JP2005157798A - Data communication system and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To total expenses by easy operation. <P>SOLUTION: When input of personal identification information for specifying an individual user and sales information about the user specified by the personal identification information is received by an operation part of a POS terminal (P1, P2), an information transmission part associates the sales information with the personal identification information, and transmits them to a server (P3), In the server, the sales information received by an information reception part is totaled in each user specified by the personal identification information, by a totaling part (SV1-SV3). In a composite machine, when input of a password is received by the operation part, a sales information transmission instruction transmission part transmits a transmission instruction of a totaling result of the sale information about the specific user distinguished from the password by a user distinction part to the server (F2, F3), and a totaling result reception part receives the totaling result of the sales information corresponding to the totaling result transmission instruction from a totaling result transmission part of the server (F4). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a data communication system and an image forming apparatus that aggregate sales information for each user who purchases a product or service.

Conventionally, when summing up expenses such as living expenses, the amount printed on the receipt received after shopping at the store is read and entered manually into the computer, or the amount calculated using a calculator is written on a book etc. Was made to create. An image forming apparatus that can optically read an image printed on a document and process and store the read image is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
JP 2002-271605 A

  However, as described above, when you read the amount printed on the receipt received after shopping at the store and manually enter it into the computer, or when you write the amount calculated using a calculator on a book etc. and create a household account book However, it is troublesome to input data to a computer, and to calculate and write a book. Further, in the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is impossible to tabulate expenses.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a data communication system and an image forming apparatus capable of summing up expenses by a simple operation.

The invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is a data communication system comprising a communication terminal device, an image forming apparatus, and a computer connected to the communication terminal device and the image forming apparatus via a network.
The communication terminal device includes identification information receiving means for receiving input of personal identification information for specifying individual users by external operation, and a user specified by the personal identification information input to the identification information receiving means. Sales information receiving means that accepts external sales information input, sales information input to the sales information receiving means, and personal identification information received by the identification information receiving means in association with each other and sent to a computer on the network Information transmitting means to
The computer includes information receiving means for receiving sales information and personal identification information associated therewith from the communication terminal device, and sales information received from the information transmitting means of the communication terminal device by the information receiving means. Aggregating means for summing up each user specified by the identification information, and a result of summing up the sales information by the counting means of the user corresponding to the sales information transmission instruction received by the information receiving means from the image forming apparatus A totaling result transmission means for transmitting to the forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus is discriminated by a password accepting unit that accepts an input of a password by an external operation, a user discriminating unit that discriminates a specific user based on the password accepted by the password accepting unit, and the user discriminating unit. Summation result transmission instruction transmitting means for transmitting a transmission result transmission result instruction for the user's sales information to the computer, and sales information corresponding to the aggregation result transmission instruction transmitted from the aggregation result transmission instruction transmission means to the computer A totaling result receiving unit for receiving the totaling result from the totaling result transmitting unit of the computer.

  In this configuration, the identification information receiving means of the communication terminal device accepts input of personal identification information for specifying individual users, and the input of sales information for the users specified by the personal identification information is received as sales. When the information is accepted by the information accepting means, the information transmitting means associates the sales information and the personal identification information and transmits them to the computer on the network. In this computer, the sales information received by the information receiving unit is totaled for each user specified by the personal identification information by the totaling unit. In the image forming apparatus, when the password is accepted by the password accepting means, the sales information sending instruction sending means sends an instruction to send the summation result of the sales information of the specific user determined from the password by the user judging means. The totaling result receiving means receives the totaling result of the sales information corresponding to the totaling result transmission instruction from the totaling result transmitting means of the computer.

The invention according to claim 2 is the data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal device stores use date information, use month information, or use place information together with the sales information. Storage means, and the information transmission means transmits, together with the sales information, at least one information of usage date information, usage month information or usage location information stored in the date and time storage means to the computer,
The totaling means of the computer counts the sales information for each user according to usage date information, usage month information or usage location information received by the information receiving means from the information transmitting means of the communication terminal device.

  In this configuration, the date and time storage means of the communication terminal device stores the usage date information, the usage month information or the usage location information together with the sales information, and the usage date information, the usage month information or the usage together with the sales information by the information transmission means. At least one or more pieces of location information are transmitted to the computer, and in the computer, the information receiving unit receives the usage date information, the usage month information, or the usage location information received from the information transmission unit of the communication terminal device. Sales information for each user is aggregated by the aggregation means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data communication system comprising an image forming apparatus and a computer connected to the network.
The image forming apparatus includes a password receiving unit that receives an input of a password by an external operation, a user determining unit that determines a specific user from the password received by the password receiving unit, and an image reading unit that reads an image on a document A data conversion means for converting the image read by the image reading means into character data, and whether the character data converted by the data conversion means includes a predetermined symbol, and if the predetermined symbol is included Includes a variety of information transmitting means for attaching ID information for identifying the user determined by the user determining means to the numeric data following the symbol and transmitting the data to a computer connected to the network. ,
The computer includes an information receiving unit that receives the numeric data and ID information from various information transmitting units of the image forming apparatus, and the numeric data received by the information receiving unit for each user specified by the ID information. A totaling means for summing up the data, and a totaling result transmitting means for transmitting the totaling results for each user totaled by the totaling means to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes a totaling result receiving unit that receives a totaling result for each user totaled by the totaling unit from a totaling result transmitting unit of the computer.

