JP2009230217A - Management system, management device, management method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To collect operation information of one image forming apparatus out of a plurality of image forming apparatus not capable of being collected within a prescribed period from another image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In this management system, when a management/control part 305 decides that the image forming apparatus 101 capable of performing an acquisition instruction of counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 can be extracted, it progresses to S505. The management/control part 305 decides whether communication from the image forming apparatus 101 is performed in a communication I/F part 303 until prescribed time that is a deadline of counter recording processing (S505). In the communication I/F part 303, the management/control part 305 instructs the image forming apparatus 101 to acquire the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 in response to reception from the image forming apparatus 101 extracted as the other image forming apparatus (S506). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a management system in which a management apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of image forming apparatuses via the Internet collects operation information of each image forming apparatus.

  There are systems that remotely monitor the operating status of image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers connected to a LAN (Local Area Network). In such a system, a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a management apparatus that monitors them communicate with each other via a LAN, a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the Internet. Information such as the number of image formations (counter) is periodically notified from the image forming apparatus to the management apparatus, and information such as a jam and an error is notified at the timing when the information is generated.

  On the other hand, the management apparatus that receives the notification accumulates and manages the contents of these notifications to determine the operating status of the image forming apparatus. Then, the usage amount is tabulated from the information, the charge management is performed based on the maintenance contract with the customer, and the dispatch of the service person for the maintenance work is performed.

  In a contract related to maintenance, a charge amount may be determined based on the number of image formations per month. In such a case, based on the notification of the regular number of image formations, the number of image formations for each month is calculated based on a preset monthly closing date, and the amount to be charged is determined. Therefore, it is particularly important that data on the number of image formations can be recorded in the management device by a specific date such as a closing date.

  However, there are cases where data cannot be transmitted as scheduled due to the occurrence of a network failure or the power transmission of the data transmission unit or the main body of the image forming apparatus. If the management device cannot record data by a specific date, it will hinder the data counting process. Therefore, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, the communication status is confirmed several days before a specific date, and if there is an abnormality, an abnormality report is sent to the department in charge for the purpose of requesting an investigation to facilitate early recovery. I'm trying.

On the other hand, as an attempt to perform processing on an image forming apparatus from a remote place, there is a system disclosed in Patent Document 2 below. In this system, in an image forming apparatus connected to a management apparatus via a firewall, when the connection from the image forming apparatus is interrupted, a diagnosis process of the image forming apparatus is performed from the management apparatus using a connection from another image forming apparatus. Instruct the recovery process.
JP 2000-181302 A JP 2006-048113 A

  However, the reason for interrupting the transmission of data to the management apparatus does not necessarily require a recovery process. Transmission to the management apparatus is interrupted even when the image forming apparatus is turned off during a vacation or the in-house LAN is stopped for network maintenance. Transmission may fail temporarily due to network congestion. In such a case, the image forming apparatus main body and the data transmission unit are not abnormal, and originally notification and recovery processing are not necessary.

  On the other hand, there is a scene where it is necessary to record data on a specific date as described above. Therefore, if data is not recorded, the service center operator needs to go to the installation site of the image forming apparatus to check the situation and to check the data directly from the image forming apparatus by hand.

  In such a tabulation process, work tends to concentrate on a specific date, and the occurrence of unrecorded data increases as the number of cases increases. For this reason, a mechanism is required to collect data as much as possible on a specific date and follow up on temporary transmission failures.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that the operation information of any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses that cannot be collected within a predetermined period is obtained from the other image forming apparatuses. It is to provide a mechanism that can be collected from.

  The management system of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.

  A plurality of image forming apparatuses installed inside the firewall, a management apparatus installed outside the firewall, capable of communicating with the plurality of image forming apparatuses via the Internet, and collecting operation information of the image forming apparatuses; The management apparatus includes an operation information receiving unit that receives operation information periodically transmitted from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, and an image forming unit that receives the operation information received by the operation information receiving unit. A holding unit that holds each device, and a second image forming device that can communicate with the first image forming device when the operation information is not received from the first image forming device in a predetermined first period. An acquisition request transmission unit that transmits an operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus using connected communication, and the operation information reception unit includes: The operation information of the first image forming apparatus transmitted from the second image forming apparatus is received, and the second image forming apparatus obtains the operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus from the management apparatus. Acquisition request receiving means for receiving the operation information of the first image forming apparatus based on the acquisition request received by the acquisition request receiving means, and transmission means for transmitting the acquired operation information to the management apparatus It is characterized by providing.

