JP2008204270A - Image forming apparatus, resource management method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus, resource management method and program, increasing efficiency of resource management. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus 100 for providing service containing image formation includes: a control means 148 including an operating system for managing service in common; an image forming apparatus resource including an application and a hardware device for providing service; a resource control means 118 for monitoring the use status of the image forming apparatus resource; an interface means 122-132 for informing the use status; and a resource status register means 312 for receiving the information on the use status, and registering the use status in association with the image forming apparatus resource, wherein in response to the use of the image forming apparatus resource, the registered data of the resource status register means 312 is updated to thereby manage the use status of the image forming apparatus 100. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus, a resource management method, and a program for improving the efficiency of charging processing when a function is added to an image forming apparatus.

  In the conventional image forming apparatus, the application that operates on the apparatus is unique to the apparatus, and it is not necessary to consider the operation in other models. For this reason, the billing system has also been dedicated to the functions of built-in applications. In recent years, in order to shorten the period of application development, application development has been demanded more easily, and application development / operation platform utilization has been promoted in common. It has been proposed (Patent Document 1). Further, in order to meet the demands of various users, there is an increasing demand for functions that are incorporated and used in apparatuses that already exist in the market as additional functions, in addition to functions that are incorporated in advance from the apparatus developer.

  In order to meet the above-mentioned requirements, development environments such as hardware interfaces and software interfaces (API: Application Program Interface) necessary for device control are provided, and applications developed by persons other than the developer of the image forming apparatus It can also be made available.

By the way, when functions that were not included at the time of development or installation of the image forming apparatus are added according to the individual needs of the user, it is possible to count the usage of the corresponding added functions and collect the consideration for that function. This is necessary in order not to waste the resources of the image forming apparatus while meeting the needs. When the user is a company, it can be said that a billing / collection system is also constructed. However, if the developer of the additional function is different from the user, developing a separate module for collecting the consideration for each device or for each user results in a great cost. On the other hand, there is a problem that billing increases the cost.
JP 2006-260404 A

  From the viewpoint of cost by developing another module as described above, in the past, depending on the additional function module and application, if you have to give up the price by paying a certain amount, you have to get the price only by the price of the application itself There was also. In this case, there is a problem that charging of the image forming apparatus cannot be performed in a so-called pay-as-you-go system corresponding to resource use of the image forming apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the present invention makes it possible to obtain information about the usage status of a module that provides an additional function as a system of the apparatus, and according to the use of the additional function. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus, a resource management method, and a program that provide means for obtaining compensation.

  Further, according to the present invention, regarding an application that provides an additional function, it is possible to acquire the usage status of the function for each identification value of each application or hardware device, and regarding the usage of resources held by the image forming apparatus, the usage consideration of the apparatus itself Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a resource management method, and a program for acquiring the usage consideration for other additional function modules and the usage consideration for the application itself.

  In the present invention, the use of functions that were not implemented in the original device is ensured to have the same security as that provided in advance as a built-in function, and to protect user privacy and developer rights. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a resource management method, and a program that can be used.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is possible to collect the usage fee for the additional function and the additional application by using the price collection system constructed by the device vendor, and it is possible to collect the fee without independently constructing the system for collecting the usage fee. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus, a resource management method, and a program that enable the recovery of the image.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes hardware resources and software resources (hereinafter referred to as image forming apparatus resources) of an image forming apparatus activated by various keys of an operation unit, signals from an input device such as a touch panel, message reception, and the like. .) Is monitored, and the use of the image forming apparatus is managed as a count value or an integrated value of use time.

  The usage status of software resources and hardware resources is monitored by inter-process communication between software resources and a resource control module provided as resource control means. The software resource includes interface means (hereinafter referred to as an interface unit) configured to include an API or an I / O device provided for the application, in addition to the application itself for providing the service. be able to. The resource control module registers the usage status in a resource status table used as a resource status registration means, and is updated using the message content of interprocess communication whenever the usage status changes.

