 1 is read from the i-th record of the registration information table T1 (step S959).

Then, it is determined whether or not the read model of the image forming apparatus 1 is the model designated by the operator (step S961). When it is determined that the read model is the specified model, the e-mail address of the image forming apparatus 1 from the i-th record of the registration information table T1
The data of the designated firmware is read out from the model-specific folder stored in the fixed storage device 904 (step S961; YES, S963).

The read e-mail address is stored in the header part of the message field, and the read firmware is attached to the body part of the message field to create an e-mail (step S965). Then, an e-mail with the attached firmware is sent to the image forming apparatus 1 (step S967), the loop counter i is incremented by 1, and the process proceeds to step S957. In addition, when sending an e-mail, the T address between the mail server 95 and the IP address of the mail server 95
Establish a CP connection.

FIG. 11 shows the message field of an electronic mail transmitted from the centralized management device 91. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. According to the Internet standard (RFC822), the message field of the electronic mail is divided into a header part and a body part via a NULL line. 1-1) Header part The header part is “Fr
om ”,“ To ”indicating the destination email address,
"Subject" indicating the subject of the mail, MIME when attaching a file (firmware) in MIME format
There is a field such as "MIME-Version" indicating the rule.

In “Subject”, the model of the image forming apparatus 1 and the control module number designated by the operator are written. For example, if the model is "mode
11 ”, when the control module to be rewritten is the“ control module 110 ”, it is described as“ model1_1 ”. In addition, "Content-Description
“On” indicates “Fi” that indicates the content of the attached file.
"rmware" is described.

1-2) Body part The body part stores the firmware in the MIME format. Firmware is generally binary data, and according to RFC822 used in this embodiment,
Directly writing binary data in the body part is prohibited. For this reason, the binary data is converted to US-ASCI.
I converted it into I and attached it to the e-mail.

Information about the conversion of the above binary data can be obtained from "Content-Type" and "C" of the body part.
ontent-transfer-encoding "
Is. “Content-Type” indicates “appli” indicating that the firmware is binary data.
“Cation / octet-stream” is described, and “Content-Transfer-Enc” is also described.
In "coding", "Base64" indicating a system converted to US-ASCII is described.

2) Management Device FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flowchart in the management device 4. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. CPU 401
Processing is started when the operator turns on the power,
General initialization processing such as memory initialization and parameter initialization is executed (step S411). Then, it is determined whether or not the operator has pressed the F1 key on the keyboard 43. When the F1 key is pressed, registration processing of the image forming apparatus is performed (step S413; YES, S41).
5).

The image forming apparatus registration processing is processing for registering the image forming apparatus 1 managed by the management apparatus 4. The operator presses an alphanumeric key or the like on the keyboard 43 to select the model of the image forming apparatus 1. The IP address and an interval (hereinafter, simply referred to as “request interval”) for periodically transmitting a request for management information to the image forming apparatus 1 are input, and these are registered in the registration information table T2 of the fixed storage device 404. .

In the registration processing of step S415, the operator inputs information about the image forming apparatus 1 on the side of each user from the keyboard and registers the information. However, the management apparatus 4 automatically forms an image having an SNMP agent function. The device 1 may be searched and registered in the registration information table T2. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the registration information table T2. The registration information table T2 includes “model” and “IP
It has columns of "address", "other information", and "transmission time". In step S415 of FIG. 12, for example, "model1" is input to the "model" and "192.168.0.1" is input to the "IP address", respectively, and is registered in the registration information table T2.

In step S413, the operator selects F1
If no key is pressed (NO), or if the registration process of the image forming apparatus in step S415 ends,
It is determined whether or not the elapsed time since the last request for management information to the image forming apparatus 1 has passed the previously registered request interval for management information (step S417). Note that a timer for incrementing the time of the management information request interval may be provided to determine whether or not the request interval has elapsed, and the determination may be made based on whether or not this timer is 0.

If the request interval has not elapsed (NO), other processing is performed (step S435) and the process proceeds to step S413. The other processing includes, for example, processing of analyzing management information collected from the image forming apparatus 1 to check whether the image forming apparatus 1 is normal, and management information of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the received event notification. There is a process for requesting to change the definition.

In step S417, if the request interval has passed (YES), the registered number of registered image forming apparatuses 1 is determined from the registration information table T2 of FIG. 13 stored in the fixed storage device 404. n is counted and the loop counter i is set to 1 (steps S419 and S42).
1). Next, in step S423, the loop counter i is compared with the counted registered number n. When the loop counter i is less than or equal to the registered number n (in the case of YES), the management information request is transmitted to the image forming apparatus of the i-th record registered in the registration information table T2 (step S423; YES, S425). It is determined whether or not there is a response from the print controller 2 to this request (step S427).

If there is no response from the print controller 2, a request for management information is repeatedly transmitted, and if there is still no response, it is determined that the image forming apparatus 1 is out of order, and the registration information table of FIG. "Error occurred" is registered in the "other information" column of T2 (step S42).
7; NO, S431). If there is a response to the management information in step 427 (YES), the time at which the management information is requested is written in the transmission time of the registration information table T2, and the management information request transmission history is left and the management information is retained. Is acquired and held in the fixed storage device 404, and the loop counter i is incremented by 1 (step S42).
9, S433), and proceeds to step S423. When the loop counter i is larger than the registered number n (NO) in step S423, the process proceeds to step S435.

