JP2009037515A - Image formation system and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to quickly supply a consumption article when the consumption article runs out of stock in an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A server D connected to image forming apparatus A to C through a network 1 receives consumption article shortage information on consumption article shortage in the image forming apparatuses A to C and consumption article stock information on usable consumption article stock through the network 1. The server D transmits stock retrieval information for retrieving a consumption article being out of stock and the consumption article stock information and controls the transmission of the stock retrieval information on the consumption article shortage to the image forming apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus which transmits the consumption article shortage information. The server D specifies the image forming apparatuses A to C stocking the consumption article and controls the transmission of the consumption article stock information to the image forming apparatus having transmitted the consumption article shortage information out of the image forming apparatuses A to C. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an improvement in an image forming system and an image forming apparatus suitable for use in, for example, a copying machine or a multi-function peripheral (MFP).

  In recent years, copying machines and multifunction machines are connected to a plurality of computers via a network, and printing jobs are transmitted from the plurality of computers to the copying machines and multifunction machines. If the consumption status of consumables such as printing toner and printing paper in the multi-function peripheral is appropriately monitored and inventory management is not performed, the printing operation will be interrupted due to the exhaustion of the consumables, and business will be hindered.

  Therefore, as a proposal for facilitating such inventory management, for example, there is an inventory management apparatus and system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-316553 (Patent Document 1).

The configuration of Patent Document 1 includes a specifying unit that specifies a consumable corresponding to a device according to designation of a device that is an image forming apparatus, and a storage location associated with the device for storing the consumable. An association means for creating consumable storage location information associated with the consumable specified by the specifying means, and a registration means for registering the consumable storage location information created by the association means. If the stored information is already in the consumables list and is not in the consumables list, the related information is registered in the list, thereby storing multiple consumables used by multiple devices. The location can be managed without mistakes.
JP 2003-316553 A

  However, although the inventory management apparatus and system of Patent Document 1 described above uses a computer to check the inventory of consumables such as print toner, it is complicated to register the inventory information of each consumable in the computer. Operation is required.

  Further, in the inventory management apparatus and system of Patent Document 1 described above, even if the storage location of consumables is determined, the actual storage location of consumables is a conventional general storage and goes to the storage. Therefore, there is a problem that the supply of consumables to devices that have run out of consumables tends to be slow.

  Therefore, as a result of observing and studying how the image forming apparatus is used and the installation environment, the inventor can supply consumables to an image forming apparatus that has run out of consumables. The present invention has been completed by paying attention to the point that preliminary consumables are often provided in advance in individual image forming apparatuses.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and at the timing when the consumable item has run out in the image forming apparatus, it is possible to search for other image forming apparatuses in which the consumable item has run out. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system and an image forming apparatus that can quickly supply a consumable to an image forming apparatus that has run out of consumables.

  In order to solve such a problem, an image forming system according to the present invention is configured by connecting two or more image forming apparatuses and a server for managing the same through a network.

  Then, the server receives the consumable shortage information related to the consumables out of the image forming apparatus and the consumables inventory information related to the usable consumables stock via the network, and searches for the consumables that are out of consumables. A transmission / reception unit that transmits search information and its consumables inventory information via the network, and inventory search information related to the shortage consumables to the image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus that transmitted the consumables shortage information. And a transmission control unit that controls transmission of the consumables stock information obtained from the transmission unit via the network.

