JP2007048188A - Service provision apparatus, service provision method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To charge a user for a service favorably by reducing the complicated operations of depositing money and receiving change. <P>SOLUTION: When a user starts a print job, a printing standby state is set. At this time, job information including consideration amount information is created. Electronic money information is stored in a contactless medium. When the user holds the contactless medium in the printing standby state, a charging device automatically collects electronic money corresponding to the consideration amount information from the contactless medium, displays the amount on an operation panel of a multifunction machine body, and then releases the printing standby state to start printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a service providing apparatus and a service providing method for providing a service and charging a service user for the service, and a computer program, and more particularly to an unmanned machine such as a multi-function machine installed in a convenience store. The present invention relates to a service providing apparatus, a service providing method, and a computer program that charge a user for a service using the service providing apparatus in an environment.

  More specifically, the present invention relates to a service providing apparatus and a service providing method for providing a service by charging a fee for a service from a user by reducing a complicated operation such as charging a fee or receiving a change, and a computer The present invention relates to a program, and more particularly, to a service providing apparatus and a service providing method for improving service by setting a price for each user according to a service usage fee, and a computer program.

  In recent years, sales of goods and provision of printed materials in an unattended environment such as vending machines installed on streets, ticket machines at stations, etc., copying machines, facsimile transceivers, and multifunction machines installed in convenience stores. Service providing apparatuses that perform services such as the above and charge users for a fee are widely used. As a form of collecting a fee from a user in this type of unattended environment, cash collection by a coin kit is common.

  In the case of a vending machine or a ticket vending machine, the charge is determined when the user selects a product or a destination (or fare), and therefore it is easy for the user to become familiar with any charge collection method, that is, a charge method. For example, when a coin kit is used, the charge is reduced and the change is returned with respect to the input amount, but this is just replacing the form of commercial transaction with a coin kit, and almost all users feel uncomfortable. Absent.

  On the other hand, in the case of an image forming service such as a copying machine, a facsimile transmitter / receiver, or a multi-function device that provides a printed material by operating an image forming process such as copying, the user charges the fee first. The operation procedure of starting the service after collecting the service has been introduced. That is, the service cannot be activated unless a fee is collected first, and the fee is not fixed before the service is activated, so the situation differs from vending machines and ticket machines.

  When a coin kit is used as a charging device for an image forming service such as a multifunction peripheral, the service cannot be activated unless a fee is collected first. For this reason, when the user inserts a charge into the coin kit, for example, by a print job, a certain amount of money is inserted and the printout is executed. In this case, the user needs to take out the change from the coin kit after the job is completed.

  For example, a billing method has been proposed in which the printing consideration amount is displayed and the convenience is increased by the user putting the displayed amount into the apparatus (for example, see Patent Document 1). However, in this case as well, the user has to work to confirm the amount of money by operating the panel of the machine and insert cash.

  Further, in current image forming services, a uniform fee system is generally applied regardless of the frequency of use of the user. For this reason, for users who frequently use the service, when considering which supplier will receive the service from the next time, it is not possible to find a price between the providers, in other words, the supplier will not be a user who frequently uses the service. On the other hand, they are unable to demonstrate customer attraction in terms of fees.

  For example, a proposal has been made on an information distribution system that enables effective information distribution by detecting user-specific information of a tag owned by the user and grasping the user's situation and distributing appropriate information in accordance with the situation. (See, for example, Patent Document 2). According to this system, when a distribution service is performed, a charging database that stores charging data associated with unique information is updated according to the distributed information.

  However, while the system has a mechanism that can grasp the user's situation, the charges for users with a large total delivery amount and those with a small amount of delivery are uniformly the same depending on the amount of data used. It is hard to say that they are unable to act on the suction force and provide fine-tuned services.

JP 2003-208294 A, Claim 1 JP 2003-168018 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent service providing apparatus, service providing method, and computer program capable of suitably charging a service user for a service charge.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent service providing apparatus capable of suitably charging a service fee for a user who uses a service providing apparatus in an unattended environment, such as a multifunction machine installed in a convenience store, and It is to provide a service providing method and a computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent service providing apparatus and service providing method capable of suitably charging a service fee from a user by reducing complicated operations such as charging a fee and receiving a change, and To provide a computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent service providing apparatus, service providing method, and computer program capable of improving the service by setting a price for each user according to the service usage fee. It is in.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and a first aspect of the present invention is a service providing apparatus that provides a service and charges the service user for the service. A job acceptance means for accepting a requested job, a charge calculation means for calculating a consideration amount for a job received from a user, a non-contact medium read / write means for performing a read / write operation on a non-contact medium possessed by the user, Fee collection means for collecting the consideration amount calculated by the fee calculation means from electronic money stored in a contactless medium possessed by the user, and collection amount display means for displaying the amount collected by the fee collection means; A service execution unit that executes a job and provides a service provided to a user; and a service that controls the start of the job by the service execution unit. A service providing apparatus characterized by comprising a scan start control means.

  The present invention relates to a service providing apparatus that is installed in an unattended environment and provides a service and charges a service user for the service. Specifically, the present invention relates to a non-contact medium held by a user. Charges are collected from stored electronic money.