  When the user inputs from the operation unit, the resource control module is notified of the use of the image forming apparatus resource, and in response to the change in the usage status, the count value or the accumulated usage time that gives the number of times the image forming apparatus resource is used Calculate the value. The calculated count value or accumulated value of the usage time is stored in a non-volatile storage device such as NVRAM or transmitted via a network, and charging corresponding to the use of the image forming apparatus is possible.

  In addition, when a new additional application is installed according to the individual needs of the user, the resource control module uses a value indicating the addition of the application to the resource status table using inter-process communication, and the newly added additional application. Corresponding to the service identification value such as the service name, the identification value of the hardware device to be used, the identification value of the method or function to be called, a new record for registering the usage status is added. With this function, even when the user installs an additional application corresponding to individual needs in the image forming apparatus, the use of the image forming apparatus can be automatically managed.

  When the resource control module searches for an entry in the resource status table by notification through inter-process communication at the end of installation of the additional application, and determines that it is a new additional application, the resource control module records the application received by inter-process communication in the record. Register information. In another embodiment, the inter-process communication at the time when the additional application is first started may be used to add to the record of the resource management table.

  By implementing the function monitor with the above configuration, even when an application is added according to the individual needs of the user, the use of the image forming apparatus by the additional application is monitored, so each service is started And the usage time can be monitored, and charging corresponding to the usage time can be made in addition to the usage frequency.

That is, according to the present invention,
An image forming apparatus that provides services including image formation,
Control means for commonly managing the services;
An image forming apparatus resource including an application and a hardware device for providing the service;
Interface means for notifying the usage status of the image forming apparatus resources;
Resource status registration means for receiving notification of the usage status and registering the usage status in association with the service or the image forming apparatus resource for providing the service;
Resource control means for monitoring the usage status of the image forming apparatus resource and adding a record for registering at least a service identification value and usage status of a newly installed additional application to the resource status registration means;
Including
Provided is an image forming apparatus that manages the usage status of the image forming apparatus by updating registration data of the resource status registration means in response to the usage of the image forming apparatus resources. .

  The resource control means of the present invention further registers a method identification value of a method used by the additional application, a function identification value of a function used by the additional application, or a usage status of the method identification value and the function identification value. A record can be added to the resource status registration means.

  In the present invention, the resource control means can accept the notification from the interface means by inter-process communication. Further, the control unit executes the bytecode generated from the application and the additional application by translating it into a machine language, and the interface unit passes the execution result of the application to the hardware device and performs the service. Can be executed to notify the resource control means of the end of processing of the hardware device. The resource status registration unit of the present invention may be encrypted and then stored in a non-volatile storage unit, or transferred to an information processing apparatus via a network.

According to the present invention,
An apparatus executable method for managing a usage status of an image forming apparatus that provides a service including image formation, the method comprising:
Transmitting the use status of image forming apparatus resources including an application and a hardware device for providing the service by inter-process communication;
Receiving the usage status by a resource control means, and monitoring the usage status;
Registering in the resource status registration means for registering the usage status in association with the image forming apparatus resource using the usage status notification;
Updating registration data of the resource status registration means in response to a change in the usage status;
There is provided a method for causing the image forming apparatus to execute at least a step of adding a record for registering a service identification value and a usage status of a newly installed additional application to the resource status registration means.

  In the present invention, a method identification value of a method used by the additional application, a function identification value of a function used by the additional application, or a record for registering a usage status of the method identification value and the function identification value is registered in the resource status. Additional steps can be performed on the means.

In the present invention, the step of integrating the usage status of the image forming apparatus resources;
And executing a charge calculation for a service provided by the image forming apparatus resource using the accumulated usage state. Furthermore, the present invention can provide a computer-executable program for causing the image forming apparatus to execute the above-described method.

  FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a software / hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 100 controls the hardware device with a plurality of software, and executes processes such as user commands, facsimile reception, and file transfer. The image forming apparatus 100 communicates with a user and an external device using input / output hardware such as a communication device 102 such as a modem or DSU / TA, a communication interface unit 104, a communication permission switch 106, and an operation unit 108. Control. Further, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a ROM 110 and a RAM 112 including EEPROM, EPROM, and the like. The ROM 110 stores setting data and the like of the image forming apparatus 100, and reads the setting file when the image forming apparatus 100 is started or reset, thereby enabling the setting of the image forming apparatus 100. The RAM 112 can also be configured to include an NVRAM, and provides a work space that allows the image forming apparatus 100 to execute an application.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, a CPU (not shown) reads an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) into the RAM 112, and corresponding software is read into the RAM 112 in response to an external input, and is controlled by the OS. Run the software below to execute the service corresponding to the external input. More specifically, the CPU used by the image forming apparatus 100 of the present invention includes, for example, PENTIUM (registered trademark) to PENTIUM (registered trademark) IV, PENTIUM (registered trademark) compatible CPU, POWER PC (registered trademark), MIPS, CPUs compatible with these, and the like can be mentioned, but are not limited to these CPUs.

  As an operating system (OS) to be used, MacOS (trademark), Windows (registered trademark), Windows (registered trademark) 200X Server, UNIX (registered trademark), LINUX (registered trademark), or any other appropriate OS Can be mentioned. Further, the image forming apparatus 100 stores an application program written in a legacy programming language or an object-oriented programming language such as C, C ++, Visual C ++, Visual Basic, Java (registered trademark), etc., operating on the OS described above. And run. In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a dedicated microprocessor corresponding to processing, and controls a hardware module group using a language such as an assembler. In the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, the program and application software for managing the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 are Java (registered trademark). For this reason, the image forming apparatus 100 is mounted with an environment that enables execution of Java (registered trademark), for example, a class loader, an interpreter for converting Java (registered trademark) code into byte code, A JVM (Java Virtual Machine) 148 including an OS and an API for passing execution results to lower-level software is provided.

The communication interface unit 104 is a part that performs communication with the communication apparatus 102, PPP (Point to Point Protocol), ITU-T recommendation X. Facsimile transmission / reception is executed using a communication protocol such as 25. The communication permission switch 106 allows communication with the communication device 102.
Set prohibition. The operation unit 108 includes a keyboard and the like, accepts an external input by the user, generates a hardware interrupt, and activates a process instructed by the operation unit 108 to the operation unit control module 116 described later. In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 may include a network interface (NIC), and PPPoE (Point
It is also possible to connect to a network using a to Point on Ethernet (registered trademark) protocol and provide network functions such as mail transfer, file transmission / reception, and LDAP search. The communication interface 104 to the operation unit 108 include driver software and input / output I / O, and pass processing to the APIs of the communication-related control module 114 and the operation unit control module 116.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes hardware control unit groups 136 to 146 including device drivers for performing external output using the processing result by the CPU. The optical system control unit 136 performs drive control of the exposure lamp. The high-voltage power supply control unit 138 supplies power to the charging charger, separation charger, transfer charger, pre-transfer charger (PTC), and developing bias. The motor control unit 140 controls main motors such as an optical system of the image forming apparatus 100, a photosensitive member, and transfer paper conveyance. The heater control unit 142 performs drive control of the fixing heater. The sensor sensitivity control unit 144 manages variable control such as gains of various sensors including optical sensors. The A / D converter control unit 146 includes a lamp voltage, a position sensor light emission voltage, a position sensor light reception voltage, a potential sensor output of various bias potentials, a sensor output for controlling the automatic paper feeder, a lamp light quantity sensor output, and a drum current sensor. An A / D converter (not shown) that controls output, fixing thermistor voltage, and the like is controlled.

  The image forming apparatus 100 also includes control software modules (interfaces) 122 to 132 corresponding to the hardware control unit groups 136 to 146 described above. In the present embodiment, the control software module groups 122 to 132 are configured by Java (registered trademark), and the execution results of the application software called by the communication-related control module 114 and the operation unit control module 116 are converted into the hardware control unit group 136. To 146. Further, the control software module groups 122 to 132 receive control signals from the respective hardware control units and notify the resource control module 118 of the operation status of each hardware control unit. The resource control module 118 creates a message or data to be communicated by inter-process communication from the notified control signal from each hardware control unit.