  Further, in the image forming system of the present invention, the image forming apparatus outputs consumable shortage information relating to the expendable supply of the consumable used in the apparatus and the consumable stock information indicating the presence of the consumable stock. And a transmission / reception unit that transmits consumables shortage information or consumables inventory information from the detection unit to the server via the network, and receives inventory search information or consumables inventory information from the server, and When the detection unit outputs the consumable shortage information, the transmission / reception unit controls transmission of the consumable shortage information, and controls the detection unit based on the received inventory search information to detect the corresponding consumable stock. A control unit that controls transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the consumable item may be a printing toner or printing paper.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, a configuration in which the detection unit of the image forming apparatus detects the presence of the consumables inventory via the RFID device attached to the consumables is also possible.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the detection unit of the image forming apparatus detects the consumables inventory information including consumables form information relating to mounting, non-mounting, use, and unused of the consumables in the image forming apparatus. It is also possible to configure.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the detection unit of the image forming apparatus indicates the presence of the first detection unit that outputs consumable shortage information relating to the expiry of the consumables used in the apparatus and the consumables inventory. A configuration having a second detection unit that outputs consumables inventory information is also possible.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the management control unit of the image forming apparatus may be configured to attach the position information of the image forming apparatus and output the consumables inventory information.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the management control unit of the server controls transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit to the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the consumables shortage information, and the image forming apparatus includes: At least a consumable item stock information and a display unit for displaying the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the consumable item stock information. A configuration is also possible in which display control is performed for the inventory information and the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the inventory information.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the management control unit of the image forming apparatus can output the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit to the computer connected to the network.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a detection unit that outputs consumables shortage information indicating that the consumables used up in the apparatus are out of consumables, and consumables inventory information indicating the presence of the consumables inventory, and the detection unit The consumables shortage information or consumables inventory information from the server is transmitted to the server via the network, and the transmission / reception unit for receiving the inventory search information or consumables inventory information from the server, and the detection unit are short of the consumables When the information is output, the consumables shortage information is controlled to be transmitted from the transmission / reception unit, and the consumables inventory information is detected from the transmission / reception unit when the detection unit is controlled based on the received inventory search information and the corresponding consumables inventory is detected. And a control unit for controlling transmission.

  In such an image forming system and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, when the server receives consumables shortage information regarding the consumables out of the image forming apparatus via the network, the inventory for searching for the consumables that are out of consumables. When the search information is transmitted and controlled to an image forming apparatus other than the consumables shortage source image forming apparatus, and consumables inventory information relating to usable consumables is obtained via the network, the consumables inventory information is obtained. Since transmission control is performed, at the timing when the consumables are exhausted in the image forming apparatus, it is possible to centrally manage the grasp of other image forming apparatuses in which the consumables that are out of consumables exist, and to the image forming apparatus that has run out of consumables Supply of consumables becomes possible.

  In the present invention, the image forming apparatus that has run out of consumables outputs consumable shortage information indicating that the consumables used by the apparatus are out of stock, and transmits the consumable shortage information to the server via the network. Since the image forming apparatus having a certain inventory transmits consumables inventory information to the server via the network based on the consumables search information from the server, the image forming apparatus having usable consumables can be specified. It is easy, and it is possible to more reliably grasp other image forming apparatuses in which consumables that have run out of consumables are present.

  In the present invention, when the consumables are printing toner or printing paper, it is easy to speed up the supply through search management of consumables that are particularly consuming.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the detection unit of the image forming apparatus detects the presence of the consumables stock via the RFID device attached to the consumables, the image forming apparatus is not limited to the consumables mounted on the apparatus. It is also possible to detect consumables in the vicinity that can be grasped by the apparatus.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the detection unit of the image forming apparatus detects consumables inventory information including consumables form information related to mounting, non-mounting, use, and unused of the consumables in the image forming apparatus. It is possible to display consumables form information relating to non-installation, use, and unused.

  In the present invention, the detection unit of the image forming apparatus outputs a consumables shortage information about the consumables used up in the apparatus, and the consumables inventory indicating the presence of the consumables inventory. In the configuration having the second detection unit that outputs information, it is possible to reliably output the consumable item shortage information and the consumable item inventory information.

  In the present invention, the configuration in which the management control unit of the image forming apparatus outputs the consumables inventory information including the position information of the image forming apparatus is used to specify an image forming apparatus having a stock of consumables that are out of stock. In addition, the installation position of the image forming apparatus can be easily grasped, and the supply to the consumables can be further accelerated.

  In the present invention, the management control unit of the server controls transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit to the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the consumables shortage information, and the image forming apparatus includes at least the consumables. A display unit that displays inventory information and an image forming apparatus that has transmitted the inventory information, and the control unit receives the consumable item inventory information related to the consumable item that has run out of the consumable item based on the received consumable item inventory information; In the configuration for controlling the display of the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the image, it is possible to identify an image forming apparatus having consumables that can be used in the image forming apparatus that has run out of consumables, and to quickly supply the consumables.

  In the present invention, in a configuration in which the management control unit of the image forming apparatus outputs and controls transmission control of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit to the computer connected to the network, an image having usable consumables. The forming apparatus can be specified by an external computer, and similarly, consumables can be quickly supplied.

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

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming system according to the present invention together with an image forming apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, in an image forming system according to the present invention, a plurality of image forming apparatuses A, B, and C and a server D are connected via a network 1. The network 1 is a known one such as an in-house LAN or the Internet.