  The service providing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, for example, and includes a card read / write device that reads and writes information from a non-contact medium such as an IC card. When a job such as copying, facsimile transmission or reception, network printing, or content download is submitted from the user, the job is temporarily put on standby, and the reading / writing device collects the price from the contactless medium held by the user. Try. Then, a job that has been submitted after collecting the consideration amount is started. In addition, the amount collected from the non-contact medium is presented to the user.

  For example, once a print job is activated by the user, the print job is temporarily waited. At this time, job information such as color and paper size is created, and the information includes compensation amount information. The non-contact medium stores electronic money information that can be read from the read / write device. When a user holds up a non-contact medium while the service providing device is waiting to print, electronic money corresponding to the price information is automatically collected from the non-contact medium and displayed on the operation panel of the MFP. Then, the print waiting state is canceled and the printing operation is started. Since the user starts the printing operation after confirming the amount collected from the non-contact medium, it is possible to obtain an operation feeling similar to the case where printing is started after the inserted amount is displayed on the coin kit.

  According to the present invention, by applying a charging method based on an IC card to the multi-function device, the user does not need to confirm the consideration amount, insert money, or take out the change. Improvements can be made.

  A system using a non-contact medium represented by an IC card is rapidly spreading because of its high tamper resistance in non-contact / proximity communication and ease of operation. In the case of a billing system using an IC card, there is no need to carry coins, no change occurs, and it is possible to add value to the service using user information stored in the IC card.

  In addition, an image processing apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral or other type of service providing apparatus may be provided with an existing billing apparatus such as a coin kit. In such a case, when the consideration amount of the job input from the user is collected from the non-contact medium, the read / write device transfers the collected amount information to the existing billing device. In response to receiving the amount information, the existing billing apparatus starts a job input from the user and presents the collected amount to the user.

  In this case, the image processing apparatus is based on the conventional billing method using a coin kit. However, when the user holds the non-contact medium, the electronic money corresponding to the price information is automatically collected from the non-contact medium. The amount information is transferred to the coin kit. Further, when the transfer of the money amount information to the coin kit is completed, the print processing state is canceled and the printing operation is started on the image processing apparatus, as in the case where money is inserted into the coin kit.

  Thus, on the coin kit, the amount collected from the non-contact medium can be handled in the same manner as when cash is inserted. That is, the amount collected from the non-contact medium is displayed on the coin kit as in the case where cash is inserted. Further, when the collection of the fee is completed by using either cash or electronic money, the print waiting state is canceled and the printing operation is started.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a service providing apparatus that provides a service and charges the service user for the service, a job receiving unit that receives a job requested by the user, and a job The service execution means for providing the service provided to the user by executing, the non-contact medium read / write means for performing the read / write operation on the non-contact medium possessed by the user, and the identification for identifying the user or the non-contact medium Identification information acquisition means for acquiring information from a non-contact medium possessed by the user, usage status information management means for managing the service usage status for each user using the identification information, and the user who submitted the job Charge amount determination means for determining a charge amount for a user based on usage status information corresponding to identification information read from a non-contact medium possessed by A service providing apparatus characterized by comprising a charging means to collect the amounts determined by the amount determining means from the user.

  The non-contact medium carried by the user has a memory capacity for writing various information, and can store identification information for identifying the user in addition to the electronic money information. The service providing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention corresponds to such a case, specifies a user from identification information read from a non-contact medium, manages a usage situation for each user, Furthermore, the charge amount for each user can be set based on the management information. Accordingly, the billing can be set according to the usage situation, so that flexible billing can be performed for each user and the service can be improved.

  When the read / write device reads identification information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact type medium, the service providing device refers to the management information corresponding to the read identification information, and uses the user (for example, , Monthly or TOTAL print count). Based on the acquired number of sheets, a charge per sheet is set. For example, if 0 <acquired number <1000, 5 yen / sheet, and if 1000 ≦ acquired number <10000, 4 yen / sheet. Here, when a job such as a print job for which charging is generated is executed, charging processing is performed. The amount to be collected is the amount set based on the billing information corresponding to the usage status. When printing is completed normally, the number of prints of the management information about the user is updated. The amount may be collected from the non-contact medium if the non-contact type medium has an electronic money function, or may be collected from the money inserted into the coin kit.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a service providing apparatus that provides a service and charges the service user for the service, a job receiving means for receiving a job requested by the user, and a job The service execution means for providing the service provided to the user by executing, the non-contact medium read / write means for performing the read / write operation on the non-contact medium possessed by the user, and the identification for identifying the user or the non-contact medium Identification information acquisition means for acquiring information from a non-contact medium possessed by the user and transferring it to the management server, and charging information set based on the service usage status of the user managed by the identification information from the management server A billing information receiving unit for receiving, a billing amount determining unit for determining a billing amount for a user based on the received billing information, and the billing amount determining unit. A service providing apparatus characterized by comprising a charging means to collect the determined amount from the user.

