JP2009172914A - Image forming device, image forming system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To search a specific image forming device based on the position of the terminal device without needing a server and search a specific terminal device without specifying the name or like of the terminal device. <P>SOLUTION: A machine managing information storing section 53 stores received machine managing information of the other image forming device. A terminal managing information storing section 54 stores obtained terminal managing information such as the position information of the terminal device. A searching section 56 searches the image forming device present in a predetermined range of the terminal device of which the position information is received based on the machine managing information of a plurality of image forming devices stored in the machine managing information storing section 53 and the position information of the terminal device received by a position information receiving section 55. Further, the searching section 56 searches the terminal devices present in a predetermined range of the specified position based on the specified position received by a touch sensor 60 and the position information of the plurality of terminal devices stored in the terminal managing information storing section 54. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a program.

  In some cases, an image forming system in which a large number of image forming apparatuses such as multifunction peripherals and terminal devices are connected on a network is configured. In such an image forming system, an image forming apparatus that performs printing is selected from a large number of multifunction peripherals and printing is performed, or data scanned by the multifunction peripheral is transferred to a designated terminal device. Is called.

  When using such an image forming system, the user needs to read out the driver to be installed from the multifunction device, select a multifunction device to execute printing, or know the position information and name of the multifunction device in advance. is there.

  In addition, when performing processing such as storing data scanned from the multifunction device side on the terminal device side, the user needs to specify a terminal device for data transmission. However, a case where one user uses a plurality of terminal devices or a case where data is transmitted to a terminal device of another person or a terminal device shared by a plurality of people can be considered. Therefore, when the user performs processing such as storing data scanned from the multifunction device side on the terminal device side, the user specifies the name of the terminal device that performs data transmission in order to specify the terminal device that performs data transmission. It is necessary to grasp such as.

  However, when there are a large number of usable multifunction devices and terminal devices on the network, it is difficult for the user to know the positions and names of all devices, IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, and the like.

Therefore, various techniques for facilitating selection of an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral based on the position of the terminal device have been proposed. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 to 5.)
In Patent Document 1, in order to avoid the concentrated selection of specific printers and improve the use efficiency of the entire printer, a printer that is not in an operating state and is close to a user's terminal device is automatically selected. An automatic printer selection apparatus that performs printing by selecting the above is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 2 records the position of a mobile terminal and the position of a multifunction peripheral in a server, and searches for a multifunction peripheral that is geographically close when a device search request is received from the mobile terminal. Techniques for displaying above are disclosed.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, a device ID of a multifunction machine to be used is transmitted from a terminal device to a server via a network, and a driver is read using a driver and an IP address read from the server device management DB (database). A technique for installing is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a multifunction device having a function of storing resources and information including files and data, and bidirectionally communicating such information with a management computer to recognize its own location information. ing.

  Further, in Patent Document 5, the location information of the mobile device is transmitted to the network server, the installation location of the multifunction device is searched on the map, and a list of the installation locations of the multifunction device is created in the order closest to the mobile terminal. A technique for transmitting to a mobile terminal is disclosed.

  However, the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 to 5 described above require a server for registering position information of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral. If it goes down due to a cause, you cannot receive the services described above.

  Further, in the above Patent Documents 1 to 5, a technique for facilitating selection of a terminal device when data is transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the terminal device is not disclosed.

JP-A-7-152510 JP 2004-234218 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-280644 JP 2004-255676 A JP 2006-195765 A

  In the conventional image forming system described above, in order to search for a specific image forming apparatus from a plurality of image forming apparatuses based on the position of the terminal device, a server for registering position information of the image forming apparatus In order to select a specific terminal device from among a plurality of terminal devices registered in the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to specify a name or the like.

