JP2007185808A - Image forming apparatus and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which can manage a lot of hysteresis data without requiring a new server computer. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus 1 is connected to another image forming apparatus 2 via a network 5. The image forming apparatus 1 is equipped with a generating means which generates hysteresis data related to actions or setting of the image forming apparatus 1, and a holding means which holds the hysteresis data associating with another image forming apparatus 2 connected via the network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copier connected to a network, and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a technique for holding history data relating to the operation and setting state of the image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Some image forming apparatuses connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) store the number of times used by a user as history data, or store a setting state during operation as history data. This history data is used by an administrator of the image forming apparatus.

  In such an image forming apparatus that retains history data, when the amount of history data approaches the limit of storage capacity, the old history data is erased to store new history data. The amount needed to be restored.

In this regard, conventionally, when a management host computer is connected to the image forming apparatus via a network and the remaining capacity of the storage capacity becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, the retained history data is hosted. An image forming apparatus for transferring to a computer has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). This image forming apparatus can manage a large amount of history data without losing old history data by transferring it to the host computer.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-145569

  However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, in order to manage a large amount of history data, it is necessary to newly install a host computer on the network, which is not convenient for the administrator.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of managing a large amount of history data without requiring a new computer, and a control method therefor. is there.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and generates history data related to the operation or setting of the image forming apparatus. Generating means; and holding means for holding the history data in cooperation with another image forming apparatus connected to the network.

  According to the present invention, since history data is held in cooperation with other image forming apparatuses connected via a network, a large amount of history data can be held without installing a server computer on the network. It becomes possible.

  In the aspect of the invention, the holding unit may include a storage unit that stores the history data in a storage device included in the image forming apparatus, and the history data may be stored in the other device via the network under a predetermined condition. Transmission storage means for transmitting to the other image forming apparatus and storing it in the storage device of the other image forming apparatus.

  Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus further includes search means that can hold the history data in cooperation with the image forming apparatus and search for the other image forming apparatus that satisfies a predetermined search condition.

  According to this aspect, since another image forming apparatus that holds history data in cooperation is searched, an operation such as selecting another image forming apparatus is not required, and the convenience of the image forming apparatus is improved. .

  Here, the search unit may search for the other image forming apparatus on condition that a non-volatile storage device that holds data received via the network is provided. In this way, the history data is held in the other image forming apparatus even when the power of the other image forming apparatus is turned off. The retrieval unit may retrieve the other image forming apparatus on condition that the storage unit is accessible by an access command described by a control code used by the image forming apparatus. In this way, when accessing a storage device included in another image forming apparatus, the access command described in the control code of the image forming apparatus according to this aspect can be used.

  The transmission storage unit may add an identifier to the history data and transmit the history data to the other image forming apparatus. In this way, the history data tabulation process is easily executed with reference to the identifier.

  Further, the transmission storage unit may transmit the history data to the other image forming apparatus after converting the format of the history data. In this way, when outputting the history data, the history data can be converted into a data format that can be easily referred to by the user.

  According to another aspect of the invention, the image processing apparatus further includes a reading unit that reads the history data held in the storage device of the other image forming apparatus.

  Further, a control method according to the present invention is a method for controlling an image forming apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the step of generating history data relating to the operation or setting of the image forming apparatus, Holding the history data in cooperation with another image forming apparatus connected to the network.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network system including an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is connected to another image forming apparatus 2 and a client apparatus 4 via a network 5. The network system includes a plurality of client devices 4 and a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 2.

  The client apparatus 4 is, for example, a personal computer, and instructs the image forming apparatus 1 or another image forming apparatus 2 to form an image according to the operation contents of the user. The network 5 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network). The image forming apparatus 1 and the other image forming apparatus 2 are, for example, a printer or a scanner, and form an image on a recording medium such as paper in response to an instruction from the client apparatus 4.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of the image forming apparatus 1. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an interface unit 13, a display unit 14, an operation unit 15, and an image forming unit 16.

  The control unit 11 is a CPU, for example, and executes a program stored in the storage unit 12 to execute processing for controlling the image forming apparatus 1. Processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described later.