  Since the image forming apparatuses A to C have substantially the same configuration, only the image forming apparatus A will be described and details of the image forming apparatuses B and C will be omitted.

  First, the image forming apparatus A will be described.

  The image forming apparatus A has an image reading unit 5, a storage unit 7, a printing unit 9, a first detection unit 11, a second detection unit 13, an operation display unit 15, and a transmission / reception unit 17 with the control unit 3 as the center. For example, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) as an image forming apparatus is configured. Note that the image forming apparatus A has a configuration other than this, but since it is not the gist of the present invention, description and illustration are omitted.

  The image reading unit 5, for example, a known scanner that optically reads an image from a printed document having a plurality of pages under the control of the control unit 3 and generates electronic image data as a print job by performing a filtering process or the like. The image data for each page is stored and controlled in the storage unit 7.

  The storage unit 7 stores read image data read from the image reading unit 5 and received image data described later from the transmission / reception unit 17, stores received consumables inventory information described later, and stores an operation program for the control unit 3. A stored readable / writable hard disk, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 9 includes a plurality of paper feeding units 23 (one is shown in FIG. 2) on which different printing papers 21 arranged at the bottom of the main body case 19 are set, and storage of printing toner. The transferred toner cassette 25, the transfer fixing unit 27 that develops the image data from the above-described image data into print image data, develops the toner with the toner from the toner cassette 25, and transfers and fixes it onto the printing paper 21, and the image is transferred and fixed. This is a color or monochrome print engine having a paper discharge unit 29 for discharging the printed printing paper 21.

  Reference numerals 31 and 33 denote a reversing conveyance unit 31 that reversely conveys the printing paper 21 for duplex printing in the printing unit 9 and a conveyance belt that conveys the printing paper.

  The first detection unit 11 and the second detection unit 13 in FIG. 1 have a function of outputting detection information related to consumables in the printing unit 9 to the control unit 3 under the control of the control unit 3.

  That is, the first detection unit 11 detects out-of-paper of the printing paper 21 disposed in each paper feeding unit 23 on which the printing paper 21 as a consumable is set, and displays consumable shortage information regarding the printing paper 21. In addition to outputting to the control unit 3, it has a function of detecting out-of-toner information of the toner cassette 25 as a consumable item together with an identification code and outputting consumable item shortage information regarding the toner cassette 25 to the control unit 3.

  In particular, the toner cassette 25 is out of toner and the identification code is detected, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, including an antenna unit 33a, a communication unit 33b, a control unit 33c, a storage unit 33d, a detection unit 33e, and the like. It is detected in a non-contact manner by the first detection unit 11 via the RFID device 33.

  The RFID device 33 is disposed in the toner cassette 25, and the operation is controlled by a power source obtained by demodulating and rectifying a predetermined high-frequency signal emitted from the first or second detection unit 11 or 13 and received by the antenna unit 33a by the communication unit 33b. For example, the identification code is read from the storage unit 33d that stores the identification code corresponding to the toner cassette 25, and the toner-out information that is decreased due to consumption and becomes out of toner is detected by the detection unit 33e. The identification code and the out-of-toner information are formed into a predetermined format signal as consumable shortage information, and this format signal has a function of modulating a high frequency signal by the communication unit 33b and emitting it from the antenna unit 33a.

  The first detection unit 11 has a function of demodulating and decoding a high-frequency signal from the RFID device 33, obtaining an identification code from the toner cassette 25 and out-of-consumables shortage information, and outputting the information to the control unit 3. Yes.

  The second detection unit 13 has a function of detecting the presence of consumables inventory and outputting the consumables inventory information to the control unit 3 when there is an amount greater than a predetermined amount under the control of the control unit 3. Have.

  Similar to the first detection unit 11, the second detection unit 13 detects the amount of the print paper 21 in each paper supply unit 23 on which the print paper 21 as a consumable item is set, and the amount is equal to or larger than a predetermined amount. If there is, there is a function of outputting consumables inventory information relating to the printing paper 21 to the control unit 3.

  When the detection unit 33e of the RFID device 33 detects the remaining amount of toner in the toner cassette 25 that is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the second detection unit 13 receives consumables inventory information regarding the toner cassette 25 from the RFID device 33. And has a function of outputting to the control unit 3.

