JP2008258796A - Network multifunction device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To e-mail internal information of a multifunction device. <P>SOLUTION: A service report on the internal information is e-mailed, FAXed, and printed out, and electronic mail addresses and facsimile numbers of output destinations are stored by the output formats to freely be set. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network multifunction peripheral, and more particularly to output of internal information of a device.

  In a network multifunction peripheral, internal information such as the number of copies, communication time, the number of paper jams, and the amount of remaining toner is regularly output by printout or facsimile transmission. However, such internal information is not sent by e-mail to a specific client. Also, the user does not set the output format from e-mail transmission, facsimile transmission, or printout.

An object of the present invention is to transmit the internal information of the device in a data format that can be set by the user from an output format including an electronic mail and can be easily processed on the receiving side (claims 1 to 5).
An additional problem in the invention of claim 2 is that internal information of the device can be sent to a plurality of output destinations.
An additional problem in the invention of claim 3 is that a plurality of output formats can be set.
An additional problem in the invention of claim 4 is that it is possible to set whether or not internal information can be transmitted collectively for each device.
An additional problem in the invention of claim 5 is to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted.

  According to the present invention, in a network multi-function peripheral including a transmission unit that performs e-mail transmission and facsimile transmission, and a printer, the output format of internal information of the device is set from e-mail transmission, facsimile transmission, and printout. A setting unit for setting an e-mail transmission address and a facsimile number of an output destination of internal information as an output destination, and a storage unit for storing the set output format and output destination, and the internal information Is output to a predetermined output destination in a predetermined output format.

Preferably, the internal information can be output to a plurality of output destinations for each of the electronic mail transmission and the facsimile transmission.
Preferably, the setting unit is capable of setting a plurality of output formats.
More preferably, the setting unit is provided with a single button for setting that neither e-mail transmission nor facsimile transmission is performed.
Preferably, only the link data of the internal information is transmitted at the time of e-mail transmission of the internal information.

  In the present invention, the output of the internal information of the device can be output by e-mail to a specific output destination such as an administrator or a service center. In addition to G3 facsimile transmission and printout, output by e-mail is possible. Since the user can select and set from these output formats, the internal information of the device can be transmitted in a data format convenient for the output destination. Data can be transmitted by e-mail using a data format such as CSV, and data processing and processing are easy at the output destination. The service center or the like can acquire and manage the internal information of the device such as the number of copies of the device, the communication time, the number of paper jams, and the toner remaining amount in an easy-to-use format (claims 1 to 5).

In addition, internal information of the device can be sent to a plurality of output destinations.
Further, the user can set a plurality of output formats (claim 3).
Further, the user can collectively set whether or not to transmit the internal information of the user's own device by e-mail or facsimile (claim 4).
Furthermore, the data transmitted to the output destination can be reduced (claim 5).

  In the following, an optimum embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be shown.

  1 to 7 show an embodiment of the network multifunction device 2. The network MFP 2 is connected to a network such as a LAN 4 or the Internet 6, is connected to a client personal computer 8, a file management server 10, a router 12, or the like via the LAN 4, and is further connected to a service center via the router 12 or the Internet 6. To the personal computer 14 or the like.

  In FIG. 1, 20 is a LAN interface, 22 is a main control unit, 24 is a G3 facsimile function processing unit, and performs transmission / reception of G3 facsimile and the like via a public telephone network (PSTN). Reference numeral 26 denotes an Internet facsimile function processing unit which processes transmission / reception of an Internet facsimile in an e-mail format, for example. 28 is a network scanner function processing unit, 30 is a network printer unit, and 32 is a copy function processing unit. Reference numeral 34 denotes a display unit such as an LCD, and 36 denotes an operation unit such as a keyboard or a touch panel. The RAM 38 is configured by SRAM, DRAM, flash memory, and the like, and stores internal information of devices, various data associated with processing, and the like. The ROM 40 stores a program necessary for the operation of the multifunction machine 2.

  A service report output unit 42 outputs internal information of the device as a service report. The internal information of the device includes information on the use frequency of the device such as the number of copies, the communication time, and the number of paper jams, and information on consumables such as the remaining amount of toner, and the client in the service center 14 or LAN 4 connected via the network. 8 etc. to manage the internal information of each MFP. In the embodiment, the output of the service report includes printout, e-mail transmission to the client 8 and the service center 14, and G3 facsimile transmission.

  The service report output unit 42 includes an output setting unit 44 for the user to set the output format of the service report, and an output destination storage unit 46 for storing an output destination of e-mail or facsimile transmission. The output format and the output destination mail address corresponding to the output format are stored in the output destination information storage table 48, respectively. The user sets an output format from the operation unit 36 or inputs an output destination to be registered in the table 48, its address, and the like.

  FIG. 2 shows an output destination information storage table 48 that stores output formats and output destination information. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the user can set the output format of the service report, and the table 48 refers to the address of the output destination corresponding to the set output format. For example, if the user sets to send a service report to a plurality of output destinations by e-mail, the user sends e-mails to the output destination A and the output destination B, respectively. It can be set by facsimile transmission. Further, the table 48 stores that detailed data of internal information is attached when mail is sent to the output destination A. Note that the user can set ON / OFF for each output format, and can set ON / OFF for each output destination. In FIG. 2, the mail is transmitted to the output destination A and is not transmitted to the output destinations B and C.