  In the service providing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the information relating to the service usage status of the user is not managed individually for each service providing apparatus installed in each store, but the user's The identification information read from the non-contact medium is transferred to the management server, managed as management information centrally on the management server, and billing information for each user is determined. On the service providing apparatus side, a charge for the user is collected based on the charge information received from the management server. In such a case, since the usage status of each user is managed on the management server, regardless of the store where the user uses the service, the billing setting according to his / her own usage status is made. You can get a similar service.

  In this case, when the read / write device reads identification information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact type medium, the identification information is transferred to the management server, and billing information is requested. On the management server side, a billing amount is set based on the transferred information, and the billing information is transferred to the requesting service providing apparatus. The service providing apparatus that has received the billing information determines the billing amount based on the billing information received from the management server and executes electronic money information or coins in the non-contact medium when executing a job that requires billing such as printing. A fee is collected from the money put into the kit. Also, usage information such as the number of prints is transferred to the management server, and the management information of the user is updated on the management server side.

  As described above, when the usage status of each user is centrally managed by the server based on the identification information of the user, a non-contact medium carrying the identification information is not used, but a fingerprint, a voiceprint, There may be a modification in which biometric information directly read from the user's own living body such as an iris or a vein pattern running on the palm is used as identification information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a service providing apparatus that provides a service and charges a service user for the service, a job receiving unit that receives a job requested by the user, and a job The service execution means for providing the service provided to the user by executing the above, the non-contact medium read / write means for performing the read / write operation on the non-contact medium possessed by the user, and the service from the non-contact medium possessed by the user Usage status information acquisition means for acquiring information on the usage status of the user, charging amount determination means for determining a charging amount for the user based on charging information set according to the service usage status of the user, and determination of the charging amount A service providing apparatus comprising charging means for collecting the amount of money determined by the means from a user.

  The fourth aspect of the present invention is a modification of the system for setting the charging based on the management information describing the service usage status for each user using the identification information read from the non-contact medium. Instead of managing the usage status on each service providing device or centrally managing on the management server, the usage status is written to a non-contact medium. In this case, the service providing apparatus may read the usage status from the non-contact medium, set the charge, and update the usage status written in the non-contact medium after the service provision such as print execution is completed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for providing a service and charging a service user for the service on the computer system. It is a program, and is calculated by a job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user for the computer system, a fee calculation procedure for calculating a consideration amount for the job received from the user, and the fee calculation procedure. Fee collection procedure for collecting the compensation amount from the electronic money stored in the contactless media possessed by the user, and service activation control that executes the job according to the fee collection operation and provides the service provided to the user A computer program characterized by executing a procedure.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for providing a service and charging a service user for the service on the computer system. Identification information that is a program that accepts a job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by the user from the computer system, and identification information that identifies the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact medium possessed by the user Acquisition procedure, usage status information management procedure for managing service usage status for each user using identification information, and usage corresponding to identification information read from contactless media owned by the user who submitted the job Based on the status information, a billing amount determination procedure for determining a billing amount for the user and the billing amount determination procedure are determined. A charging procedure to collect money from the user has a computer program, characterized thereby perform the service execution procedure for providing a service to be provided to the user by executing the job.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for providing a service and charging a service user for the service on the computer system. A program for acquiring a job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user from the non-contact medium possessed by the user, and identifying information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium. Identification information acquisition procedure to be transferred to the management server, charging information reception procedure for receiving charging information set based on the service usage status of the user managed by the identification information from the management server, and based on the received charging information The charge amount determination procedure for determining the charge amount for the user and the amount determined by the charge amount determination procedure for the user A billing procedure for al collected, a computer program, characterized thereby perform the service execution procedure for providing a service to be provided to the user by executing the job.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for providing a service and charging a service user for the service on the computer system. A job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user from the computer system, and a usage status information obtaining procedure for obtaining information on a service usage status from a non-contact medium possessed by the user; A billing amount determination procedure for determining a billing amount for the user based on billing information set according to the service usage status of the user, and a billing procedure for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination procedure from the user And a service execution procedure for executing a job and providing a service provided to a user. It is a computer program that.

  The computer program according to each of the fifth to eighth aspects of the present invention defines a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to realize predetermined processing on a computer system. In other words, by installing the computer program according to the fifth to eighth aspects of the present invention in the computer system, a cooperative action is exhibited on the computer system, and the first to the first aspects of the present invention. The same effect as the service providing apparatus according to each of the four aspects can be obtained.

  Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, an excellent service providing apparatus and service capable of suitably charging a service charge to a user who uses the service providing apparatus in an unattended environment such as a multifunction machine installed in a convenience store. A providing method and a computer program can be provided.

  In addition, according to the present invention, an excellent service providing apparatus and service providing method capable of suitably charging a service fee from a user by reducing complicated operations such as charging a fee and receiving a change, In addition, a computer program can be provided.

  In addition, according to the present invention, there are provided an excellent service providing apparatus, service providing method, and computer program capable of improving the service by setting a price for each user according to the service usage fee. be able to.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described later and the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  According to the present invention, in a service providing apparatus installed in an unattended environment, billing is performed with good convenience for a user while providing a coin kit and an IC card reader. In the following, an embodiment of the present invention will be described by taking, as an example, a multifunction machine that performs a complex service such as a copy function, a facsimile transmission / reception function, and a network print function as a service providing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of a service providing system to which a multifunction machine embodying the present invention is applied.