  Even if the second detection unit 13 is the printing paper 21 that is not set in the individual paper feeding units 23 or the toner cassette 25 that is not set in the apparatus, the above-described RFID device 33 is used for the printing paper 23 and the toner cassette 25. If it is added to, it can detect non-contact through it.

  That is, it is possible to grasp the stock of the printing paper 23, the toner cassette 25, and the like in a positional relationship that can be grasped via the RFID device 33 in or near each of the image forming apparatuses A to C.

  The operation display unit 15 is arranged on the upper part of the main body case 19 of FIG. 2 and includes a known liquid crystal display panel as a display unit capable of displaying various operation states and a place where an image related to the operation of the apparatus is displayed. It has a function as an operation unit (setting unit) that can accept an operation by touching.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation display unit 15 performs various operations such as printing (copying) processing, printing processing, scanner processing, facsimile transmission / reception processing, etc. In addition to the known numeric keypad 15b and start key 15c for inputting the user ID (for example, employee number) for specifying the setting item and the user, a touch keyboard having a display panel unit 15d for displaying the operation status of the apparatus, etc. have.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the transmission / reception unit 17 transmits / receives image data to / from other image forming apparatuses B and C via the network 1 according to a predetermined protocol, and the consumables are insufficient for the server D. It is an interface unit that transmits information or consumables inventory information and receives inventory search information described later from the server D.

  When the transmission / reception unit 17 is connected to the network 1, a connection is automatically established between the other image forming apparatuses B and C and the server D. For example, the transmission / reception unit 17 designates a destination by a known network address or the like. However, since it is not a main part of the present invention, a description thereof will be omitted.

  The control unit 3 includes a CPU and a ROM that stores an operation program for the CPU. The control unit 3 includes the image reading unit 5, the storage unit 7, the printing unit 9, the first detection unit 11, and the second detection unit. While controlling the detection part 13, the operation display part 15, the transmission / reception part 17, etc., the function part which is not illustrated of a multifunctional device is controlled.

  When the control unit 3 acquires from the first detection unit 11 the consumables shortage information related to the out-of-paper of the printing paper 21 and the toner cassette 25, the consumables are insufficient with the image forming apparatus A specified. It has a function of controlling transmission of information from the transmission / reception unit 17 to the server D via the network 1.

  When the transmission / reception unit 17 receives the inventory search information, the control unit 3 controls the second detection unit 13 to secondly detect consumables inventory information (stock detection information) related to the printing paper 21 and the toner cassette 25. When acquired from the unit 13, it has a function of controlling transmission of consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit 17 to the server D via the network 1 in a state where the image forming apparatus A is specified.

  Based on the consumables inventory information received from the server D, the controller 3 has a function of controlling display of, for example, the image forming apparatus B having the printing paper 21 or the toner cassette 25 as inventory on the operation display unit 15.

  The inventory search information and the consumables inventory information are transmitted from the server D, and will be described in the process of describing the server D.

  The image forming apparatuses B and C in FIG. 1 have substantially the same configuration as the image forming apparatus A, but the description and illustration are omitted as described above.

  Subsequently, the server D will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the server D includes a transmission / reception unit 37, a setting unit 39, a storage unit 41, a management control unit 43, an operation unit 45, and a display unit 47 with the main control unit 35 as a center. Although having a general configuration, the description of the configuration not directly related to the present invention is omitted.

  The transmission / reception unit 37 receives consumables shortage information and consumables inventory information from the image forming apparatuses A to C via the network 1 under the control of the main control unit 35, and outputs them to the management control unit 43. An interface unit that outputs search information and consumables inventory information to the image forming apparatuses A to C via the network 1.

  When the transmission / reception unit 37 is connected to the network 1, a connection is automatically established with the other image forming apparatuses A to C. For example, the transmission / reception unit 37 designates a destination by a known network address or the like. The transmission / reception function is the same as that of the transmission / reception unit 17 described above.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the setting unit 39 controls the device version, the first floor (F) zone 3, the first floor (F) zone for each of the image forming apparatuses (MFPs) A to C under the control of the main control unit 35. 9 is a readable / writable memory for setting and storing in advance a table of position information and the like where the image forming apparatuses A to C such as the first floor (F) zone 13 are installed.

  The position information where the image forming apparatuses A to C are installed is information obtained by plotting the installation positions of the image forming apparatuses A to C in association with the zones 1 to 15 of the respective pro map as shown in FIG. .