  In this configuration, in the image forming apparatus, when the password accepting unit accepts the input of the password, the user discriminating unit discriminates a specific user from the password and the image read by the image reading unit is converted by the data converting unit. When converted to character data and the various information transmitting means determines that the converted character data includes a predetermined symbol, the user determined by the user determining means is specified in the numeric data following the symbol. ID information is attached and transmitted to the computer. On the other hand, in the computer, when the information receiving unit receives the numeric data and the ID information from the various information transmitting units of the image forming apparatus, the totaling unit totals the numeric data for each user specified by the ID information, and the total result The transmission means transmits the totaled result for each user to the image forming apparatus.

  For this reason, when the password is input to the image forming apparatus and the amount of money printed on the receipt received at the store is read by the image reading means, for example, the numerical data obtained by converting the read image data and the user Is transmitted to a computer on the network, and sales information is aggregated for each user by the computer, and then the aggregation result is sent to the image forming apparatus.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data communication system according to the third aspect, wherein the image reading unit of the image forming apparatus includes first and second image reading positions, and the data converting unit includes: The image data at the first image reading position read by the image reading means is converted into character data, and the various information transmitting means converts the image data into numeric data included in the character data converted by the data converting means. The image data at the second image reading position read by the reading means is associated and transmitted to the computer,
The computer discriminates which image data at the second image reading position received from the image forming apparatus by the information receiving means matches among a plurality of pre-registered image data. It comprises a discriminating unit, and the tabulating unit tabulates the numerical data tabulated for each user for each image discriminated by the image discriminating unit.

  In this configuration, the data of the image read at the first image reading position of the image reading means is converted by the data converting means and becomes the object of counting by the counting means, and at the second image reading position of the image reading means. When it is determined that the read image data matches one of a plurality of pre-registered image data by the image determining means of the computer, the numerical data for each image is counted by the counting means. It has become. Therefore, if the identification mark of the store or corporation described in the receipt is read at the second image reading position, the numerical data (expense amount) converted by the data conversion means is aggregated for each store or corporation. It becomes possible to do.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the data communication system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the image forming apparatus prints the total result received by the total result receiving unit. Printing means.

  In this configuration, in the image forming apparatus, the tabulation result received by the tabulation result receiving unit from the computer is printed by the printing unit.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the data communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the image forming apparatus receives the total result received by the total result reception unit, Data output means for outputting to an externally connected communication device is provided.

  With this configuration, in the image forming apparatus, the data output unit outputs the total result received by the total result receiving unit from the computer to the externally connected communication device.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the data communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the image forming apparatus displays the total result received by the total result receiving unit. Display means.

  In this configuration, in the image forming apparatus, the totaling result received by the totaling result receiving unit from the computer is displayed by the display unit.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the data communication system according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus inputs correction data for correcting a totaling result displayed on the display means by an external operation. The correction data input means is provided.

  In this configuration, when correction data for correcting the tabulation result displayed on the display unit is input to the correction data input unit of the image forming apparatus, the tabulation result received from the tabulation result transmission unit of the computer is corrected.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a password receiving unit that receives an input of a password by an external operation, a user determining unit that determines a specific user from the password received by the password receiving unit, and an image on a document An image reading means for reading image data, a data conversion means for converting an image read by the image reading means into character data, and a character data converted by the data conversion means, when a predetermined symbol is included, follows this symbol Various information transmitting means for transmitting to a computer connected to a network by attaching ID information for identifying the user determined by the user determining means to the numeric data, and from the various information transmitting means Receiving the counting result of the numerical data for each user sent to the computer from the computer An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a means.

  In this configuration, when the password accepting unit accepts the input of the password, the user discriminating unit discriminates a specific user from the password, and the image read by the image reading unit is converted into character data by the data converting unit. When the various information transmitting means determines that the converted character data includes a predetermined symbol, the numerical data following the symbol is used to identify the user determined by the user determining means. ID information is attached and transmitted to the computer. The tabulation result receiving means receives the tabulation result of the numeric data transmitted to the computer from the computer.

  For this reason, when a password is input to the image forming apparatus and, for example, the amount of money printed on a receipt received at a store is read, the read image data is converted into numeric data to identify the user. The ID data for the user is sent to a computer on the network with the ID information attached thereto, and the result of counting the numerical data for each user counted by the computer is sent to the image forming apparatus.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus further includes a printing unit that prints the totaling result received by the totaling result receiving unit.

  In this configuration, the aggregation result received from the computer by the aggregation result receiving means is printed by the printing means.

  The invention according to claim 11 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the total result received by the total result receiving means is output to an externally connected communication device. Data output means is further provided.

