JP2010099933A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system that can provide a supply item according to each contracted form while maintaining physical compatibility, can prevent inconvenience resulting from the incompatibility of the consumable item, and cope with various business model. <P>SOLUTION: An ink pack 5, which is used in an image forming apparatus 100 and is a consumable item, is provided with a wireless tag (FRID) 2 used as a consumable item information holding means. The ink pack 5 is provided with a sheet of freely detachable electronic paper 4 that has an RFID reader used for reading information from the RFID 2 and displaying specific information. The image forming apparatus 100 includes: an RFID reader 3 that reads consumable article information from the RFID 2; and a control means 20 for extracting specific information from the read consumable item information, analyzing the extracted contents, and exerting control based on the analyzed content so as to manage the consumable item in the image forming apparatus 100. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system such as a copying system, and more specifically, a digital stencil printing apparatus, a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, a plotter, and an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine including at least one of them as main equipment. The present invention relates to an image forming system that is organically formed from a supply that can hold and display supply information, an advertisement display device, an external billing device, and the like.

Consumables (supplements) such as ink packs and master rolls used in stencil printing machines, one of the image forming apparatuses, have their own characteristic information, that is, the composition, viscosity, and capacity of ink. In the case of a master, a medium describing film thickness, sensitivity characteristics, length, etc., for example, a barcode, RFID, IC tag or the like is attached.
The medium is attached or embedded in an ink pack or a master roll core, and when the ink pack or master roll is mounted on a stencil printing apparatus, the characteristic information is read in a non-contact manner. ing.
As a result, mounting to the wrong compatible model is prevented, or mounting of the wrong color drum during color separation is prevented. It is used for various printing control and plate making control, such as ink or master remaining amount management, press roller printing pressure control, plate making energy setting control, and printing control exceeding the printing durability of the master.

As this type of prior art, there are Patent Documents 1 and 2 for the master as a consumable, and Patent Documents 3 and 4 for the ink as a consumable.
It is well known that barcodes are assigned to supply products such as copiers, laser beam printers, and stencil printing apparatuses and used for management of supplies. Patent Document 5 and the like are known as examples of such prior art. It has been.

JP-A-8-244375 JP 2002-144688 A Japanese Patent No. 3293721 Japanese Patent No. 3523941 Japanese Patent No. 3923252

In conventional management of supplies, management of an image forming apparatus such as a stencil printing apparatus and management of the supplies are often separate.
In other words, for the purchase of an image forming apparatus, although a general purchase contract is made, the maintenance management of the image forming apparatus is a separate management (separate contract) including the presence / absence of the supply. Alternatively, the user often takes a contract form in which the user individually orders from a service store or a wholesaler, and is delivered and settled for the necessary replenishment. Hereinafter, such a contract form is referred to as an “individual contract form”.
However, there is also a contract form in which maintenance management and supply management of the image forming apparatus are comprehensively performed and a monthly basic fee and a pay-per-use fee are two-story. In this case, the supply of supplies is usually provided free of charge or at a very low price. Hereinafter, such a contract form is referred to as a “pay-as-you-go contract form”.

In the case of the contract form like the latter, the supplied supply is physically changed to the supply, such as changing the part number or part number, or changing the diameter of the ink pack cap or master roll due to the nature of the contract. In many cases, it is not compatible with the supplies supplied to the former contract form.
However, in the case of supply management with conventional barcodes or RFID tags, barcodes cannot be easily determined in appearance or are prone to human error. Since it was originally invisible, there was a drawback that it was only possible to determine whether it was a valid supply product after installation.