  The message or data may include a process ID, etc. in addition to a service identification value, a software module identification value, and a hardware device identification value related to the service. The created message or data is sent to the resource control module 118 by inter-process communication. The resource control module 118 manages the operating environment of the image forming apparatus 100 by registering and updating the usage status of the image forming apparatus resources using the received message or data. In addition, the resource control module 118 is also notified of the communication state, display of the operation unit, key operation information, and the like from the communication-related control module 114 and the operation unit control module 116, and collects information related to hardware operations in a lump. Manage with.

In the image forming apparatus 100, application software and control software module groups 114, 116, 118, and 122 to 132 are configured by Java (registered trademark). Each of these modules is JNI (Java (registered trademark)
Device control by Java (registered trademark) is made possible by using a lower level control module group through Native Interface). This lower module group is described in, for example, C language, and mainly includes an interface between a device driver of a corresponding control unit and another module. Each lower module group notifies the state of data, status, etc. between processes through inter-process communication (message) via the internal bus 134. Examples of interprocess communication include various methods such as signals, pipes, and sockets. When socket communication is used, a domain can be set locally, for example, UNIX (registered trademark) PF_UNIX (registered trademark) can be designated.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, a lower module in charge of processing closer to the hardware notifies various apparatus states, parameter setting statuses, and the like to a higher software module that performs corresponding control. Further, the lower-level hardware control modules 122 to 132 that function as interfaces receive the notification, create a message or data, and notify the resource control module 118 using inter-process communication. As a result, the image forming apparatus 100 can collectively manage various software resources and hardware resources in the image forming apparatus as communication within the software. The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment manages billing information as part of resource management, and manages resource usage information related to service provision by the image forming apparatus 100.

  FIG. 2 shows the software structure 200 of the image forming apparatus 100 as a hierarchical structure. The image forming apparatus 100 has a plurality of applications 202 to 208 corresponding to the contents of the service. The application 208 is an additional application added to provide a function corresponding to individual needs. The applications 202 to 208 include a facsimile application, a file transfer application, an LDAP search application, a mail transmission / reception application (these are hereinafter referred to as network control applications), an OCR application, a printer application, and a copy application (these are hereinafter referred to as the following). (Referred to as an engine control application).

  These application software 202 to 208 define an application layer 212. Each software module group 114 to 132 shown in FIG. 1 is associated with the middleware layer 214 together with various control unit groups (driver software) for controlling the hardware layer 210. The middleware layer 214 allows the processing result of the application layer 212 to be output via a hardware device and enables data communication.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 includes optical hardware, imaging hardware, fax hardware, and operation unit hardware as hardware devices included in the hardware layer 210. Other hardware devices can be included depending on the type of service. The option HW 216 is a hardware device added at an arbitrary stage after the image forming apparatus 100 is installed in accordance with the individual needs of the user. Further, in the image forming apparatus 100, an option control module and an option control driver corresponding to the additional application 208 are installed in correspondence with the addition of the option HW 216. In the image forming apparatus 100, additional middleware 218 including an option control module and an option control driver is added.

  Information from each application of the device is processed by a corresponding control software module, shown as middleware layer 214. Regardless of software information / hardware information, all application information of the image forming apparatus 100 is passed to the resource control module 118 as communication messages (information) or data in inter-process communication between software modules.

  In FIG. 2, each of the applications 202 to 208 is executed on a virtual machine provided by the image forming apparatus 100 and processes a method or function corresponding to a function used by the application using a method call or a function call. The result is used by the hardware device to realize the processing that is commanded by the user or externally.