  In this configuration, the data output means outputs the total results received from the computer by the total result receiving means to the externally connected communication device.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the ninth to eleventh aspects, the image forming apparatus further includes a display unit that displays the totaling result received by the totaling result receiving unit. It is a thing.

  In this configuration, the aggregation result received by the aggregation result receiving means from the computer is displayed by the display means.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the twelfth aspect, correction data input means for inputting correction data for correcting the tabulated result displayed on the display means by an external operation. It is equipped with.

  In this configuration, when correction data for correcting the total result displayed on the display means is input to the correction data input means, the total result received from the total result transmission means of the computer is corrected.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sales information for each user input to the communication terminal device is transmitted to a computer on the network, and the sales information is totaled for each user by this computer. Since the total results of the user's sales information are sent to the image forming device, the expense amount can be totaled with a simple operation without performing data input work to the computer, calculation and writing on the page, In addition, it is also possible to display, print, or perform processing such as outputting and saving data to an externally connected communication device in the image forming apparatus on the total result sent from the computer. .

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the total result for each user is obtained by the usage date information, the usage month information, or the usage location information, the user can use the usage date information, the usage date, and the usage date. No special operation is required even if the expenses are tabulated by month or location.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the password is input to the image forming apparatus and, for example, the amount of money printed on the receipt received at the store is read, the read image data is converted. The numerical data and ID information for identifying the user are transmitted to a computer on the network. After the sales information is aggregated for each user by this computer, the aggregation result is sent to the image forming apparatus. Therefore, even if the communication terminal device is not provided, the expense amount can be totaled by a simple operation without performing the data input operation to the computer, the calculation, and the writing operation on the page. In addition, the image forming apparatus can perform processing such as displaying the result of aggregation sent from the computer, printing, or outputting and saving data to an externally connected communication device. .

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, if the corporate identification mark or the like described on the receipt is read at the second image reading position of the image reading means of the image reading apparatus, the numerical data ( (Expense amount) can be tabulated, so the operation when it is desired to sum up the amount of expense by use place (purchaser) becomes easy.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the image forming apparatus can obtain a printout of the tabulation results received from the computer, the user can perform the tabulation results on a paper medium without performing calculation and writing on the page. Can be saved.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus can output the counting result received from the computer to the externally connected communication device, so that the user does not perform data input work on the communication device, The counting results can be easily stored in the communication device.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the user can check the counting result received from the computer by the display unit of the image forming apparatus.

  According to the invention described in claim 8, since the user can correct the total result by the correction data input means of the image forming apparatus, even if the total result received from the computer is incorrect, the total can be easily calculated. The result can be corrected.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the password is input to the image forming apparatus and the amount of money printed on, for example, a receipt received at the store is read, the read image data is converted. Numerical data and ID information for identifying a user are transmitted to a computer on the network, and the result of counting sales information for each user counted by this computer is sent to the image forming apparatus. Expenses can be totaled with a simple operation without performing data input operations, calculations, and writing tasks. Also, the sales information sent from the computer may be displayed on the image forming apparatus, printed, or output to an externally connected communication device for storage. It becomes possible.

  According to the invention described in claim 10, since the printed matter of the counting result received from the computer can be obtained, the user can save the counting result on a paper medium without performing calculation and writing on the page. it can.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, since the tabulation result received from the computer can be output to the externally connected communication device, the user can easily output the tabulation result without performing data input work to the communication device. It can be stored in the communication device.

  According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the user can confirm the counting result received from the computer by the display means.

  According to the invention described in claim 13, since the user can correct the counting result by the correction data input means, even if the counting result received from the computer is incorrect, the counting result can be easily obtained. Can be corrected.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a data communication system and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a data communication system according to the present invention. The data communication system 1 according to the present invention includes POS terminals 21, 22, 23..., A server 3, and multifunction peripherals 41, 51, 61. It should be noted that the number of POS terminals and multi-function machines constituting the data communication system 1 is not limited.

  When various information such as sales information for each user is input to POS (point of sales) terminals 21, 22, 23,..., The data communication system 1 receives the various information such as sales information from the POS terminal 21 and the like. The data is transmitted to a server 3 on the Internet, and is accumulated and totaled by the server 3. The sales information is information such as a product name and price, and is attached to a product purchased by a user at a store or the like, for example, by being barcoded. In this application, when summarizing sales information or totaling results, unless otherwise specified, calculating the sum of price information included in sales information, or the calculation results, and price information classified by product etc. Or the sum of price information for each product.

  Further, the data communication system 1 receives the sales information when the server 3 receives an instruction to send the sales information aggregation result from the multifunction peripherals 41, 51, 61 installed in the convenience store 4, the print station 5, and the hotel 6. When the sales information totaling result corresponding to the transmission instruction is transmitted from the server 3 to the MFP 41 or the like that has transmitted the sales information transmission instruction, and the MFP 41 or the like receives the sales information totaling result, the sales information totaling result Display and printing, or data output to an externally connected communication device.