  The storage unit 41 stores consumables status data to be described later, operation programs of the main control unit 35 and the management control unit 43, and temporarily stores intermediate data during operation of the main control unit 35 and the management control unit 43. A readable / writable memory, such as a hard disk, may be shared by the setting unit 39 described above.

  Based on the received consumable shortage information, the management control unit 43 forms stock search information for searching the stock of consumables specified by the consumable shortage information by the image forming apparatuses B and C, and transmits and receives And the transmission control for the remaining image forming apparatuses B and C other than the image forming apparatus A.

  When the consumables shortage information is received, the management control unit 43 automatically forms inventory search information, and obtains and receives consumables shortage information from the image forming apparatuses A to C according to a predetermined instruction. It may be configured.

  Based on the received consumables inventory information, the management control unit 43 selects, for example, an image forming apparatus B that is close to the image forming apparatus A that has transmitted the consumables shortage information from among the image forming apparatuses B and C that have transmitted the consumables inventory information. It has a function of determining, creating consumable shortage information specifying the image forming apparatus B, and controlling transmission to the image forming apparatus A that has transmitted the consumable shortage information.

  It is possible to identify all the image forming apparatuses B and C that have transmitted the consumables inventory information and transmit the consumables inventory information to the image forming apparatus A.

  The perspective determination of the position (place) between the image forming apparatuses A, B, and C is performed by calculating the distances P1, P2, and P3 between the image forming apparatuses A, B, and C, for example, as shown in FIG. It is possible to use a technique such as

  Further, based on the received consumable shortage information and consumable stock information, the management control unit 43 creates and stores consumable status data regarding the image forming apparatuses A to C, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B. The function of storing in the unit 41 is provided.

  The operation unit 45 is an input unit such as a known keyboard arranged in a main body case (not shown) of the server D under the control of the main control unit 35, and has a function of accepting the change of the profile setting value described above, and the operation of the server D. It has a function to accept instructions.

  The display unit 47 has a function of displaying or printing consumables status data such as consumables shortage information and consumables inventory information of the image forming apparatuses A to C under the control of the main control unit 35 and the operation unit 45. have.

  The main control unit 35 is formed with a CPU and a ROM that stores an operation program for the CPU. The transmission / reception unit 37, the setting unit 39, the storage unit 41, the management control unit 43, the operation unit 45, and the display described above. While controlling the part 47 grade | etc., It bears a part of function of functions, such as the management control part 43 grade | etc.,.

  Next, the operation of the above-described image forming system according to the present invention will be briefly described.

  It is assumed that the profile setting value described above is set in advance in the setting unit 39 of the server D.

  In the image forming apparatus A, when the toner cassette 25 is out of toner, the first detection unit 11 outputs the consumables shortage information of the toner cassette 25, and the control unit 3 uses the transmission / reception unit 17 via the network 1 to exhaust the toner. The shortage information is transmitted to the server D, which is received by the transmission / reception unit 37. The management control unit 43 forms the inventory search information based on the shortage information of the consumables, and the inventory search information is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 37. Transmission control is performed to the image forming apparatuses B and C other than the image forming apparatus A via the network 1.

  In the image forming apparatuses B and C, when the inventory search information is received by the transmission / reception unit 17, the control unit 3 controls the second detection unit 13, and the second detection unit 13 stores the consumables inventory information of the toner cassette 25. When output, the control unit 3 transmits the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit 17 to the server D via the network 1.

  In the server D, the transmission / reception unit 37 receives it, and the management control unit 43 controls the transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit 37 via the network 1 to the image forming apparatus A that is the transmission source of the consumables shortage information.

  If consumables inventory information of the toner cassette 25 is transmitted from the image forming apparatuses B and C, the management control unit 43 specifies the image forming apparatus B close to the image forming apparatus A and controls transmission.

  Then, in the image forming apparatus A, the consumables inventory information is received by the transmission / reception unit 17, and the control unit 3 controls the display of the consumables inventory information on the operation display unit 15. For example, as shown in FIG. Is in the image forming apparatus B "is displayed.

  It should be noted that the same operation is performed even when the sheet runs out.

  As described above, in the image forming system of the present invention, the server D and the plurality of image forming apparatuses A to C are connected via the network 1, and the server D is connected to the image forming apparatuses A to C. Other than the transmission / reception unit 37 that receives consumable shortage information and consumable stock information via the network 1 and transmits stock search information and consumable stock information, and the image forming apparatuses A to C that have transmitted the consumable shortage information. Inventory control information related to the shortage consumables is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 37 to the image forming apparatuses A to C of the image forming apparatuses A to C, and images in stock to the image forming apparatuses A to C that have transmitted the consumable shortage information. A management control unit 43 that identifies the forming apparatuses A to C and controls transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit 37 is provided.