3) Print Controller FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a flowchart in the print controller 2. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. CP
The U201 starts processing by turning on the power by an operator or the like, and executes general initialization processing such as memory initialization and parameter initialization (step S21).
1).

Then, it is determined whether or not the operator has pressed the communication setting key (for example, the F1 key) (step S221). If the communication setting key (F1 key) is pressed, communication setting processing is performed (step S221; Y).
ES, S223). The communication setting process is a process of registering the communication settings necessary for the print controller 2 to receive an electronic mail or the like, and the details will be described later.

On the contrary, the communication setting key (F1
If no key is pressed (step S221; NO),
Alternatively, when the process of step S223 is completed, it is determined whether a print job has been received from the client device 5-x (step S231). When a print job is received, spool the received print job,
The received print job is registered in the last record of the job management table T3 (step S231; YES,
S233, S235). At this time, the print data of the print job is stored in the fixed storage device 205, and its address is registered in the “address” column of the job management table T3.

FIG. 15A shows the job management table T.
It is the figure which showed the example of contents of 3. Job management table T3
Has columns of “job number”, “additional information”, “address”, and “estimated processing time”. The “job number” column describes the order in which the print controller 2 received print jobs. Step S231 of FIG.
If the print job has not been received (NO), or if the process of step S235 is completed, it is periodically checked whether the e-mail has arrived for the time elapsed since the last confirmation of the new e-mail. It is determined whether or not an interval (hereinafter, simply referred to as “confirmation interval”) to be passed has elapsed (step S241).

If the confirmation interval has elapsed, new email confirmation processing is performed (step S241; YES, S2).
43). The new email confirmation processing confirms whether a new email has arrived, acquires the firmware when the new email is attached, and registers the firmware in the firmware management table T4. This is a process of calculating the firmware rewriting time, which will be described in detail later.

FIG. 15B is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the firmware management table T4. The firmware management table T4 includes “job number”, “additional information”,
It has columns of "address" and "expected rewriting time". The “job number” column is the order in which the print controller 2 acquired the firmware from the email.
An address in which the firmware data is stored in the fixed storage device 205 is registered in the “address” column.
The “expected rewrite time” is an expected rewrite time when the firmware is rewritten, and is calculated from the size of the firmware and the like.

In the incidental information, “1” is for the control module 110, “2” is for the control module 120,
“3” corresponds to the control module 130, and “4” corresponds to the control module 140. Conversely, step S241
If the confirmation interval has not elapsed (NO), or if the new email confirmation processing in step S243 is completed, it is determined whether there is an unprocessed print job in the job management table T3 (step S243). Step S26
1).

If there is an unprocessed print job, a job transmission process is performed (step S261; YES, S2).
63). The job transmission process is a process of transmitting an unprocessed print job to the image forming apparatus 1 and will be described in detail later.
Conversely, when there is no unprocessed print job (step S2)
61; NO), or when the job transmission process of step S263 is completed, it is determined whether there is a request for management information from the management device 4 (step S271).

When there is a request for management information, management information response processing is performed (step S271; YES, S273).
The management information response process is a process of transmitting the management information of the image forming apparatus 1 to the management device 4 in order to respond to the request for the management information from the management device 4, and the details will be described later. When the management information response process is completed, the firmware management table T4
It is determined whether or not there is firmware (see (b) of FIG. 15) (step S281). If there is firmware, a firmware transmission process is performed (step S2
81; YES, S283). The firmware transmission process is a process of reading the firmware from the fixed storage device 205, transmitting the firmware to the image forming apparatus 1, and instructing the rewriting of the firmware. The details will be described later.

If there is no request for management information from the management device 4 in step S271 (NO), step S27
If there is no firmware registered in the firmware management table T4 in step 281 (NO), or if the firmware transmission process of step S283 ends, the process proceeds to step S221. Note that step S2
After the management information response process of 73 is completed, it is determined whether or not there is firmware in the firmware management table T4. If there is firmware, the firmware transmission process is executed immediately, so the management information request interval is fully used. The firmware rewriting process can be performed.

3-1) Communication Setting Process The communication setting process is a process for registering the communication settings necessary for the print controller 2 to send and receive e-mail, and the operator presses an alphanumeric key on the operation panel 210. By the operation, the IP address of the mail server 6, the e-mail account of the image forming apparatus 1, the password for accessing the mail server 6, and whether or not a new e-mail has arrived at the image forming apparatus 1 is periodically checked. Confirmation interval etc. to be confirmed are input to NV-
It is stored in the RAM 204.

3-2) New Arrival E-mail Confirmation Process FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of the new arrival E-mail confirmation process. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. This process is a process of confirming whether a new electronic mail has arrived at the image forming apparatus 1, downloading the new electronic mail, and acquiring the firmware if the new electronic mail is attached.

First, the CPU 201 executes step S in FIG.
I of the mail server 6 preset and registered in 223
Based on the P address, a TCP connection is established with the mail server 6, and it is confirmed whether a new e-mail addressed to the image forming apparatus 1 has arrived at the mail server 6 (steps S244 and S245). If a new e-mail has arrived, the e-mail is downloaded, the original e-mail stored in the mail server 6 is deleted, and then the TCP connection established with the mail server 6 is disconnected. Yes (step S245; YES, S
246, S247, S248). Conversely, step S24
If the new e-mail has not arrived at 5, the TCP connection with the mail server 6 is disconnected and the process is terminated (step S245; NO, S257).

