JP2006331436A - Terminal information notification system, terminal information notification method and network terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network terminal that allows a user to quickly start work for removing the cause of a failure when the failure occurs and that facilitates operation for removing the cause. <P>SOLUTION: When a failure occurs, a printer 2 transmits a mail 30 for manager which is composed of a status notice 6 indicating the status of the printer 2, node information 7 including the name, type, and installation location of the printer 2, and a URL display part 8 indicating the URL used to link to a control page for the operation of the printer 2 to the mail address of a manager. When the manager receives the mail 30 for manager and clicks the URL attached to the mail 30 for manager, the printer 2 provides the control page for the operation of the printer 2 to a terminal 3 for the manager. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal information notification system, a terminal information notification method, and a network terminal device capable of notifying information of a network terminal device such as a printer connected to a network to an administrator terminal device by e-mail.

  Conventionally, in a printing apparatus such as a printer shared and used on a network, when a failure such as a paper size error or toner shortage occurs, information about the failure (hereinafter referred to as “failure information”). Is provided with a function of notifying an administrator using an e-mail.

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of failure information notified to the administrator by e-mail.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the conventional failure information includes status information 24 indicating an outline of the printer state, and node information 25 indicating the name, model, and installation location of the printer. An e-mail for notifying trouble information (hereinafter referred to as “notification mail”) is set in advance so as to be automatically transmitted to the e-mail address of the administrator when a trouble occurs in the printer. Then, the administrator who has received this notification mail goes to the printer indicated by the failure information, finds out the cause of the failure based on the content of the failure information, and tries to eliminate the cause.

  Some networks have a printer server provided with a printer management tool (hereinafter referred to as “management tool”) for monitoring and operating the printer. In this case, the administrator has attempted to eliminate the cause of the failure by operating the printer by inputting a command to the management tool from the printer server or a terminal device that has accessed the printer server. Further, some printers have a built-in web page format printer management tool (hereinafter referred to as “management web page”). In this case, the administrator can use a terminal device connected to the network. The Web server in the printer was accessed to eliminate the cause of the failure.

  By the way, if you go to the printer and try to eliminate the cause of the failure, if the network is wide, if the administrator is not near the printer, even if it receives failure information, it will respond immediately to the failure It was difficult.

  On the other hand, when a printer is operated using a conventional printer management tool, the administrator needs to learn a command, and it has not been easy to operate the printer.

  In addition, if the administrator does not know or forgets the address of the management Web page, it takes time to reach the management Web page and the response may be delayed. It was.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention can easily check the cause of the failure and the internal information when the failure occurs or when the internal information is confirmed or changed. It is an object to provide a notification system, a terminal information notification method, and a network terminal device.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 includes: a network terminal device connected to a network; and an administrator terminal device connected to the network and capable of confirming information of the network terminal device. A terminal information notification system for notifying the administrator terminal device of information of the network terminal device by e-mail, wherein the network terminal device responds to a request from the administrator terminal device. An information server capable of providing or changing information; and link information adding means for adding link information for accessing the information server to the e-mail, wherein the manager terminal device is notified from the network terminal device. Information server of the network terminal device based on link information added to the e-mail The information server access means for accessing is provided.

  In the terminal information notification system configured as described above, information on the network terminal device is transmitted from the administrator terminal device based on link information such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device. Easy access to the server.

  In addition, as described in claim 2, the information of the network terminal device notified by electronic mail may be failure information.

  In this case, the administrator who has received the failure information accesses the information server of the network terminal device based on the link information added to the e-mail to easily check the cause of the failure or Can be changed.

  In addition, as described in claim 3, the information of the network terminal device notified by electronic mail may be information notified at a preset time.

  In this case, if the administrator wants to check the information of the network terminal device regularly, or wants to check the information at a specific time set by the administrator, the link information added to the notified e-mail Based on this, it is possible to access the information server of the network terminal device and easily check the usage status of the network terminal device.

  Next, the invention according to claim 4 is a terminal information notification method for notifying information of a network terminal device connected to a network to an administrator terminal device connected to the network by e-mail. Creates an e-mail with link information for accessing the information of the network terminal device at a predetermined timing, transmits the e-mail to the manager terminal device, and sends the e-mail to the manager terminal device. Is characterized in that information on the network terminal device is accessed based on link information added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device.

  In this terminal information notification method, the administrator terminal device can easily access the information server of the network terminal device based on the link information added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device.

  Furthermore, the invention described in claim 5 includes an information server that provides information in response to a request from the network, and a notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a preset destination address at a predetermined timing. In the network terminal device, as one of the information provided by the information server, an operation screen generating means for generating an operation screen display for operating the network terminal device and a link to the operation screen display are provided. Link information adding means for adding link information to the electronic mail.

  In this network terminal device, the operation screen display provided by the information server can be browsed based on the link information added to the e-mail from the user of the destination address that received the e-mail. Thus, the information of the network terminal device can be easily confirmed.