  The POS terminal (communication terminal device in the claims) 21 or the like is a terminal device that collects and manages information when a transaction is performed in a distribution business or the like. For example, the barcode is read by a barcode reader (scanner). As a result, data such as product names, prices, and customer information are immediately input. The POS terminal 21 or the like is preferably composed of a personal computer-based register having a POS function in order to collect data at the point of sale. The POS terminal 21 and the like are connected to the server 3 via the Internet, and are configured to be able to transmit / receive various data to / from the server 3.

  The server (computer on the network in the claims) 3 is network-connected to the POS terminal 21 and the multifunction device 41 and the like by the Internet or the like, and various information can be transmitted and received between these devices. . As described above, the server 3 plays a role of storing and counting sales information received from the POS terminal 21 and the like, and transmitting the counting result to the multifunction device 41 and the like.

  The multifunction peripherals 41, 51, 61 installed in the convenience store 4, the print station 5, and the hotel 6 are connected to the server 3 via a network such as the Internet, and sales information for each user with the server 3. It is possible to send and receive various types of information such as total results. The multifunction device 41 or the like displays and prints the sales information received from the server 3, and is connected to an externally connected communication device (mobile phone 7, PDA (personal digital assistants) 8, notebook personal computer 9, etc. The same function is provided. The multifunction device 41 and the like also have a function of receiving a password input by an external operation by a user and discriminating a specific user based on the password.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the POS terminal 21 and the like. Since the POS terminals 21, 22, 23,... Have the same configuration, the POS terminal 21 will be described below as an example. The POS terminal 21 includes a control unit 211 that controls operation of each unit of the POS terminal 21, a ROM 212 that stores various operation programs, a RAM 213 that is used as an operation area of the control unit 211, and a manual operation by a user. The operation unit 214 that accepts external instruction input, the communication I / F 215 that functions as an interface for transmitting and receiving various data to and from the server 3, an LCD (liquid crystal display), etc. A display unit 216 that displays a message, the contents of sales information received from the server 3, and the like.

  The operation unit 214 includes a numeric keypad (identification information reception unit, sales information reception unit) 2141, a barcode reader (sales information reception unit) 2142, and a card reader (identification information reception unit) 2143. The numeric keypad 2141 is used to manually input data such as numbers. The barcode reader 2142 reads a barcode attached to a product or the like, and accepts input of sales information such as a product name or a price represented in the barcode. The sales information (particularly, digitized data such as price and store code) can be manually input from the numeric keypad 2141. It should be noted that the identification information accepting means in the claims may be provided with any one of the numeric keypad 2141, bar code reader 2142, or card reader 2143.

  The card reader 2143 is a personal identification information (necessary for identifying a specific user) recorded on a magnetic recording medium such as a credit card or a membership card. (Meaning information). The personal identification information can be manually input from the numeric keypad 2141.

  The control unit 211 includes an information transmission unit (information transmission unit) 2111 and a date / time storage unit (date / time storage unit) 2113. The information transmission unit 2111 performs each process necessary for transmitting various information such as the sales information described above to the server 3 connected to the network. The date and time storage unit 2112 stores personal identification information from the card reader 2143 or the numeric keypad 2141 and information such as the date and place when the input from the barcode reader 2142 or the numeric keypad 2141 is performed (hereinafter referred to as related information). To do.

  Note that the information transmission unit 2111 and the date / time storage unit 2112 provided in the control unit 211 may be configured by individual circuits or the like, or one CPU according to an operation program stored in the ROM 212 or the like. May be configured to execute the functions of the control unit 211, the information transmission unit 2111 and the date and time storage unit 2112.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the server 3. The server 3 receives from the control unit 31 that controls the operation of each unit of the server 3, the ROM 32 that stores various operation programs, the RAM 33 that is used as the operation area of the control unit 31, the POS terminal 21, and the like. As an interface for transmitting / receiving various data to / from the HDD 34 for storing various data such as personal identification information and sales information, the HDD control circuit 35 for controlling the operation of the HDD 34, the POS terminal 21, the multifunction device 41, etc. And a functioning communication I / F 36.

  The control unit 31 includes an information receiving unit (information receiving unit) 311, a totaling unit (totaling unit) 312, and a totaling result transmitting unit (totaling result transmitting unit) 313. The information receiving unit 311 receives personal identification information and sales information from the information receiving unit 311 such as the POS terminal 21 and performs processing necessary for receiving a sales information transmission instruction from the multifunction device 41 and the like. The sales information and personal identification information received by the information receiving unit 311 are stored in the HDD 34 by the control unit 31.

  The aggregation unit 312 aggregates the sales information stored in the HDD 34 for each user specified by the personal identification information, and based on the related information received by the information receiving unit 311 from the POS terminal 21 or the like. The sales information aggregated for each user is further aggregated by usage day (or usage date and time), usage month, usage location, and the like. It should be noted that the total result of the sales information is also stored in the HDD 34 by the control unit 31.

  The total result transmission unit 313 performs processing necessary for transmitting the sales information total result corresponding to the sales information total result transmission instruction received by the information reception unit 311 from the multi-function peripheral 41 or the like to the multi-function peripheral 41 or the like. It is.