  FIG. 4 shows a display / operation screen 60 for the user to register and set the output format of the service report. Whether or not the internal information can be transmitted is set with the button 62, and when the button 62 is set to OFF, the internal information is not transmitted and only the printout is performed. In addition, a printout setting button may be separately provided on the screen 60, and it may be set that the service report is not output when the button 62 is set to OFF. A button 64 is a setting button for facsimile transmission, and a button 66 is a setting button for e-mail transmission. A screen 68 relating to e-mail transmission is displayed with the button 66, and a "Mail Address" button 70 is selected to input a mail address. The screen 68 displays that the service report is transmitted by e-mail and is not transmitted by facsimile, and that the output interval of the service report is set to 2 weeks. In addition, since the facsimile setting button 72 can be selected on the screen 68 and the facsimile number of each output destination can be input, a plurality of output destinations can be registered and ON / OFF can be set for each output destination. Furthermore, transmission by both facsimile and electronic mail can be set. The screen 60 in FIG. 4 may be displayed on the screen of the administrator's PC 8 or service center 14.

  FIG. 5 shows an electronic mail 50 in which the service report is described in the body part. In the embodiment, the internal information is described in a text data format such as CSV in the body part, and the internal information as image data is also attached to the attached file. A summary of internal information may be attached to the text, and detailed data may be attached to the attached file. The text data of the body part can be easily processed / processed at the output destination service center or the like, and can be stored in the database as it is. By sending a service report by e-mail, the service center or the like periodically obtains internal information of the multifunction device, checks the frequency of use of the device, calculates the remaining amount of consumables and maintenance fees, etc. Do. As shown in FIG. 5, by transmitting internal information using electronic mail, text data to the service center can be transmitted to the body, and image data can be transmitted as an attached file.

  In the case of G3 fax, if the output destination is a facsimile number of service personnel or the like, it is possible to respond to a request to receive a service report as image data.

  FIG. 6 shows a case where link data of internal information is transmitted by e-mail in HTML format or the like. The internal information of the device is stored / managed by, for example, the file management server 10 connected via the LAN 4, and link information to the data 80 of the server 10 is transmitted to the service center 14 or the like. When storing a large amount of data, all the data is not transmitted to the service center 14 or the like, but the necessary data is associated in a link format. The service center 14 can acquire data linked to the received service report from the file management server 10. Here, if link data for each link file is transmitted to the service center as a separate link file for each type of internal information, only necessary internal information can be acquired.

  FIG. 7 shows service report transmission processing. The service report is output periodically every predetermined time. When the report output time is reached (S1), it is checked whether the service report is set to be transmitted (S2). When the transmission process is OFF, only printout is performed (S3), and when the transmission process is ON, transmission process by e-mail or facsimile is performed.

  At the time of transmission, output destination information such as a mail address and facsimile number of the output destination of the service report is acquired from the output destination information storage table (S4), and the service report is transmitted to the output destination registered in the table (S5). If the transmission process results in an error, the service report is printed out and the process ends (S6, S7). It should be noted that even when the transmission process ends normally, the printout may be performed, and both the transmission process and the printout may be output.

  In the embodiment, the user can set the output of the internal information of the device from the output formats of service report e-mail transmission, facsimile transmission, and printout. In transmission by e-mail, internal information can be described as text data in the body, and image data can be transmitted as an attached file. For example, a service center that has received text data can easily process and store the data. In addition, attaching image data to an attached file or outputting image data by facsimile is convenient for service personnel.

  Further, when there is a lot of transmission data, link information to the stored data can be transmitted by e-mail. For example, when data is managed by a file management server, a service center or the like can acquire information stored in the server from link destination information described in an e-mail. In this way, it is possible to send data in a format that is convenient for the output destination (reception side), and in service centers, etc., internal information on the device such as the number of copies of the device, communication time, number of paper jams, remaining toner, etc. Can be acquired and managed in a manageable format. If a link file is created for each type of internal information, the service center can acquire only necessary information.

  Further, a plurality of output formats may be set. For example, only transmission by electronic mail or transmission by electronic mail and facsimile can be performed. A plurality of output destinations can be registered and output to a plurality of output destinations in the same output format.

Further, ON / OFF can be set individually for each output format, and ON / OFF can be set individually for each output destination. The output format can be set according to the output destination. The received text data is output by e-mail to the service center that processes / saves the text data. In the case of output to service personnel, the image data is transmitted. .

Block diagram showing the network multifunction peripheral of the embodiment and its use environment The figure which shows the output destination information storage table of an Example The figure for explaining the setting of the output format of the service report in the embodiment The figure which shows the display screen for setting the output format in the embodiment The figure which shows the email which describes the service report with text data in the execution example The figure for demonstrating transmission of the link information by a service report in an Example. The flowchart which shows the output process of the service report of an Example

Explanation of symbols

2 Network MFP 4 LAN
6 Network 8 Personal computer 10 File management server 12 Router 14 Service center 20 LAN interface 22 Main control unit 24 G3 facsimile function processing unit 26 Internet facsimile function processing unit 28 Scanner function processing unit 30 Printer function processing unit 32 Copy function processing unit 34 Display Unit 36 Operation unit 38 RAM
40 ROM
42 Service Report Output Unit 44 Output Setting Unit 46 Output Destination Information Storage Table

Claims (5)

In a network multi-function peripheral equipped with a transmitter for performing e-mail transmission and facsimile transmission, and a printer,
A setting unit for setting the output format of the internal information of the device from e-mail transmission, facsimile transmission and printout, and setting the e-mail transmission address and facsimile number of the output destination of the internal information as an output destination;
A storage unit for storing the set output format and output destination is provided,
A network multifunction device that outputs the internal information to a predetermined output destination in a predetermined output format. 2. The network MFP according to claim 1, wherein the internal information can be output to a plurality of output destinations for each of the electronic mail transmission and the facsimile transmission. The network multifunction device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is capable of setting a plurality of output formats. 4. The network multifunction device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is provided with a single button for setting that neither e-mail transmission nor facsimile transmission is performed. 5. The network multifunction device according to claim 1, wherein only the link data of the internal information is transmitted when the internal information is transmitted by e-mail.

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