  When the link information is a URL, not only can the access to the operation screen display be easily made from the URL, but it can also be incorporated in the network terminal device by changing the components after the IP address in the URL. It is also possible to access other programs and data. For this reason, if the URL is known to an unspecified number of people, the operation screen display is illegally accessed, and not only the setting of the network terminal device is arbitrarily changed but also the IP of the network terminal device from the URL. If the address is leaked, there is a possibility that other programs and data may be illegally accessed and the programs and data may be stolen or destroyed.

  Therefore, the network terminal device according to the present invention preferably comprises link information necessity setting means for setting whether or not to add link information by the link information adding means.

  If the network terminal device is configured in this way, link information is added by setting the link information necessity setting means so that URL addition is rejected when leakage of the URL is dangerous for security reasons. It is possible to prohibit addition of link information to failure information by means.

  In addition, as described in claim 7, the information of the network terminal device notified by electronic mail may be failure information.

  In this case, the administrator who has received the failure information accesses the operation screen based on the link information added to the e-mail to easily check the cause of the failure or change the information of the network terminal device. can do.

  Further, as described in claim 8, the information of the network terminal device notified by electronic mail may be information notified at a preset time.

  In this case, if the administrator wants to check the information of the network terminal device regularly, or wants to check the information at a specific time set by the administrator, the link information added to the notified e-mail Based on this, it is possible to access the operation screen and easily check the usage status of the network terminal device.

  In addition, as described in claim 9, when the notification timing by the e-mail has elapsed at the time of power activation, it is preferable to perform the notification by the e-mail immediately after the activation.

  In this case, even if the e-mail notification timing elapses when the power is turned on, the information of the network terminal device can be immediately notified by e-mail.

  The link information adding means is configured to add link information when a domain name included in the destination address matches a preset allowable domain name. It is desirable that

  If the link information adding means is configured in this way, for example, even if it is permitted to notify the failure information to a plurality of users by the link information necessity means, the link information is sent to all the notification destinations. The link information of the operation screen display is added only to the e-mail sent to the user having the domain name permitted to manage the network terminal device. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an unauthorized access or the like from being performed by leaking the IP address of the network terminal device to a user who is not permitted to manage the network terminal device.

  Next, an invention according to claim 11 includes an information server that provides information in response to a request from the network, and notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a preset destination address at a predetermined timing. In the provided network terminal device, operation screen storage means storing a plurality of types of operation screen displays prepared in advance for operating the network terminal device, and the operation screen as information provided by the information server A screen display selection means for selecting an operation screen display corresponding to the information from the plurality of types of operation screen displays stored in the storage means, and an operation screen display selected by the screen display selection means. The link information adding means for adding link information to be linked to the e-mail, and the link information depending on the information notified by the e-mail. Link information selecting means for selecting link information added by the link information adding means.

  In the network terminal device configured as described above, it is possible to browse the operation screen display corresponding to the notified information only by accessing the link information added to the e-mail. And the network terminal device can be operated.

  Next, the invention according to claim 12 is an information server that provides or changes internal information in response to a request from the network, and the internal information is sent by e-mail to a plurality of preset destination addresses at a predetermined timing. In a network terminal device comprising a notification means for notification, notification information selection means for selecting information to be notified by the notification means for each of the plurality of destination addresses, and information selected by the notification information selection means Information adding means for adding to the e-mail.

  In the network terminal device configured as described above, information to be notified to each of a plurality of destination addresses can be selected, so that it is possible to notify optimum information necessary for each destination address.

  In addition, as described in claim 13, the network terminal device information notified by electronic mail may be failure information.

  In this case, only failure information required by a user such as an administrator can be notified, and the cause of the failure can be easily confirmed without looking at extra information. Also, by setting the destination address of the user who is familiar with the resolution of each cause according to the contents of each failure, the cause of the failure can be resolved more quickly when a failure occurs.

  In addition, as described in claim 14, when the failure information is added to the e-mail by the information adding unit, it is not selected by the notification information selecting unit, but is selected for another destination address. Fault information can also be described in the e-mail.

  In this case, failure information selected by a user such as an administrator of another destination address can be confirmed at the same time.

  Next, the invention described in claim 15 includes a network terminal device connected to a network, and an administrator terminal device connected to the network and capable of confirming information of the network terminal device, and the network terminal device In the terminal information notification system for notifying the administrator terminal device by e-mail, the network terminal device can change the information of the network terminal device in response to a request from the administrator terminal device. A link information adding means for adding link information for accessing the information server to the e-mail, and the manager terminal device includes link information added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device. Information server access method for accessing the information server of the network terminal device based on The provided, based on access by the information server access means of the administrator terminal device is configured to change the information of the network terminal device.

  In the terminal information notification system configured as described above, information on the network terminal device is transmitted from the administrator terminal device based on link information such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device. Since the information can be changed, the information of the network terminal device can be easily changed without performing an extra operation.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 16 is an information server capable of changing internal information in response to a request from the network, and a notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a preset destination address at a predetermined timing. The link information adding means for adding link information for accessing the information server and changing the internal information to the e-mail is provided.

