JP2003281290A - Manual providing service device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manual providing service device used by a user only when requiring a manual, dispensing with keeping it by himself/herself, and feeding back information such as reference frequency of the manual, etc., of the user to the maker of the equipment. <P>SOLUTION: This manual providing service device is characterized in having a data storage part 1 storing a model number of the equipment by linking with manual data of the equipment or reference information of the manual data, a receiving part 4 receiving the model number of the equipment from a terminal device of the user, and a transmission part 5 transmitting the manual data of the equipment received by the receiving means and the reference information to the manual data to the terminal device of the user by referring to the manual data storage means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instruction manual providing service apparatus which refers to an instruction manual of a device owned by a user using the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a user purchases a new device, an instruction manual explaining how to handle the device is always attached to the device. The user will operate the purchased equipment by reading this instruction manual. After the user purchases the device, the user sends the attached user card to the manufacturer of the device, and the manufacturer registers the user based on the user card.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method of distributing the instruction manual, the instruction manual is attached to the equipment at the time of purchasing the equipment,
The user who purchased the device manages the instruction manual. Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional method of distributing the instruction manual, if the instruction manual managed by the user is lost, the manufacturer is requested to resend the instruction manual. However, there is a drawback in that the device cannot be used until the requested instruction manual is retransmitted, and the work is hindered. Also, in the conventional method of distributing the instruction manual, if there are additional items to the explanation of the method of using the device, additional manuals different from the instruction manual will be distributed, and like the above-mentioned drawbacks, There is a drawback in that the user manages the device's instruction manual and additional materials in a troublesome manner.

Further, in the conventional method of distributing the instruction manual, the purchased user does not always register with the user card attached to the device. There is a drawback that it is not possible to fully grasp whether or not the device has been purchased. In addition, in the conventional method of distributing instruction manuals, which explanation items in the instruction manuals are viewed (referenced) and how often are they used (ease of understanding the instruction manuals and use of their functions). There is a problem that information such as user's request for equipment and instruction manual cannot be fed back to product development and instruction manual description because the degree of frequency) is not known. As a conventional method of distributing instruction manuals, there is also a method of browsing the instruction manuals on the manufacturer's website such as the Internet. That is, it can only be viewed by each company, and it is necessary to check the items on the home page before viewing the instruction manual of the owned device, which requires a very complicated operation. There is a drawback that.

The present invention has been made under such a background, and can be used only when a user needs an instruction manual,
It is possible to refer to the instruction manuals of multiple manufacturers without having to manage them by themselves and to feed back information such as the reference frequency of the user's instruction manuals to the equipment manufacturers. It is to provide an instruction manual providing service device capable of performing the operation.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an instruction manual providing service device, which stores model numbers of equipment of a plurality of different manufacturers and instruction manual data of the equipment or data of the instruction manual. Information from the user's terminal device, the data storage unit (data storage unit 1) that holds the reference information for the registered server and the model number corresponding to the instruction manual data of the device requested by the user for reference. The receiving means (reception part 4) for receiving via the communication network, the data storage means based on the model number, or the device searched for at the reference destination by accessing based on the reference information corresponding to the model number. A transmission means (transmission unit 5) for transmitting the instruction manual data to the terminal device is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an instruction manual providing service device according to the first aspect, in which the communication means receives the model number of the device received from the terminal device and the user's model number. 4. The invention according to claim 3, further comprising a user information management unit (user information management unit 2) that writes the identification number in association with the user information storage unit (user information storage unit 3). In the instruction manual providing service device according to claim 1 or 2, the instruction providing service device searches the user information storage means based on the user information, and displays a list of owned products by the user. It is characterized by having a display means (display unit 6) for displaying each.