  It is an object of the present invention to search for a specific image forming apparatus based on the position of the terminal apparatus without requiring a server, or to search for a specific terminal apparatus without specifying the name of the terminal apparatus An image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a program are provided.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission unit configured to transmit position information indicating an arrangement location of the own apparatus to another image forming apparatus.
Receiving means for receiving position information of another image forming apparatus;
Storage means for storing position information of another image forming apparatus received by the receiving means;
Receiving means for receiving position information input from the terminal device;
Based on the position information of the plurality of image forming apparatuses stored in the storage means and the position information of the terminal apparatus received by the receiving means, the image formation existing within a predetermined range of the terminal apparatus that received the position information Search means for searching for devices;
An image forming apparatus comprising: notification means for notifying the terminal device of position information of the image forming apparatus searched by the search means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of searching for a specific image forming apparatus based on the position of the terminal apparatus without requiring a server.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission means for transmitting the position information of the own apparatus to the image forming apparatus,
Receiving means for receiving position information of the image forming apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus;
And a display control means for controlling the display device so as to visually display the position information of the image forming apparatus received by the receiving means on a map.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a terminal device capable of searching for a specific image forming apparatus based on the position of the terminal device without requiring a server.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first transmission unit that transmits position information indicating an arrangement location of the apparatus to another image forming apparatus, and a first transmission unit that receives position information of the other image forming apparatus. A receiving unit; a storing unit that stores position information of another image forming apparatus received by the first receiving unit; a receiving unit that receives an input of position information from a terminal device; and a storage unit that stores the position information. Search means for searching for an image forming apparatus existing within a predetermined range of the terminal apparatus that has received the position information based on the position information of the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the position information of the terminal apparatus received by the receiving means; An image forming apparatus having notification means for notifying the terminal apparatus of positional information of the image forming apparatus searched by the search means;
A second transmitting unit configured to transmit the position information of the image forming apparatus to the image forming apparatus; a second receiving unit configured to receive the position information of the image forming apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus; and the second receiving unit. And a terminal device having display control means for controlling the display device so as to visually display the position information of the image forming device received on the map.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming system that makes it possible to search for a specific image forming apparatus based on the position of the terminal device without requiring a server.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a step of transmitting position information indicating an arrangement location of the own apparatus to another image forming apparatus;
Receiving and storing position information of other image forming apparatuses;
Receiving position information input from the terminal device;
A step of searching for an image forming apparatus existing within a predetermined range of the terminal apparatus that has received the position information based on the position information of the plurality of stored image forming apparatuses and the position information of the received terminal apparatus;
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of notifying the terminal device of position information of an image forming apparatus.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that makes it possible to search for a specific image forming apparatus based on the position of the terminal device without requiring a server.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a step of transmitting position information of the own apparatus to the image forming apparatus;
Receiving the position information of the image forming apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus;
This is a program for causing a computer to execute the step of visually displaying the received position information of the image forming apparatus on a map.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that makes it possible to search for a specific image forming apparatus based on the position of the terminal device without requiring a server.

The present invention according to claim 6 is an acquisition means for acquiring position information of a terminal device connected via a network;
Storage means for storing location information of the terminal device acquired by the acquisition means;
Accepting means for accepting a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination;
Based on the designated position accepted by the accepting means and the position information of the plurality of terminal devices stored in the storing means, a terminal device existing within a predetermined range of the designated position accepted by the accepting means is searched. Search means;
An image forming apparatus having display control means for controlling a display device to display information of a terminal device searched by the search means.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of searching for a specific terminal device without designating the name or the like of the terminal device.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the accepting means accepts a designated position of the terminal device based on a place where the object contacts the panel of the display device that visually displays the map. It is.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of searching for a specific terminal device by simply touching a map displayed on the display device.

The present invention according to claim 8 is a display device capable of visually displaying a map;
The image forming apparatus includes an accepting unit that accepts a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination based on a location where an object contacts the panel of the display device.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of searching for a specific terminal device without designating the name or the like of the terminal device.

The present invention according to claim 9 acquires and stores location information of a terminal device connected via a network;
Receiving a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination;
Searching for a terminal device existing within a predetermined range of the received designated position based on the received designated position and the stored position information of the plurality of terminal devices;
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of displaying information of a searched terminal device.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program capable of searching for a specific terminal device without designating the name or the like of the terminal device.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a specific terminal device can be searched without searching for a specific image forming device based on the position of the terminal device without specifying a server, and without specifying the name of the terminal device. The effect that it is possible to search is obtained.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system of the present embodiment has a configuration in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 and terminal apparatuses 20 to 23 are connected via a network 30.

  In the present embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, the description will be made assuming that the image forming system includes four image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 and four terminal apparatuses 20 to 23. The image forming system is configured by a larger number of devices.