  In the network terminal device configured as described above, information on the network terminal device is changed based on link information such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) added to the e-mail from the user of the destination address notified by the e-mail. Therefore, the information of the network terminal device can be easily changed without performing an extra operation.

  The link information necessity setting means preferably uses a GUI (Graphical User Interface).

  In this case, the user can operate the setting of whether or not to add link information such as the URL of the operation screen display to the e-mail simply by clicking the icon provided by the GUI. Therefore, the user does not need to remember commands necessary for setting one by one or input commands to the link information necessity setting means, and can easily set whether or not to add link information such as a URL.

  The operation screen display is preferably a web page.

  In this case, if a browser is prepared for the administrator terminal device used by the user, the operation screen display can be used regardless of the model of the terminal device.

  In addition, when the user operates the network terminal device, there is no trouble of memorizing a command for operating the network terminal device or inputting a command to the operation screen display, so that the operation is easy. In order to be able to do this, it is desirable that a GUI is used for the operation screen display.

  The configuration according to claim 2 or 3 may be applied to the terminal information notification system according to claim 15 in the same manner as that according to claim 1, and the configuration according to claims 6 to 10 is claimed. Needless to say, the present invention may be applied to the network terminal device according to the sixteenth aspect as in the fifth aspect.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network in the embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a network 1 includes a printer 2 that is a network terminal device according to the present invention, an administrator terminal device 3 that manages settings and adjustments of the printer 2, and a user that uses the printer 2. It comprises a terminal device 4 and a mail server device 5 that manages the exchange of electronic mail between the terminal devices on the network 1.

  The administrator terminal device 3 and the user terminal device 4 include printer control software (so-called printer driver) for using the printer 2, and send and receive e-mails and Web pages using the network 1. It is a well-known personal computer equipped with e-mail software and a browser so that it can be viewed. The mail server device 5 is a well-known personal computer including an SMTP server program that manages transmission of electronic mail and a POP3 server program that manages reception of electronic mail.

  In FIG. 1, for simplicity of explanation, only one printer 2, administrator terminal device 3, and user terminal device are arranged, but a plurality of devices may be arranged on the network 1. Needless to say.

  Here, FIG. 2 is an internal functional block diagram of the printer 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 2 includes an actuator unit 21 that performs operations such as printing and paper feeding, a LAN interface unit 22 that manages the exchange between the printer 2 and the network 1, and controls each unit of the printer 2. It is comprised from the control part 23 which performs.

  The actuator unit 21 includes a printing mechanism, a paper feed mechanism, and the like, and each mechanism part is provided with a sensor 211 for detecting a failure. The output of the sensor 211 is input to the control unit 23.

   The LAN interface unit 22 includes a network control unit 221 that controls communication between the network 1 and the printer 2, a mail creation unit 222 that creates a notification mail and adds a URL of the control page, and a transmission destination of the notification mail. It includes a mail setting storage unit 223 for storing settings such as whether to add an address and whether or not to add a URL, or a period when the status of the printer 2 is regularly notified.

  In addition, the control unit 23 processes commands and data sent from the administrator terminal device 3 and the user terminal device 4 via the network 1, and based on the commands and data, The control unit 231 that controls each unit and the actuator unit 21 to perform control, the printer setting storage unit 232 that stores the settings applied to the printer 2, and the output from the sensor 211 of the actuator unit 21 are constantly monitored. In addition, a failure detection unit 233 that detects a failure detection signal output by the sensor 211 when a failure occurs in the actuator unit 21 and various setting screens for performing various settings of the printer 2 are stored. An operation screen display (hereinafter referred to as “control page”) for operating the printer 2 is generated, and in response to a request from a terminal device on the network 1 The web server 234 that provides them, and the URL setting unit 235 that sets the URL of the control page each time the web server 234 generates the control page.

  The control unit 23 and the LAN interface unit 22 are configured by a known circuit configuration including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an I / O, a serial interface, and the like, and each unit in the control unit 23 and each unit in the LAN interface unit 22 are configured. Is realized by a program.

  When the printer 2 configured in this manner has a failure (for example, a paper size error), an e-mail address registered in advance in the mail setting storage unit 223 (hereinafter simply referred to as “mail address”) is notified. Send an email to notify the location of the failure and the details of the failure.

  The printer 2 can also send a notification mail to the mail address at a time (notification timing) registered in advance in the mail setting storage unit 223 to notify the internal state of the printer 2. As the pre-registered time (predetermined timing), the notification time may be set together with the setting such as daily, weekly, or monthly, or the notification interval may be set such as every 6 hours. You may do it. Further, it may be set so that the notification mail is transmitted only once at a specific date and time.

  Here, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main process performed by the control unit 23 of the printer 2.

  The printer 2 monitors whether or not a print command is sent from the user terminal device 4 via the network 1 (S10). If it is determined that the print command is received, the printer 2 is based on the received data. Then, the actuator unit 21 is controlled to perform a normal printing process (S12). If no print command is sent (S10: No), it is determined whether or not a failure is detected by the failure detection unit 233 (S13). If a failure is detected, a failure detection process described later is performed. Is performed (S14).