  Note that the information receiving unit 311, the totaling unit 312, and the totaling result transmitting unit 313 provided in the control unit 31 may be individually configured with a circuit or the like, or stored in the ROM 32 or the HDD 34. One CPU may be configured to operate as the control unit 31, the information reception unit 311, the totalization unit 312, and the totalization result transmission unit 313 according to the operation program.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the multifunction machine 41 and the like. Since the multifunction devices 41, 51, and 61 have the same configuration, the multifunction device 41 will be described below as an example. The multifunction device 41 includes a control unit 411 that controls operation of each unit of the multifunction device 41, a ROM 412 that stores various operation programs, a RAM 413 that is used as an operation area of the control unit 411, and a manual operation by a user. The operation unit 414 that accepts external instruction input, the communication I / F 415 that functions as an interface for transmitting and receiving various data to and from the server 3, an LCD (liquid crystal display), etc. A display unit 416 that displays messages, contents of sales information received from the server 3, an image reading unit 417 including a small imaging device having a CCD or the like, and contents of sales information received from the server 3 A printing unit 418 including an image forming unit for printing the content of the image data read by the reading unit 417; An external device connection I / F 419 for outputting data such as sales information aggregation results to the connected communication device is provided. This external device connection I / F 419 includes all interfaces capable of data communication with externally connected communication devices such as USB (universal serial bus) and Bluetooth (registered trademark).

  An operation unit (password accepting unit, correction data input unit) 414 performs data communication operation of the multi-function device 41 by an external operation of the user from an input mechanism such as a numeric keypad or a touch panel provided on the LCD panel surface of the display unit 416. It is possible to input a password for determining whether to permit or to input correction data for sales information.

  The control unit 411 includes a user discriminating unit (user discriminating unit) 4111, an aggregation result transmission instruction transmitting unit (aggregating result transmission instruction transmitting unit) 4112, an aggregation result receiving unit (aggregating result receiving unit) 4113, and data output Section (data output means) 4114.

  The user discriminating unit 4111 discriminates a specific user based on the password received by the operation unit 414.

  The totaling result transmission instruction transmission unit 4112 performs processing necessary for transmitting to the server 3 an instruction to transmit the sales information totaling result of a specific user determined by the user determination unit 4111. The aggregation result receiving unit 4113 performs processing necessary for receiving the aggregation result of the sales information corresponding to the sales information transmission instruction transmitted from the aggregation result transmission instruction transmitting unit 4112 from the aggregation result transmitting unit 313 of the server 3. The data output unit 4114 outputs the sales information aggregation result received from the server 3 by the aggregation result receiving unit 4113 via the communication I / F 415 to an externally connected communication device.

  Note that the user determination unit 4111, the tabulation result transmission instruction transmission unit 4112, the tabulation result reception unit 4113, and the data output unit 4114 provided in the control unit 411 may be individually configured with circuits or the like. According to the operation program stored in the ROM 412 or the like, one CPU may operate as the control unit 411, the user determination unit 4111, the total result transmission instruction transmission unit 4112, the total result reception unit 4113, and the data output unit 4114. Good.

  Next, data communication processing by the data communication system 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of data communication processing by the data communication system 1. When a user makes a purchase at a convenience store 4 or the like, personal identification information and sales information are input to the operation unit 214 of the POS terminal 21 installed in the convenience store 4 or the like, and these pieces of information are received ( P1), the date and time storage unit 2112 stores information such as the date and place where the personal identification information and the sales information are received (P2), and the information transmission unit 2111 includes the personal identification information and sales information and the date and time storage unit. The related information consisting of information (or at least one or more of these information) such as the date and place stored by 2112 is transmitted to the server 3 via the communication I / F 215 (P3).

  The personal identification information may be input by reading the magnetic recording portion with a card reader 2143 by using the personal identification information recorded on the magnetic recording portion such as a credit card or a membership card issued by each store. It is also possible to use the personal identification number unique to the data communication process without using the personal identification information recorded on the credit card, the membership card, etc. May be manually input. The sales information may also be input from the barcode read by the barcode reader 2142 or manually by the operator from the numeric keypad 2141 of the operation unit 214.

  When the server 3 receives the personal identification information, sales information, and related information from the POS terminal 21 (SV1), the control unit 31 stores the sales information in the HDD 34 in association with the personal identification information and related information (SV2). The totaling unit 312 performs a process such as calculating the sum by calculating the sum of the price information included in the sales information received this time and the price information of the sales information stored in the HDD 34 so far. Sales information is tabulated for each user (SV3). This total may be totaled regardless of the use location, use date (use date and time) and use month information associated with the sales information, or the use location and use date (use date). The data may be aggregated for each usage month, or both of these may be aggregated. These sales information aggregation results are stored in the HDD 34 by the control unit 31.

  In the multi-function device 41, when a password is input and accepted by the operation unit 414 by a user operation (F1), the user determination unit 4111 determines a specific user from the password (F2). This user discrimination process is performed by, for example, a process of specifying a user based on a data table or the like indicating the relationship between a password and a user name that the user discrimination unit 4111 has.