  According to the present invention, the number of operation information of one of a plurality of image forming apparatuses that cannot be collected within a predetermined period is collected from the other image forming apparatuses, and the number of operation quantity information for a predetermined period is not recorded. Can be reduced.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management system according to the present embodiment. This example is a system example in which a management apparatus manages a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected on a LAN (Local Area Network). The plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed inside the firewall, and the management apparatus is installed outside the firewall.

  In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 and an image forming apparatus 101 are connected to a management apparatus 110 via a communication line 120 so that they can communicate with each other. At this time, the communication line 120 is assumed to be a LAN 121, a WAN, the Internet, or the like, and may be wired or wireless. Among these, in particular, the image forming apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 101 can be connected to each other to exchange data.

  Here, the management apparatus 110 collects operation information of the image forming apparatuses 100 and 101 and performs charging processing and the like. Further, as an example of the operation information, the number of image formations executed by the image forming apparatuses 100 and 101, that is, so-called counter information is collected. The collection timing will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatuses 100 and 101 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the image forming unit 201 includes a part or all of a printer, a scanner, a facsimile, and the like. The operation unit 202 includes input devices such as hard keys and a touch panel, and accepts operations of the image forming unit and communication settings via a user interface and key operations.

  The communication I / F unit 203 functions as a network interface connected to the communication line 120 in order to transmit information to the management apparatus 110 and to communicate with the image forming apparatus 101.

  The storage unit 204 holds a value (counter) representing the operating quantity of the image forming apparatus. The control unit 205 is connected to the image forming unit 201, the operation unit 202, the communication I / F unit 203, and the storage unit 204 included in the image forming apparatuses 100 and 101 via an internal bus, and is a device such as an image forming process or a communication process. Take overall control.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the management apparatus 110 illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, the output I / F unit 301 includes a display for displaying images and text data. The input I / F unit 302 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The communication I / F unit 303 is a network interface that is connected to the communication line 120 and communicates with the image forming apparatuses 100 and 101.

  The storage unit 304 includes a hard disk drive, ROM, RAM, and the like, and stores operation information received by the communication I / F unit 303, its history, management information, and the like. Here, the management information is information monitored by the management apparatus 110, and is totaled in an environment in which the closing date is specified. Further, information to be charged for the user, such as counter information, is included in the operation information.

  The management / control unit 305 is connected to the output I / F unit 301, the input I / F unit 302, the communication I / F unit 303, and the storage unit 304 via an internal bus, and controls the entire device.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the specific date counter recording table stored and managed in the storage unit 304 shown in FIG. The specific date counter recording table is stored in the storage unit 304 of the management apparatus 110 as a specific date counter recording file.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 400 denotes a specific date counter recording table, which is created in response to an aggregation start instruction corresponding to the closing date for counter aggregation, and manages the image forming apparatuses to be aggregated in a list format.

  The model ID 401 stores an identification number for uniquely identifying the image forming apparatus. The model name 402 stores the model name or model name corresponding to the model ID 401. The IP address 403 stores the IP address of the model ID 401. The counter 404 stores a counter for counter counting, and the counter reception date and time 405 stores the date and time when the counter 404 is received.

  On the management apparatus 110 side, a recording process of a counter representing the number of operating image forming apparatuses is performed at a specific timing such as a closing date. Here, the recording process of the counter starts at an instruction from the input I / F unit 302 or at a schedule timing set in advance by the management apparatus 110.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the management apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a counter recording process example on the management apparatus 110 side. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the operation information is not received from the image forming apparatus 100 functioning as the first image forming apparatus in a predetermined first period (a first predetermined period to be described later). Then, an operation information acquisition request for the image forming apparatus 100 is made. Specifically, an example of transmitting an operation information acquisition request of the image forming apparatus 100 using communication connected to the image forming apparatus 101 functioning as a second image forming apparatus capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus 100. Will be explained.