A method for controlling the instruction manual providing service device according to claim 4 is the method for controlling the instruction manual providing service device according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the model numbers of the devices of different manufacturers are provided. And the instruction manual data of this device or the reference information to the data of the instruction manual are associated with each other to retain the instruction manual data in the data storage means, and the instruction manual data of the device requested by the user. The receiving process of receiving the model number corresponding to the above from the user's terminal device through the information communication network, searching the data storage means based on the model number, or accessing based on the reference information corresponding to the model number. And a transmission process of transmitting the instruction manual data of the device retrieved by the referrer to the terminal device.

The instruction manual providing service program according to claim 5 is an instruction manual providing service program for operating the instruction manual providing service device to provide an instruction manual, and is provided for equipment of a plurality of different manufacturers. The instruction manual data holding process of associating the model number with the instruction manual data of this device or the reference information to the data of the instruction manual and retaining it in the data storage means, and the instruction manual of the device for which the user requests reference A receiving process of receiving the model number corresponding to the data from the user's terminal device via the information communication network, and searching the data storage means based on the model number,
Alternatively, a transmission process of transmitting the instruction manual data of the device, which is accessed based on the reference information corresponding to the model number and retrieved by the referrer, to the terminal device.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an instruction manual providing service device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the data storage unit 1 stores the data of the instruction manual of each device for each company. Here, in the data storage unit 1, as shown in FIG. 2, data of instruction manuals of a plurality of devices of a plurality of different manufacturers are collectively stored. That is, the data storage unit 1
In the data structure of the item list that summarizes items such as the function description of the instruction manual of the device corresponding to this model number for each different manufacturer unit The data of the instruction manual corresponding to each item in the list and the number of times of reference for each item are stored.

Further, instead of storing the data of the actual instruction manual in the data storage unit 1, the data of the instruction manual is stored. Information of reference destination of data, for example, URL (Uniform Reso
urce Locator), etc.) may be stored. As a result, the user does not need to search the location where the data of the instruction manual is stored on the homepage of each manufacturer by using the above reference information as in the past, and the user can easily refer to the required instruction manual. can do. At this time, the data storage unit 1 also associates the reference number of each item in the description of each function in the instruction manual with the reference information of the server of the manufacturer and associates it with the item in the item list. Remember.

The user information management section 2 stores the user information registered by the user who purchased the device at the time of referring to the data of the instruction manual in the user information storage section 3 and manages it. To do. Here, the user information storage unit 3 stores, as user information, the user's name (or company name), address, occupation (or company industry), manufacturer of the purchased device, model number of the purchased device. , E-mail address, age, etc. are stored in association with the identification number of each user.

The receiving unit 4 is connected to a user's terminal device (not shown) via an information communication network (public communication line, dedicated communication line and Internet), and the user's terminal device is connected via this information communication network. The model number and item of the device for referring to the data of the instruction manual, which is output together with the reference request from the terminal device, and the user information for performing the registration process as the user are input, and the data storage unit is input according to the item. The reference number of 1 is incremented, and the user information is output to the user information management unit 2.

The receiving unit 4 is connected to a server of a manufacturer (not shown) via the information communication network.
The server of the manufacturer is accessed based on the reference information, and a search request for the list data of the item of the function of the instruction manual of this model number based on the model number or the data of each item based on the item name is transmitted. Here, the instruction manual providing service device, the user's terminal device, and the manufacturer's server are
Each has a connection function to the Internet and a browser function for displaying data on the Internet.

The transmitting unit 5 searches the item list stored in the data storage unit 1 for the data of the instruction manual or the reference information based on the model number and the item of the device requested to be referred by the user, and then the instruction manual. When the data of is detected, the data of the instruction manual corresponding to the searched device is transmitted to the user's terminal device. In addition, the transmission unit 5 searches the item list stored in the data storage unit 1 for the data of the instruction manual or the reference information based on the model number and the item of the device requested to be referred by the user, and then the instruction manual. When the reference information of the data of is detected, the server of the manufacturer of the reference destination indicated by the reference information is accessed, and the data of the instruction manual searched based on the model number and the item is input from the receiving unit 4,
The data of this instruction manual is transmitted to the user's terminal device. Further, the transmission unit 5 increases (increments) the reference count of the corresponding item in the instruction manual by one in the data storage unit 1 each time a reference request is made to each item in the instruction manual.