  The terminal devices 20 to 23 generate print data and transmit the print data generated via the network 30 to the image forming device selected from the image forming devices 10 to 13. The image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 receive the print data transmitted from the terminal apparatuses 20 to 23 and output an image corresponding to the print data on a sheet. The image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 are so-called multi-function machines each having a plurality of functions such as a print function, a scan function, a copy function, and a facsimile function.

  Next, FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 in the image forming system of the present embodiment. Since the configuration of the image forming apparatuses 11 to 23 is the same as the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10, the description thereof is omitted.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits and receives data to and from an external device or the like via the CPU 41, a memory 42, a storage device 43 such as a hard disk drive (HDD), and the network 30. A communication interface (IF) 44, a touch panel or liquid crystal display, and a user interface (UI) device 45 including a keyboard, a scanner 46, and a print engine 47 are included. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 48.

  The CPU 41 executes predetermined processing based on a control program stored in the memory 42 or the storage device 43 to control the operation of the image forming apparatus 10.

  In the present embodiment, the CPU 41 has been described as reading and executing a control program stored in the memory 42 or the storage device 43, but the program is stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM and stored in the CPU 41. It is also possible to provide.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 realized by executing the control program.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a management information transmission unit 51, a management information reception unit 52, a device management information storage unit 53, a terminal management information storage unit 54, and position information. The reception unit 55, the search unit 56, the notification unit 57, the display device 58, the display control unit 59, and the touch sensor 60 are included.

  Each of the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 includes position information indicating the location of the apparatus, an IP (Internet Protocol) address, a MAC (Media Access Control) address that is a physical address on the network, driver software storage location information, Types and characteristics of the image forming device (color printing, monochrome printing, printing up to A4, printing up to A0, double-sided printing, finisher, etc.), device management information that is information such as name and manufacturer, etc. is set, inside the device Hold on. These pieces of device management information may be set manually by an administrator or may be set automatically.

  The information included in the device management information is not only the information set by the administrator, but also whether or not printing is possible, the remaining amount of printing paper and toner, whether or not power is being saved, and the degree of job accumulation It is also possible to include information on the current state of other image forming apparatuses.

  The management information transmission unit 51 transmits the device management information to the other image forming apparatuses 11 to 13. The management information receiving unit 52 receives device management information from the other image forming apparatuses 11 to 13. The device management information storage unit 53 stores device management information of other image forming apparatuses received by the management information receiving unit 52. Further, the management information transmission unit 51 transmits terminal management information to the other image forming apparatuses 11 to 13. The management information receiving unit 52 receives terminal management information from the other image forming apparatuses 11 to 13.

  The position information receiving unit 55 obtains position information of a terminal device connected via the network 30 or a receiving unit that receives an input of position information of the terminal device when the terminal device searches for a peripheral image forming apparatus. Functions as a means.

  The terminal management information storage unit 54 stores the terminal management information such as the location information of the terminal device acquired by the location information receiving unit 55 and the terminal management information received from the other image forming apparatuses 11 to 13 by the management information receiving unit 52. To do.

  The search unit 56 receives the position information based on the device management information of the plurality of image forming apparatuses stored in the device management information storage unit 53 and the position information of the terminal device received by the position information receiving unit 55. An image forming apparatus existing within a predetermined range of the terminal device is searched. In addition, the search unit 56 determines a predetermined position received by the touch sensor 60 based on the specified position received by the touch sensor 60 and the position information of a plurality of terminal devices stored in the terminal management information storage unit 54. Search for terminal devices that exist within the range.

  The notification unit 57 notifies the terminal device of the device management information of the image forming apparatus searched by the search unit 56. The display device 58 has a function capable of visually displaying a map. The display control unit 59 controls the display device 58 to display the information of the terminal device searched by the search unit 56.

  The touch sensor 60 functions as a receiving unit that receives a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination of data or the like read by a scanner. Specifically, the touch sensor 60 receives the designated position of the terminal device based on the location where the object contacts the panel of the display device 58 that visually displays the map.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the terminal device 20 includes a position information transmission unit 61, a reception unit 62, a display control unit 63, and a display device 64.

  When searching for an image forming apparatus existing in the vicinity, the position information transmitting unit 61 transmits the position information of the own apparatus to the image forming apparatus. The receiving unit 62 receives position information of the image forming apparatus existing in the vicinity of the own apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus.