If there is physical differentiation, it is inevitable that the cost for differentiation will be increased, and there is no physical compatibility. In other cases, the stencil printing machine itself must be modified or replaced.
Furthermore, since the contract form and the charging associated with the use of the image forming apparatus are handled separately, when installing in a convenience store or the like and performing a copying service, the frequency of use of the image forming apparatus and the supply of supplies It was not possible to comprehensively handle supplies and billing, such as changing the contract form depending on the degree of wear, or changing billing settings taking account of advertising fees and advertising time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the current situation as described above, and can supply supplies according to each contract form while maintaining physical compatibility, and inclusive of billing including advertisements. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming system that can be adapted to various business models by enabling general handling.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus and a consumable information holding unit provided in a consumable for use in the image forming apparatus and configured to hold information about the consumable First consumable information reading means that is detachably provided on the consumable supplies and reads consumable information held by the consumable information holding means, and consumable information read by the first consumable information reading means A display device including a consumable information display means for displaying specific information included in the image data, wherein the image forming apparatus reads second consumable information held by the consumable information holding means. Specific information is extracted from the consumable information read by the second consumable information reading means and the second consumable information reading means, the extracted content is analyzed, and the image format is analyzed based on the analysis content. Managing consumables in the apparatus is characterized in that a control means for performing control so made.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first aspect, the consumable information includes a consumable type, a product name, a product code, a brand, a destination, a unit price, a selling price, and a charge rate. It includes one or more pieces of information related to billing in a contract form.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first or second aspect, items related to a contract form to be provided among the consumable information read by the first consumable information reading means are visually recognized. It is displayed on the display device in an expression format that can be understood.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the first to third aspects, an advertisement display unit that is attached to an outer surface of the image forming apparatus and displays an advertisement, and the advertisement display unit An advertisement setting means for setting how to display a specific advertisement, and an external for confirming payment of the price for use of the image forming apparatus and permitting the use of the image forming apparatus when the price is paid Charging means, and the control means refers to the advertisement setting information set by the advertisement setting means, and takes into account the specific information, and the charging rate as the charging condition of the external charging means, the charging start number Control for changing at least one of them is performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the fourth aspect, the control unit is configured to charge the charge associated with the image formation by the image forming apparatus according to the content of the advertisement setting by the advertisement setting unit. Control is performed so that at least one of them is changed.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the control unit is configured to display a time when an advertisement is displayed on the advertisement display unit in charge associated with image formation by the image forming apparatus. When image formation is performed, the charging condition is controlled to be changed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the sixth aspect, in the case where a plurality of advertisements are displayed simultaneously on the advertisement display means, the control means controls to change the charging condition according to the advertisement area ratio. It is characterized by doing.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the fourth to seventh aspects, the advertisement display unit also serves as the consumable information display unit.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the consumable information display means or the advertisement display means is an electronic paper.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the image forming apparatus is a stencil printing apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the cost increase of physically differentiating consumables according to the contract form, and avoid the trouble of unusable supplies and modification of the image forming apparatus due to the change of the contract form. can do.
It is possible to supply supplies according to each contract form while maintaining physical compatibility, and to enable comprehensive handling including advertisements in billing, thereby adapting to various business models.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A printing system as an image forming system according to the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as a “copying system”) has a digital stencil printing apparatus, which is one form of the image forming apparatus, as a main device, and this stencil printing apparatus. Examples of consumables that can be exchanged include a master roll and an ink pack described later. Hereinafter, these master rolls and ink packs are also simply referred to as “supply items”.
The image forming apparatus applicable to the copying system described in each embodiment is not limited to a stencil printing apparatus, and an electrophotographic or inkjet image forming apparatus can of course be applied. In that case, examples of consumables include toner cartridges and ink cartridges.