  Further, if no failure is detected (S13: No), it is determined whether or not the notification timing registered in the mail setting storage unit 223 is reached (S15), and if it is determined that the timing is reached, A status report creation process is executed to transmit a notification mail indicating the internal state of the printer 2 (S16).

  In detail, the determination process of S15 is executed based on a determination as to whether or not status report notification is set and whether or not the set date and time has been reached or passed. The determination process of whether or not the set date has passed is because the printer 2 is not always turned on at all times, so the status report notification timing comes when the power is turned off. In some cases, this confirmation is made when the power is turned on, and a status report can be quickly notified to the administrator.

The main process is always executed at a predetermined timing (for example, 1 msec).
Here, FIG. 4 corresponds to the failure detection process of S14 of FIG. 3, and is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the control supervision unit 231 when a failure occurs.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when a failure occurs in the printer 2 and the failure detection unit 233 detects an input of a failure detection signal from the sensor 211 of the actuator unit 21, the control control unit 231 detects the sensor that has issued the failure detection signal. 211 is identified, the location of the failure and the content of the failure are identified, and it is determined whether the failure should be notified to any administrator (S110).

  If it is determined that the failure should be notified to any one of the managers, the control supervising unit 231 checks whether the mail address of the user who uses the user terminal device 4 is registered in the mail setting storage unit 223. (S120). Here, when the registration of the user's email address is confirmed (S120: Yes), the control supervising unit 231 creates a notification email to the user (hereinafter referred to as "user-addressed email") in the email creation unit 222. Next, it is checked (S130), and it is confirmed whether the mail address of the administrator who uses the manager terminal device 3 is registered in the mail setting storage unit 223 (S140). When the user's mail address is not registered in the mail setting storage unit 223 (S120: No), the control supervising unit 231 does not make a user-addressed mail creation request, and stores the mail setting storage unit 223 in the mail setting storage unit 223. It is checked whether the administrator's e-mail address is registered (S140).

  When it is confirmed that the administrator's e-mail address is registered in the e-mail setting storage unit 223 (S140: Yes), a notification e-mail to the administrator (hereinafter referred to as "e-mail to the administrator") is created. Is requested to the mail creation unit 222 (S150). At this time, if multiple administrator email addresses are registered, a notification email must be created for each administrator.

  The registration of the user's e-mail address or the like is performed using a printer driver provided in the user terminal device 4. However, unlike the user, the Web server 234 is registered by the administrator. Registration is performed using an administrator registration screen provided to the administrator terminal device 3. Of course, the user may be able to register using the Web server 234, or the administrator may be able to register using the printer driver. Further, not only the printer driver, but registration may be performed using application software for printer management installed in the user terminal device 4 or the administrator terminal device 3.

  FIG. 6 shows an administrator registration screen for registering the administrator's e-mail address and the like in the e-mail setting storage unit 223.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the administrator registration screen 33 includes a server address registration unit 14 for registering the IP address of the mail server device 5 and administrator address registration units 15 and 16 for registering e-mail addresses of a plurality of administrators. An administrator selection unit 17 that distributes the administrator to be notified for each type of failure, a URL necessity setting unit 18 that sets whether or not to add the URL of the control page to the administrator's mail, and a specific domain An allowed domain registration unit 19 that sets only a manager having a name to be able to access the control page, and a setting confirmation unit 20 that determines whether or not to confirm the setting applied to the mail addressed to the administrator.

  Note that a GUI is used for the administrator registration screen 33, and the server address registration unit 14, the administrator address registration units 15 and 16, and the allowable domain registration unit 19 only provide an IP address, a mail address, and a domain name. Settings can be made just by typing. In addition, the administrator selection unit 17 and the URL necessity setting unit 18 can perform selection and necessity setting by clicking a square frame to the right of each item, and the setting confirmation unit 20 corresponds. The settings can be confirmed by simply clicking a button.

  When the administrator's e-mail address and the like are registered and set on the administrator registration screen 33 configured as described above and the setting is confirmed, various setting items are transferred to the control control unit 231 via the network 1 and the network control unit 221. After being transmitted and processed, it is stored in the mail setting storage unit 223 from the control supervision unit 231.

  The administrator registration screen 33 is read out from the memory stored as one of the setting information of the administrator terminal device 3 and set, and the setting information is stored in the mail setting of the printer 2 via the network 1. It may be stored in the unit 223.

  Although not shown, several registration screens similar to those shown in FIG. 6 for registering various setting information are prepared, and the mail address of the printer 2 can be registered from this registration screen. . Here, the registered e-mail address is described in the From part of the header information 40 in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and the administrator who received the e-mail addressed to the administrator is a notification from the printer 2. It has come to understand.

  Here, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the control supervision unit 231 at the time of creating the administrator-addressed mail.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the mail creation unit 222 creates an email addressed to the administrator, the control supervision unit 231 first sets in the email setting storage unit 223 whether to add a URL to the email addressed to the administrator. After confirming (S210) and confirming that the URL is set to be added, the Web server 234 is requested to generate a control page (S220).