  The display device 64 has a function capable of visually displaying the position of the image forming device on a map. The display control unit 63 controls the display device 64 to visually display the position information of the image forming apparatus received by the receiving unit 62 on a map.

  Next, FIG. 5 shows a state in which device management information is exchanged between the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13.

  As shown in FIG. 5, each of the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 transmits the device management information to other image forming apparatuses by multicast. The image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 that have received the device management information from other image forming apparatuses store the received device management information as a device management information table.

  FIG. 6 shows how device management information is exchanged when the image forming apparatus 14 is newly added.

  When the image forming apparatus 14 is newly added to the network of the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 that have already exchanged the apparatus management information and hold the apparatus management information of the other image forming apparatuses as shown in FIG. The newly added image forming apparatus 14 transmits the device management information of the own apparatus to the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 in the same network by multicast to notify other image forming apparatuses of the existence of the own apparatus. .

  The image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 that have received the device management information from the image forming apparatus 14 add the received device management information to the device management information table, and also share the device management information of the own apparatus with the image forming apparatus 14. Send in a cast. The image forming apparatus 14 that has received the device management information from the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 generates a device management information table based on the received device management information.

  If the device management information notified from the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 in the same network includes information of image forming apparatuses with different networks, the newly added image forming apparatus 14 forms those image forming apparatuses. In order to notify the device of its own device management information, the information is distributed by multicast.

  By such a method, the image forming apparatuses 10 to 14 transmit and receive apparatus management information between the image forming apparatuses at regular time intervals or when a new image forming apparatus is connected to the network. Generate / update.

  An example of the device management information table stored in the device management information storage unit 53 in this way is shown in FIG. In the device management information table shown in FIG. 7, the device name, position information, IP address, type, and feature are managed as device management information for each image forming apparatus.

  Next, the operation of the image forming system of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the operation when the user uses the image forming apparatus for the first time through the terminal device will be described. Here, the case where the terminal apparatus 20 is first connected to the image forming apparatus 10 will be described.

  A user who intends to use an image forming apparatus searches the network 30 using a protocol for automatically searching for an image forming apparatus, and selects an arbitrary image forming apparatus. Here, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 10 is selected. When the selected image forming apparatus 10 confirms that the information related to the terminal apparatus 20 connected via the network 30 is not stored in the terminal management information storage unit 54, the terminal apparatus 20 is notified of the terminal apparatus 20. Data for inputting information such as location information, device name, location information, IP address, user name, employee number, etc. is transmitted.

  The terminal device 20 that has received data from the image forming apparatus 10 inputs various information such as position information of the terminal device by the user and transmits the information to the image forming apparatus 10.

  The image forming apparatus 10 that has received the terminal management information by the management information receiving unit 52 stores the terminal management information of the terminal device 20 in the terminal management information storage unit 54 of the own device, and the other via the device management information transmission unit 51. To the image forming apparatuses 11 to 13. In the image forming apparatuses 11 to 13 that have received the terminal management information from the image forming apparatus 10, the terminal management information of the terminal apparatus 20 is also stored.

  An example of the terminal management information table stored in the terminal management information storage unit 54 in this way is shown in FIG. In the terminal management information table shown in FIG. 8, the device name, location information, IP address, user name, and employee number are managed as terminal management information for each image forming apparatus.

  In such a state, when a user connects to the image forming apparatus 10 via the terminal device 20 and searches for a surrounding image forming apparatus, the contents of processing performed between the terminal apparatus 20 and the image forming apparatus 10 Will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG.

  The processing contents shown in the sequence chart of FIG. 9 are the case where the terminal device 20 first connects to the network 30 to search for surrounding image forming devices, and the terminal device 20 in which an image forming device to be used normally is set. Shows the contents of processing in both cases of moving and searching for a surrounding image forming apparatus at the destination.

  When the terminal apparatus 20 transmits the position information of its own apparatus to the image forming apparatus 10 by the position information transmitting unit 61 in order to search for surrounding image forming apparatuses, the position information receiving unit 55 in the image forming apparatus 10 This position information is received (step S101).

  Then, in the image forming apparatus 10, the search unit 56 places the position information received by the position information receiving unit 55 around the terminal device 20 based on the device management information table stored in the device management information storage unit 53. An existing image forming apparatus is searched (step S102).