  The storage unit 12 includes a volatile storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a nonvolatile storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a hard disk. The storage unit 12 stores a program executed by the control unit 11 and also functions as a work memory for the control unit 11. In the present embodiment, the nonvolatile storage medium of the storage unit 12 stores a history of operations and settings of the image forming apparatus 1 as history data. This history data will be described in detail later.

  The interface unit 13 is, for example, an Ethernet (registered trademark) network card. The interface unit 13 acquires an image formation instruction transmitted from the client device 4 to the image forming apparatus 1 and outputs the acquired image formation instruction to the control unit 11. Further, in the present embodiment, the above-described history data and MIB (Management Information Base) information of other image forming apparatuses 2 are transmitted and received in accordance with processing executed by the control unit 11.

  The display unit 14 is a small display, for example, and presents information to the user in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 11.

  The operation unit 15 is, for example, an operation button or a touch panel, and outputs a user operation content to the control unit 11.

  The image forming unit 16 is a printer engine or the like, and forms an image on a recording medium such as paper in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 11.

  Here, the content of the process which the control part 11 performs is demonstrated. The control unit 11 selects a process for detecting another image forming apparatus 2 that satisfies a predetermined search condition from among a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 2, and selects the detected other image forming apparatus 2 and the storage unit 12. The process of storing historical data is executed. FIG. 3 is a block diagram functionally showing the processing executed by the control unit 11. Functionally, the control unit 11 includes a history data generation unit 11a, an image forming apparatus search unit 11b, a history data transmission storage unit 11c, a history data storage unit 11d, and a history data totaling unit 11e. Yes.

  The history data generation unit 11a executes processing for generating history data regarding the operation and setting state of the image forming apparatus 1. The history data generation process is executed as follows, for example.

  When the client apparatus 4 transmits image formation instruction information for instructing image formation to the image forming apparatus 1, the instruction information is input to the control unit 11 via the interface unit 13. The history data generation unit 11a analyzes the image formation instruction information and, for example, the number of sheets on which the image is formed, its size, the time when the image formation is instructed, the document name, and the client device that is the transmission source of the instruction information 4 address, user name, etc. are generated as history data. Further, the history data may be the number of times of use of consumables incorporated in the image forming apparatus 1, the next replacement time or maintenance time calculated from the number of times of use. The history data may be a setting state of the image forming apparatus 1, for example, a size of a sheet held on the tray of the image forming apparatus 1, an operation mode such as a monochrome mode or a color mode. .

  Each history data is appended with an identifier (for example, serial number information) for identifying each history data. The history data is stored in a non-volatile storage medium of the storage unit 12 included in the image forming apparatus 1 or a non-volatile storage medium included in any of the plurality of image forming apparatuses 2 by processing to be described later.

  The image forming apparatus search unit 11b executes a process of searching for an image forming apparatus 2 that is another image forming apparatus 2 that satisfies a predetermined search condition and holds history data in cooperation with the storage unit 12. The search process of the other image forming apparatus 2 is executed as follows, for example.

  The image forming apparatus search unit 11b transmits a signal requesting MIB information of each image forming apparatus 2 to all other image forming apparatuses 2 via the network. The image forming apparatus search unit 11b detects the image forming apparatus 2 corresponding to the predetermined search condition with reference to the MIB information returned from the other image forming apparatus 2 that has received the request signal.

  Here, the search condition is that the other image forming apparatus 2 includes a non-volatile storage medium and that the file system of the other image forming apparatus 2 uses a page description language or control code used by the image forming apparatus 1. And the storage medium of the image forming apparatus 2 can be accessed with an access command described in the page description language or control code. Furthermore, the search condition may be that the capacity of the storage medium included in the image forming apparatus 2 or the remaining capacity thereof is larger than a predetermined threshold.

  When the image forming apparatus search unit 11b detects another image forming apparatus 2 that satisfies the conditions as a result of the search process, the image forming apparatus search unit 11b stores the address (for example, IP address or MAC address) of the image forming apparatus 2. 12. Here, when there are a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 2 that satisfy the condition, all of these addresses may be stored in the storage unit 12 or the image forming apparatus 2 having a storage medium with the largest remaining capacity. May be stored.