A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of a stencil printing apparatus 100 constituting the printing system 1.
The stencil printing apparatus 100 includes a printing drum 101 around which a master 107 is wound around an outer peripheral surface, a press roller 102 as a printing pressure unit, a plotter 103 as a plate making device, and a plate discharging unit 104 inside the apparatus main body 100A. It has.
In the drawing, the recording paper 106 fed from the paper feeding means 105 arranged on the right side of the apparatus main body 100A is pressed against the printing drum 101 by the press roller 102, whereby the wound image of the master 107 is recorded on the recording paper 106. This is a well-known configuration in which the recording paper 106 transferred onto the image and transferred with the image is conveyed by the conveying means 108 to the paper discharging means 109 disposed on the left side of the apparatus main body 100A.
A scanner 110 serving as an image reading unit is disposed on the upper part of the apparatus main body 100A, reads a document image, and acquires image data used for plate making. An operation panel 111 as an operation unit of the stencil printing apparatus 100 is disposed on the upper front of the apparatus main body 100A.
As shown in FIG. 2, the operation panel 111 includes a printing / plate making switching key 113, a start key 114, a display unit 115, an initial setting / printer setting key 116, a printing position adjustment key 117, a printing speed setting key 118, and the like. Has been deployed.
The display unit 115 is configured by an LCD touch panel, and various guidance information and various operation screens are appropriately displayed on the screen. When the device user (user) operates the switch, the switches displayed on the screens are displayed. Is set in the control means 20 and the stencil printing apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, control means 20 for controlling each part of the stencil printing apparatus 100 is disposed in the apparatus main body 100A.
As shown in FIG. 3, the control means 20 is largely divided into two parts, that is, an ACU 200 (Application Control Unit) and an ECU 300 (Engine Control Unit) which are mounting boards.
The ACU 200 includes an operation panel interface 205 to which an operation panel (touch panel) 111 of a stencil printing apparatus is connected, and an interface (SDI / F 206, USB I / O) to which an SD memory card or a USB memory as a portable mass storage device is connected. F209), an interface 208 to which a hard disk (hereinafter referred to as “HDD”) 207 serving as a mass storage device is connected, and a network interface for accessing an information terminal 201 such as a personal computer via a network such as a LAN or the Internet. A communication interface (NICI / F 212, wireless LAN I / F 214) for connecting the card 202 and the unrelated LAN card 203, an ECU interface 215 to which the ECU 300 side is connected, and C as a central processing circuit A PU 216, a RAM 217 as a storage unit, and a ROM 218 are connected to an ASIC 220 (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

The ACU 200 performs plate making control of the stencil printing apparatus, and finally creates plate making data from the accumulated document stored in the scanner 110 or the HDD or the document data input through the network, and then transfers it to the ECU 300. The functions of the present invention mainly belong to this ACU 200.
The ECU 300 includes a CPU 321 as a central processing circuit, a RAM 322 and a ROM 323 as storage means, an ACU interface 324 connected to the ECU interface 215 of the ACU 200, a scanner interface 326 to which the scanner 110 is connected, and a plotter interface to which the plotter 103 is connected. 328 are connected to the ASIC 329, respectively.
Based on the plate making data created by the ACU 200, the ECU 300 creates a plate-making master by perforating a heat-sensitive stencil film (not shown), which is a well-known stencil sheet, with a plotter 103 by a thermal process. The master 107 having been subjected to the plate making is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder as the printing drum 101, the printing drum 101 is rotated while supplying ink from the inside of the drum, and the recording paper 106 is fed so as to respond to the rotation. In this way, the entire operation from plate making to printing of a series of digital stencil printing apparatuses for obtaining a printed product is controlled.
The stencil printing apparatus 100 may be either a single-sided printing machine or a double-sided printing machine.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the printing system 1 according to this embodiment includes a stencil printing apparatus 100 as an image forming apparatus, an ink pack 5 as a supply used in the stencil printing apparatus 100, and an ink pack. A wireless tag (hereinafter referred to as “RFID”) as a consumable information holding means (supplied information holding means) that is mounted in a non-removable form and stores information of the supply itself in a non-contact readable state. 2) in the stencil printing apparatus 100, second consumable information reading means (supply information reading means) for reading the supply information (consumable information) with respect to the RFID 2 mounted on the ink pack 5 in a non-contact manner. ) RFID reader 3, contract form mode setting means 9 (here, touch panel 115) for setting a contract form mode related to the contract, The contract mode holding means 10 (here, the flash ROM 218) for storing the defined contract mode, the order mode setting means 11 (here, the touch panel 115) for setting the order mode related to automatic / manual ordering of supplies, and setting Order mode holding means 12 (here, the flash ROM 218) for storing the ordered order mode, and message / warning display means 13 (here, the touch panel 115) for displaying or notifying a message or warning regarding the contract form and supplies. The supply information is read by the external communication means 14 (here, the NIC 202) that performs automatic ordering of the supplies via a LAN, the Internet, and the supply information reading means, and specific information is extracted and extracted. And analyze the contents Accordingly, the control unit 20 (a program operating on the ACU) for controlling the supply to be managed in the image forming apparatus and the ink pack 5 are mounted in a removable form, and are supplied to the RFID 2. Specific information is extracted from the electronic paper with RFID reader (hereinafter also simply referred to as “electronic paper”) 4 as the first consumable information reading means for reading information in a non-contact manner and the read supply information, And an electronic paper 4 as a display device for displaying.
The RFID reader attached to the electronic paper 4 is the first consumable information reading means, the portion of the electronic paper 4 excluding the RFID reader is the consumable information display means, and the entire electronic paper 4 serves as a display device. In FIG. 4, the code | symbol 5a has shown the nozzle | cap | die.