  S501 to S509 indicate each step. Each step is realized by the management / control unit 305 shown in FIG. 3 loading a control program in the RAM and executing it.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is an example of counter recording processing on the image forming apparatus 100 side shown in FIG. S601 to S605 indicate each step. Each step is realized by the control unit shown in FIG. 2 loading and executing a control program in the RAM.

  First, in S501, the management / control unit 305 searches the counter reception history stored in the storage unit 304 for the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 received within the first predetermined period, and the corresponding counter information. It is determined whether or not it has been extracted. For example, when the first predetermined period is 72 hours, the counter information received in the latest 72 hours is searched. If the management / control unit 305 determines that the counter information has been extracted, the information is recorded in a corresponding portion of the specific date counter recording table 400 of the storage unit 304 in S502. Further, when it is determined that a plurality of counter information exists, the latest one is recorded.

  On the other hand, if the management / control unit 305 determines in S501 that the counter information cannot be extracted, the process proceeds to S503.

  In step S <b> 503, whether the management / control unit 305 has been able to search and extract the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 received within the second predetermined period from the counter reception history stored in the storage unit 304. Judging. Here, the second predetermined period is set shorter than the first predetermined period. For example, when the second predetermined period is 24 hours, the counter information received in the latest 24 hours is searched. If the management / control unit 305 determines that the counter information has been extracted, the recording process ends.

  On the other hand, if the management / control unit 305 determines in S503 that the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 received within the second predetermined period has not been retrieved and extracted, the process proceeds to S504. Thereafter, an attempt is made to acquire counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 via another image forming apparatus 101 existing in the system shown in FIG.

  Note that the purpose of using the other image forming apparatus 101 here is due to the installation of a firewall or the like. That is, since it is common that connection from the management apparatus 110 to the image forming apparatus 100 is not possible, in this embodiment, an instruction from the management apparatus 110 is a connection from the image forming apparatus 101 that can be connected to the image forming apparatus 100 ( Wait for data reception) and use the response.

  In step S <b> 504, the management / control unit 305 extracts the image forming apparatus 101 that can instruct acquisition of counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 based on registration information of the image forming apparatus stored in the storage unit 304. To do. Specifically, the image forming apparatus 101 is extracted based on the location information and address information in addition to the method of extracting the image forming apparatus 101 in the same group as the image forming apparatus 100 based on the group management information in the registration information. There is a method of extracting the image forming apparatus 101 that can determine that an acquisition instruction can be issued.

  The address information referred to here includes the IP address 403 shown in FIG. 4, and at this time, the image forming apparatus 101 extracts based on whether or not the determination is based on whether or not the image forming apparatus 100 is in the same subnet. be able to.

  If the management / control unit 305 determines in step S504 that an image forming apparatus that can be instructed to acquire counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 has not been extracted, the recording process ends.

  If it is possible to extract a plurality of image forming apparatuses that can be instructed to acquire counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 in S504, the next scheduled communication time is determined if there is next scheduled communication time information in the storage unit 304. The image forming apparatus 101 having the earliest information may be selected. Further, it may be controlled to select the image forming apparatus 101 with reference to the priority acquisition destination information assigned to the image forming apparatus to be managed.

  In step S504, if the management / control unit 305 determines that the image forming apparatus 101 that can be instructed to acquire counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 has been extracted, the process advances to step S505.

  In step S <b> 505, the management / control unit 305 determines whether there is communication from the image forming apparatus 101 in the communication I / F unit 303 until a predetermined time when the counter recording process expires. That is, the management / control unit 305 waits for a connection (data reception) from the image forming apparatus 101 at the communication I / F unit 303 until a predetermined time when the counter recording process expires.

  If the management / control unit 305 determines that there is no connection (data reception) from the image forming apparatus 101 by a predetermined time, the recording process ends.

  On the other hand, if the management / control unit 305 determines that there is a connection (data reception) from the image forming apparatus 101 in S505, the process proceeds to S506.

