JP2004069727A - Advertising apparatus and advertising method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new field for communications between users by surely and conveniently performing advertisement of a small range directed to relatively limited areas, persons, etc. <P>SOLUTION: Advertisement images inputted from a reading section 1 are registered in an advertisement storage memory 9, and when a user copies an original P1, the copying is performed by compositing 10 the advertisement images and identification information registered in the read original P1 and printing 3 them. The reply to the advertisement is performed by allowing the copied original P2 with the advertisement to be read and stored into the storage memory 12. The advertiser user can obtain the accumulated replies by inputting the identification information. Accordingly, the advertisement, the reply and the acquisition of the reply are performed based on the advertisement apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technology for providing a relatively small-scale advertisement using an image forming apparatus having a printing function such as a printer device, a copy device, a facsimile device, and the like. The present invention relates to a technique for providing a place for communication between a user and a general user.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the development of information processing technology in recent years, various advertisement methods have been proposed or put into practical use in addition to classic advertisement methods such as broadcasting and posting.
Further, image forming apparatuses such as printer apparatuses, copier apparatuses, facsimile apparatuses, and composite apparatuses of these functions have become widespread, and are also installed in convenience stores and the like, so that users can use them at a fee. .
[0003]
Several advertisement methods using such devices have been proposed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-238155 discloses that, when a photographic image taken by a digital camera is printed out, an advertisement image is laid out in a predetermined format on a print of the photographic image and added. An invention capable of reducing the output fee has been proposed.
[0004]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-15374 discloses a method in which an advertisement image is distributed to a facsimile apparatus and the advertisement is printed out. In addition, there has been proposed an invention in which the user is charged an amount obtained by subtracting the number of prints of the advertisement print from the number of prints output, and the amount of the number of prints of the advertisement print is covered by the advertisement fee to the advertiser.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Here, advertising is generally intended to be viewed by as many people as possible, so it is widespread, but certain types of advertising are relatively small, targeting relatively limited areas or people. A range may be effective. For example, an advertisement that searches for a tutor student in the neighborhood, an advertisement that searches for a hobby group member of a certain age group in the neighborhood, an advertisement that searches for a club member in the company, etc. need not be a widespread advertisement, but rather a widespread advertisement. And high advertising effectiveness cannot be expected.
[0006]
Advertising of such a relatively small area has been conventionally performed using bulletin boards and message boards, but advertising flyers pasted on bulletin boards fly away due to wind, etc.Ads written on message boards are faded And it was not a convenient tool to advertise reliably.
The proposed invention is a technology for performing a wide range of advertisements without considering a region or an object, and a relatively small range of advertisements, that is, communication between an advertiser user and a general user. It is not possible to realize the advertisement as the place of the event.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and has as its object to provide a new method capable of reliably and conveniently performing a small-range advertisement for a relatively limited area or person. .
Further objects of the present invention will be apparent in the following description.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to an advertisement technology using a device shared by a plurality of users among image forming devices such as a printer device, a copying device, a facsimile device, or a multifunction device having these functions. For example, a convenience store The present invention is applied to a paid copy device installed in a store, a copy device installed in a company, and the like, and realizes advertisements for local users and employees who use the store.
[0009]
Specifically, the advertisement apparatus according to the present invention has an advertisement function of registering advertisement information in advance, adding an image of the advertisement information to a document image input for copying or the like, and outputting the image as a printed matter, A reply function for inputting a reply manuscript image from the user who has received the attached printed material, holding the image in association with the original advertisement, and outputting the held reply manuscript in accordance with the instruction. The communication between the advertiser user and the user user is mediated in the form of printed matter.
[0010]
Here, the identification information is added to the advertisement information and registered, and a printed matter in which the identification information image is added to the original image in addition to the advertisement information image is output, and the identification information is input together with the reply original image from the user user. In such a case, a large number of advertisements and their replies can be managed by a single advertising device.
Further, in addition to the above-described management using the advertisement identification information, the reply document image may be held in association with the password information recognized by the advertiser user. Can be.
[0011]
In addition, the advertisement may be placed on the condition that the advertiser user pays the advertisement fee. In this case, the copy fee paid by the user user can be reduced by the advertisement fee income.
In addition, according to the payment amount of the advertisement fee and the instruction from the advertiser user, the mode of adding the advertisement image to the printed matter, such as the frequency of advertisement, the advertisement period, the advertisement time zone, the advertisement size, the advertisement color, and the like. May be changed. In this case, the advertisement can be made in a manner according to the budget, the necessity, and the like.