As described above, the RFID 2 stores information related to the contract form of the stencil printing apparatus 100 to which the ink pack 5 is provided. In the present embodiment, an ink pack is assumed as a supply, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a master roll is also applicable.
Regarding the supply information listed in the present embodiment, the control means 20 has a flaw in the contract form mode set in the stencil printing apparatus 100 and the information related to the contract form to be provided for the ink pack 5 specifically. In this case, a message or a warning to that effect is displayed, and control for restricting the use of all or part of the function (printing function) of the stencil printing apparatus 100, and the contract form to be provided for the ink pack 5 When a defect occurs in the automatic ordering mode set in the information and the stencil printing apparatus 100, a message or a warning to that effect is displayed, and all automatic / manual ordering of the stencil printing apparatus 100 or a part of its function (automatic Control that restricts the use of (ordering).

Here, the contract form of the stencil printing apparatus 100 and the supplies provided to the stencil printing apparatus 100 will be described supplementarily. As described above, there are “individual contract form” and “pay-in contract form”. Basically, in the case of the individual contract form, supplies supplied to the stencil printing apparatus 100, for example, the ink pack 5, are individually contracted forms. When the ink pack for use is in a pay-as-you-go contract form, an ink pack for a pay-as-you-go contract form must be supplied.
Conventionally, supplies are supplied with physical changes such as changing the part number or part number, or changing the diameter of the ink pack cap, so that compatibility between supplies with different contract forms is not taken. There are many cases.
In this embodiment, the RFID 2 is attached to the ink pack 5 by a label seal or the like without physically differentiating, and supply information (contract form information) is written in a non-contact manner by an RFID writer or the like depending on the contract form. Thus, it is discriminated whether it is for an individual contract form or a pay-as-you-go contract form.
However, in this state, it cannot be determined from the appearance of which contract form the ink pack 5 is for. In the present embodiment, discrimination is facilitated by attaching an electronic paper 4 with an RFID reader that can be easily and freely attached to the ink pack 5.

The flow of control will be described with reference to FIG. By operating the electronic paper 4 attached to the ink pack 5 and performing a reading operation (ST1), supply information (contract form information) is read from the RFID 2 attached to the ink pack 5 (ST2). At this time, it is checked whether or not the data can be read normally (ST3). If the data can be read normally, the contract form information is extracted (ST4), and display according to the contract form information is performed (ST4). If reading fails, an error is displayed (ST6). FIG. 7 shows a display example.
By doing in this way, it becomes possible to determine what contract form the ink pack 5 is provided from the appearance.
Since the electronic paper 4 is detachable, for example, when the ink pack 5 becomes empty, it can be used by being attached to another ink pack, and is excellent in reusability.
In this embodiment, by adopting a writable RFID, it is possible to cope with either contract form. However, even if a read-only RFID is adopted, since it can be identified by the electronic paper 4 with an RFID reader, the corresponding contract form cannot be changed, but it can be realized at a lower cost.