In response to a request from the manufacturer or each user to extract a list of model numbers of the devices owned by the user, the display unit 6 displays the model numbers of the devices owned by this user by the user identification number. Is used as a search key from the user information storage unit 3, a list of the model numbers of the devices owned by this user is created and displayed on the display screen, and the data of this list is transmitted via the transmission unit 5. Send to the server of the requested manufacturer or each terminal of the user. As a result, the person in charge of the manufacturer and the user can confirm the device owned by each user from the list of devices displayed on the display screens of the server and the terminal device, respectively.

Next, an operation example of the instruction manual providing service device according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. For example,
The instruction manual providing service of the present invention is provided by the management company that manages the device, and provides the data of the instruction manual of the customer's manufacturer and the equipment handled by this manufacturer to the user who purchased each equipment. Make a tie-up.

Then, this management company installs the above-mentioned instruction manual providing service device, and responds to the reference request of the instruction manual from the user who purchased the equipment of this manufacturer.
Launch a website for instruction manual providing service that provides instruction manual data for each device to users via the Internet. At this time, the reception unit 4 refers to the reference information indicating the reference destination in which the data of the instruction manual transmitted from the manufacturer or the data of the instruction manual of the model of this device is stored in association with the model number of the device. The URL of the manufacturer's server etc. is stored in the data storage unit 1.

Further, the user information management unit 2 sends different reference request destination information (URL, etc.) to the transmitter 5 for each device sold by each manufacturer in association with the model number of the device. To the manufacturer through. That is, since the user information management unit 2 assigns different reference request destination information to each device, each purchased user has different reference request destination information, and the user handles the purchased device. Only the data in the manual can be referenced. And
The manufacturer gives the reference request destination information to each device to be sold and sells this device.

Thus, the user reads the instruction manual when operating the device after purchasing the device, and therefore, based on the reference request destination information (attached when the device is purchased), Access the instruction manual service device. Then, the receiving unit 4 transmits the registration processing screen to the user's terminal device to prompt (request) the user to perform user registration processing. Next, the user information management unit 2
The user information input by the receiving unit 4 is stored in the user information storage unit 3
Is stored (stored) in association with the identification number of the user. At this time, the user management unit 2 detects the manufacturer that manufactured the purchased device, the device, and the model number based on the reference request destination information. Therefore, these data are input to the user information (user Name, address, occupation, e-mail address, age, etc.) and stored in the user information storage unit 3.

Next, the transmission section 5 transmits a reference screen of the data of the instruction manual as shown in FIG. 3 to the terminal device based on the reference request destination information. Then, the transmission unit 5 displays the item list of the items of the instruction manual in which the data of the instruction manual is stored in the data storage unit 1 in the reference screen 1 of the reference image.
Display at 0. Next, the user, in the terminal device, from the list data of the items of the instruction manual displayed on the display unit,
Select the item name you want to read (reference).

At this time, the transmitting unit 5 detects the selected item name input from the receiving unit 4, and increments the number of times the item is referred to in the data storage means 1 in correspondence with the detected item name. To do. Then, the transmission unit 5
The data of the selected item name in the instruction manual is read from the data storage unit 1, or a search request for the data of the selected item in the instruction manual corresponding to the server of the manufacturer is attached with the item name attached. Send.

That is, the transmission unit 5 searches the data storage unit 1 based on the input item name, and when the data of the instruction manual corresponding to the item name is detected, the instruction manual of the detected item is detected. Of the data is transmitted to the terminal device. on the other hand,
The transmission unit 5 uses the data storage unit 1 based on the input item name.
When the reference information of the data of the instruction manual is detected, the reference destination of the reference information is accessed, and the search request attached with the model number and item name of the device is transmitted to the manufacturer. Next, the transmission unit 5 outputs the data of the instruction manual transmitted in response to the search request from the reference number corresponding to the model number and item name of the device and the reference information, for example, the server of the manufacturer. Input through the receiving unit 4.