  Setting information for executing an application can be realized by configuring a method (function) for acquiring setting information for each application. In another embodiment, the setting information can be acquired collectively as a file downloaded using an HTTP or FTP protocol via a storage device such as an SD card or USB memory or a network. When acquiring the setting information about the hardware device as a file, the image forming apparatus 100 can acquire the hardware information in various formats such as comma-delimited, LDAP data, CSV, and the like. In still another embodiment, a text file that lists the function table and the availability of each function may be used. In an even more preferred embodiment, it is possible to categorize and provide setting information related to the use function, and it is possible to provide parameter setting range information for each service, so that the amount of information is increased. It is preferable to use a file created with a structured document. Examples of structured documents that can be used in this embodiment include structured documents supported by HTTP protocols such as HTML and XML. By using XML documents, more flexible usage forms are provided. can do.

  When executing an application, the image forming apparatus 100 stores in advance information on what functions are available or functions that are scheduled to be used in a nonvolatile storage device such as NVRAM of the image forming apparatus 100. The user can be notified by inquiring about the set information, displaying only available functions, for example, and displaying unavailable functions in gray on the operation unit 108. When a specific service is available, the parameter setting range that can be used by the service may be stored as setting information in, for example, NVRAM. When the image forming apparatus 100 acquires the setting information of the hardware device and collates with the function that can be provided by the platform, only the function that can be actually executed can be provided. Thereby, even when the function that can be originally provided cannot be provided due to some trouble, it is possible to save the user or the service person from setting the application to be unusable.

  FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which an additional application corresponding to individual needs is installed in the image forming apparatus 100. The added application 306 is configured to include a plurality of methods or functions 308. The application 306 can be installed via a medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, MO, USB memory, or SD card. In another embodiment, the program can be installed by downloading via a network such as the Internet using the HTTP protocol or the FTP protocol, and compiling on the image forming apparatus 100 using an execution file including a makefile. At this time, the image forming apparatus 100 installs the corresponding control software module and driver software together to function as the interface unit (API) 314.

  Further, the port number of the installed application, the I / O address of the hardware device to be used, and the like are managed by the resource control module 118 or an appropriate module that manages the image forming apparatus 100 at the end of the installation process. It is registered in a table for registering all available resources of the device 100. Furthermore, the resource status table 312 registers resource information 302 used for resource management, and counts the usage status of newly added applications or hardware devices. Note that the image forming apparatus resource ID identifies the software resource and the hardware resource, and the application, control software module, method, function, and hardware so that possible management items assumed in resource management can be identified atomically. It can be registered as an identification value for identifying a control unit or a service.

  Further, the resource status table 312 includes, as resource information, a count value for managing the use of the image forming apparatus resources, a count type such as a use time, and a combination of image forming apparatus resources to be listed corresponding to the use form. A count option that is information to be specified may be registered.

  When a user requesting a predetermined function is input from the operation unit 108 or when an automatic facsimile reception function is activated, the image forming apparatus 100 calls the application 306 and calls a method for processing. After executing the processing, the execution result is transmitted to the processing device 304 via the interface unit (API) 314. When the processing by the application 306 is started and ended, the application 306 notifies the resource control module 118 of the start and end using process communication. The interface unit 314 also notifies the resource control module 118 of the command issuance to the processing device 304 and the processing end by the processing device using inter-process communication.

  The resource control module 118 registers or updates an entry item in the resource status table 312 each time a notification is received. Further, when the resource control module 118 receives each message notifying that the processing device 304 has been started and the processing has been completed, the resource control module 118 calculates a counter or processing time for any or all entries of the corresponding processing device, service, or application. To do. The calculated data is used to update the value of the corresponding field of the resource status table 312 and obtains the use frequency or usage time of the service using the installed application. The obtained number of uses is sent to a storage device such as NVRAM for each set period, and the next set period is counted or timed.