  In addition, the image forming apparatuses A to C detect the consumables used in the apparatus and output the consumables shortage information, and the first detecting unit 11 detects the presence of the consumables inventory and the consumables. The second detection unit 13 that outputs the inventory information, and the consumables shortage information or the consumables inventory information from the first and second detection units 11 and 13 are transmitted to the server D via the network 1. The transmission / reception unit 17 that receives inventory search information or consumables inventory information from the server D, the operation display unit 15 that displays the consumables inventory information and the image forming apparatuses A to C that transmitted the information, and the first When the detection unit 11 outputs the consumables shortage information, the transmission / reception unit 17 controls transmission of the consumables shortage information, and searches and controls the second detection unit 13 based on the received inventory search information. When inventory is detected The transmission / reception unit 17 controls the transmission of the consumables inventory information, and controls the display of the image forming apparatuses A to C including the consumables that are out of the consumables based on the received consumables inventory information from the server D. And a control unit 3 for performing the above.

  Therefore, at the timing when the image forming apparatuses A to C run out of printing toner or printing paper, it is possible to search for other image forming apparatuses A to C where the consumables that have run out of consumables exist, and the like. Consumables can be quickly supplied to the image forming apparatuses A to C that are out of stock.

  In recent years, since a configuration in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses A to C are connected via the network 1 has become widespread, the image forming apparatuses A to C are used as storage means for consumables, and image formation that has run out of consumables is performed. Consumables are supplied from the other image forming apparatuses A to C close to the apparatuses A to C, and it is easy to perform the business quickly and smoothly.

  In addition, since the second detection unit 13 of the image forming apparatuses A to C detects the presence of the consumable stock in a non-contact manner via the RFID device 33 attached to the consumables, the image forming apparatuses A to C The inventory information of consumables that can be grasped (detected) around the image forming apparatuses A to C can be acquired as long as it is within a range in which high-frequency signals can be transmitted and received.

  Further, the management control unit 43 of the server D outputs the consumables inventory information including the position information of the image forming apparatuses A to C having the consumables inventory, and another image close to the image forming apparatus A that has run out of consumables. Since the consumables inventory information is output by selecting the forming apparatuses A to C, the image forming apparatus A that receives the consumables can obtain the consumables in a short time, and can contribute to the quick execution of the business. .

  Further, if the management control unit 47 of the server D prints and outputs consumables status data as shown in FIG. 5B, centralized inventory management for the individual image forming apparatuses A to C is facilitated.

  In the image forming system described above, the out of printing toner or the printing paper has been described. However, in the image forming system of the present invention, the first detection unit 11 of the image forming apparatuses A to C supplies a predetermined consumption amount. If the remaining remaining amount is detected and configured to be output as consumable shortage information, it is possible to search for consumables before they run out.

  Further, in the second detection unit 13 of the image forming apparatuses A to C, it is possible to output consumables inventory information including consumables form information relating to mounting, non-mounting, use, and non-use of consumables in the image forming apparatus. If formed, the storage mode information can be displayed.

  In the image forming system of the present invention, the first detection unit 11 that detects consumables shortage information and the second detection unit 13 that outputs consumables inventory information indicating the presence of consumables stock are formed separately.

  However, in the present invention, the configuration may be simplified if both are detected and output in the same detection unit, but the first detection unit 11 and the second detection unit 13 should be formed separately. In addition to the consumables attached to the apparatus, there is an advantage that consumables that are in the vicinity of the apparatus and can be grasped by the apparatus can be reliably detected.

  In the image forming system of the present invention described above, the configuration in which the consumables inventory information is displayed in the image forming apparatuses A to C has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  For example, in the server C, when the consumables inventory information is obtained from the image forming apparatuses A to C, the management control unit 43 sends and receives the consumables inventory information to the external computer E connected to the network 1. It is also possible to perform transmission control from the above, and if the consumables inventory information is displayed on a display unit (not shown) provided in the computer E that has received the consumables inventory information, the same effect as described above can be obtained. .

  In such a configuration, the display unit (operation display unit 15) is not essential for the image forming apparatuses A to C.