  MIB information can be acquired using, for example, the SNMP protocol. Further, the image forming apparatus search unit 11b operates in a cooperation mode in which history data is held in cooperation with a storage device of another image forming apparatus 2, and in a single mode in which history data is stored only in the storage unit 12 of the image forming apparatus 1. When any one of the selections is requested from the user and the cooperation mode is selected, the above-described search process may be executed.

  The history data transmission storage unit 11c executes a process of transmitting and storing history data to another image forming apparatus 2 detected by the image forming apparatus search unit 11b under predetermined transmission conditions. Here, the predetermined transmission condition is, for example, because the remaining capacity of the nonvolatile storage medium of the storage unit 12 is smaller than a predetermined threshold value or smaller than the data amount of newly generated history data. That is, the data cannot be added and stored in the storage unit 12. The transmission condition may be that the history data is of a specific type or size.

  In addition, the history data transmission storage unit 11c adds a transmission source identifier for identifying data generated and held by the image forming apparatus 2 and history data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1, and then records the history. Send data. Here, the transmission source identifier is, for example, an address of the image forming apparatus 1. Further, the history data transmission storage unit 11c adds an access command for accessing the storage medium of the image forming apparatus 2 to the history data and transmits the history data. This access command is described in a control code that can be interpreted by the file system of another image forming apparatus 2.

The history data transmission storage unit 11c may transmit the history data after converting the format. For example, if the history data is compressed to reduce the amount of data, the history data may be decompressed and transmitted, or text data or Post
It may be transmitted after being converted into Script data or the like.

  The history data storage unit 11d stores history data in the storage unit 12 when the transmission conditions described above are not satisfied. The history data storage unit 11d and the history data transmission storage unit 11c cooperate to execute a history data storage process, whereby the image forming apparatus 1 cooperates with another image forming apparatus 2 corresponding to the search condition to record the history. Retain data. The history data storage process will be described in more detail later.

  The history data totaling unit 11e reads out and aggregates the history data stored in the storage unit 12 or the storage medium of the image forming apparatus 2 based on the instruction operation of the operation unit 15 by the user, and the history data is collected on paper or the like. Recording on the medium or display on the display unit 14 is executed.

  Here, the history data storage processing and tabulation processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of history data storage processing, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of tabulation processing. In the following storage processing, it is assumed that the history data is set as a transmission condition of history data that cannot be stored in the storage unit 12 after addition. First, an example of storage processing will be described.

  When the history data is generated by the history data generation unit 11a, the history data transmission storage unit 11c may store new history data based on the remaining capacity of the nonvolatile storage medium of the storage unit 12. It is determined whether or not it is possible (S101). Here, when the remaining capacity is smaller than a predetermined threshold value or smaller than the data amount of history data, it is determined that new history data cannot be added and stored in the storage unit 12. In this case, the history data transmission storage unit 11c determines whether another image forming apparatus 2 corresponding to the search condition is detected as a result of the processing by the image forming apparatus search unit 11b (S102). The determination as to whether or not another image forming apparatus 2 corresponding to the condition has been detected is made based on, for example, whether or not the address of the other image forming apparatus 2 is stored in the recording unit 12.

  If another image forming apparatus 2 corresponding to the search condition is detected, the history data transmission storage unit 11 c transmits the history data held in the storage unit 12 to the other image forming apparatus 2. The history data is stored in the storage device (S103).

  In the history data transmission process, for example, all history data stored in the storage unit 12 is transmitted. Further, only a part of the history data may be transmitted so that the remaining capacity of the storage unit 12 is larger than the data amount of the newly generated history data. Further, when a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 2 are detected in the search process of the image forming apparatus searching unit 11b, for example, based on the remaining capacity of the storage medium included in the image forming apparatus 2, the transmission destination May be selected.

  Thereafter, the history data transmission storage unit 11c erases the history data transmitted to the other image forming apparatus 2 from the storage unit 12, and recovers the remaining capacity (S104). The newly generated history data may be stored in the storage unit 12 whose capacity has been recovered, or in step S103, the history data stored in the storage unit 12 and other image forming apparatuses 2 may be stored. May be transmitted. Thereafter, the history data transmission storage unit 11c updates the storage location management data for managing the storage location of the history data (S105), and ends the storage process. The storage location management data is, for example, a table that associates the storage location with the identifier of the history data. When the history data is stored in the storage device of another image forming apparatus 2, the identifier of the history data is another An address specifying the image forming apparatus 2 is associated. As will be described later, when history data is stored in the storage unit 12, storage location management data indicating that fact is retained.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S101 that the storage unit 12 can hold new history data, the history data storage unit 11d stores the history data in the storage unit 12 (S106). Then, the history data storage unit 11d updates the storage location management data and stores it in the storage unit 12 (S105), and ends the storage process.