When supplies (ink packs) used in conventional stencil printing machines are exhausted and empty, they can be ordered automatically or manually via the external communication means of the stencil printing machine. Met. However, this is based on the assumption of an individual contract form. In the pay-as-you-go contract form, the cost of supplies is preliminarily factored in as a basic charge for a pay-as-you-go contract or as a pay-as-you-go rate for pay-as-you-go charges. Often offered free of charge. Therefore, when an out-of-order supply is made in spite of a pay-as-you-go contract, if an automatic order is placed, delivery and billing will be performed, which may cause double billing.
In the present embodiment, a flexible correspondence to the contract form is realized by linking the supply form (ink pack) having RFID and the contract form mode of the stencil printing apparatus.

Next, the contract mode setting means for the contract of the stencil printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. These drawings are examples of operation / display screens displayed on an operation / display touch panel (hereinafter, simply referred to as “operation panel”, “touch panel”, “LCD”, etc.) of the stencil printing apparatus).
FIG. 8 shows a screen when a “system initial value setting”-“setting for administrator” item button (not shown) is selected. Here, the user can make settings related to management of the stencil printing apparatus.
In FIG. 8, “contract form” is “pay-as-you-go contract”, and this is a result of displaying a result set by an operation described later.
When the “contract form” item is selected on the screen, a submenu as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. In the submenu, the contract form of the stencil printing apparatus is selected. In the present embodiment, “individual contract” and “pay-for-use contract” are listed as options, and among them, “usage-use contract” is selected.
In the present embodiment, two types of “individual contract form” and “pay-as-you-go contract form” are assumed. However, there are various other contract forms, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

Order mode setting means for automatic / manual ordering of supplies will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 shows a screen when the “system initial value setting”-“operation setting” item button (not shown) is selected. Here, the user can make settings related to the operation of the digital stencil printing apparatus.
In the item “Supply management call setting”, whether or not to notify or place an order automatically or manually at the service center or call center, etc., when the supplies supplied to the stencil printing machine are exhausted or become empty or nearly empty Set up.
In FIG. 10, “Supply Management Call Setting” is “No / No”, which is a result of setting by an operation described later.
When “Supply Management Call Setting” is selected on the screen, a submenu as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. In the submenu, it is selected which setting is to be made for the type of supplies, here “master” and “ink”. In this embodiment, since “ink” is assumed, “ink” is selected. As a result, a sub-menu for making detailed settings related to ink as shown in FIG. 12 is further displayed. In this embodiment, “No” is selected.
As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, the master is also set not to make a supply management call. However, if the “contract type” is “pay-as-you-go”, the settings are forcibly changed (masked) so as not to make a supply management call. It takes effect only at the time of contract.

Details of the control when the above settings are made will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the stencil printing apparatus 100 is activated or the ink pack 5 is loaded, the control means 20 refers to the contract form mode of the stencil printing apparatus (ST1). Next, it is checked whether or not the contract form is an individual contract (ST2). If the contract is an individual contract, the automatic ordering function for supplies is validated (ST3). Conversely, if the contract form is a pay-as-you-go contract, the automatic ordering function for supplies is invalidated (ST4).
Thereafter, supply information is read from the RFID of the supply (ST5). Next, it is checked whether or not the reading is performed normally (ST6). If the reading is not performed normally, a message indicating that the supply is invalid is displayed (ST7), and one of the functions of the stencil printing apparatus is displayed. In this case, since the supplies are ink packs, a lock is applied to restrict the use of the printing function (ST8). Therefore, printing cannot be performed with the mounted ink pack. Document accumulation and plate making are possible.
On the other hand, when the reading is normally performed, the contract form information is extracted (ST9). Here, the contract form mode of the stencil printing apparatus and the contract form mode of the supply are compared (ST10), and it is checked whether or not they match (ST11). If it conforms, it is checked whether or not the printing function is restricted (the lock is working) (ST12). If it is not restricted, printing with the attached ink pack is possible. If it is restricted, it can be used similarly by releasing the lock (ST13).