  Multi-function devices installed in convenience stores and other stores, streets, and other unattended environments are connected to a wide area network such as the Internet or a public telephone network. In the figure, for the sake of simplification of the drawing, only one multifunction device is depicted, but in reality there are innumerable multifunction devices.

  In the service providing system according to the present embodiment, a billing method is adopted in which a service usage fee is collected from electronic money stored in a contactless IC card instead of a conventional billing device such as a coin kit. Alternatively, it is possible to use both a charging system based on a non-contact IC card and a conventional charging system using a coin kit. The non-contact IC card referred to here may include an IC chip built in a portable terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA in addition to literally referring to a card-like non-contact medium (hereinafter, these are for convenience. Are collectively referred to as “IC cards”).

  The multi-function peripheral is equipped with a card read / write device that performs non-contact communication with a memory in a non-contact IC card held by a user. The card read / write device can read electronic money, identification information of the user (or the IC card itself), and the like from the non-contact IC card.

  A system using a non-contact medium typified by an IC card can realize high tamper resistance in non-contact / proximity communication. In addition, in the case of a billing system using an IC card, there is no need to carry coins, no change occurs, and it is possible to add value to the service using user information stored in the IC card. high.

  When the card read / write device establishes a connection with the IC card, it is necessary to go through a mutual authentication procedure. The MFP itself may be equipped with a processing function for performing authentication processing with the IC card, or authentication processing may be entrusted to a predetermined authentication server on the network. The authentication procedure itself is not directly related to the subject matter of the present invention and will not be further described herein.

  The user goes to the place where the multifunction device is installed, such as a convenience store, and directly inputs a job such as copy, facsimile transmission or reception, network print, content download from the operation panel equipped on the multifunction device. can do. Alternatively, a job requested via a network from a client PC such as a personal computer at home can be transferred to the multi-function peripheral. In the latter case, the user goes to the store with the multi-function device with an IC card in order to receive the payment of the fee and the execution result of the job.

  Regardless of the job input form, the multifunction device temporarily puts the job into a waiting state and calculates a usage fee when the job is executed. When a fee is collected from the IC card held by the user with electronic money, or when a fee is collected with money using a coin kit, the job waiting state is canceled and a job such as printout is executed.

  In addition, a management server may be installed on the network to centrally manage the usage status of services performed by the multifunction peripherals at each store. In this case, when the identification information of the user (or the IC card itself) is read from the IC card in the MFP, this identification information is transferred to the management server, and the management server side manages the service usage status for each user, Billing information for each user is determined in accordance with this use situation.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows a hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, each part in the apparatus 100 will be described.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 is a central controller that comprehensively controls the operation in the apparatus 100, and controls a program under an execution environment provided by an operating system (OS), and performs copying, facsimile transmission / reception, network -Main control is performed regarding various service providing operations such as printing, and billing processing for compensation associated with service provision. In the present embodiment, the charging process controls the charging and job operations and charging timing by checking the amount charged on the IC card held by the service user and controlling the activation of the service. Including processing for. The CPU 101 is interconnected with each device in the apparatus 100 via the bus 102.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 is composed of a read-only semiconductor memory device, and each control program and fixed data for performing service providing operations such as network printing and billing processing associated with service execution are permanent. Has been written. Of course, the ROM 103 can also be configured using a device capable of electrically rewriting stored data, such as a flash memory, and the program and fixed data may be updated as necessary.

  A RAM (Random Access Memory) 104 is composed of a rewritable semiconductor memory device, and programs such as loading software (to be described later) executed by the CPU 101 from the ROM 102 and temporarily storing work data during program execution. Used as system memory for The RAM 104 can be used as a page memory for image processing.

  NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM) 105 is composed of a rewritable memory such as a flash memory that does not lose its stored contents even in a non-powered state, and includes security data and other nonvolatile data, image quality adjustment, various setting parameters, and usage It is used to store various histories at the time of service execution, such as service usage status for each user, and histories charged for service charges.

  The HDD 106 is a large-capacity external storage device composed of a magnetic recording type fixed disk. The HDD 106 stores image data read from a document, stores various histories at the time of service execution, and further installs a program to be executed by the CPU 101. Used to do.

  The image processing unit 107 performs various kinds of image processing such as expansion / compression processing and image quality adjustment on image data read from a document or image data downloaded via a network.

  The multi-function device 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a display unit 110 including a liquid crystal display as a user interface 109 and a hardware key such as a start / stop / ten key (or a touch panel that also functions as the display unit 110). A unit 111 is provided, and these are connected to the bus 102 via a UI interface. However, the CPU 101 may be configured to directly control the user interface 109 without using the UI interface 108. The display unit 110 may display the amount information collected from the user's IC card via the IC card read / write device, which will be described later.

  Various external devices and network interfaces are bus-connected via the communication interface 112.

  The LAN interface 113 connects the MFP 100 to the network according to a predetermined communication standard such as 10/100 / 1000Base-T. A wireless LAN can also be included.