Next, it is judged whether or not the firmware is attached to the downloaded e-mail. As shown in FIG. 11, whether or not the firmware is attached is determined by "Content-Des" in the header of the email.
"Fir" in the field body part of
It is determined by whether or not “mware” is described.

When firmware is attached to the downloaded e-mail, the data of the firmware converted to US-ASCII characters is taken out from the body part of the message field of the e-mail, and the inverse BASE64 conversion is performed to execute the firmware conversion. Return the data to binary data (step S249; YES, S2
50, S251).

Then, in the header of the electronic mail, "Sub
The model for which the firmware is to be rewritten and the number of the target control module are read from the field body part of the “jet”, and the firmware converted into binary data is stored in the fixed storage device 205 (step S2).
52, S253). Next, the expected rewriting time when rewriting the firmware is calculated (step S25).
4). Specifically, the size of the firmware data is calculated, the rewriting processing time obtained by multiplying the calculated size by the rewriting time per unit size, and the standard for restarting and initializing the image forming apparatus 1 after rewriting The expected rewriting time is calculated by adding a typical initialization time and a margin time for checking the margin for the actual rewriting.

That is, the expected rewriting time is calculated by the following formula. Expected rewriting time = rewriting processing time + initialization time + margin time rewriting processing time = firmware size × rewriting time per unit size Note that the margin time is preset to about several minutes, and in step S223 in FIG. It is registered together with the rewriting time per unit size in the communication setting process.

Next, the information about the firmware which has been converted into the inverse Base64 is registered in the last record of the firmware management table T4 (step S255). That is, the address in which the firmware is stored in the fixed storage device 205 is registered in the “address” column, the expected rewriting time calculation result is registered in the “expected rewriting time” column, and the number of the target control module is registered in the “additional information” column. . Then, the process ends.

When firmware is not attached to the new e-mail in step S249 (in the case of NO)
Executes processing other than firmware rewriting (step S256), and ends the processing. In addition, in the new email confirmation process, even if there are multiple new emails, the download is one email by establishing a TCP connection once. However, for example, multiple new emails are downloaded at one time. After disconnecting the TCP connection, it may be determined whether the firmware is attached to each e-mail.

3-3) Job Transmission Processing FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the job transmission processing. The job transmission process will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the print job registered in the first record of the job management table T3 is read (step S
264). The print data of the read print job (print image data described in the page description language) is read from the fixed storage device 205 based on the address of the job management table T3 and expanded by the image expansion unit 208 to generate image data (bitmap). Data) and sends the image data to the image forming apparatus 1 via the video I / F 207, and sends the control data for the print job to the control module 110 via the serial I / F 206 (steps S265 and S266). , S267).

Next, when the transmission of the image data to the image forming apparatus 1 is completed, the print job registered at the head of the job management table T3 is transferred to the job management table T3.
3 is deleted (step S268), and the process ends. If the top print job is deleted, the job numbers of other print jobs are incremented by one. 3-4) Management Information Response Process FIG. 18 shows a flowchart of the management information response process.
Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. First, the CPU 201 performs a response process in response to a request for management information from the management device 4 (step S284). In the response process, when the management device 4 requests acquisition of management information, each control module 110, 120, 130, 140 of the image forming device 1 is executed.
The control information collected from the above is analyzed to create management information, and this management information is transmitted to the management device 4. Further, when the management information definition change is requested, the management information definition stored in the NV-RAM 204 of the print controller 2 is changed and the image forming apparatus 1 is instructed to change the management information definition. Or the fact that the print controller 2 and the image forming apparatus 1 have finished changing the definition is transmitted to the management apparatus 4.

When the response process ends, the current time is set to CP.
It is acquired from the clock IC provided in U201 or the like, and is set as the reception time T1 when the request for the management information this time is received (step S285). Then, the reception time T0 when the previous request is received is read from the NV-RAM 204, and the interval between the previous reception time T0 and the current reception time T1, that is, the request interval at which the request for the management information is transmitted is calculated. It is stored in the NV-RAM 204 (step S286).
Next, the reception time T stored in the NV-RAM 204
0 is rewritten to the reception time T1 at which the current request is received (step S287), and the process ends.

As for the management information collected from the image forming apparatus 1 by the print controller 2, the control information may be collected from the image forming apparatus 1 after receiving the request for the management information from the managing apparatus 4. Control information is collected from the image forming apparatus 1 in advance and the NV-RAM is received.
It may be stored in 204. However, in the former case, the time from the reception of the request for the management information to the transmission of the management information becomes longer than that in the latter case.

3-5) Firmware Transmission Process FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the firmware transmission process. The firmware transmission process will be described below with reference to FIG. First, in step S284, it is determined whether the image forming apparatus 1 is executing a copy job. When the copy job is not executed, the expected rewriting time registered in the first record is read from the firmware management table T4 (step S284;
NO, S285).

Next, the request interval of the management information stored in the NV-RAM 204 is read, and the firmware data is read from the fixed storage device 205 according to the address registered at the head of the firmware management table T4. Then, the request interval and the expected rewriting time are compared to determine whether the request interval is longer than the expected rewriting time (steps S286, S287, S28).
8).