By using such a mechanism, it is possible to prevent an increase in cost for physical differentiation due to the contract form, and by displaying the attributes of the supplies stored in the RFID 2 on the electronic paper 4, Since it can be discriminated at a glance from the appearance, it can be expected to prevent erroneous delivery and installation.
Further, since the automatic supply function for supplies is suppressed due to the difference in contract form, it is possible to avoid erroneous charges such as double charges.

A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the same or similar parts as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and unless otherwise specified, the description of the configuration and functions already described is omitted, and only the main parts are described.
FIG. 14 is a configuration block diagram of a printing system 1 ′ according to the present embodiment. The printing system 1 according to the first embodiment is different from the printing system 1 according to the first embodiment in that a large-area advertisement display unit 16 (here, electronic paper 17) that is attached to the exterior of the image forming apparatus and displays an advertisement, and the advertisement display unit 16 The advertisement setting means (here, the touch panel 115) for setting what kind of advertisement is displayed on the screen, and the use of the image forming apparatus by paying a price such as a coin or a prepaid card with respect to the use of the image forming apparatus And an external billing means 18 (here, an external billing unit 19) that permits the above.
In the present embodiment, the electronic paper 17 as the advertisement display means also functions as the electronic paper 4 as the consumable information display means.
The control means 20 reads the supply information by the supply information reading means, extracts specific information, analyzes the extracted content, refers to the advertisement setting information set by the advertisement setting means, Considering this, control related to billing such as changing the billing rate and billing start number of the external billing means 18 is performed.

As in the first embodiment, the RFID 2 stores information related to the contract form of the stencil printing apparatus to which the ink pack 5 is provided.
The advertisement setting means of the stencil printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 15 shows a screen when the “System Initial Value Setting”-“Administrator Setting” item button (not shown) is selected.
Here, the operator can make settings related to stencil printing apparatus management.
In the item “electronic paper advertisement”, what kind of advertisement is set for the advertisement to be displayed on the large-area advertising electronic paper 17 mounted on the exterior of the stencil printing apparatus or the like. In FIG. 15, “electronic paper advertisement” is “Yes”, and this is a result of displaying a result set by an operation described later.
Since the item “contract form” is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

When “electronic paper advertisement” is selected on the screen, a submenu as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed. In the submenu, whether or not to advertise on the electronic paper 17 is set. In this embodiment, “Yes” is selected. Further, what kind of advertisement is used and how to use it are set by the item “detail setting”. When the “detailed setting” item is selected, a submenu as shown in FIG. 17 is further displayed.
In the submenu, up to four advertisements are displayed, and a list thereof is displayed. In this embodiment, for simplicity, it is assumed that only one advertisement is transferred. When the item “advertisement 1” is selected, a sub-menu shown in FIG. 18 is further displayed. Here, the advertisement to be specifically provided is set. In the present embodiment, an advertisement file named “adv” is displayed at a rate of “6 times per hour” for “5 minutes per time”.
Further, in this embodiment, the link with the external billing unit 19 is also performed, and when the plate-making / printing operation is performed while the advertisement is displayed, the advertiser is notified that “the burden of 10% with respect to the normal billing fee rate” ”(See FIGS. 18 and 19).