  FIG. 4 shows a partial configuration of the resource status table 312 in the embodiment. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the resource status table 312 is provided with fields for registering service names, resource states, and count values (usage times) as identification values for identifying services. The resource status table 312 shown in FIG. 4 can be entered with any identification value or status information related to software resources and hardware resources other than those shown in FIG.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the field 312a is an embodiment in which a service name for providing a service is entered. When the number of uses is monitored using a service name, the method or function call used by the service can be counted individually and counted as the number of times the service is used. In the field 312a, various identification values such as a program ID, a method ID, a function ID, and a hardware ID can be individually registered instead of the service name.

  Hereinafter, processing when the image forming apparatus 100 detects an additional application will be described. The image forming apparatus 100 receives the inter-process communication, and from the table managing all the resource identification values of the image forming apparatus 100 managed by the resource control module 118 for the corresponding software resource or hardware resource, Queries the image forming apparatus resources registered in (1). At this stage, if a corresponding identification value is not found, it is determined that the application is an additional application, and information received by inter-process communication is registered in the table. Thereafter, the service name of the application is added to the record of the resource status table 312 shown in FIG. 4 to generate a new record, and thereafter the resource usage state is managed. When the application is uninstalled, the hardware control function 118 notifies the resource control module 118 of a value indicating uninstallation and resources remaining after the uninstallation by inter-process communication in the final process of the uninstallation process. If the application is uninstalled in response to removal of the application, it is deleted. By not performing resource management at the time of uninstallation, the accuracy of resource management can be further improved.

  In the field 312b, the execution status of the service is registered. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the service name “FAX” is registered in the field 312 b as “ACTIVE”, and a value of “OFF” is shown as a value indicating that other services such as file transfer and mail are not currently provided. Is registered. The field 312b receives the interprocess notification from the control software modules 122 to 132 that provide the corresponding service, and the value of the field 312b of the corresponding service is updated.

  The field 312c of the resource status table 312 counts the number of times that the service is activated, and accumulates the count value over a set period. In another embodiment, the system time at the time of receiving a message notifying that the service has been started is acquired, and the system time at the time of ending the service is further acquired so that the service is active. The calculated time can be calculated and integrated over the set period, and used as the service usage time instead of counting.

  When the set period expires, the image forming apparatus 100 stores the resource status table 312 in a nonvolatile storage device such as NVRAM, clears the entry in the field 312c, and starts acquiring the count or accumulated time of the next set period. To do. This data is used as usage status information for each function. In the case of registration in NVRAM or the like, this data is subjected to security enhancement processing such as predetermined encryption, and is then duplicated and redundantly held in the nonvolatile storage device.

  The image forming apparatus 100 uses the above-described processing, and functions modules that can be added later in addition to the modules related to the control of the hardware device incorporated in the image forming apparatus 100 from the time of installation are added modules. Resource usage status information can be acquired and retained.

  FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a method or function that an application calls. In FIG. 5, a lower processing unit 500 indicates a group of device drivers such as hardware control units 136 to 146. The program group included in the lower-level processing unit 500 is a module that directly controls the apparatus and is described in C language or the like. However, these may be other programming languages or assembler languages. A system unit 502 represents a program group including an OS and middleware. The application groups 202 to 208 are configured to include a method 504 called by the application for each application such as engine control, memory control, and fax control. A function may be included in addition to the method.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 5, in order to provide various services, it is implemented as a Java (registered trademark) class, and an application function is provided by executing each class on a virtual machine. Furthermore, each class of application is shown as calling a method 504 directly. In order to simplify setting between applications, the image forming apparatus 100 according to another embodiment may wrap a series of settings or processes as a sequence as a single method, and provide a service more directly. In still another embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is defined as an abstract class for a method common to a plurality of applications, generates a concrete class corresponding to a call from a different application, and corresponds to each application. Processing can be executed.

  In FIG. 5, an application 506 shown as an option is an additional application added in accordance with individual needs, and shows that an OCR and a barcode decoder are registered as methods. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the application 506 is supported by adding an OCR method or an OCR decoding method without adding a hardware device for OCR and barcode. In this case, the resource status table 312 is created as a new record, such as “OCR” or “barcode” as the service name or method name, and is managed thereafter.

  FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a data structure 600 of usage status information data registered in a non-volatile storage device such as NVRAM. The data structure shown in FIG. 6 is a structure in which a count value 604 indicating how many times the service name 602 is used within the set period is registered corresponding to the service name used by the user. ing. The image forming apparatus 100 can execute calculation processing using the accounting calculation module using the data structure shown in FIG. In another embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 sends the data shown in FIG. 6 to a remotely installed personal computer or management server using a protocol such as FTP or HTTP, and performs accounting calculation. Can be executed.

  In order to obtain the data structure shown in FIG. 6, the application reads a plurality of (in this example, three sides) originals, and an instruction relating to processing of the read image data is specified on the first side by a barcode. The text information is extracted from the image data on the second and third surfaces by the OCR application, stored in the image forming apparatus 100, and further transferred to a predetermined personal computer or file server via the network function. In order to confirm the result, a data structure is used in which resource use when the extracted information is printed by OCR using the text print function is divided into job-unit categories.

The application used by the user by the user operation described above is
(1) Functions built into the standard equipment (2) Scan, file storage, file transmission, printing (3) Additional functions (applications)
Bar code (analysis), OCR
It becomes.

  These pieces of information are managed by the resource status table 312 for each identification value such as a service name and program ID for identifying an application as usage status information, and created in an appropriate format by the billing calculation module after the set period ends. Is done. Further, in another embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 can assign a user code for each user, and acquire and manage information such as a count value or a usage time for each user code.

  FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of processing for registering a new entry item in the record of the resource status table 312 when the image forming apparatus 100 is installed with an application corresponding to the individual needs. The process starts from step S700. In step S701, an application that provides an optional function is added (installed). In step S702, the resource control module 118 that has received the process communication at the end of installation inquires a table that lists all the resources registered at that time and a service identification value such as the acquired service name, When there is no matching service identification value or the like, a new record is registered in the resource status table 312, and a value such as a service identification value received by inter-process communication is registered in the new record. Thereafter, the process ends in step S703, and thereafter, a command from the operation unit 108 that requests an option function corresponding to the external input is waited for.

  FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of processing of a resource management method executed by the image forming apparatus 100. The processing in FIG. 8 starts from step S800, and in step S801, the resource control module 118 receives interprocess communication. In step S802, an inter-process communication message or data is analyzed, and the status of the resource state in the resource status table 312 is received for each image forming apparatus resource identification value such as a corresponding service identification value (service name). Or, it is updated so as to correspond to the data, and at the same time, the count value or the usage time is updated.

  In step S803, the count value or the usage time is stored in a nonvolatile storage device such as NVRAM in response to the expiration of the set period set for integrating the count value or the usage time. In step S804, processing such as print output, storage in a storage device such as an SD card, uploading to a server or personal computer via a network, etc. is performed in order to calculate the charge in the NVRAM based on the usage history within the set period. Execute. In step S805, the count value or usage time in the resource status table 312 is cleared, and the process returns to step S801 to start counting the next set period or integration of the usage time. In another embodiment, the processing in step S805 resets the count value or the usage time in the resource status table 312 when the previous count value or the usage time in the past is left as a log or the like in the server or the like. The integration may be performed continuously without performing.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment is provided when an application developed by a developer or other than the developer is added to the image forming apparatus after being actually provided to the market, or when an application function is added / Even when an application corresponding to a modified or newly developed optional function is added, it is possible to acquire a usage history corresponding to an available service / function in response to installation / uninstallation of the application. In addition, when an application providing an additional function is developed, it is possible to automatically manage resources including a charging process for the additional function by simply installing it, and to suppress maintenance costs. As a result, it is possible to easily and appropriately pay for additional services generated by the individual needs while responding to the individual needs of the user.

  The above functions of the present invention are described in a legacy programming language or an object-oriented programming language such as C, C ++, Java (registered trademark), Java (registered trademark) Beans, Java (registered trademark) Script, Perl, and Ruby. It can be realized by a program executable by the apparatus, and can be stored in a device-readable recording medium and distributed.