  In step S506, the communication I / F unit 303 manages the acquisition of counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 to the image forming apparatus 101 in response to the reception from the image forming apparatus 101 extracted as another image forming apparatus. The control unit 305 instructs. At this time, the management / control unit 305 adds information for identifying the image forming apparatus 100 to the counter information acquisition instruction. Here, the information for identifying the image forming apparatus 100 includes a network address such as an IP address or a MAC address.

  In S505, if there is a connection (data reception) from the image forming apparatus 100 prior to a connection (data reception) from the image forming apparatus 101, and the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 can be acquired, The recording process may be terminated with the information. At this time, the counter information received from the image forming apparatus 100 is recorded in the corresponding part of the specific date counter recording table 400 of the storage unit 304.

  Hereinafter, the processing of the image forming apparatus 101 instructed to acquire in S506 will be described with reference to FIG. Specifically, in S506, an acquisition request receiving process for receiving an operation information acquisition request for the image forming apparatus 100 from the management apparatus 110, the operation information for the image forming apparatus 100 is acquired, and the acquired operation information is stored in the management apparatus 110. A transmission process for transmission will be described. Here, S506 corresponds to an acquisition request transmission process for acquiring operation information of the image forming apparatus 100 from the image forming apparatus 101.

  In step S <b> 601, the image forming apparatus 101 receives a counter information acquisition instruction for the image forming apparatus 100 from the management apparatus 110 via the communication I / F unit 203. In step S <b> 602, based on the acquisition instruction received from the management apparatus 110, the communication I / F unit 203 connects to the image forming apparatus 100 and tries to acquire counter information of the image forming apparatus 100.

  Here, when the control unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 tries to acquire the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100, the control unit 205 makes a communication connection request to the image forming apparatus 100 a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time. Control. Thereby, the probability that communication with the image forming apparatus 100 is possible may be increased.

  In step S <b> 603, the control unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 determines whether acquisition of the image forming apparatus 100 counter information has succeeded. If the control unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 determines that the image forming apparatus 100 counter information has been successfully acquired, the process advances to step S604.

  In step S <b> 604, the control unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 transmits the acquired counter data of the image forming apparatus 100 to the management apparatus 110 via the communication I / F unit 203 and ends the processing on the image forming apparatus 101 side. To do.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S603 that the control unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 has failed to acquire the image forming apparatus 100 counter information, the process proceeds to S605. In step S <b> 605, the control unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 notifies the management apparatus 110 that the acquisition of the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 has failed via the communication I / F unit 203, and the image forming apparatus 101 side. Terminate the process. Hereinafter, the processing after S507 on the management apparatus 110 side illustrated in FIG. 5 will be described.

  In step S507, the management apparatus 110 receives a response based on steps S604 and S605 illustrated in FIG. Specifically, the management / control unit 305 receives the counter information acquisition result of the image forming apparatus 100 from the image forming apparatus 101 via the communication I / F unit 303.

  In step S <b> 508, the management / control unit 305 determines whether the counter information acquisition result of the image forming apparatus 100 is successful. If the management / control unit 305 determines that the counter information acquisition result of the image forming apparatus 100 is unsuccessful, the recording process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the management / control unit 305 determines in step S508 that the counter information acquisition result of the image forming apparatus 100 is successful, the process advances to step S509.

  In step S <b> 509, the management / control unit 305 records the received counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 in the corresponding portion of the specific date counter recording table 400 of the storage unit 304, and ends the recording process.

  In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the image processing apparatus 101 is used to end the recording process when it is determined that the counter information cannot be acquired from the image forming apparatus 100. However, the result of the recording process is notified. Control may be added. The embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second data processing procedure in the management apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a counter recording process example on the management apparatus 110 side. In addition, S501-S511 show each step. Each step is realized by the management / control unit 305 shown in FIG. 3 loading a control program in the RAM and executing it. Since S501 to S509 are the same as those in FIG. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, when the communication I / F unit 303 that functions as an operation information receiving unit cannot receive the operation information of the image forming apparatus 100 from the image forming apparatus 101, the function is performed as a holding unit in S503 to S509. It is determined that the operation information of the image forming apparatus 100 held in the storage unit 304 is not updated in a predetermined second period (the second predetermined period). An example in which a warning is output to an external device via the communication I / F unit 303 in S510 and S511 will be described.