  When the user is determined in this way, the totaling result transmission instruction transmitting unit 4112 sends an instruction for requesting total transmission of sales information for this user (that is, the totaling result transmission instruction) via the communication I / F 415. To the server 3 (F3). When the information reception unit 311 of the server 3 receives the total result transmission instruction from the multi-function device 41 (SV4), the total result transmission unit 313 is stored in the HDD 34 and is identified by the sales information transmission instruction. The sales information tabulation result is transmitted to the multi-function peripheral 41 via the communication I / F 36 (SV5).

  In the multi-function device 41, when the sales information totaling result from the server 3 is received by the totaling result receiving unit 4113, the control unit 411 displays the sales information totaling result on the display unit 416 (F4). When the control unit 411 receives input of correction data from the operation unit 414 (numerical data indicating the sales information aggregation result after correction or change when the sales information aggregation result is to be corrected or changed). (YES in F5), the sales information aggregation result received from the server 3 is corrected to the contents of the input correction data (F6).

  When the input of the correction data is not accepted (NO in F5), or after the correction processing of F6, the control unit 411 responds to the instruction input by the user from the operation unit 414 (F7), and the sales information The totaling result or the totaling result after correction is output from the data output unit 4114 to a device connected to the external device connection I / F 419 ("External device" in F7, F8), or printed on the printing unit 418 ( "Print" in F7, F9), or when an instruction to perform neither output to the external device nor printing is input from the user to the operation unit 414 ("No output" in F7), the above external The process ends without performing output to the connected device and printing.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the data communication system according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of the data communication system according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the data communication system 10 according to the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the data communication system 1 includes the POS terminal 21 and the like, the server 3 and the multifunction machine 41, but the data communication system 10 according to the second embodiment is shown in FIGS. As shown in the figure, it does not have a POS terminal and is composed of a server and a multifunction peripheral. In addition, since the structure of the server applied to the data communication system 10 concerning 2nd Embodiment is the structure similar to the server 3 applied to 1st Embodiment, it attaches | subjects the same code | symbol as 1st Embodiment. Description is omitted.

  The multi-function device 71 applied to the data communication system 10 according to the second embodiment has the configuration shown in FIG. In the configuration of the multi-function device 71 shown in FIG. 7, the same components as those of the multi-function device 41 of the data communication system 1 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The control unit 711 of the multi-function device 71 includes a data conversion unit (data conversion unit) 7111, an image determination unit (image determination unit) 7112, a date / time storage unit 7113, an information transmission unit 7114, a user determination unit 4111, and an aggregate result transmission instruction transmission. Unit 4112, totaling result receiving unit 4113, and data output unit 4114.

  The image reading unit 417A has first and second image reading positions. The image data read by the first image reading unit of the image reading unit 417A is converted into character data by the data conversion unit 7111, and the image data read at the second image reading position is registered in advance by the image determination unit 7112. It is determined which of the plurality of image data (for example, character shapes, logos, marks, etc. indicating store names or corporate names) matches.

  The data conversion unit 7111 has an OCR (Optical Character Reader) function and the like, and converts image data read at the first image reading position of the image reading unit 417A into character data. The image discriminating unit 7112 has a plurality of pre-registered image data, and the image data read at the second image reading position of the image reading unit 417 is a plurality of pre-registered image data. Which of the two matches is determined by a so-called pattern matching function or the like. The data of the plurality of images is, for example, a character shape, a logo, or a mark indicating a store name or a corporate name, and is described in a receipt received at a store or the like by the determination of the image determination unit 314. When a character, a logo, or the like indicating a store name or a corporate name is read by the image reading unit 417A, it is possible to identify the store name or the corporate name (that is, the place where the user has made a purchase).

  The image discriminating unit 7112 stores the plurality of pieces of image data in the image discriminating unit 7112, as well as the ROM 412 and the RAM 413, and in the case where the multi-function device 71 includes an HDD, the image discriminating unit 7112 stores the above-mentioned image in another storage device such as an HDD. A plurality of image data may be stored. In this case, the storage device in which the plurality of image data is stored also functions as the image discrimination means in the claims. The date and time storage unit 7113 stores the date and time when image reading by the image reading unit 417A was executed.

  When a predetermined symbol is included in the character data converted by the data conversion unit 7111, the information transmission unit 7114 is for specifying the user determined by the user determination unit 4111 in the numeric data following the symbol. ID information is attached and transmitted to the server 3. This ID information may be, for example, newly created information that can identify a specific user, or the password input to the operation unit 414 may be used as ID information.

  Next, data communication processing by the data communication system 10 according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of data communication processing by the data communication system 10. In the multi-function device 71, when a password for requesting permission to execute the data communication process is input to the operation unit 414 by the user's operation and the password is accepted (F11), the control unit 711 reads the image by the image reading unit 417A. The operation is permitted, and the image reading unit 417A performs image reading at the first and second image reading positions (F12). The date and time of image reading is stored in the date and time storage unit 7113 (F13).