  The MFP 100 according to the present embodiment can connect to an external network such as the Internet through a LAN and access a desired information resource. In addition, the multi-function device 100 can be used for copying, facsimile transmission / reception, content search and other content processing, network printing, and the like from a client terminal such as a personal computer (PC) or a portable terminal (both not shown) used by the user. It is possible to receive instructions specifying the contents of various services and execute the services according to the instructions. Also, the user identification information read from the IC card can be transferred to the management server via the network.

  The multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment is equipped with an IC card read / write device to perform non-contact / short-range communication with the IC card, and is connected to the bus 102 via the RS232C or other serial interface 114. ing.

  Between the IC card and the IC card read / write device, non-contact and short-distance communication is carried out while maintaining high tamper resistance through a predetermined mutual authentication process on a transmission path using electromagnetic coupling, electromagnetic induction, or radio wave communication. be able to. However, since the non-contact communication method using an IC card itself is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, it will not be further described here. The multi-function device 100 can charge the service fee from the IC card.

  A USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface 115 conforms to, for example, USB 1.1 or USB 2.0, and can be used when locally connected to a personal computer or the like.

  The modem 116 is a modem that performs mutual conversion between signals on the computer and signals on the public line. The modem 116 connects to a public line such as a facsimile, and performs normal facsimile transmission / reception, time designation transmission, and other various facsimiles. Provide functionality.

  The coin kit 117 has a receiving port for receiving cash such as coins and banknotes, a cash storage unit for storing the cash inserted through the receiving port, a counter for the amount charged and collected after counting the amount of the input and the remaining amount And a display unit for displaying the remaining amount or the amount currently collected. In this embodiment, the display unit displays not only the amount of money inserted into the coin kit 117 but also the amount information collected from the user's IC card via the IC card read / write device. I will give it later.

  The device interface 118 is composed of, for example, RS422, and implements an interface protocol for connecting various devices constituting the multi-function peripheral 100 to the bus 102.

  Examples of devices constituting the multifunction peripheral include a reading device unit 119 that reads an image from a document, and a printing device unit 120 that prints and outputs an image on paper.

  The reading device unit 119 is generally configured by a combination of a platen on which a document is placed and a scan for reading an image, and may be an automatic document reading device. The read image is appropriately subjected to image processing in the image processing unit 107 and output to the printing apparatus unit 120 or stored in the HDD 106.

  The printing apparatus unit 120 includes, for example, an electrophotographic print engine unit. The electrophotographic process includes a plurality of sub-processes such as charging of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, exposure of a scanned original image, development, that is, toner superimposition on the photosensitive member, toner transfer and fixing on a sheet, and cleaning of the photosensitive member. However, the configuration of the print engine itself is not directly related to the gist of the present invention and will not be described further here.

  When the sheet printed by the printing apparatus unit 120 is discharged, it is stored in the discharged sheet storage unit 121. The discharge sheet storage unit 121 can also be configured using a general discharge tray.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows a software configuration for controlling operations on the multifunction machine. As shown in the figure, the control software includes a job execution layer, a functional module layer, a middleware layer, and a general-purpose operating system (OS) layer.

  The job execution layer includes a group of processes provided to the user such as copying, facsimile transmission / reception, and scanner.

  The functional module layer is a collection of functional modules that perform the above-described request processing for each job, communication processing with a user interface, image processing for realizing a job, processing for notifying a remote device of various states, and the like. .

  The middleware is positioned immediately above the general-purpose OS, suppresses the influence unique to hardware, and provides an API (Application Programming Interface) common to upper-level jobs and function modules. The middleware consists of a system manager (SystemMngg) that comprehensively manages systems such as state and resource management, job management, and file management, and a group of modules that provide functions provided by external systems and hardware to functional modules. A device driver is included.

  Next, a processing operation for providing an image processing service in the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment will be described.

  The multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment includes a card read / write device that reads and writes information from a non-contact medium such as an IC card. When a job such as copying, facsimile transmission or reception, network printing, or content download is submitted from a user, the job is temporarily put on standby, and the reading / writing device collects the price from the contactless medium held by the user. Try. The collected amount is displayed from the display unit 110 of the user interface 109, and the job waiting state is canceled to start the job.

  FIG. 4 shows a processing procedure for the MFP in this case to collect a fee from the IC card and execute the job in the form of a flowchart.

  First, when a print instruction is input from the operation unit 111 by the user or a job instruction is transferred via the network and a print job is activated (step S1), the print job is temporarily put into a waiting state (step S1). S2). At this time, job information such as color and paper size is created, and the information includes compensation amount information.

  Subsequently, the user who has instructed the job holds his / her IC card over a card read / write device attached to the multifunction peripheral. This IC card stores electronic money information that can be read from the read / write device.

  When the card read / write device automatically collects electronic money corresponding to the price information from the non-contact medium (step S3), the card read / write device displays the collected amount on the display unit 110 of the user interface 109 (step S4), and then prints. The waiting state is canceled and the printing operation is started (step S5).

  Since the printing operation is started after confirming the amount collected from the IC card, it is possible for the user to obtain an operation feeling similar to the case where printing is started after the inserted amount is displayed on the coin kit.