Then, the transmitting unit 5 transmits the data of the items of the instruction manual input from the server of the manufacturer to the terminal device of the user. At this time, the manufacturer's server (including the database as a component), based on the search request input from the transmission unit 5, based on the model number and item name of the device attached to this search request, A search is performed, and the list data of the extracted items of the instruction manual is transmitted to the receiving unit 4. The reference screen of the data of each item of this instruction manual is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device by the structure of the image and text data shown in FIG. 3 as described above.

In the explanation display section 10 of the reference screen, text data of the selected item in the instruction manual is displayed. Then, the user reads the text data displayed on the description display unit 10 to understand the content of the description regarding the handling of the corresponding item of the device. In addition, the reference screen of FIG. 3 has confirmation items “easy to understand” and “difficult to understand” for confirming whether the contents of the instruction manual were easy to understand or difficult to understand. The user selects either (cannot be closed until selected).

At this time, the receiving unit 4 integrates the selected number of times of each of the above-mentioned confirmation items to be input, and the integration result for each confirmation item is displayed in each item of the instruction manual in the data storage unit 1. It corresponds and is memorized. That is, the receiving unit 4
Calculates how many times each of the "easy-to-understand" and "difficult-to-understand" confirmation items were selected, each time each item in the instruction manual was selected for reference. Further, the display screen of FIG. 3 has a comment section at the bottom, so that the user can write his / her wishes regarding the way of writing and contents of the instruction manual and wishes for functions to be added to the device. It is optional for the user to write in this field, and even if it is not written, the display screen for explaining this item can be closed.

The transmitting unit 4 periodically (for example, every six months).
In addition, the number of times the user refers to each item of each device stored in the data storage unit 1, the integrated value in which the confirmation item for each item is selected, and the content of each comment field are associated with each other. Provide to each manufacturer. As a result, each manufacturer will be able to understand the needs of users based on the above-mentioned number of times of reference provided, the selected integrated value, and the contents of the comment field, depending on the clarity of each item in the instruction manual and the desire to use the device. We will analyze the information for and develop devices that target more targeted users. In addition, each manufacturer sells a device to each user according to the needs of the user.

As described above, in the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention, the data of the instruction manual is stored in the data storage unit 1, or the manufacturer of the partner (the destination indicated by the reference information).
Since it is stored in the server of and can be read as needed, the user does not need to manage the instruction manual, and as in the past, by losing the instruction manual, the device can not be handled, It is possible to prevent the work from being hindered.

In particular, the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention can collectively see the instruction manuals of the devices of a plurality of manufacturers, and when the instruction manual data is not stored, Since the reference information indicating the location where the data of the instruction manual of the manufacturer's device is stored is directly stored, in order to refer to the instruction manual of the owned device as in the past, It is no longer necessary to search the operation manual data on each manufacturer's website one by one, and it is possible to refer to the operation manual data of equipment from multiple different manufacturers, improving work efficiency. There is an effect that can be.

Further, in the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention, if the manufacturer has a defect in the instruction manual or wants to add an additional item, the instruction manual of the data storage unit 1 of the management company. Data and the version of the server's instruction manual data of the manufacturer (the destination indicated by the reference information) were upgraded to purchase the target device in order to distribute the new instruction manual as before. Costs can be reduced without having to announce to the user.

Further, in the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention, since the user is always registered when referring to the data of the instruction manual, compared with the conventional registration process using a registration card. Since the ratio of registration is significantly improved, and the user information management unit 2 stores the relationship between the user information and the device purchased by this user in the user information storage unit 3, the user of any job type Can analyze what kind of equipment is purchased, and can be used as sales data used for product development and marketing of other equipment.