In other words, if one billing unit (for example, 10 yen) is generated when printing 100 sheets normally, setting “10% burden” will result in one billing unit for 110 sheets. In an extreme example, “100% burden” can be used to make plate making and printing free of charge (the billing fee is fully paid by the advertiser). It can be said that it is depressed but not charged.
This part is left to the discretion of the administrator / operator of the stencil printing apparatus or the advertiser, and allows free and flexible billing settings and advertisements.
As a matter of course, a warning or the like is issued when there is a duplication or contradiction in the setting of advertisements. For example, there is a case where 100% burden is always set for a certain advertisement, and 10% burden is set only when an advertisement is being given for a certain advertisement. In the present embodiment, priority is given to the settings registered in advance, but an arbitration function may be provided, and overlapping portions may be shared in proportion.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned advertisement setting designation form (up to 4 advertisements, “number of advertisements”, “advertisement time”, “external billing link”,...) Is limited to this embodiment. Instead, other methods may be used.
For example, the time may be specified so that advertisements are continuously received from what time to what time.
FIG. 20 shows a schematic diagram when the external charging unit 19 is connected to the stencil printing apparatus 100 and an advertisement is displayed on the electronic paper 17 having a large screen.

Details of the control when the above settings are made will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the stencil printing apparatus is activated, an ink pack is loaded, or the advertisement setting is changed, the control means 20 refers to the contract form mode of the stencil printing apparatus (ST1).
Next, supply information is read from the RFID of the ink pack (ST2), and it is checked whether or not the reading is normal (ST3). If not normally performed, a message indicating that the supply is illegal is displayed (ST4), and a lock is applied to restrict the use of the printing function (ST5). Therefore, printing cannot be performed with the mounted ink pack. At this time, document storage and plate making are possible as in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, if the reading is performed normally, contract form information is extracted (ST6). Here, the contract form mode of the stencil printing apparatus and the contract form mode of the supply are compared (ST7), and whether or not they match is checked (ST8).
If there is a defect, as in the case described above, an indication that the supply is illegal is displayed (ST4), and a lock is applied to restrict the use of the printing function (ST5).
If it is matched, it is checked whether or not the printing is locked before mounting the ink pack (ST9). If the printing is not locked, the printing function by the mounted ink pack can be used. If it is locked, it can be used similarly by releasing the lock (ST10).
Thereafter, the advertisement setting information is further referred to (ST11), and it is checked whether there is an advertisement (ST12). In the present embodiment, since there is one advertisement, the set advertisement setting information is extracted (ST13), and an advertisement scheduling table is created (ST14).

Thereafter, the advertisement displayed on the large-screen electronic paper 17 is performed according to this table. It is checked whether or not the advertisement has an external billing link (ST15). If so, the billing rate of the external billing unit 19 based on the advertisement is calculated. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18 or FIG. 19, the “10% burden” is given, and as described above, an event of 1 charging unit (for example, 10 yen) is generated in normal 100 sheet printing. , Control data is set in the billing rate setting table so that 110 bills are one billing unit (ST17).
Thereby, the billing setting for one advertisement is completed. Further, it is checked whether or not there is an advertisement (ST18), and if so, the same is repeated.

With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 22, a description will be given of the control in the case where the above settings are made and the user actually performs plate making / printing using the stencil printing apparatus.
When the user performs a document setting operation (ST1), the control means 20 of the stencil printing apparatus refers to the advertisement scheduling table and confirms the advertisement state of the electronic paper 17 (ST2).
Next, it is checked whether or not the advertisement is being executed (ST3). If the advertisement is being executed, the billing rate table currently being advertised is set as billing data (ST4).
If no advertisement is made, a default billing rate table is set as billing data (ST5).
When the user continues the plate making / printing operation (ST6), billing processing is performed according to the set billing data (billing fee rate table) (ST7).
In the present embodiment, the billing fee rate by advertisement is reflected at the time of detecting the document setting operation, but it may be reflected at the time of plate making / printing operation.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the advertisement ends or is switched to another advertisement during plate making / printing, the billing data is processed until the plate making / printing is completed. Other methods (forcibly switching, switching at a separation part such as plate making and printing, etc.) may be used.
By using such a mechanism, when inappropriate or unauthorized supplies are provided to the stencil printing machine, the supply of the stencil printing machine is restricted by restricting the use of all functions of the stencil printing machine or functions dependent on the supply. Improper or unauthorized use of goods can be suppressed.
Furthermore, since there is no advertisement and the charge rate can be changed by the advertisement, it is possible to provide various business models among advertisers, stencil printer owner / operators, and stencil printer users. it can.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus (stencil printing apparatus) in a printing system as an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the operation panel of a stencil printing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of a control means. It is a perspective view of the ink pack as a consumable. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system. It is a flowchart of the control which discriminate | determines the classification of supplies. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in electronic paper. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on an operation panel at the time of operation | movement of a printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on an operation panel at the time of operation | movement of a printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on an operation panel at the time of operation | movement of a printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on an operation panel at the time of operation | movement of a printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on an operation panel at the time of operation | movement of a printing system. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the printing system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an operation panel during operation of a printing system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an operation panel during operation of a printing system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an operation panel during operation of a printing system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an operation panel during operation of a printing system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an operation panel during operation of a printing system according to the second embodiment. It is an external view of the printing system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a printing system according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a printing system according to a second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