[0012]
In addition, advertisement information is registered in association with advertisement attribute information such as age group, occupation type, advertisement type, target area, and the like, and an advertisement information image corresponding to an attribute item specified by a user user is added to a printed matter. In this case, the user user can also select and obtain the advertisement suitable for the purpose.
Further, the corresponding advertisement information image may be added to the printed matter in accordance with the designation of the necessity of the advertisement from the user user, so that the advertisement is provided according to the situation of the user user. Can be.
The present invention is also the above-described advertisement method which is performed using an image forming apparatus shared by a plurality of users.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The present invention will be specifically described based on examples.
FIG. 1 shows a functional configuration of an advertising device according to an example of the present invention.
Note that the advertising device of this example is realized by a shared copying device (or multifunction device) installed in a store, and each functional unit shown in FIG. 1 has a predetermined program by computer hardware provided in the copying device. Is executed. In addition, a control unit for integrally controlling each functional unit shown in FIG. 1 is also configured, but is not shown for convenience of explanation.
[0014]
The advertising device includes a reading unit 1 such as a scanner that reads an image of a document P1 to be copied, a document holding memory 2 that temporarily holds the read document image, and a printing material (printed by printing the held document image on a medium such as paper). The printer includes a printing unit 3 that outputs a copy P2 as an original P2, and also functions as a general copying apparatus.
[0015]
In addition, in this example, the reading unit 1 is also used for reading an image of an advertisement document, and the advertisement device detects the payment of the advertisement fee when inputting the advertisement information. A deposit detection unit 4, an identification number generation unit 5 that generates a number ID as unique identification information for the advertisement in response to the input of the advertisement information, and prints and outputs the identification number ID on a screen or a card or the like (Output) unit 6 to be recognized by the advertiser user, a number W as personal identification information for reply management from the advertiser user, attribute information C of the advertisement, and an input operation unit such as a touch panel that receives designation of the additional mode of the advertisement. 7. The advertisement management unit 8 which manages the read advertisement image based on the identification number ID, the attribute information designated by the advertiser user, the additional mode, and the payment amount of the advertisement fee, and the advertisement management unit 8 An advertisement storage memory 9 for storing an advertisement image read under control in association with its identification information ID and attribute information C, and an advertisement image A stored in the advertisement storage memory 9 for a document image stored in the document storage memory 2. And a synthesizing unit 10 for image synthesizing the identification number ID thereof as an advertisement function.
[0016]
In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of read advertisement images A are stored in the advertisement storage memory 9 as files to which the identification information ID and the attribute information C are added, and are associated with each other. For example, the identification information ID and the attribute information C are separately recorded and managed by the advertisement management unit 8 in a table, and the advertisement image is associated with the identification information ID and the attribute information C using the address of the advertisement storage memory 9. Good.
Further, in this example, the specified addition mode is separately recorded in the table by the advertisement management unit 8 and is managed in association with the advertisement image A. May be attached.
[0017]
Here, as the attribute information, information used for selection of the advertisement target, such as age group, occupation, gender, type of advertisement, target area, and the like, is specified.
Further, as the additional mode, the mode of the advertisement such as the frequency of the advertisement, the period of the advertisement, the time zone of the advertisement, the size of the advertisement, and whether the advertisement is in color or monochrome is specified.
[0018]
In addition, in the present example, the operation input unit 7 is also used for the user user, and the advertising device is provided by the user from the operation input unit 7. Upon receiving the specification of the attribute and the necessity of the advertisement, the advertisement management unit 8 reads out the advertisement image A and the identification number ID of the attribute C corresponding to the specification from the advertisement storage memory 9 and synthesizes the original image with the synthesis unit 10. Control is performed so that the advertisement image is not added to the document image in accordance with the designation.
[0019]
The printed matter (copy original) P2 output from the printing unit 3 after the advertisement image A and the identification number ID are synthesized with the original image P1 is as shown in FIG. 4, and the original image P1 is printed on most of the paper surface. Printing is performed, and the advertisement image A and the identification number ID are printed in the margin of the paper. Note that the advertisement management unit 8 determines and controls the paper layout in accordance with the specified additional mode and the payment amount of the advertisement fee.
As will be described later, the reply is provided with a necessary entry field in an advertisement section of the printed matter P2, and the name, contact information, and communication information of the replying user are described in the entry section, and the reply is again sent to the advertising device. This is performed by reading and inputting.
[0020]
Here, the identification number ID is converted into a bar code in this example and added to the advertisement image. However, the identification number ID may be printed as it is, or may be added by embedding an image that is invisible to the user user. . As described later, when inputting a reply to an advertisement, it is necessary to input an identification number ID. However, if the identification number ID is added in a form that can be visually recognized or recognized by a user, the user inputs manually or an image. It is possible to perform mechanical recognition by reading, and when the identification number ID is added instead of such a format, it is necessary to perform mechanical recognition by image reading.