When the request interval is less than the expected rewriting time, that is, when the firmware is rewritten as it is, when the management device 4 sends the request for the management information during the rewriting of the firmware, the read firmware is divided ( Step S288; NO, S29
7). Specifically, the centralized management device 91 of the service center
In the case of the control module 110, for example, the firmware transmitted from is configured in advance so that it can be divided into functional units such as firmware related to the reading process of the original image or firmware related to the printing process. In addition, size information indicating the size is stored in advance in the header of each divisible firmware. The division of the firmware is performed by extracting the divisible firmware at the head of the firmware extracted from the fixed storage device 205.

Next, the restart flag for instructing the image forming apparatus 1 not to restart after rewriting the firmware is set to "0", and the division information indicating whether or not the firmware read from the fixed storage device 205 is divided. Each is set to "1" (step S298). Next, as shown in (c) of FIG. 15, the remaining firmware that is not used for rewriting the firmware this time, that is, the remaining firmware obtained by extracting the first firmware from the firmware extracted from the fixed storage device 205 It is newly registered in the second record of the firmware management table T4 (step S299), and step S299.
Proceed to 290.

At this time, the firmware divided in step S297 calculates the estimated rewriting time, and writes the result in the "estimated rewriting time" column of the firmware management table T4. Specifically, the expected rewrite time is calculated by extracting the size from the size information of the divided firmware header, and using this size as NV-R.
It can be calculated by multiplying the rewriting time per unit size stored in the AM 204.

As the estimated rewrite time of the excess firmware, the time obtained by subtracting the estimated rewrite time of the divided firmware from the expected rewrite time read in step S285 is written. The address of the excess firmware is stored in the fixed storage device 205.
It can be calculated from the address of the firmware read from the and the size information stored in the header of the extracted firmware.

On the other hand, in step S288, if the request interval is longer than the expected rewriting time, that is, if the management information request from the management device 4 is not transmitted during the firmware rewriting even if the firmware rewriting is executed as it is, the rewriting is performed. The restart flag for instructing the subsequent restart is set to "1", and the division information indicating whether the firmware is divided is set to "0" (step S288; Y).
ES, S289).

Then, the firmware management table T4
From the "Attachment information" column of, the number of the control module that is the rewriting target of the firmware is read (step S290), the divided firmware used for rewriting this time, the number of the control module that is the rewriting target, and the restart The flag and the flag are transmitted to the control module 110 of the image forming apparatus 1 via the serial I / F 206 (step S291). Since the image forming apparatus 1 executes the rewriting by receiving the firmware data, the transmission of the firmware data is performed by the image forming apparatus 1.
To rewrite the firmware to.

In step S292, when it is received from the image forming apparatus 1 that the firmware has been rewritten,
The firmware used for rewriting this time (firmware registered in the first record) is deleted from the firmware management table T4 (step S292;
YES, S293). By deleting this firmware, the order of the firmware registered in the firmware management table T4 is increased by one.

Next, it is determined whether or not the rewriting firmware has been divided (step S294). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the division information is "1". If the firmware is not divided, that is, if the division information is “0” (NO), the process ends. Conversely, when the firmware is divided, that is, when the division information is “1” (in the case of YES), it is determined whether there is a management information request from the management device 4, and if there is a management information request, the management information is determined. A response process is performed (step S29).
5; YES, S296), and proceeds to step S285.

Next, with respect to the excess firmware, the same processing as above is performed from step S285, and when the firmware read from the fixed storage device 205 becomes the last divided firmware, step S28
In 8, the transmission interval becomes longer than the expected rewriting time, the restart flag is set to “1”, and the division information is set to “0” (step S288; YES, S289).

Then, the number of the target control module is read from the firmware management table T4, and the firmware data, the number of the target control module, and the restart flag are transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 (step S290,
S291). In response to this, the image forming apparatus 1 uses the received firmware to complete the rewriting,
The image forming apparatus 1 is restarted.

Next, when the end of the rewriting of the firmware is received from the image forming apparatus 1, the firmware registered at the head of the firmware management table T4 is deleted, and the process ends (step S292; YE).
S, S293, S294; NO). As a result, the rewriting of the firmware read from the fixed storage device 205 is completed while responding to the request for the management information from the management device 4.

The request for the management information in step S295 is a request for the management information scheduled from the management information request interval in step S288. Also, step S2
The management information response process of 96 is step S273 of FIG.
The management information response process is the same as that of FIG. 18 and its details are shown in FIG. 4) Image Forming Apparatus FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the control unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 1. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. CPU
111 starts processing when an operator or the like turns on power, and each control module 110, 120, 130,
In 140, general initialization processing such as memory initialization and parameter initialization is executed (step S15).
1).

Next, acceptance processing for various signals including a print job and a copy job is collectively performed. The various signals are transmitted, for example, from the operation panel 119 of the image forming apparatus 1.
Input signals by various key operations of, control module 12
Control signals from the respective sensors controlled by 0, 130, 140, the respective control modules 110, 120, 130,
Notification signal for event notification from 140, serial I /
There are control signals and data such as a print job request received from the print controller 2 via the F117 or the video I / F 118, a firmware rewriting instruction, and a management information request.

When these signals are received, it is determined whether or not the signals are print requests (step S15).
3). The print request is a copy job in which the user sets a document image in the image input unit 138 and presses the PRINT key on the operation panel 119, or the client device 5-x.
Request to form an image in a print job from.