  The first image reading position of the image reading unit 417A is, for example, a predetermined position on the document reading surface of the image reading unit 417A (or the document reading glass surface when the image reading unit 417A is a scanner), for example, This refers to the rectangular portion 4171 shown in FIG. Further, the second image reading position refers to a predetermined position on the image reading surface of the image reading unit 417A, for example, a rectangular portion 4172 shown in FIG. It should be noted that the first and second image reading positions in the image reading unit 417A can be set by appropriately changing the positions (can be set at any position within the image reading range of the image reading unit 417A). . Then, at the first image reading position, the total amount display portion described in the receipt (FIG. 10) received at the store or the like is read, and at the second image reading position, the store mark portion described in the receipt is read. As shown in FIG. 11, the receipt is placed on the original reading surface of the image reading unit 417 </ b> A, and the money amount portion of the receipt at the first image reading position is the store name of the receipt at the second image reading position. Make sure that the logo etc. can be read.

  The store mark and the total amount display portion do not need to be read at the first and second image reading positions at the same time, and each image is read by a separate reading operation in accordance with each image reading position. May be. If the image reading times at the first and second image reading positions are different, it is preferable to perform processing such as registering the later time.

  After image reading at the first and second image reading positions of the image reading unit 417A, the data conversion unit 7111 converts the image data read at the first image reading position into character data (F14). The control unit 711 determines whether or not the character data after the conversion of the image data at the first image reading position includes a predetermined symbol (such as “total”, “yen”, “¥”, etc.) described above) (F15). . Here, if the converted character data does not include a predetermined symbol (NO in F15), the control unit 711 displays an error message on the display unit 416 indicating that the numerical data indicating the amount cannot be confirmed. Display (F16). This prompts the user to recognize that the image read by the image reading unit 417A has not been recognized as numeric data indicating the amount of money, and prompts the user to manually input new numeric data from the operation unit 414. It is.

  Here, when new numeric data is not manually input from the operation unit 414 by the user (NO in F17), the control unit 711 ends the process. When new numeric data is input from the operation unit 414 by the user (YES in F17), the image determination unit 7112 registers the image data read at the second image reading position and the image determination unit 7112 in advance. It is determined whether any one of the plurality of image data matches (F18). As described above, the data of the plurality of images is, for example, a character shape, logo, or mark indicating a store name or a corporate name. The store name and corporate name described in the received receipt are identified.

  If the predetermined symbol is included in the character data after the image data at the first image reading position is converted (YES in F15), the processes of F16 and F17 are skipped.

  If the image discriminating unit 7112 discriminates that the image data at the second image reading position does not match any of a plurality of pre-registered image data (NO in F18), the first The image data at the two image reading positions is registered as new image data in the image discriminating unit 7112 (F19).

  In the determination processing of F18, when the image determination unit 7112 determines that the image data read at the second image reading position matches any of a plurality of pre-registered image data (in F18) YES), or after the new registration process (F19), the information transmission unit 7114 determines the numeric data (numeric data indicating the amount) included in the character data converted by the data conversion unit 7111 by the image determination unit 7112. Information related to store names and corporate names stored in association with the images, data such as the date and time when the image was read, and ID information for indicating a specific user are associated with these information. Is transmitted to the server 3 via the communication I / F 415 (F20).

  In the server 3, when the information receiving unit 311 receives the numeric data, the store name / corporate name information, the date / time data and the ID information from the multi-function device 71 (SV 11), the control unit 31 associates the data. The data is stored in the HDD 34 (SV12), and the counting unit 312 performs processing such as calculating the sum by calculating the sum of the numerical data received this time and the numerical data stored in the HDD 34 so far. Sales information is tabulated for each user (SV13).

  After the above process is performed, when the password is input by the user to the operation unit 414 of the multi-function device 71, the multi-function device 71 transmits a transmission instruction of the total result of the sales information to the server 3, and the multi-function device 71 performs the server The process of outputting the total result of the sales information received from 3 includes the processes F1 to F9 by the multi-function device 41 of the data communication system 1 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. This is the same as the process of SV5.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration and processing of the data processing systems 1 and 10 are shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 11, but these configurations and processing are merely examples, and the data processing systems 1 and 10 according to the present invention. The configuration and processing are not limited to the above.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a data communication system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a POS terminal. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a server. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a multifunction peripheral or the like. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of the data communication process by a data communication system. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a data communication system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the data communication system concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of the data communication process by a data communication system. It is a figure which shows the 1st and 2nd image reading position in the image reading surface of an image reading part. It is a figure which shows an example of a receipt. FIG. 10 is a diagram virtually illustrating a state in which a receipt is placed on an image reading surface of an image reading unit, a monetary part is aligned with a first image reading position, and a store mark is aligned with a second image reading position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,10 Data processing system 21,22,23 POS terminal 211 Control part 2111 Information transmission part 2112 Date / time storage part 2141 Numeric keypad 2142 Bar code reader 2143 Card reader 214 Operation part 216 Display part 3 Server 31 Control part 311 Information reception part 312 Aggregation Unit 313 Aggregation result transmission unit 314 Image discrimination unit 41, 51, 61 MFP 411 Control unit 4111 User discrimination unit 4112 Aggregation result transmission instruction transmission unit 4113 Aggregation result reception unit 4114 Data output unit 414 Operation unit 416 Display unit 417 Image reading Unit 4171 rectangular unit 4172 rectangular unit 418 printing unit 71 multifunction peripheral 711 control unit 7111 data conversion unit 7112 image discrimination unit 7113 date storage unit 7114 information transmission unit