  Then, the URL creation unit 235 is requested to add the URL of the control page determined by the URL setting unit 235 to the email addressed to the administrator (S230). Is requested to add failure information (S240).

  Through the above steps, an email addressed to the administrator is created and sent to the administrator's email address.

  When the control supervision unit 231 confirms that the display of the URL is not set in the mail setting storage unit 223 (S210: No), the URL is added only to the notification mail addressed to the specific domain name. (S250). When it is confirmed that the specific domain name is permitted (S250: Yes), it is subsequently confirmed whether the domain name matches the registered administrator's domain name (S260). Here, if it is confirmed that they match, the control supervision unit 231 makes a control page generation request to the Web server 234 (S220).

  In addition, when addition of URL to the notification mail addressed to the specific domain name is not permitted (S250: No), or the domain name of the notification destination does not match the specific domain name (S260: No), The control supervising unit 231 requests the mail creating unit 222 to add only the failure information to the mail addressed to the administrator without making a control page generation request or a request for adding the URL of the control page to the mail addressed to the administrator ( S240).

  In place of or in addition to the processing of S250 and S260, if the domain name of the mail address of the printer 2 matches the domain name of the notification destination, a control page generation request is sent to the Web server 234, and the URL The mail creation unit 222 may be requested to add the URL of the control page determined by the setting unit 235 to the mail addressed to the administrator.

  Here, FIG. 5A is a display screen for the mail addressed to the administrator transmitted to the administrator when a failure occurs.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the administrator-addressed mail 30 includes a header information 40, a status notification 6 indicating the status of the printer 2, and information such as the name, model, and installation location of the printer 2. The node information 7, the URL display unit 8 indicating the URL linked to the control page, and another administrator (in this case, the administrator 2) are selected by the administrator selection unit 17 on the administrator registration screen 33 in FIG. Information indicating that a failure has occurred and other information 41 such as the number of printed sheets.

  With the administrator-addressed email 30 configured in this manner, the administrator can grasp the details of the failure that has occurred in the printer 2 and the status of the printer 2, and to the control page simply by clicking the URL display unit 8. Accessible.

  If the display of the URL is set not to be accepted and the administrator's domain name does not match the allowable domain, the status information 9 and the node information 10 together with the header information 40 as shown in FIG. And the other information 41, and the administrator-addressed mail 31 to which the URL of the control page is not added is transmitted to the administrator.

  Here, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the control supervision unit 231 when the control page is generated in the printer 2.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the control page generation process is started, the control supervising unit 231 extracts elements used for the control page according to the failure location and the failure content (S310). When the elements are supplied to the Web server 234 (S320), the Web server 234 combines the extracted elements and generates a control page.

  A display screen of the control page generated in this way is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the control page 32 transmits an error display unit 11 indicating the content of a failure that has occurred in the printer 2, an operation content selection unit 12 that selects operation items of the printer 2, and the operation content to the printer 2. And a send button 13 to perform.

  Similarly to the administrator registration screen 33, the control page 32 uses a GUI, and a circular frame is displayed on the left side of each operation item in the operation content selection unit 12. That is, when the administrator selects an operation item and clicks on the circular frame on the left of the operation item, a black dot is displayed at the center of the operation item, indicating that the operation item has been selected. . Further, the administrator can transmit the operation content to the printer 2 by simply clicking the transmission button 13.

  Note that the operation content selected by the administrator is transmitted to the control generalization unit 231 via the network 1 and the network control unit 221. Then, after processing the operation content, the control generalization unit 231 performs control to eliminate the cause of the failure, and stores settings related to the new printer 2 in the printer setting storage unit 232.

  In the network 1 having the printer 2 configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 1, when the user terminal device 4 is instructed to execute printing, the user terminal device 4 transmits a print execution command to the printer 2. ((1)). The printer 2 that has received the print execution instruction starts execution of printing. However, when a failure that prevents execution of printing occurs, a notification mail and a control page are generated internally, and the notification mail is transmitted to the mail server device 5. ((2)).

  Here, in the printer 2, an e-mail address of an administrator who uses the administrator terminal device 3 and a user who uses the user terminal device 4 is set in advance as a destination of the notification mail. The terminal device 3 and the user terminal device 4 are set to access the mail server device 5 periodically. For this reason, when the printer 2 transmits the mail addressed to the administrator and the mail addressed to the user to the mail server device 5, the administrator terminal device 3 and the user terminal device 4 receive the notification mail from the mail server device 5, respectively ( (3) and (4)).

  Note that a URL linked to the control page is added to the email addressed to the administrator. When the administrator clicks the URL to access the control page ((5)), the printer 2 displays the terminal device 3 for the administrator. A control page is provided to (6).

  In other words, when a failure occurs, the printer 2 according to the present embodiment can realize a network terminal device that can quickly start work for eliminating the cause of the failure and can easily perform an operation for eliminating the cause.

  In the present embodiment, the Web server 234 corresponds to the operation screen generation means in the present invention, and the control page 32 corresponds to the operation screen display in the present invention.