  In this way, by applying a charging method based on an IC card by the multifunction device, the user does not need to confirm the amount of consideration, insert money, or take out a change, thus improving operability. Can be planned.

  In addition, in the case of a billing system using an IC card, there is no need to carry coins, no change occurs, and it is possible to add value to the service by using user information stored in the IC card. Is expensive.

  In the device configuration shown in FIG. 2, an existing billing device such as a coin kit 117 is installed in the multifunction device, but the amount collected from the electronic money recorded on the IC card is collected by the coin kit 117. You can treat it as you would money. FIG. 5 shows a processing procedure for the MFP in this case to collect a fee from the IC card and execute a job in the form of a flowchart.

  First, when a print instruction is input from the operation unit 111 or a job instruction is transferred from the user via the network and a print job is activated (step S11), the print job is temporarily set in a waiting state (step S11). S12). At this time, job information such as color and paper size is created, and the information includes compensation amount information.

  Subsequently, the user who has instructed the job holds his / her IC card over a card read / write device attached to the multifunction peripheral. This IC card stores electronic money information that can be read from the read / write device.

  When the card read / write device automatically collects electronic money corresponding to the consideration amount information from the non-contact medium (step S13), it transfers the collected amount information to the coin kit 117 (step S14). The amount collected from the IC card is displayed on the display unit of the coin kit 117 as in the case where cash is inserted (step S15).

  When the transfer of the money amount information to the coin kit 117 is completed, the print processing state is canceled and the printing operation is started on the image processing apparatus in the same manner as when the money is inserted into the coin kit (step S16). .

  Thus, on the coin kit 117, the amount collected from the non-contact medium can be handled in the same manner as when cash is inserted. That is, the amount collected from the non-contact medium is displayed on the coin kit 117 as in the case where cash is inserted. When the collection of the fee is completed using either cash or electronic money, the multifunction peripheral cancels the print waiting state and starts the printing operation.

  In addition to electronic money information, identification information for identifying the user can be stored in the IC card carried by the user. In the service providing system according to the present embodiment, in response to such a case, the user is specified when charging the consideration from the IC card, the usage status for each user is managed, and further based on the management information A billing amount can be set according to the service usage status of each user. In this way, individual billing settings can be made according to the usage status of each user, so that flexible billing can be performed and service can be improved.

  FIG. 6 shows a processing procedure for the MFP in this case to collect a fee from the IC card and execute a job in the form of a flowchart.

  First, the card read / write device reads identification information for identifying a user or a non-contact medium from the IC card (step S21).

  Subsequently, referring to the management information corresponding to the read identification information, the usage status of the user (for example, monthly or total print count) is acquired (step S22).

  Then, a fee per sheet is set based on the acquired number of sheets (step S23). For example, if 0 <acquired number <1000, 5 yen / sheet, and if 1000 ≦ acquired number <10000, 4 yen / sheet.

  Here, when a job for which charging is generated, such as a print job, is executed (step S24), charging processing is performed (step S25). The amount to be collected is the amount set based on the billing information corresponding to the usage status.

  When printing is normally completed (step S26), the number of prints in the management information for the user is updated (step S27). The amount may be collected from the non-contact medium if the non-contact type medium has an electronic money function, or may be collected from the money put into the coin kit 117.

  Further, as a modification of the service for setting billing information for each user shown in FIG. 6, the service management information is not provided for each service providing device installed in each store, but provided for each service. It is also possible to transfer the identification information read from the user's non-contact medium by the device to the management server, manage the management information centrally on the management server, and determine the billing information for each user. . In such a case, since the usage status of each user is managed on the management server, regardless of the store where the user uses the service, the billing is set according to the service usage status so far. You can get the same service. FIG. 7 shows a processing procedure for the MFP in this case to collect a fee from the IC card and execute a job in the form of a flowchart.

  First, when the card read / write device reads identification information for identifying a user or a non-contact medium from the IC card (step S31), the identification information is transferred to the management server (step S32), and billing information is requested.

  On the management server side, a billing amount is set based on the transferred information, and the billing information is transferred to the requesting service providing apparatus. When the multifunction device receives the billing information (step S33), it executes a job for which billing such as printing occurs (step S34).

  As the job is executed, the multi-function peripheral determines the charge amount based on the charge information received from the management server, and collects the charge from the electronic money information in the IC card or the money put into the coin kit 117 ( Step S35).

  Further, when the execution of the job is finished in the multifunction peripheral (step S36), the usage status information such as the number of prints is transferred to the management server (step S37). On the management server side, the management information of the user is updated.

  As described above, when the usage status of each user is centrally managed by the server based on the identification information of the user, a non-contact medium carrying the identification information is not used, but a fingerprint, a voiceprint, There may be a modification in which biometric information directly read from the user's own living body such as an iris or a vein pattern running on the palm is used as identification information.

  In addition, as a modification of the system for setting charging based on management information describing service usage status for each user using identification information read from a non-contact medium such as an IC card, the usage status of each user is individually Instead of managing on the service providing apparatus or centrally managing on the management server, it is possible to write to the IC card. In this case, the multi-function device can read individual information regarding the service usage status of the user from the IC card and perform individual billing settings. Then, after the service provision such as print execution is completed after collecting the fee, the usage status written in the non-contact medium may be updated.