  Then, the information on the image forming apparatus searched by the search unit 56 is notified to the terminal device 20 by the notification unit 57 (step S103). In the terminal device 20, when the information on the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus 10 is received by the receiving unit 62, the display control unit 63 sends the received information on the image forming apparatus to the display device 64 as shown in FIG. It is displayed (step S104). Here, a case where there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses present around the terminal device 20 will be described.

  In the display example shown in FIG. 10, a position confirmation button 80 is shown. When this position confirmation button 80 is pressed, the positions of the corresponding image forming apparatus and terminal apparatus 20 are changed as shown in FIG. It switches so that the image shown visually on a map may be displayed.

  When the user selects one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses displayed on the image device 64 (step S105), the terminal device 20 performs processing such as transmitting data to the selected image forming device. This is performed (step S106).

  When the terminal device 20 is connected to the network 30 for the first time and an image forming apparatus that is always used is selected and set, driver software necessary for using the image forming apparatus is stored in the terminal device 20 at this time. It is set automatically.

  Next, an operation for searching for a target terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices when image data read by a scanner or the like in the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the terminal device will be described with reference to FIG. To do.

  FIG. 12 is a sequence chart showing the processing contents when the terminal device 20 is searched and data is transmitted as the counterpart terminal device that transmits image data in the image forming apparatus 10.

  First, a user who reads a document using the scan function or the like in the image forming apparatus 10 designates the position of a terminal device to which image data is to be transmitted on the display device 58 of the image forming apparatus (step S201). FIG. 13 shows a screen example when the position of the terminal device is designated on the display device 58.

  When the user touches the map on the display device 58 on which such display is performed with a fingertip or the like, the touched position is detected by the touch sensor 60 and transmitted to the search unit 56.

  Then, the search unit 56 searches for terminal devices that exist around the specified location based on the specified location information and the location information in the terminal management information stored in the terminal management information storage unit 54. (Step S202).

  Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the display control unit 59 causes the display device to display information on the terminal device searched by the search unit 56 (step S203). Here, a case where a plurality of terminal devices are searched will be described.

  When the user selects the terminal device 20 to transmit image data from among the plurality of terminal devices displayed on the display device 58 (step S204), the image forming apparatus 10 adds the selected terminal device 20 to the selected terminal device 20. On the other hand, the image data read by the scanner or the like is transmitted (step S205).

  According to the image forming system of the present embodiment, each of the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 stores the device management information including the position information of the other image forming apparatuses, so that the terminal device is not required. It is possible to search for image forming apparatuses existing around the. In addition, according to the image forming system of the present embodiment, the terminal management information including the position information of the terminal devices 20 to 23 is stored in each of the image forming devices 10 to 13, so the name of the terminal device is specified. Thus, it is possible to search for terminal devices around the designated position without doing so.

  In the above embodiment, the position information of the terminal devices 20 to 23 and the image forming apparatuses 10 to 13 is described as being set by the user. However, the position detection system is not limited to the terminal devices 20 to 23 or the image forming apparatus 10. It is also possible to automatically detect the position by providing them at .about.13. Specific examples of position detection systems include CertifGate (LAN connection position detection unit that can detect the position of a person with a tag; Citizen) and AR ToolKit (developed by HITL (Human Interface Technology Lab) at the University of Washington) For example, a position identification system using a camera and an image marker

  Of this embodiment

1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the terminal device 20 in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which device management information is exchanged between image forming apparatuses 10 to 13. It is a figure which shows the mode of the exchange of apparatus management information when the image forming apparatus 14 is newly added. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device management information table stored in a device management information storage unit 53. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the terminal management information table stored in the terminal management information storage part. 6 is a sequence chart showing the contents of processing performed between the terminal device 20 and the image forming apparatus 10 when a user connects to the image forming apparatus 10 via the terminal apparatus 20 and searches for surrounding image forming apparatuses. . 7 is an example of a screen when information on a plurality of image forming apparatuses searched by a search unit 56 is displayed. It is an example of a screen when the positions of the image forming device and the terminal device 20 searched by the search unit 56 are visually shown on a map. 4 is a sequence chart showing processing contents when searching for a terminal device 20 and transmitting data as a counterpart terminal device that transmits image data in the image forming apparatus 10. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen in the case of designating the position of a terminal device on the display apparatus 58. FIG. It is an example of a screen when the information of the terminal device searched by the search unit 56 is displayed on the display device 58.