In addition, in the instruction manual providing service apparatus of the present invention, the data storage means 1 and the user feed back information such as the intelligibility of the explanation of each item in the instruction manual and the request for the function of the device. Therefore, it is possible to obtain version data for each item in the instruction manual and data that will serve as a guide for product development of new equipment. In addition, the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention can be used as data of a guideline for the function of a new product, since it can be seen from the number of times each item is referred to that the function corresponding to this item in the device is frequently used. You can

Further, in the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention, the display unit 6 responds to a request from the manufacturer or each user to extract a list of model numbers of the devices owned by the user, Since the list of model numbers of the owned devices is created and displayed on the display screen, and the data of the list is transmitted to the requested manufacturer or each user via the transmission unit 5, each of the above manufacturers can It is possible to narrow down the type of device required by each user from the devices owned by the user and use it as sales information.
The user can easily confirm the model number of the device owned by the user.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Even so, it is included in the present invention.

[0035]

As described above, in the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention, the data of the instruction manual is stored in the data storage means or the server of the manufacturer of the affiliated company (the destination indicated by the reference information). The user does not need to manage the instruction manual because it can be read as needed, and the loss of the instruction manual, as in the past, makes it impossible to handle the device and hinders business. It is possible to prevent this. In addition, the instruction manual providing service device of the present invention uses the data in the instruction manual of the data storage means of the management company or the reference when the manufacturer has a defect in the specifications and wants to correct it or wants to add additional items. By updating the data of the instruction manual of the server indicated by the information, it is necessary to announce to the users who purchased the target device in order to distribute the new instruction manual as before. It is possible to reduce the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an instruction manual providing service device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure of an instruction manual stored in a data storage unit 1 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a display screen that displays data of an instruction manual.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 data storage 2 User Information Management Department 3 user information storage 4 Receiver 5 transmitter 6 Display

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A data storage means for associating and holding a model number of equipment of a plurality of different manufacturers and instruction manual data of this equipment or reference information to a server in which the instruction manual data is stored, and a user. Receiving means for receiving the model number corresponding to the instruction manual data of the device requesting the reference from the user's terminal device via the information communication network, and searching the data storage means based on the model number, or An instruction manual providing service device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the instruction manual data of the device searched for at the reference destination by accessing based on the reference information corresponding to the instruction information. 2. The user information management unit, wherein the communication unit associates the model number of the device received from the terminal device with the user information of the user and writes the user information in the user information storage unit. The instruction manual providing service device according to claim 1. 3. A display means for searching the user information storage means based on the user information and displaying a list of owned products for each user.
Alternatively, the instruction manual providing service device according to claim 2. 4. A method of controlling an instruction manual providing service device according to claim 1, wherein the model numbers of equipment of a plurality of different manufacturers and instruction manual data or instruction manuals of the equipment are provided. Information relating to the process of holding the instruction manual data held in the data storage means in association with the reference information to the data and the model number corresponding to the instruction manual data of the device requested by the user to be referred from the terminal device of the user. Instruction manual data of the device retrieved through the receiving process through the communication network and the data storage means based on the model number, or accessed based on the reference information corresponding to the model number Is transmitted to the terminal device, and a control method of the instruction manual providing service device. 5. An instruction manual providing service program for operating the instruction manual providing service device according to claim 1 to provide an instruction manual, wherein device model numbers of different manufacturers are provided. , The instruction manual data of this device or the reference information to the data of the instruction manual is associated with the instruction manual data retention processing to be retained in the data storage means, and the instruction manual data of the device requested by the user for reference. Reception processing for receiving the corresponding model number from the user's terminal device via the information communication network, searching the data storage means based on the model number, or accessing and referring to the reference information corresponding to the model number An instruction manual providing service program, comprising: a transmission process of transmitting the instruction manual data of the device searched by a person to the terminal device.