When the received signal is a print request, each control module 110, 120, 130, 140
When the print processing is performed and the processing ends (step S153;
If YES, S154), the process proceeds to step S152. If the received signal is not a print request in step S153, it is determined whether the signal is firmware (step S155). If it is not firmware data, other processing such as each control module 110,
The management information generation processing in 120, 130, 140 is performed (step S155; NO, S162), and the process proceeds to step S152.

If the received signal is firmware, the firmware is rewritten (step S
155; YES, S156). The firmware rewriting process will be described later. When the firmware rewriting process ends, it is determined whether the rewriting has succeeded (step S157). Whether or not the firmware rewriting is successful is determined by comparing checksums C1 and C2 before and after the firmware rewriting described later. Specifically, if the checksum C1 and the checksum C2 are the same, the rewriting is successful, and if the checksum C1 and the checksum C2 are different, it is determined that the rewriting has failed.

When the rewriting of the firmware is successful, the fact that the rewriting of the firmware is completed is transmitted to the print controller 2 and it is judged whether or not the restart flag received from the print controller 2 is "1" (step S157). ; YES, S158, S15
9). When the restart flag is "1", the running program is terminated, the image forming apparatus 1 is restarted (step S160), and the control modules 110 and 12 are restarted.
At 0, 130 and 140, general initialization processing such as memory initialization and parameter initialization is executed (step S151), and the process proceeds to the next step.

When the restart flag is not "1" (step S159; NO), since the excess firmware is in the firmware management table T4 in addition to the firmware used for the above rewriting, the image forming apparatus 1 is restarted. Is not required and the process proceeds to step S152. If the firmware is not successfully rewritten, the CPU
111 performs error processing and ends (step S1).
57; NO, S161). In this error processing, for example, "○○○ error occurred. Please contact the service center." Is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 119 so that only the predetermined operation performed by the administrator is accepted. Processing.

When the rewriting of the firmware fails, the error processing may not be immediately executed, but the rewriting of the firmware may be performed again, and the error processing may be performed when the rewriting fails. In the flowchart of FIG. 20, when the rewriting of the firmware is completed, the fact is transmitted to the print controller 2 and the process proceeds to step S152 to accept the input. Therefore, the frequency of firmware rewriting is low, but if the firmware is divided, a copy job may be input during the rewriting of the divided firmware. The copy job may not be input during the period. Specifically, when the restart flag of the firmware whose rewriting has been completed is "0", that is, when the excess firmware is in the firmware management table T4, only the firmware data is accepted in step S152, and another job or the like is received. It should be prohibited to accept. At this time, the operation panel 11 of the image forming apparatus 1
The display section 9 may display, for example, "Cannot copy because the firmware is currently being rewritten".

21 and 22 are flowcharts showing the firmware rewriting process in the image forming apparatus 1. The CPU 111 determines whether the received firmware data is for the control module 110 (step S165). Control module 110
If the firmware is for, checksum the received firmware data, and check the result (below,
It is simply called "checksum C1". ) To S-RAM 11
3 (step S165; YES, S16)
6).

Next, after saving the input / output program in the flash ROM 112 in the S-RAM 113, the received firmware data is written in the flash ROM 112 (steps S167 and S168). When the writing is completed, the firmware data newly written in the flash ROM 112 is read and a checksum (the result is referred to as “checksum C2”) is executed (step S169), and the process is ended.

The CPU 111 also executes step S165.
The firmware data received by the control module 1
If the firmware for 10 is not used, it is determined whether the received firmware data is for the control module 120 (step S165; NO, S170).
The received firmware data is the control module 12
If it is for 0, the CPU 111 transfers the firmware data to the control module 120, and the CPU 121
Carries out a checksum of the firmware data and stores the result in the S-RAM 123 (step S17).
0; YES, S171, S172).

After saving the input / output program in the flash ROM 122 in the S-RAM 123, the received firmware data is written in the flash ROM 122 (steps S173 and S174). When the writing is completed, the firmware data newly written in the flash ROM 122 is read and the checksum is executed (step S175). Next, the CPU 121
The checksum C1 and the checksum C2 are stored in the CPU 111.
(Step S176), and the process ends.

If the received firmware data is not the firmware for the control module 120, the CPU 111 moves to FIG. 22 and determines whether the received firmware data is for the control module 130 (step S170; NO, S180). The received firmware data is the control module 130.
If it is for use, the CPU 111 transfers the firmware data to the control module 130, the CPU 131 executes the checksum of the firmware data, and stores the result in the S-RAM 133 (step S18).
0; YES, S181, S182).

Next, after saving the input / output program in the flash ROM 132 in the S-RAM 133, the received firmware data is written in the flash ROM 132 (steps S183, S184). When the writing is completed, the firmware data newly written in the flash ROM 132 is read and the checksum is executed (step S185). Then, the CPU 121 sends the checksum C1 and the checksum C2 to the CPU 111.
(Step S186), and the process ends.

If the received firmware data is not the firmware for the control module 130, the CPU 111 transfers the firmware data to the control module 140, and the CPU 141
Performs a checksum of the firmware data and stores the result in the S-RAM 143 (step S19).
1, S192).