  The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can make modifications and substitutions of the embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In the present specification, the embodiment applied to the image forming apparatus has been mainly described, but the gist of the present invention is not limited to this. Even in other forms of service providing devices such as vending machines and ticket vending machines, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce troublesome operations such as charging a fee and receiving a change, thereby improving the convenience of the user and providing a service. The service can be improved by setting a price for each user according to the usage fee.

  In short, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the description of the present specification should not be interpreted in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims should be taken into consideration.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of a service providing system to which a multifunction machine embodying the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a software configuration for controlling operations on the multifunction peripheral. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the MFP to collect charges from the IC card and execute jobs. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the MFP to collect charges from the IC card and execute jobs. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the MFP to collect charges from the IC card and execute jobs. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the MFP to collect charges from the IC card and execute jobs.

Explanation of symbols

100 ... MFP 101 ... CPU
102 ... Bus 103 ... ROM
104 ... RAM
105 ... NVRAM
106 ... HDD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 107 ... Image processing part 108 ... UI interface 109 ... User interface 110 ... Display part 111 ... Operation part 112 ... Communication interface 113 ... LAN interface 114 ... Serial interface 115 ... USB interface 116 ... Modem 117 ... Coin kit 118 ... Device * Interface 119... Reading device unit 120... Printing device unit 121.

Claims (30)