  Further, the mail creating unit 222 corresponds to the link information adding unit in the present invention, and the URL necessity setting unit 18 corresponds to the link information necessity setting unit in the present invention.

  In the embodiment, the control page 32 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed by clicking the URL added to the administrator-addressed mail 30 shown in FIG. 5A. As shown in the figure, countermeasures for the failure are listed in the administrator-addressed mail 50, and the cause of the failure of the printer 2 can be solved and the new printer 2 can be simply selected by selecting the countermeasure method added to the mail 50. Settings relating to the above may be stored in the printer setting storage unit 232. Here, as in the control page 32, when the administrator selects an operation item and clicks on the circular frame to the left of the operation item, a black dot is displayed at the center of the operation item, and the operation item is selected. The administrator can send the operation content to the printer 2 simply by clicking the send button 13. For this, a URL may be described for each coping method, and the operation content may be transmitted to the printer 2 by clicking the URL. In this case, the step of S220 in FIG. 7 is eliminated, and in step S230, the URL for the control function of the printer 2 is added to the mail creation unit 222 in the mail addressed to the administrator.

  Next, FIG. 11 corresponds to the status report creation process of S16 of FIG. 3, and is a flowchart showing the flow of the process performed by the control supervising unit 231 when a preset timing comes.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when the timing for notifying the status report is detected and the process for creating the status report is started, it is determined whether or not the task for creating the report is ready (S510).

  If it is determined that the task for creating the report is ready, the control supervision unit 231 checks whether the mail address of the printer 2 is registered in the mail setting storage unit 223 (S520). If it is confirmed that the mail address of the printer 2 is registered (S520: Yes), the control supervising unit 231 sends the mail address of the administrator who uses the administrator terminal device 3 to the mail setting storage unit 223. Is registered (S530). When it is confirmed that the administrator's e-mail address is registered in the e-mail setting storage unit 223 (S530: Yes), a notification e-mail to the administrator (hereinafter referred to as “e-mail addressed to the administrator”) is created. Is requested to the mail creation unit 222 (S540). The processing of FIG. 11 is executed based on the settings by each administrator terminal device when status report notification settings are registered for a plurality of administrator terminal devices. At this time, if the mail addresses of a plurality of managers are registered at the same notification timing, creation of notification mails is sequentially requested for each manager.

  If the mail address of the printer 2 or the administrator's mail address is not registered in the mail setting storage unit 223 (S520, S530: No), the control supervising unit 231 does not make a request for creating a mail addressed to the administrator. End the process.

  As described above, the printer 2 and the administrator are registered using the administrator registration screen provided by the Web server 234 to the administrator terminal device 3.

  Here, FIG. 13 shows an administrator registration screen for registering the administrator's e-mail address and the like in the e-mail setting storage unit 223 in order to periodically transmit the status report of the printer 2.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the administrator registration screen 70 includes an administrator address registration unit 71 that registers an email address for each of a plurality of administrators, a notification timing setting unit 72 that sets a timing for notifying a status report, The setting confirmation unit 73 is configured to determine whether or not to confirm the setting applied to the mail addressed to the administrator. The notification timing setting unit is configured to be able to select daily, weekly, monthly, and set time. Therefore, when there are a plurality of administrator terminal devices 3 in the network 1, the status report notification timing can be set for each administrator terminal device 3.

  In the present embodiment, the setting as to whether or not the URL of the control page is added to the e-mail addressed to the administrator, and the setting as to whether or not only an administrator having a specific domain name can access the control page are set. 6 is set in accordance with the setting of the administrator registration screen 33 shown in FIG. 6, but may be set separately on the administrator registration screen 70.

  Note that a GUI is used for the administrator registration screen 70, and the administrator address registration unit 71 can be set only by inputting a mail address. In addition, the notification timing setting unit 72 is configured so that selection or necessity setting can be performed by clicking a circle frame on the left side of each item or inputting a desired time. You can confirm the settings simply by clicking the button.

  When the administrator's e-mail address and the like are registered and set on the administrator registration screen 70 configured as described above and the setting is confirmed, various setting items are transferred to the control control unit 231 via the network 1 and the network control unit 221. After being transmitted and processed, it is stored in the mail setting storage unit 223 from the control supervision unit 231.

  Here, the process of the control supervision unit 231 at the time of creating the mail addressed to the administrator is almost the same as the process shown in FIG. Is a little different.

  Next, FIG. 12 is a display screen of an email addressed to the administrator transmitted to the administrator as a status report.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the administrator-addressed mail 60 includes header information 62, date information 62 indicating the date and time of transmission of the mail, node information 64 including information such as the name, model, and installation location of the printer 2. , A URL display unit 61 indicating the URL linked to the main page, status information including the usage status of the printer 2, and consumable information (here, toner information) 66 indicating the usage status of consumables such as toner. Has been.

  The information described in the manager-addressed mail 60 may be in a predetermined format, but may be selected by the administrator. If the information to be notified differs for each manager, the notification information may be set for each manager. In this case, another manager (here, manager 2) The selected information or the like may be described in the email 60 addressed to the administrator.