Next, the input / output program in the flash ROM 142 is saved in the S-RAM 143, and then the received firmware data is written in the flash ROM 142 (steps S193, S194). When the writing is completed, the firmware data newly written in the flash ROM 142 is read and a checksum is executed (step S195). And the CPU 141
The checksum C1 and the checksum C2 to the CPU1
11 (step S196), and the process ends.

With the above configuration, it is possible to prevent requests for management information from the management device 4 from overlapping during rewriting of firmware by the image forming device 1. Therefore, the image processing apparatus 1 can reliably respond to the request for the management information from the management apparatus 4. <Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, when the rewriting of firmware is not completed before the next request for management information, the firmware used for rewriting is divided into functional units for scheduling. However, in the present embodiment, scheduling is performed by dividing the firmware into a size in which the rewriting of the firmware is completed before the next request for management information is transmitted.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a firmware transmission process exemplifying the second embodiment. This process will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, this process is almost the same as the process content of the print controller 2 of the first embodiment up to a point, and therefore is different here from the first embodiment (step S1209). The description will be centered on (from the case of NO) and thereafter.

That is, when the request interval of the management information transmitted from the management device 4 in step S1209 is less than the expected rewriting time of the firmware (in the case of NO), the firmware used for rewriting is divided and the divided firmware is divided. Is registered in a division table T5 described later (steps S1221, S1223). At this time, after rewriting the divided firmware, a restart flag for instructing whether or not to restart the image forming apparatus 1 is registered for each divided firmware.

The division of the firmware is carried out by, for example, NV-
The rewritable size of the firmware is calculated within a period obtained by subtracting a predetermined time from the request interval stored in the RAM 204, and the firmware is divided into the size. The rewritable size of the firmware is
It is calculated as follows. Rewriting size = (request interval-predetermined time) / rewriting time per unit size Here, the predetermined time is for surely ending the rewriting of the firmware within the request interval. The rewrite time per unit size is used when calculating the expected rewrite time of the firmware in the firmware management table T4.

It should be noted that the last divided firmware rewriting time includes the initialization time for restarting and initializing after the image forming apparatus 1 completes the rewriting of all the divided firmware. . Specifically, the second-to-last firmware is divided so that the last firmware size corresponds to the management information request interval minus the initialization time.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the division table T5. The division table T5 includes a "division number",
It has columns of "address" and "reboot flag".
The division number is the image forming apparatus 1 of the divided firmware.
Shows the order of transmission. The "address" indicates the top address where the divided firmware is stored.

The size of the divided firmware is written in the header of the data of the divided firmware. For example, when the restart flag is "1", the "restart flag" instructs restart, and the restart flag of the last divided firmware becomes "1". Returning to FIG. 23, in step S1225, the control module number to be rewritten, the divided firmware data and the restart flag registered in the first record of the division table T5 are read from the firmware management table T4, The image is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 (step S12).
27).

When it is received from the image forming apparatus 1 that the rewriting of the firmware has been completed in step S1229, the rewritten firmware is deleted from the divided table T5 (step S1229; YES, S).
1231). In addition, by deleting this firmware,
The divided firmware registered in the division table T5 is incremented by one.

Next, the management device 4 waits for a request for management information, and when there is a request for management information, a management information response process is performed to determine whether or not the restart flag is "1". (Step S1233; YES, S1235, S1
237). If the restart flag is not "1", the process advances to step S1225, and the existing firmware is sequentially rewritten using the firmware registered in the divided table T5.

That is, the firmware, the target control module number and the restart flag registered in the first record of the divided table T5 are read out and transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 (steps S1225 and S122).
7). Upon receiving from the image forming apparatus 1 that the rewriting of the firmware has been completed, the management information response process is performed after the firmware is deleted from the divided table T5 (steps S1229, S1231, S1233, S123).
1235).

When the firmware registered in the division table T5 is the last one, the restart flag is "1", so the flow advances to step S1219 to be registered in the first record of the firmware management table T4. Delete the existing firmware. As a result, all the rewriting of the firmware registered at the head of the firmware management table T4 has been completed, according to the management information from the management device 4.

It goes without saying that the content of the present invention is not limited to the specific examples shown in the above embodiments, and the following modifications can be implemented, for example. (1) In the above embodiment, the print controller 2
Manages the print job received from the client device 5-x, confirms the presence or absence of the electronic mail sent from the centralized management device 91 on the service center side, instructs the transmission and rewriting of firmware, and the management information from the management device 4. Although the response to the request is performed, it is not necessary to perform all of these.

For example, after the e-mail transmitted from the central control device 91 is directly received by the image forming device 1, the e-mail is downloaded and the firmware is acquired and then retained.
The print controller 2 may instruct only the timing of rewriting the firmware. In this case, the image forming apparatus 1 notifies the print controller 2 of the acquisition of the firmware, and the print controller 2
Determines whether there is a request for management information from the management device 4 during the rewriting of the firmware of the image forming apparatus 1 as in the present embodiment, and instructs the image forming apparatus 1 to divide the firmware when there is a request. You can do it. On the contrary, the print controller 2 may manage the copy job in addition to the management of the print job other than the above.

(2) In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 and the print controller 2 are described as separate apparatuses, but an apparatus in which the print controller 2 and the image forming apparatus 1 are integrated may be used. good. In this case, the control function performed by the CPU 201 of the print controller 2 may be provided in addition to the control module 110 of the image forming apparatus 1, or a new control module, for example, the control module 150 may be provided. The same function as the print controller 2 may be controlled.