  Although the present invention has been described with embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, and the like can be conceived by those skilled in the art. As long as the effect | action and effect of this invention are show | played in any aspect, it is included in the range of this invention.

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a software / hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. The figure which showed the software structure of the image forming apparatus as a hierarchical structure. The figure which showed embodiment in the case of installing the additional application corresponding to an individual need with respect to an image forming apparatus. The figure which showed the partial structure in embodiment of a resource status table. The figure which showed embodiment of the method or function which an application calls. The figure which showed embodiment of the data structure of the utilization status information data registered into non-volatile storage devices, such as NVRAM. The figure which showed embodiment of the process which registers a new entry item into the record of a resource status table, when the application corresponding to an individual need is installed in the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of processing of a resource management method executed by the image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Image forming apparatus, 102 ... Communication apparatus, 104 ... Communication interface unit, 106 ... Communication permission switch, 108 ... Operation part, 110 ... ROM, 112 ... RAM, 114 ... Communication related control module, 116 ... Operation part control module, 118 ... Resource control module, 122-132 ... Control software module group, 134 ... Internal bus, 136-146 ... Hardware control unit group, 148 ... JVM, 200 ... Software structure, 202-208 ... Application, 210 ... Hardware layer 212 ... Application layer, 214 ... Middleware layer, 216 ... Option HW, 302 ... Resource information, 304 ... Processing device, 306 ... Application, 308 ... Method or function, 310 ... OS, 312 ... Resource status table, 14 ... API, 500 ... lower processing unit, 502 ... system unit, 504 ... methods, 506 ... application 600 ... the data structure (usage information data)

Claims (9)

An image forming apparatus that provides services including image formation,
Control means for commonly managing the services;
An image forming apparatus resource including an application and a hardware device for providing the service;
Interface means for notifying the usage status of the image forming apparatus resources;
Resource status registration means for receiving notification of the usage status and registering the usage status in association with the service or the image forming apparatus resource for providing the service;
Resource control means for monitoring the usage status of the image forming apparatus resource and adding a record for registering at least a service identification value and usage status of a newly installed additional application to the resource status registration means;
Including
The image forming apparatus manages the usage status of the image forming apparatus by updating registration data of the resource status registration unit in response to the usage of the image forming apparatus resources.   The resource control means further includes a method identification value of a method used by the additional application, a function identification value of a function used by the additional application, or a record for registering a usage status of the method identification value and the function identification value. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is added to a resource status registration unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resource control unit receives the notification from the interface unit through inter-process communication.   The control unit executes the bytecode generated from the application and the additional application by translating it into a machine language, and the interface unit passes the execution result of the application to the hardware device to execute the service. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resource control unit is notified of the end of processing of the hardware device.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resource status registration unit is encrypted and then stored in a non-volatile storage unit or transferred to an information processing apparatus via a network. An apparatus executable method for managing a usage status of an image forming apparatus that provides a service including image formation, the method comprising:
Transmitting the use status of image forming apparatus resources including an application and a hardware device for providing the service by inter-process communication;
Receiving the usage status by a resource control means, and monitoring the usage status;
Registering in the resource status registration means for registering the usage status in association with the image forming apparatus resource using the usage status notification;
Updating registration data of the resource status registration means in response to a change in the usage status;
A method of causing the image forming apparatus to execute at least a step of adding a record for registering a service identification value and a usage status of a newly installed additional application to the resource status registration unit.   A method identification value of a method used by the additional application, a function identification value of a function used by the additional application, or a record for registering a usage status of the method identification value and the function identification value is added to the resource status registration unit. The method of claim 6, wherein the steps are performed. Integrating the usage status of the image forming apparatus resources;
The method according to claim 6, further comprising: performing billing calculation for a service provided by the image forming apparatus resource using the accumulated usage state.   A computer-executable program for causing an image forming apparatus to execute the method according to claim 6.

Images