[0021]
In addition, in the present example, the reading unit 1 is also used for reading an image of a reply document, and the advertising device may read the image of the read reply document. Reply management unit 11 which manages by the identification number ID attached thereto and the password W inputted at the time of advertisement registration, and sets the reply image read under the management of the reply management unit 11 as the identification information ID and the password W. A reply accumulation memory 12 that is stored in association with the information is provided as a reply management function.
When a reply output instruction including the identification number ID and the password W is input from the input operation unit 7, the reply management unit 11 reads out all the corresponding reply images from the reply accumulation memory 12, and prints out the print output and the display unit 6. On the screen. Note that the reply image is deleted from the reply accumulation memory 12 once it is read in order to utilize the memory capacity and manage security.
[0022]
In this example, as shown in FIG. 3, a folder for each advertisement with an identification number ID and a password W is formed in the reply accumulation memory 12, and the read reply image P3 is stored in the corresponding folder. For example, the reply management unit 11 records and manages the identification information ID and the password W separately in a table, and uses the address of the reply storage memory 12 to return the reply image to the identification information ID and the password. W may be associated with it.
[0023]
Therefore, according to the advertising device, the advertiser user pays the advertising fee, reads and inputs the advertisement manuscript, and at that time, inputs and registers the password information for the reply, the necessary attributes and the additional mode, and By receiving the advertisement identification information, a desired advertisement can be respected by the device.
When the user reads an image in the apparatus to copy the document P1, if the user does not specify that the advertisement is unnecessary, an advertisement image having an attribute matching the attribute specified by the user and its identification The information is added to the document image P1 and output as a copy document P2.
[0024]
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a user user requests a tutor for an advertisement such as "I will do a tutor.", Fill in the necessary items in the copy manuscript P2 and read it into the advertising device. Register as a reply.
This reply is managed by the identification information and the password information. When the advertiser user tries to obtain a reply to the advertisement, the corresponding reply is output by inputting the corresponding identification information and the password information.
[0025]
The process performed by the advertising device that implements the above procedure is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 5 in this example.
First, when there is an input from the user to the operation input unit 7 (step S1), the control unit (not shown in FIG. 1) determines the type of the input instruction (step S2), and the input is an advertisement. In this case, the payment unit 4 detects the payment of the advertisement fee (step S3), and when the payment is made, the identification number generation unit 5 generates the identification number, outputs it from the display unit 6, and sends it to the advertisement management unit 8. The identification number is provided (step S4). Then, the advertiser user is prompted to input a password, and when the password is input from the operation input unit 7 (step S5), the reading unit 1 reads the image of the advertisement manuscript placed on the platen, and the advertisement management unit. 8 stores the advertisement image in the advertisement storage memory 9 in association with the identification number (and the input attribute information) (step S6).
[0026]
On the other hand, as a result of determining the type of the input instruction (step S2), if the copy is with an advertisement, the image of the original P1 placed on the platen is read by the reading unit 1 and temporarily stored in the original holding memory 2. The advertisement management unit 8 reads out the advertisement image and its identification number from the advertisement storage memory 9, reads out the document image temporarily stored in the document storage memory 2, and combines them by the combining unit 10 (step S 8). ), A composite image in which an advertisement and an identification number image are added to the original image is output from the printing unit 10 as a copy original P2.
In addition, the advertisement management unit 8 reads an advertisement image corresponding to the attribute specification from the user when the attribute is specified, and reads an arbitrary advertisement image when the attribute is not specified.
[0027]
On the other hand, as a result of determining the type of the input instruction (step S2), if it is a reply input, the user is prompted to input an identification number from the operation input unit 7, and the identification number is input (step S10). ), The image of the reply document placed on the platen is read by the reading unit 1, and the reply management unit 11 stores the reply image in the reply accumulation memory 12 in association with the identification number and the password of the corresponding advertisement (step). S11).
The identification number may be extracted not from the operation input unit 7 but from the read image of the reply document.