(3) In the above embodiment, the management device 4 is connected to the LAN 3 separately from the client device 5-x, but the client device 5-x has the management function of the management device 4. The client device 5-x may request management information from the print controller 2. (4) In the above embodiment, the management and monitoring of the image forming apparatus 1 in the network using SNMP has been described as an example. However, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a WWW server, and the management apparatus 4 or the client apparatus is provided. The 5-x browser may request the management information by HTTP and send the management information to the management device 4 or the client as an HTML file, or may use a protocol other than the SNMP protocol.

(5) In the above embodiment, the print controller 2 sets the management information request interval to the previous reception time T.
It is calculated from 0 and the reception time T1 of this time, but the schedule for requesting the management information from the management device 4, for example, the time when the management information is requested, is notified to the print controller 2 in advance as table data, and the print is performed. The controller 2 may divide the firmware based on this schedule. With this configuration, it is possible to deal with management information that is not regularly requested.

(6) In the above-described first embodiment, the print controller 2 divides the acquired firmware by function, but it is also possible to divide the size of the firmware into smaller pieces. As a specific example,
The functional unit firmware can be further divided into, for example, a program and control data. (7) In the above embodiment, it is determined whether the management information request is transmitted during the firmware rewriting by determining whether the request interval of the management information requests is less than or equal to the firmware rewriting time. However, generally, the firmware rewrite time is longer than the management information request interval. Therefore, when the firmware is stored in the fixed storage device 205 of the print controller 2, the firmware may be divided based on the management information request interval.

(8) In the first embodiment, the firmware is divided into functional units, and scheduling is performed so that the rewriting of the divided firmware is completed within the request interval in which the management information is requested from the management device 4. However, in recent years, the size of firmware tends to be large, and it may occur that rewriting of firmware divided by function is not completed at the management information request interval.

In this case, if the management device 4 increases the request interval for transmitting a request for management information as the capacity of the firmware increases, the capacity of the firmware can be increased. Alternatively, as in the second embodiment, the firmware may be divided into rewritable sizes within the required interval. (9) In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 capable of executing a copy job and a print job has been described as an example.
It can also be applied to an image processing apparatus capable of executing other jobs such as a facsimile and a network scanner. In this case, the image processing apparatus may include four or more control modules, or conversely, each control module may be combined into four or less.

(10) In the above embodiments, the rewriting of the firmware has been described as an example, but application software may be used. In particular, the present invention can be applied to a control configuration in which other controls cannot be executed while the application software is being rewritten. (11) In the above embodiment, the computer of the print controller 2 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 is caused to execute the program of the present invention.
It is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

(12) In the above embodiment, the "management information processing request from the management terminal" in the present invention is as follows:
The management apparatus 4 requests the print controller 2 to perform processing for transmitting the management information collected from the image forming apparatus 1, and the print controller 2 controls the management information of the image forming apparatus 1 as “predetermined response processing” in the present invention. Although the processing for collecting and transmitting the information to the management device 4 has been described, the “processing request for management information from the management terminal” and the “predetermined response processing” in the present invention may be other processing requests and response processing.

More specifically, the management apparatus 4 requests the print controller 2 to change the management information held by the image forming apparatus 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as "change request").
In order to respond to the change request, the print controller 2 instructs the image forming apparatus 1 to change the management information, and when the change information is received from the image forming apparatus 1, the management apparatus 4 is notified of the end of the change. good.

This change request can be applied to an example in which the print job management information is periodically changed from the management apparatus 4 to the image forming apparatus 1 in order to manage the print job. As an example of this, the job processing mode is periodically changed to a mode requested by the management device 4,
For example, the image processing apparatus 1 may be changed to a mode in which a job end is notified in order to notify the job end.

Furthermore, the “request for management information processing from the management terminal” and the “predetermined response processing” in the present invention are the “request for management information” and the “response processing for transmitting management information” in the above embodiment. ", And" the management information change request "and" management information change process "shown in the present modification may be performed. (13) In the above modification (12), the management device 4 serves as a management terminal and sends a management information change request to the print controller 2. However, the client device 5-x serves as a management terminal to manage print jobs. A change request for regularly changing information may be transmitted to the print controller 2.

Specifically, the client device 5-x periodically transmits the print job reservation presence / absence to the print controller 2, and when there is the print job reservation, the print controller 2 reserves the print job. In addition, the management information is changed to reserve the resource and the result is transmitted to the client device 5-x.

Note that the resource reservation means that other print jobs are not accepted during the time period when the print job is executed, the memory for the data size of the job and the recording paper to be used are reserved.

[0164]

As described above, the image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus that executes a predetermined response process in response to a processing request for management information from a management terminal, and an image from the firmware storage means. Acquisition means for acquiring firmware necessary for processing, rewriting means for executing rewriting of existing firmware with the acquired firmware, and scheduling of rewriting of the firmware so that the response processing and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap. The image processing apparatus does not send a management information processing request from the management terminal while the firmware is being rewritten, because the scheduling means and the rewriting means are instructed to rewrite according to the schedule. Is a processing request for management information from the management terminal It is possible to perform the response process against. Therefore, for example, the image processing apparatus is accurately managed by the management terminal without increasing the management load of the management terminal and the communication load of the network.