  With the administrator-addressed email 30 configured in this manner, the administrator can periodically grasp the status of the printer 2 and the usage status of consumables, and the main page can be simply clicked on the URL display unit 8. Access to.

  If the display of the URL is set not to be accepted and the administrator's domain name does not match the allowable domain, an email addressed to the administrator without the main page URL is sent to the administrator.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described below.

  In the present embodiment, the printer 2 is different from the first embodiment only in some of the functions in the control unit 23 and the control page generation method. Therefore, description of the same part as 1st Embodiment is abbreviate | omitted here, and it demonstrates centering on a different part.

  In the present embodiment, the control supervision unit 231 stores an ID assigned to each failure that occurs in the printer 2. When a failure occurs in the printer 2, the content of the failure is identified and an ID corresponding to the failure is specified. The data is output to the Web server 234 and the URL creation unit 235.

  The Web server 234 stores a control page for each failure in advance in association with the ID assigned to each failure. When an ID is input from the control control unit 231, a plurality of control pages are selected. The corresponding control page is to be selected.

  The URL setting unit 235 stores URLs corresponding to the control pages stored in the Web server 234 in advance in association with the IDs assigned to the respective faults, and the IDs are input from the control supervision unit 231. Then, a URL corresponding to the URL is supplied to the mail creation unit 222.

  Here, FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the control supervision unit 231 when generating a control page.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the control page generation process is started, the control supervision unit 231 outputs an ID corresponding to the failure occurring in the printer 2 to the Web server 234 and the URL setting unit 235 (S410). . Then, the control page corresponding to the failure is selected by the Web server 234, and the URL corresponding to the control page is selected by the URL setting unit 235 (S420).

  Note that the selected control page stands by in the Web server 234 in preparation for access from the administrator, and the selected URL is added to the administrator-addressed mail by the mail creating unit 222 together with the failure information. Sent to the administrator's email address.

  In this way, when the administrator receives the administrator-addressed mail and clicks the URL added to the administrator-addressed mail, the Web server 234 provides the selected control page to the administrator terminal device 3.

  As described above, when a failure occurs, the printer 2 according to the present embodiment can immediately start work for eliminating the cause of the failure and can easily perform the operation for eliminating the cause. A network terminal device can be realized. The printer 2 according to the present embodiment stores the control page in advance, and when a failure occurs, the printer 2 simply selects the control page corresponding to the failure and provides it to the manager terminal device 3. Control page generation processing can be simplified compared to the printer 2 of the first embodiment that has previously generated control pages.

  In the present embodiment, the Web server 234 corresponds to the operation screen storage unit in the present invention, and the control control unit 231 and the Web server 234 correspond to the screen display selection unit in the present invention. The mail creation unit 222 corresponds to the link information adding unit in the present invention.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various forms can be taken as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention. . Therefore, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a printer. However, the present invention may be applied to, for example, a facsimile, or a so-called composite apparatus having at least two of a printer function, a facsimile function, and a scanner function. Of course, it may be applied to a multifunction peripheral (MFP) or a label printer.

  The information notified from the network terminal device to the administrator is not limited to failure information, but is notified by e-mail in addition to near-empty and empty information of consumables such as ink, toner, and recording paper of the printer 2. Any information can be used as long as it is possible. When the information on the consumables is described, the model name of the consumables, the contact information of the order destination, etc. may be described.

  Further, if the network terminal device has a printer function, printing may be performed using the printer function together with the notification of the e-mail.

  Furthermore, the configuration of the network 1 is not limited to wired, and wireless technology such as wireless LAN and Bluetooth can be used.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the network to which the printer based on this invention is connected. FIG. 2 is an internal functional block diagram of a printer according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which the control part which concerns on this invention performs. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which a control supervision part performs when a failure generate | occur | produces. 6 is a display screen for an administrator-addressed mail generated by the printer according to the present invention. (A) is an e-mail addressed to the administrator when the URL is set to be added, and (b) is an e-mail addressed to the administrator when the addition of the URL is rejected. 4 is an administrator registration screen generated by the printer according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the control supervision part at the time of preparation of the mail addressed to an administrator. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the control supervision part of 1st Embodiment at the time of producing | generating a control page. 3 is a display screen of a control page generated by the printer according to the present invention. It is a display screen of other embodiment of the mail addressed to the administrator generated by the printer according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which a control supervision part performs at the notification timing of a status report. It is a display screen of the mail addressed to the administrator generated by the printer as the status report according to the present invention. 5 is an administrator registration screen for a status report generated by a printer according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the control supervision part of 2nd Embodiment at the time of producing | generating a control page. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of the conventional failure information notified to an administrator.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network, 2 ... Printer, 3 ... Manager terminal device, 4 ... User terminal device, 5 ... Mail server device, 6 ... Status notification, 7 ... Node information, 8 ... URL display section, 9 ... Status notification, 10 ... Node information, 11 ... Error display section, 12 ... Operation content selection section, 13 ... Send button, 14・ ・ ・ Server address registration unit, 15 ... Administrator address registration unit, 16 ... Administrator address registration unit, 17 ... Administrator selection unit, 18 ... URL necessity setting unit,・ Allowable domain registration unit, 20... Setting confirmation unit, 21... Actuator unit, 22... LAN interface unit, 221... Network control unit, 222. Mail setting storage unit, 23 ... control unit, 231 ... control supervision unit, 232 ... printer setting storage unit, 233 ... failure detection unit, 234 ... Web server, 235 ... URL Setting unit, 24 ... Status information, 25 ... Node information, 30 ... Email to administrator, 31 ... Email to administrator, 32 ... Control page, 33 ... Administrator registration screen .