[0028]
On the other hand, as a result of determining the type of the input instruction (step S2), if the stored response is to be retrieved, the user is prompted to input the identification number and the password from the operation input unit 7, and these are input. Then, the reply management unit 11 determines whether or not the input identification number and password are present in the stored reply folder (step S12). If there is, all reply documents stored in the folder are determined. The image is printed out by the printing unit 3 (step S13). If the corresponding folder does not exist, an error is displayed on the display unit 6 (step S14), and the reply extraction is stopped.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a single advertisement device is used to register an advertisement, provide an advertisement, and reply to an advertisement, so that a small range of advertisements for a relatively limited area or person can be obtained. Can be performed reliably and conveniently, and a new place of communication between users can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an advertising device according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method for storing an advertisement image according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of storing a reply image according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a copy original according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to an example of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: reading unit, 2: document holding memory,
3: printing section, 4: payment detection section,
5: identification number generating unit, 6: display unit,
7: input operation unit, 8: advertisement management unit,
9: advertisement storage memory, 10: synthesis unit,
11: reply management unit, 12: reply storage memory,
ID: identification number, W: password,
C: attribute information, A: advertisement image,
P1: manuscript, P2: copy manuscript,
P3: Reply manuscript,

Claims (10)

An advertising device that mediates an advertisement and a reply thereto through a printed matter,
Advertisement holding means for holding advertisement information;
Combining means for adding an image of advertisement information to the input document image;
Printing means for outputting as a printed matter an image with an advertisement added to the manuscript;
Reply input means for inputting a reply original image for the advertisement,
Reply accumulation means for holding the input reply document image in association with the advertisement information,
Reply management means for outputting a reply document held in the reply storage means in response to an instruction from the user,
An advertising device comprising: The advertising device according to claim 1,
Advertising input means for inputting advertising information;
Identification information generating means for generating identification information of the input advertising information;
Advertisement management means for associating the identification information with the advertisement information held by the advertisement holding means,
The combining means adds a corresponding identification information image to the document image in addition to the advertisement information image,
The reply input means inputs identification information together with a reply original image for the advertisement,
The reply storage unit holds the input reply document image in association with the advertisement information by the identification information,
An advertisement apparatus, wherein a reply management unit outputs a corresponding reply document stored in a reply storage unit in response to an instruction from a user including identification information. The advertising device according to claim 1,
Advertising input means for inputting advertising information;
Identification information generating means for generating identification information of the input advertising information;
An advertisement management means for associating the identification information with the advertisement information held by the advertisement holding means,
Advertiser operation input means for the advertiser to input personal identification information,
The combining means adds a corresponding identification information image to the document image in addition to the advertisement information image,
The reply input means inputs identification information together with a reply original image for the advertisement,
The reply storage means holds the input reply document image in association with the advertisement information by the identification information and the password information,
An advertisement apparatus, wherein a reply management unit outputs a corresponding reply document held in a reply storage unit in response to an instruction from a user including identification information and password information. In the advertising device according to claim 2 or 3,
Providing a means of receiving advertising fees,
An advertisement device, wherein the advertisement management means manages advertisement information on condition that the advertisement fee is paid. The advertising device according to claim 4,
An advertisement apparatus, wherein the advertisement management means changes an addition mode of an advertisement image to a printed matter according to a payment amount of an advertisement fee. The advertising device according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
An advertisement apparatus, wherein the advertisement management means changes an addition mode of an advertisement image to a print in response to an instruction from an advertiser. The advertising device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
A user operation input for inputting attribute designation of an advertisement from a user,
The advertisement holding unit holds the advertisement information in association with the attribute information of the advertisement,
An advertisement apparatus, wherein the advertisement management means adds an advertisement information image having a corresponding attribute to a document information image in accordance with a designation from a user. The advertising device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
A user operation input for inputting designation of necessity of advertisement from a user is provided,
An advertisement apparatus, wherein the advertisement management means adds an advertisement information image to a document information image in accordance with a designation from a user. An advertisement method for mediating an advertisement and a reply thereto using a printed matter as an intermediate using an image forming apparatus shared by a plurality of users,
The advertisement information specified by the identification information is registered in the image forming apparatus,
When the original image is output as a printed matter by the image forming apparatus, the advertisement information and the identification information are added and output,
Reply information to the advertisement is input to the image forming apparatus together with the corresponding identification information, and the reply information is stored in association with the advertisement,
An advertisement method, comprising outputting stored reply information from an image forming apparatus in response to an instruction including identification information. An advertisement method for mediating an advertisement and a reply thereto using a printed matter as an intermediate using an image forming apparatus shared by a plurality of users,
The advertisement information specified by the identification information is registered in the image forming apparatus,
When the original image is output as a printed matter by the image forming apparatus, the advertisement information and the identification information are added and output,
The reply information to the advertisement is input to the image forming apparatus together with the corresponding identification information, and the reply information is stored in association with the password information and the advertisement recognized by the advertiser,
An advertisement method, comprising: outputting stored reply information from an image forming apparatus in response to an instruction including identification information and password information.

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