Claims (13)

A data communication system comprising a communication terminal device, an image forming device, and a computer connected to the communication terminal device and the image forming device via a network,
The communication terminal device includes identification information receiving means for receiving input of personal identification information for specifying individual users by external operation, and a user specified by the personal identification information input to the identification information receiving means. Sales information receiving means that accepts external sales information input, sales information input to the sales information receiving means, and personal identification information received by the identification information receiving means in association with each other and sent to a computer on the network Information transmitting means to
The computer includes information receiving means for receiving sales information and personal identification information associated therewith from the communication terminal device, and sales information received from the information transmitting means of the communication terminal device by the information receiving means. Aggregating means for summing up each user specified by the identification information, and a result of summing up the sales information by the counting means of the user corresponding to the sales information transmission instruction received by the information receiving means from the image forming apparatus A totaling result transmission means for transmitting to the forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus is discriminated by a password accepting unit that accepts an input of a password by an external operation, a user discriminating unit that discriminates a specific user based on the password accepted by the password accepting unit, and the user discriminating unit. Summation result transmission instruction transmitting means for transmitting a transmission result transmission result instruction for the user's sales information to the computer, and sales information corresponding to the aggregation result transmission instruction transmitted from the aggregation result transmission instruction transmission means to the computer A data communication system comprising: a total result receiving means for receiving the total result from the total result transmitting means of the computer. The communication terminal device includes date and time storage means for storing usage date information, usage month information or usage location information together with the sales information, and the information transmission means is stored in the date and time storage means together with the sales information. Sending at least one or more of usage date information, usage month information or usage location information to the computer;
The computer totaling means totals the sales information for each user according to usage date information, usage month information or usage location information received by the information receiving means from the information transmitting means of the communication terminal device. The data communication system according to claim 1. A data communication system comprising an image forming apparatus and a computer connected to the network,
The image forming apparatus includes a password receiving unit that receives an input of a password by an external operation, a user determining unit that determines a specific user from the password received by the password receiving unit, and an image reading unit that reads an image on a document A data conversion means for converting the image read by the image reading means into character data, and whether the character data converted by the data conversion means includes a predetermined symbol, and if the predetermined symbol is included Includes a variety of information transmitting means for attaching ID information for identifying the user determined by the user determining means to the numeric data following the symbol and transmitting the data to a computer connected to the network. ,
The computer includes an information receiving unit that receives the numeric data and ID information from various information transmitting units of the image forming apparatus, and the numeric data received by the information receiving unit for each user specified by the ID information. A totaling means for summing up the data, and a totaling result transmitting means for transmitting the totaling results for each user totaled by the totaling means to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes a totaling result receiving unit configured to receive a totaling result for each user totaled by the totaling unit from a totaling result transmitting unit of the computer. The image reading unit of the image forming apparatus includes first and second image reading positions, and the data converting unit converts image data at the first image reading position read by the image reading unit into character data, The various information transmitting means associates the numerical data included in the character data converted by the data converting means with the image data at the second image reading position read by the image reading means and transmits the data to the computer,
The computer discriminates which image data at the second image reading position received from the image forming apparatus by the information receiving means matches among a plurality of pre-registered image data. 4. The data communication system according to claim 3, further comprising a discriminating unit, wherein the tabulating unit further tabulates numeric data tabulated for each user for each image discriminated by the image discriminating unit.   5. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a printing unit that prints the counting result received by the counting result receiving unit.   6. The data communication according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a data output unit that outputs a totaling result received by the totaling result receiving unit to an externally connected communication device. system.   7. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a display unit that displays a totaling result received by the totaling result receiving unit.   The data communication system according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a correction data input unit that receives an input of correction data for correcting the tabulation result displayed on the display unit by an external operation.   Password accepting means for accepting an input of a password by an external operation, user discriminating means for discriminating a specific user from the password accepted by the password accepting means, image reading means for reading an image on a document, and the image reading means Data conversion means for converting the image read by the data into character data, and when the character data converted by the data conversion means includes a predetermined symbol, the user discrimination means discriminates the numeric data following the symbol into numeric data Various information transmitting means for transmitting to a computer connected to a network with ID information for identifying the user who has been sent, and numerical data for each user transmitted from the various information transmitting means to the computer And a totaling result receiving means for receiving the totaling result from the computer. Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a printing unit that prints the counting result received by the counting result receiving unit.   11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a data output unit configured to output a total result received by the total result reception unit to an externally connected communication device.   12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a display unit that displays a totaling result received by the totaling result receiving unit.   13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising correction data input means for inputting correction data for correcting the tabulated result displayed on the display means by an external operation.

Images