Further, the program according to the present invention acquires the firmware required for image processing from the firmware storage means in the computer of the image processing apparatus which executes a predetermined response processing in response to the processing request of the management information from the management terminal. An acquisition step, a rewriting step of executing rewriting of existing firmware with the acquired firmware by a rewriting means, and a scheduling step of scheduling the rewriting of the firmware so that the response process and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap. , The instruction step of instructing the rewriting means to rewrite the firmware according to the schedule is performed, so that a management information processing request is not transmitted from the management terminal during the firmware rewriting. The image processing apparatus may perform the response process to the processing request of the management information from the management terminal. Therefore, for example, the image processing apparatus is accurately managed by the management terminal without increasing the management load of the management terminal and the communication load of the network.

Moreover, the management unit according to the present invention is a management unit which is connected to the image processing apparatus and executes a predetermined response process necessary for managing the image processing apparatus in response to a processing request of management information from the management terminal. Therefore, a scheduling means for scheduling the rewriting of the firmware and an instruction means for instructing the image processing apparatus to rewrite the firmware according to the schedule are provided so that the response processing and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap. Therefore, while the image processing apparatus is rewriting the firmware, the management terminal does not send the management information processing request, and the management unit must execute the response processing in response to the management information processing request from the management terminal. You can So, for example, the management unit
The image processing apparatus is accurately managed by the management terminal without increasing the management load of the management terminal and the communication load of the network.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram including a user side system and a service center side service system in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a print controller according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a client device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of the centralized management device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a CPU in the centralized management device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a registration information table provided in the centralized management device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flowchart of firmware transmission processing in the centralized management device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a message field of an electronic mail.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a CPU in the management device.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a registration information table included in the management device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a CPU in the print controller.

FIG. 15A is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a job management table provided in the print controller, and FIG.
FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a firmware management table provided in the print controller, and FIG. 7C is a diagram showing an example in which the divided firmware is registered in the firmware management table.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a new electronic mail confirmation process in the print controller.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of job transmission processing in the print controller.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flowchart of management information response processing in the print controller.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a flowchart of firmware transmission processing in the print controller.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a control unit in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flowchart of firmware rewriting processing in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a flowchart of firmware rewriting processing in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a flowchart of firmware transmission processing according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a division table in the print controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image forming device 2 Print controller 4 management device 5-x client device 91 Centralized control device 111, 121, 131, 141 CPU 112, 122, 132, 142 Flash ROM

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP07 AQ06 HK11 HK16                       HK19 HQ06 HQ12 HQ17 HS07                 5B021 AA01 BB01 CC06 DD15                 5B076 BB06 EA17 EA18 EB02                 5B089 GA13 GA16 JA34 JA36 JB07                       JB14 KA12 KB09 KC09 KC28                       MC06 ME17

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for executing a predetermined response process in response to a management information processing request from a management terminal, the acquisition unit acquiring firmware necessary for image processing from a firmware storage unit, and the acquisition. Rewriting means for rewriting the existing firmware with the firmware, scheduling means for scheduling the rewriting of the firmware so that the response process and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap, and the rewriting means for rewriting according to the schedule. An image processing apparatus comprising: an instruction unit for instructing. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scheduling unit divides the acquired firmware and determines a rewriting timing for each divided firmware. 3. The management terminal comprises transmission schedule acquisition means for acquiring information about a transmission schedule for transmitting the processing request for the management information, and the scheduling means divides the firmware based on the information about the transmission schedule. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a unit and a timing determining unit that determines a rewriting timing for each of the divided firmware. 4. A rewriting time calculating means for calculating a rewriting time of firmware, and a rewriting of the firmware whose rewriting time is calculated based on the information about the transmission schedule and the rewriting time of the firmware transmits the next management information. The dividing means calculates the rewriting time when it is determined that the rewriting of the firmware is not completed by the transmission schedule of the next management information. The divided firmware is divided into a size such that the rewriting of the firmware is completed before the next transmission of the management information.
The image processing device according to item 1. 5. The information about the transmission schedule is a transmission interval for transmitting a management information processing request, and the dividing unit divides the firmware into a size at which the rewriting of the firmware is completed at each transmission interval, 5. The deciding means decides a rewriting timing so that the divided firmware is rewritten at each transmission interval.
Image processing device described in 6. The acquired firmware can be divided for each functional unit, the scheduling unit divides the firmware for each functional unit, and a timing for rewriting the firmware divided by the dividing unit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a timing determining unit that determines. 7. An acquisition step of acquiring firmware necessary for image processing from a firmware storage means in a computer of an image processing apparatus that executes a predetermined response process in response to a management information processing request from a management terminal, the acquisition. Rewriting step of rewriting existing firmware with the rewritten firmware, a scheduling step of scheduling rewriting of the firmware so that the response process and the rewriting of the firmware do not overlap, and the rewriting means according to the schedule. A program for executing the instruction steps for instructing to rewrite the firmware. 8. A management unit that is connected to an image processing apparatus and executes a predetermined response process required for management of the image processing apparatus in response to a processing request for management information from a management terminal. A management unit comprising: a scheduling unit that schedules the rewriting of the firmware so as not to overlap the rewriting of the firmware; and an instruction unit that instructs the image processing apparatus to rewrite the firmware according to the schedule.