A service providing device that provides a service and charges the service user for the service,
A job receiving means for receiving a job requested by a user;
A charge calculation means for calculating a consideration amount for a job received from a user;
Non-contact medium read / write means for performing read / write operations on the non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Charge collection means for collecting the consideration amount calculated by the charge calculation means from electronic money stored in a contactless medium possessed by the user;
A service execution means for providing a service provided to a user by executing a job;
Service activation control means for controlling job activation by the service execution means;
A service providing apparatus comprising: The service activation control unit waits for a job received by the job receiving unit, and after a fee is collected by the fee collection unit, cancels the job waiting state and starts execution of the job by the service execution unit To
The service providing apparatus according to claim 1. A collection amount display means for displaying the amount collected by the fee collection means;
The service providing apparatus according to claim 1. Further comprising a billing device that accepts cash input from a user, displays the input amount, and collects the consideration amount calculated by the fee calculation means from the input cash;
The fee collection means transfers amount information collected from electronic money stored in a contactless medium to the charging device.
The service providing apparatus according to claim 1. The service activation control unit puts the job received by the job receiving unit into a waiting state, cancels the job waiting state after money amount information is transferred from the fee collection unit to the charging device, and is executed by the service execution unit. Start job execution,
The service providing apparatus according to claim 4. The charging device displays the amount transferred from the fee collection means;
The service providing apparatus according to claim 4. A service providing device that provides a service and charges the service user for the service,
A job receiving means for receiving a job requested by a user;
A service execution means for providing a service provided to a user by executing a job;
Non-contact medium read / write means for performing read / write operations on the non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information for identifying a user or a non-contact medium from a non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Usage status information management means for managing service usage status for each user using identification information;
Charge amount determination means for determining a charge amount for a user based on usage status information corresponding to identification information read from a non-contact medium possessed by the user who submitted the job;
A billing device for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination means from the user;
A service providing apparatus comprising: The usage status information management means updates the service usage status information of the user every time the service execution means provides a service.
The service providing apparatus according to claim 7. A service providing apparatus that provides a service and charges the service user for the service,
A job receiving means for receiving a job requested by a user;
A service execution means for providing a service to a user by executing a job;
A non-contact medium read / write means for performing a read / write operation on the non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact medium possessed by the user and transferring the identification information to the management server;
Charging information receiving means for receiving, from the management server, charging information set based on the service usage status of the user managed by the identification information;
A billing amount determining means for determining a billing amount for the user based on the received billing information;
A billing device for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination means from the user;
A service providing apparatus comprising: The server updates the service usage status information of the user every time the service is provided by the service execution means.
The service providing apparatus according to claim 9. A service providing device that provides a service and charges the service user for the service,
A job receiving means for receiving a job requested by a user;
A service execution means for providing a service provided to a user by executing a job;
A non-contact medium read / write means for performing a read / write operation on the non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Usage status information acquisition means for acquiring information on the usage status of services from non-contact media possessed by the user;
Billing amount determination means for determining a billing amount for the user based on billing information set according to the service usage status of the user;
A billing device for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination means from the user;
A service providing apparatus comprising: Updating service usage information stored in a contactless medium every time a service is provided by the service execution means;
The service providing apparatus according to claim 11. The charging device collects the determined amount from either electronic money stored in a contactless medium possessed by the user or cash inserted by the user.
12. The service providing apparatus according to claim 7, 9, or 11. A service providing method for providing a service and charging the service user for the service,
A job acceptance step for accepting a job requested by a user;
A charge calculating step for calculating a consideration amount for a job received from a user;
A fee collection step of collecting the consideration amount calculated in the fee calculation step from electronic money stored in a contactless medium possessed by the user;
A service activation control step for executing a job according to a fee collection operation and providing a service provided to a user;
A service providing method characterized by comprising: In the service activation control step, the job accepted in the job acceptance step is put into a waiting state, and after the fee is collected in the fee collection step, the job waiting state is canceled and job execution is started.
The service providing method according to claim 14. A collection amount display step for displaying the amount collected in the fee collection step;
The service providing method according to claim 14. Accepts cash input from the user, displays the input amount, and uses a billing device that collects the consideration amount calculated in the charge calculation step from the input cash,
In the fee collection step, the amount information collected from the electronic money stored in the contactless medium is transferred to the charging device.
The service providing method according to claim 14. In the service activation control step, the job accepted in the job acceptance step is put into a waiting state, and after the money amount information collected in the fee collection step is transferred to the charging device, the job waiting state is canceled and the job Start running,
The service providing method according to claim 17. The charging device displays the amount information collected in the charge collection step transferred;
The service providing method according to claim 17. A service providing method for providing a service and charging the service user for the service,
A job acceptance step for accepting a job requested by a user;
An identification information acquisition step for reading identification information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Usage status information management step for managing service usage status for each user using identification information;
A charge amount determination step for determining a charge amount for the user based on usage status information corresponding to the identification information read from the non-contact medium possessed by the user who submitted the job;
A charging step of collecting the amount determined in the charging amount determination step from the user;
A service execution step for executing a job and providing a service to a user;
A service providing method characterized by comprising: In the usage status information management step, the service usage status information of the user is updated every time the service is provided by the service execution step.
21. The service providing method according to claim 20, wherein: A service providing method for providing a service and charging the service user for the service,
A job acceptance step for accepting a job requested by a user;
An identification information acquisition step of acquiring identification information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact medium possessed by the user and transferring the identification information to the management server;
A charging information receiving step for receiving, from the management server, charging information set based on the service usage status of the user managed by the identification information;
A billing amount determination step for determining a billing amount for the user based on the received billing information;
A charging step of collecting the amount determined in the charging amount determination step from the user;
A service execution step for executing a job and providing a service to a user;
A service providing method characterized by comprising: In the server, the service usage status information of the user is updated every time the service is provided in the service execution step.
The service providing method according to claim 22, wherein: A service providing method for providing a service and charging the service user for the service,
A job acceptance step for accepting a job requested by a user;
A usage status information acquisition step for acquiring information on the usage status of the service from a non-contact medium possessed by the user;
A billing amount determination step for determining a billing amount for the user based on billing information set according to the service usage status of the user;
A charging step of collecting the amount determined in the charging amount determination step from the user;
A service execution step for executing a job and providing a service to a user;
A service providing method characterized by comprising: Updating service usage information stored in a contactless medium every time a service is provided in the service execution step,
25. The service providing method according to claim 24, wherein: In the charging step, the determined amount is collected from either electronic money stored in a contactless medium possessed by the user or cash inserted by the user.
25. The service providing method according to claim 20, 22 or 24. A computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute on a computer system a process for providing the service and charging the user of the service for the service. ,
A job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user;
A charge calculation procedure for calculating the amount of consideration for a job received from a user;
A non-contact medium read / write procedure for performing a read / write operation on the non-contact medium possessed by the user;
A fee collection procedure for collecting from the electronic money stored in a contactless medium possessed by the user the consideration amount calculated by the fee calculation procedure;
A service activation control procedure for executing a job according to a fee collection operation and providing a service provided to a user;
A computer program characterized by executing A computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute on a computer system a process for providing the service and charging the user of the service for the service. ,
A job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user;
An identification information acquisition procedure for reading identification information for identifying a user or a non-contact medium from a non-contact medium possessed by the user;
Usage status information management procedure for managing service usage status for each user using identification information,
A charge amount determination procedure for determining a charge amount for a user based on usage status information corresponding to identification information read from a non-contact medium possessed by the user who submitted the job;
A billing procedure for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination procedure from the user;
A service execution procedure for providing services to users by executing jobs;
A computer program characterized by executing A computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute on a computer system a process for providing the service and charging the user of the service for the service. ,
A job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user;
An identification information acquisition procedure for acquiring identification information for identifying the user or the non-contact medium from the non-contact medium possessed by the user and transferring the identification information to the management server;
Billing information reception procedure for receiving billing information set based on the service usage status of the user managed by the identification information from the management server;
A billing amount determination procedure for determining a billing amount for the user based on the received billing information;
A billing procedure for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination procedure from the user;
A service execution procedure for providing services to users by executing jobs;
A computer program characterized by executing A computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute on a computer system a process for providing the service and charging the user of the service for the service. ,
A job acceptance procedure for accepting a job requested by a user;
Usage status information acquisition procedure for acquiring information on the usage status of services from non-contact media owned by users,
A billing amount determination procedure for determining a billing amount for the user based on billing information set according to the service usage status of the user;
A billing procedure for collecting the amount determined by the billing amount determination procedure from the user;
A service execution procedure for providing services to users by executing jobs;
A computer program characterized by executing

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