  Further, in such a configuration, when the computer E or the like is connected to the network 1, a connection is automatically established with the server D, and information is transmitted and received by designating a destination by a known network address, for example. The server D has the same function as the server D described above.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to configure so that an instruction for obtaining consumables shortage information can be transmitted from the computer E or the like to the server D.

  Note that the server D described above does not have to be an independent device on the network 1, and includes, for example, image forming apparatuses A to C connected to the network 1, and the same type of functional parts built in a printer (not shown). Is possible.

  Incidentally, since the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to achieve the same effect as that in the image forming system.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram explaining the structure of the RFID apparatus in this invention. It is a figure explaining the display state of the operation display part of the image forming apparatus in this invention. It is a figure explaining the profile and consumables status data in invention. It is a figure explaining the detection of the positional relationship of the image forming apparatus in invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network 3, 33c Control part 5 Image reading part 7, 33d, 41 Storage part 9 Printing part 11 1st detection part (detection part)
13 Second detection unit (detection unit)
15 Operation display section (operation section, display section)
15a Selection key (operation unit)
15b Numeric keypad (operation unit)
15c Start key (operation unit)
15d Display panel section (display section)
17, 37 Transmission / reception unit 19 Main body case 21 Printing paper 23 Paper feeding unit 25 Toner cassette 27 Transfer fixing unit 31 Reverse conveyance unit 33 RFID device 33a Antenna unit 33b Communication unit 33e Detection unit 35 Main control unit 39 Setting unit 43 Management control unit 45 Operation unit 47 Display units A, B, C Image forming apparatus D Server E Computer (electronic device)

Claims (10)

An image forming system in which two or more image forming apparatuses and a server managing the image forming apparatus are connected via a network;
The server
Inventory search information for searching for consumables that are out of consumables, and consumables are received via the network of consumable shortage information relating to consumables being exhausted in the image forming apparatus and consumables inventory information relating to usable consumables inventory A transmission / reception unit for transmitting product inventory information via the network;
The inventory search information related to the shortage consumables is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit to the image forming apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the consumables shortage information, and the obtained consumables inventory information is A management control unit that controls transmission from the transmission / reception unit via the network;
An image forming system comprising: The image forming apparatus includes:
A detection unit that outputs the consumable shortage information related to running out of the consumables used in the apparatus and the consumables inventory information indicating the presence of the consumables inventory;
The consumables shortage information or the consumables inventory information from the detection unit is transmitted to the server via the network, and the transceiver unit that receives the inventory search information or the consumables inventory information from the server;
When the detection unit outputs the consumables shortage information, the transmission / reception unit controls transmission of the consumables shortage information, and controls the detection unit based on the received inventory search information to detect the corresponding consumables inventory. A control unit that controls transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit,
The image forming system according to claim 1. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the consumable is printing toner or printing paper. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit of the image forming apparatus detects the presence of the consumables inventory via an RFID device attached to the consumables. The detection unit of the image forming apparatus detects the consumables inventory information including consumables form information relating to mounting, non-mounting, use, and unused of the consumables in the image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to claim 1. The detection unit of the image forming apparatus includes a first detection unit that outputs the consumables shortage information regarding the consumables used up in the apparatus, and the consumables inventory information indicating the presence of the consumables inventory. The image forming system according to claim 2, further comprising: a second detection unit that outputs the second detection unit. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the management control unit of the image forming apparatus outputs position information of the image forming apparatus and outputs the consumables inventory information. The management control unit of the server controls the transmission / reception unit to transmit the consumables inventory information to the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the consumables shortage information, and the image forming apparatus includes at least the consumables inventory information. A display unit that displays the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the information; and the control unit includes the consumables inventory information related to the consumables that have run out of consumables based on the received consumables inventory information and the consumables inventory information. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein display control is performed on the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the message. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the management control unit of the image forming apparatus outputs and controls transmission control of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit to a computer connected to the network. A detection unit that outputs consumables shortage information regarding consumables used up in the device and consumables inventory information indicating the presence of the consumables stock;
A transmitter / receiver for transmitting the consumable shortage information or consumables inventory information from the detection unit to a server via a network, and receiving the inventory search information or consumables inventory information from the server;
When the detection unit outputs the consumables shortage information, the transmission / reception unit controls transmission of the consumables shortage information, and controls the detection unit based on the received inventory search information to detect the corresponding consumables inventory. A control unit that controls transmission of the consumables inventory information from the transmission / reception unit,
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images