  If it is determined in step S102 that no other image forming apparatus 2 corresponding to the search condition has been detected, the history data storage unit 11d deletes the history data stored in the storage unit 12. (S107) The remaining capacity of the storage medium is recovered and the history data is stored in the storage unit 12 (S106). Then, the storage location management data is updated (S105), and the storage process is terminated. In the process of S107, all of the history data held in the storage unit 12 may be deleted, or until the remaining capacity of the storage medium becomes larger than the data amount of the history data to be newly stored. It may be deleted in the order of generation date.

  The above is an example of history data storage processing executed by the control unit 11. The history data transmission storage unit 11c may transmit history data to another image forming apparatus 2 after confirming whether the other image forming apparatus 2 is operating in S103. In addition, when the user can select either the cooperation mode or the single mode described above, the history data transmission storage unit 11c executes the processing after S101 after confirming that the cooperation mode is selected. May be.

  Next, history data aggregation processing will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  When the operation unit 15 is operated by the user and the aggregation of the history data is instructed, a process for searching the history data to be aggregated is executed. In the history data search process, for example, the storage location management data is referred to and it is determined whether the history data to be aggregated is stored in the storage unit 12 (S201). Here, when the history data is stored in the storage unit 12, it is determined whether or not all the history data to be aggregated has been aggregated (S203). If all the history data is aggregated, the history data is output according to the user's instruction (S204), and the aggregation process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the history data totaling unit 11e determines in S201 that the history data to be aggregated is stored in another image forming apparatus 2, the history data totaling unit 11e receives the history data from the other image forming apparatus 2. (S202). The process of receiving history data is executed as follows, for example.

  The history data totaling unit 11e refers to the storage location management data, and acquires the address of another image forming apparatus 2 that holds the history data based on the identifier of the history data that is the target of aggregation. Then, the history data totaling unit 11e transmits a signal requesting history data to the other image forming apparatus 2. When history data is received from another image forming apparatus 2, it is determined whether or not all history data to be counted has been read (S203). If all the history data has not yet been aggregated, the process returns to S201 again, and the subsequent processing is repeated until all the history data is aggregated. The above is an example of the history data aggregation processing.

  According to the image forming apparatus 1 described above, history data is held in cooperation with another image forming apparatus 2 connected to the network. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a new server computer on the network, and the convenience of the image forming apparatus that retains history data is improved.

1 is a configuration diagram of a network system including an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a control unit of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of history data storage processing executed by the image forming apparatus. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of history data aggregation processing executed by the image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  1 image processing device, 2 other image forming device, 4 client device, 5 network, 11 control unit, 12 storage unit, 13 interface unit, 14 display unit, 15 operation unit, 16 image forming unit.

Claims (9)

An image forming apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
Generating means for generating history data relating to the operation or setting of the image forming apparatus;
Holding means for holding the history data in cooperation with another image forming apparatus connected via the network;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The holding unit stores the history data in a storage device included in the image forming apparatus, and transmits the history data to the other image forming apparatus via the network under a predetermined condition. Transmission storage means for storing in a storage device of the other image forming apparatus,
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The history data can be held in cooperation with the image forming apparatus, and further includes a search unit that searches for the other image forming apparatus that meets a predetermined search condition.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The search means searches for the other image forming apparatus on the condition that a non-volatile storage device for holding data received via the network is provided.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:
The search means searches for the other image forming apparatus on the condition that the storage device is accessible by an access command described by a control code used by the image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The transmission storage unit attaches an identifier to the history data and transmits the history data to the other image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The transmission storage unit converts the format of the history data and then transmits the history data to the other image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
A reading unit for reading the history data held in the storage device of the other image forming apparatus;
An image forming apparatus. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
Generating history data relating to the operation or setting of the image forming apparatus;
Holding the history data in cooperation with another image forming apparatus connected to the network;
A method comprising the steps of:

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