Explanation of symbols

10-14 Image forming apparatus 20-23 Terminal apparatus 30 Network 41 CPU
42 Memory 43 Storage device 44 Communication interface (IF)
45 User Interface (UI) Device 46 Scanner 47 Print Engine 48 Control Bus 51 Management Information Transmitter 52 Management Information Receiving Unit 53 Device Management Information Storage Unit 54 Terminal Management Information Storage Unit 55 Location Information Receiving Unit 56 Search Unit 57 Notification Unit 58 Display Device 59 Display control unit 60 Touch sensor 61 Position information transmission unit 62 Reception unit 63 Display control unit 64 Display device 80 Position confirmation button S101 to S106 Steps S201 to S205 Steps

Claims (9)

Transmitting means for transmitting position information indicating the location of the apparatus to another image forming apparatus;
Receiving means for receiving position information of another image forming apparatus;
Storage means for storing position information of another image forming apparatus received by the receiving means;
Receiving means for receiving position information input from the terminal device;
Based on the position information of the plurality of image forming apparatuses stored in the storage means and the position information of the terminal apparatus received by the receiving means, the image formation existing within a predetermined range of the terminal apparatus that received the position information Search means for searching for devices;
Notification means for notifying the terminal device of the position information of the image forming apparatus searched by the search means;
An image forming apparatus. Transmitting means for transmitting the position information of the own apparatus to the image forming apparatus;
Receiving means for receiving position information of the image forming apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus;
Display control means for controlling the display device to visually display the position information of the image forming apparatus received by the receiving means on a map;
A terminal device. A first transmission unit configured to transmit position information indicating an arrangement location of the image forming apparatus to another image forming apparatus; a first receiving unit configured to receive position information of the other image forming apparatus; and the first reception. Storing means for storing position information of other image forming apparatuses received by the means; receiving means for receiving input of position information from the terminal apparatus; and position information of a plurality of image forming apparatuses stored in the storing means; A search unit for searching for an image forming apparatus existing within a predetermined range of the terminal device that has received the position information based on the position information of the terminal device received by the receiving unit; and the image forming apparatus searched by the search unit An image forming apparatus having notification means for notifying the terminal apparatus of the position information of
A second transmitting unit configured to transmit the position information of the image forming apparatus to the image forming apparatus; a second receiving unit configured to receive the position information of the image forming apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus; and the second receiving unit. A terminal device having display control means for controlling the display device so as to visually display the position information of the image forming device received by the map on the map;
An image forming system. Transmitting position information indicating the arrangement location of the own apparatus to another image forming apparatus;
Receiving and storing position information of other image forming apparatuses;
Receiving position information input from the terminal device;
A step of searching for an image forming apparatus existing within a predetermined range of the terminal apparatus that has received the position information based on the position information of the plurality of stored image forming apparatuses and the position information of the received terminal apparatus;
A program for causing a computer to execute the step of notifying the terminal device of position information of an image forming apparatus. Transmitting the position information of the image forming apparatus to the image forming apparatus;
Receiving the position information of the image forming apparatus notified from the image forming apparatus;
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of visually displaying received position information of an image forming apparatus on a map. An acquisition means for acquiring position information of a terminal device connected via a network;
Storage means for storing location information of the terminal device acquired by the acquisition means;
Accepting means for accepting a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination;
Based on the designated position accepted by the accepting means and the position information of the plurality of terminal devices stored in the storing means, a terminal device existing within a predetermined range of the designated position accepted by the accepting means is searched. Search means;
Display control means for controlling the display device to display information of the terminal device searched by the search means;
An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the accepting unit accepts a designated position of the terminal device based on a location where the object contacts the panel of the display device that visually displays the map. A display device capable of visually displaying a map;
Accepting means for accepting a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination based on a place where an object touches the panel of the display device;
An image forming apparatus. Acquiring and storing location information of a terminal device connected via a network;
Receiving a designated position of a terminal device to be selected as a data transmission destination;
Searching for a terminal device existing within a predetermined range of the received designated position based on the received designated position and the stored position information of the plurality of terminal devices;
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of displaying information of a searched terminal device.

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