  If YES is determined in S503, if NO is determined in S504 and S508, the recording process ends in S509, and then the process proceeds to S510.

  In step S510, the management / control unit 305 determines whether the counter 404 is recorded in the specific date counter recording table 400. Here, when the management / control unit 305 determines that the counter 404 is recorded in the specific date counter recording table 400, the present process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the management / control unit 305 determines that the counter 404 is not recorded in the specific date counter recording table 400 in S510, the process proceeds to S511.

  In step S511, a counter information recording error is notified to the operator who performs the totalization, and the process ends. Here, as an output means to the worker who performs aggregation, there are e-mail and display on a screen.

  In the present embodiment, when the management apparatus 110 receives the counter information from the image forming apparatus 100 within the second predetermined period (within 24 hours in the above-described example), the second information is used as the counter information on the specific date. Information within a predetermined period is recorded.

  On the other hand, when received within the first predetermined period (within 72 hours in the above example), not within the second predetermined period (when the model ID is “Dev02” in the table example shown in FIG. 4) ), The management apparatus 110 attempts to acquire counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 via another image forming apparatus 101.

  When the management apparatus 110 succeeds in obtaining the counter information of the image forming apparatus 100 from the image forming apparatus 101, the counter information acquired through the image forming apparatus 101 is recorded. Information within a predetermined period of time is recorded.

  Further, when there is no reception information in the management apparatus 110 even within the first predetermined period (when the model ID is “Dev04” in the table example shown in FIG. 4), image formation via another image forming apparatus 101 is performed. Attempts to acquire counter information of the device 100. Here, if acquisition of counter information fails, it is treated as an error.

  As a result, while trying to record the counter information of a specific date as much as possible, it is possible to limit the unrecorded cases to only the image forming apparatuses that are assumed to have permanently failed information acquisition.

  Further, when information cannot be recorded in a predetermined period, the information is used retroactively for a certain period, so that an unrecorded event that is assumed to be a temporary cause can be saved. As a result, while trying to record the operation quantity information on a specific date as much as possible, the unrecorded cases can be narrowed down to only the image forming apparatuses that are assumed to have permanently failed information acquisition.

  Furthermore, it is possible to notify the operator that the recording of the operation quantity information on a specific date has failed, focusing on the image forming apparatus that is assumed to have an information acquisition failure permanently. As a result, the operator can quickly respond to the image forming apparatus that needs to be handled.

  In this embodiment, the recording process of the counter representing the operation quantity of the image forming apparatus is performed only for one image forming apparatus 100. However, it is performed in the same manner for all the image forming apparatuses to be counted. Can do.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment to which the present invention is applicable, it is possible to perform an effective quantity recording process on a specific date.

[Second Embodiment]
The configuration of a data processing program that can be read by the image forming apparatus and the management apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory maps shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs readable by the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs readable by the management apparatus according to the present invention.

  Although not particularly illustrated, information for managing a program group stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, a program for installing various programs in the computer, and a program for decompressing when the program to be installed is compressed may be stored.

  The functions shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 in the present embodiment may be performed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, the storage medium storing the software program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system or apparatus. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Therefore, as long as it has the function of the program, the form of the program such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS is not limited.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD, etc. Can be used.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. Then, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server, an ftp server, and the like that allow a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer are also included in the claims of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition, the functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by executing the program code read by the computer. For example, based on an instruction of the program code, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing. Needless to say, the process includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

  Further, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. After that, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing. Needless to say.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.

  Although various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will not limit the spirit and scope of the present invention to the specific description in the present specification.