2 RFID as consumables information holding means
3 RFID Reader as Second Consumable Information Reading Unit 4 RFID Reader Attached to Electronic Paper as First Consumable Information Reading Unit 4 Electronic Paper (Excluding RFID Reader) as Consumable Information Display Unit
4 Electronic paper as a display device (whole)
5 Ink Pack as Consumable 17 Electronic Paper as Advertisement Display Unit 19 External Billing Unit as External Billing Unit 20 Control Unit 100 Stencil Printing Device as Image Forming Device 115 Touch Panel as Advertisement Setting Unit

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus;
Consumables information holding means provided in the consumables provided to the image forming apparatus and holding information about the consumables;
First consumable information reading means that is detachably provided on the consumable supplies and reads consumable information held by the consumable information holding means, and consumable information read by the first consumable information reading means A display device comprising consumable information display means for displaying specific information included in
Have
The image forming apparatus includes a second consumable information reading unit that reads consumable information held by the consumable information holding unit, and specific information from the consumable information read by the second consumable information reading unit. And a control means for controlling the consumables in the image forming apparatus based on the analysis contents, and controlling the consumables in the image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to claim 1.
The consumable information includes at least one piece of information related to the type of consumable, product name, product code, brand, destination, unit price, selling price, billing rate, and billing of the contract form to be provided. A featured image forming system. The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2,
An image forming system for displaying items related to a contract form provided in the consumable information read by the first consumable information reading means on the display device in an expression format that can be visually recognized and understood. . The image forming system according to claim 1,
Use of the image forming apparatus, an advertisement display unit that is attached to an outer surface of the image forming apparatus, displays an advertisement, an advertisement setting unit that sets what kind of advertisement is displayed on the advertisement display unit, and how to display the advertisement An external billing unit that confirms payment of the price and permits the use of the image forming apparatus when the price is paid.
The control means refers to the advertisement setting information set by the advertisement setting means, and changes at least one of a charging rate and a charging start number as a charging condition of the external charging means in consideration of the specific information. An image forming system that performs control. The image forming system according to claim 4.
The control unit controls the charging associated with the image formation by the image forming apparatus to change at least one of the charging conditions depending on the content of the advertisement setting by the advertisement setting unit. system. The image forming system according to claim 4 or 5,
The control means performs control so as to change the charge condition when image formation is performed during a time when an advertisement is displayed on the advertisement display means in charge associated with image formation by the image forming apparatus. An image forming system. The image forming system according to claim 6.
In the case where a plurality of advertisements are simultaneously displayed on the advertisement display unit, the control unit performs control so as to change a charging condition according to an area ratio of the advertisement. The image forming system according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
The image forming system, wherein the advertisement display means also serves as the consumable information display means. The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The image forming system, wherein the consumable information display means or the advertisement display means is electronic paper. The image forming system according to claim 1,
An image forming system, wherein the image forming apparatus is a stencil printing apparatus.

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