Claims (16)

A network terminal device connected to a network; and an administrator terminal device connected to the network and capable of confirming information of the network terminal device, and electronically transferring the information of the network terminal device to the administrator terminal device In the terminal information notification system that notifies by email,
The network terminal device provides an information server that can provide or change information of the network terminal device in response to a request from the manager terminal device, and a link that adds link information for accessing the information server to the electronic mail Information adding means,
The terminal device for manager comprises information server access means for accessing the information server of the network terminal device based on link information added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device Information notification system. The network terminal device includes detection means for detecting that a failure has occurred, and when the occurrence of a failure is detected by the detection means, the failure information is notified to the manager terminal device by the electronic mail. The terminal information notification system according to claim 1. The network terminal device includes storage means for storing information of the network terminal device, and notifies the administrator terminal device of the information stored in the storage means to the manager terminal device by the electronic mail at a preset time. The terminal information notification system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: In a terminal information notification method for notifying information on a network terminal device connected to a network to an administrator terminal device connected to the network by e-mail,
The network terminal device creates an e-mail with link information for accessing information of the network terminal device at a predetermined timing, and transmits the e-mail to the manager terminal device.
The terminal information notification method, wherein the manager terminal device accesses information of the network terminal device based on link information added to an e-mail notified from the network terminal device. In a network terminal device comprising an information server that provides information in response to a request from the network, and notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a preset destination address at a predetermined timing,
As one of the information provided by the information server, an operation screen generating means for generating an operation screen display for operating the network terminal device;
A network terminal device comprising: link information adding means for adding link information linked to the operation screen display to the electronic mail. 6. The network terminal device according to claim 5, further comprising link information necessity setting means for setting whether or not to add the link information by the link information adding means. 7. The network terminal device according to claim 5, further comprising a detection unit that detects that a failure has occurred, and when the occurrence of a failure is detected by the detection unit, notification is made by the electronic mail. 8. The storage device according to claim 5, further comprising a storage unit configured to store information of the network terminal device, wherein the information stored in the storage unit is notified by the e-mail at a preset time. Network terminal device. 9. The network terminal device according to claim 8, wherein when the notification timing by the e-mail has elapsed at the time of power activation, the e-mail notification is performed immediately after the activation. 10. The link information adding means adds the link information when a domain name included in the destination address matches a preset allowable domain name. Any one of the network terminal devices. In a network terminal device comprising an information server for providing information in response to a request from the network, and a notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a preset destination address at a predetermined timing,
An operation screen storage means for storing a plurality of types of operation screen displays prepared in advance for operating the network terminal device;
As information provided by the information server, screen display selection means for selecting an operation screen display corresponding to the information from among the plurality of types of operation screen displays stored by the operation screen storage means;
Link information adding means for adding link information linked to the operation screen display selected by the screen display selecting means to the e-mail;
A network terminal device comprising: link information selecting means for selecting link information added by the link information adding means in accordance with information notified by the electronic mail. A network terminal device comprising: an information server that provides or changes internal information in response to a request from the network; and notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a plurality of preset destination addresses at a predetermined timing In
Notification information selection means for selecting information to be notified by the notification means for each of the plurality of destination addresses;
An information adding means for adding information selected by the notification information selecting means to the electronic mail. 13. The network terminal device according to claim 12, wherein a detection unit that detects that a failure has occurred, and the information is failure information detected by the detection unit. When adding the failure information to the e-mail by the information adding unit, the failure information not selected by the notification information selecting unit and selected for another destination address is also described in the e-mail. The network terminal device according to claim 13. A network terminal device connected to a network; and an administrator terminal device connected to the network and capable of confirming information on the network terminal device, wherein the information on the network terminal device is transferred to the administrator terminal device. In the terminal information notification system that notifies by e-mail to
The network terminal device includes an information server capable of changing information of the network terminal device in response to a request from the manager terminal device, and link information addition for adding link information for accessing the information server to the e-mail. Means and
The manager terminal device includes information server access means for accessing the information server of the network terminal device based on link information added to the e-mail notified from the network terminal device,
A terminal information notification system, wherein information of the network terminal device is changed based on access by an information server access means of the manager terminal device. In a network terminal device comprising an information server capable of changing internal information in response to a request from the network, and a notification means for notifying internal information by e-mail to a preset destination address at a predetermined timing,
A network terminal device comprising link information adding means for adding link information for accessing the information server and changing internal information to the electronic mail.

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