It is a figure which shows an example of the management system which shows this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of each image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the management apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the specific date counter recording table accumulate | stored and managed in the memory | storage part shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the management apparatus showing the embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the image forming apparatus showing the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 2nd data processing procedure in the management apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read with the image forming apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read with the management apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100, 101 Image forming apparatus 110 Management apparatus

Claims (8)

A plurality of image forming apparatuses installed inside the firewall, a management apparatus installed outside the firewall, capable of communicating with the plurality of image forming apparatuses via the Internet, and collecting operation information of the image forming apparatuses; A management system including:
The management device
Operation information receiving means for receiving operation information periodically transmitted from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Holding means for holding the operation information received by the operation information receiving means for each image forming apparatus;
When the operation information is not received from the first image forming apparatus in a predetermined first period, using communication connected to the second image forming apparatus capable of communicating with the first image forming apparatus, Acquisition request transmitting means for transmitting an operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus, wherein the operation information receiving means is operation information of the first image forming apparatus transmitted from the second image forming apparatus. Receive
The second image forming apparatus includes:
An acquisition request receiving means for receiving an operation information acquisition request for the first image forming apparatus from the management apparatus;
Management comprising: transmission means for acquiring operation information of the first image forming apparatus based on the acquisition request received by the acquisition request receiving means, and transmitting the acquired operation information to the management apparatus. system.   The first image forming apparatus held in the holding unit when the management apparatus cannot receive the operation information of the first image forming apparatus from the second image forming apparatus by the operation information receiving unit. 2. The management system according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit that outputs a warning to the outside when the operation information is not updated in a predetermined second period. A plurality of image forming apparatuses installed inside the firewall, a management apparatus installed outside the firewall, capable of communicating with the plurality of image forming apparatuses via the Internet, and collecting operation information of the image forming apparatuses; A management method in a management system including:
The management device
An operation information receiving step for receiving operation information periodically transmitted from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
A holding step of holding the operation information received in the operation information receiving step in a holding unit for each image forming apparatus;
When the operation information is not received from the first image forming apparatus in a predetermined first period, using communication connected to the second image forming apparatus capable of communicating with the first image forming apparatus, An acquisition request transmission step of transmitting an operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus, wherein the operation information receiving step includes operation information of the first image forming apparatus transmitted from the second image forming apparatus. Receive
The second image forming apparatus includes:
An acquisition request receiving step of receiving an operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus from the management apparatus;
And a transmission step of acquiring operation information of the first image forming apparatus based on the acquisition request received in the acquisition request reception step, and transmitting the acquired operation information to the management apparatus. Method. A management device that can communicate with a plurality of image forming apparatuses installed inside a firewall via the Internet, is installed outside the firewall, and collects operation information of the image forming apparatus,
Operation information receiving means for receiving operation information periodically transmitted from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Holding means for holding the operation information received by the operation information receiving means for each image forming apparatus;
When the operation information is not received from the first image forming apparatus in a predetermined first period, using communication connected to the second image forming apparatus capable of communicating with the first image forming apparatus, An acquisition request transmitting means for transmitting an operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus,
The management apparatus, wherein the operation information receiving unit receives operation information of the first image forming apparatus transmitted as a response to the acquisition request from the second image forming apparatus.   The first image forming apparatus held in the holding unit when the management apparatus cannot receive the operation information of the first image forming apparatus from the second image forming apparatus by the operation information receiving unit. 5. The management apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an output unit that outputs a warning to the outside when the operation information is not updated in a predetermined second period. A management method in a management apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of image forming apparatuses installed inside a firewall via the Internet, and installed outside the firewall and collecting operation information of the image forming apparatus,
An operation information receiving step for receiving operation information periodically transmitted from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
A holding step of holding the operation information received in the operation information receiving step in a holding unit for each image forming apparatus;
When the operation information is not received from the first image forming apparatus in a predetermined first period, using communication connected to the second image forming apparatus capable of communicating with the first image forming apparatus, An acquisition request transmission step of transmitting an operation information acquisition request of the first image forming apparatus,
The operation information receiving step receives operation information of the first image forming apparatus transmitted as a response to the acquisition request from the second image forming apparatus.   The first image forming apparatus held in the holding unit when the management apparatus cannot receive the operation information of the first image forming apparatus from the second image forming apparatus in the operation information receiving step. The management method according to claim 6, further comprising: an output step of outputting a warning to the outside when the operation information is not updated in a predetermined second period.   A program for causing a computer to execute the management method according to claim 6 or 7.

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