JP2011009870A - Image forming apparatus and image formation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which starts without determining disconnection with a peripheral apparatus to perform emergency communication without executing recovery processing when a power supply is newly turned on after the occurrence of a disaster, and to prevent congestion, and to provide an image formation system including the image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: When an urgent earthquake news-flash receiving terminal 50 receives urgent earthquake news flash sent from an earthquake analysis center 7, a composite machine 100 stores disaster-occurrence prediction information. Although the power supply of the composite machine 100 is temporarily turned off due to a power failure after the occurrence of an earthquake, the power supply of the composite machine 100 is turned on after canceling service interruption. When the storage of the disaster-occurrence prediction information is confirmed when the power supply of the composite machine is turned on, the composite machine 100 stops a job recovery function which is executed in a normal state.

Description

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

  In recent years, natural disasters such as earthquakes have frequently occurred, but there are various techniques for disaster countermeasures.

  For example, there is an emergency earthquake bulletin in which the Meteorological Agency announces the predicted seismic intensity and arrival time by analyzing data measured by a seismometer near the epicenter immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake.

  Patent Document 1 proposes an image forming apparatus, a control program, and an image forming method for turning off the power of the image forming apparatus when receiving an earthquake early warning.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, when an emergency warning broadcast transmitted in the event of a disaster is received, the passage to a heat source such as a heater of a fixing device is stopped, or a job being executed is interrupted and put into a standby state. An image forming apparatus that shuts off the power supply has been proposed.

  Further, Patent Document 3 proposes an image forming apparatus that prints out disaster data on a sheet when receiving a disaster signal, and then blocks it, and a control method therefor.

  Patent Document 4 discloses an image forming apparatus, an image processing system, and a program for diagnosing the own apparatus and the network environment according to the acquired disaster information and switching the operation mode to the disaster occurrence mode according to the diagnosis result. Proposed.

JP 2008-354341 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-143029 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-23060 JP 2008-66891 A

  When a disaster occurs, it is expected that an appropriate power-off or power-off due to a power failure at the time of the disaster will occur, and then the power of the device will be manually turned on or turned on after the power failure is restored.

  The image forming apparatus normally performs recovery processing when a sudden power OFF occurs during facsimile communication, and then automatically starts recovery communication after the power is turned ON.

  When a disaster occurs, communication that requires urgency to deal with the disaster may be prioritized over communication for normal business that was performed before the disaster occurred.

  After the disaster occurs, when the device is turned on and recovery communication begins, it is impossible to receive emergency facsimiles sent from other areas to perform recovery communication, and new emergency facsimiles cannot be transmitted. It is expected that a problem will occur that transmission is automatically started for recovery, and retransmission is repeated by the redial function, which contributes to the occurrence of disaster-type congestion.

  In addition, when a disaster occurs, the connection cable between the image forming apparatus and the peripheral device connected to the image forming apparatus is disconnected by the movement of the image forming apparatus or the peripheral device, or the connection cable connector is damaged. The occurrence of a problem that the device is not connected is also expected. When the power supply of the image forming apparatus is turned on with the connection cable disconnected or the like, the image forming apparatus cannot determine the connection with the peripheral device and thus is determined to be out of order and is not activated.

  Therefore, when the power is turned on after a disaster occurs, it starts without determining that the connection with the peripheral device is not connected, so that emergency communication can be performed without performing recovery processing, and congestion is prevented. An object is to provide a forming apparatus and an image forming system.

  In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is connected to an earthquake information receiving terminal capable of receiving earthquake information, and when the power is turned off, the image forming processing request being continued is sent to the next time. A processing request resumption function that automatically resumes after the power is turned on; a receiving unit that receives from the earthquake information receiving terminal disaster information that is a notification that the earthquake information receiving terminal has received the earthquake information; and the receiving unit Storage means for storing the disaster information received in the above, reading means for reading the disaster information stored in the storage means when the power is turned on, and when the disaster information is read by the reading means, Processing request resumption function stopping means for stopping the processing request resumption function is provided.

  In the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, when the process request restart function is stopped by the process request restart function stop unit, information on a job that is a target of the process request restart function is stored. The information processing apparatus is further configured to further include a protection unit that protects the information from being deleted.

  In the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, when the process request restart function is stopped by the process request restart function stop unit, a job that is a target of the process request restart function is displayed. It is configured to further include a changing means for changing to a retransmission instruction waiting process.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the image forming apparatus is connected to one or more related devices including the earthquake information receiving terminal, and the apparatus is turned on. After that, when the disaster information is read out by the reading unit, it is further configured to further include an activation processing unit that performs an activation process of the own device in a state where the connection with the related device is not connected.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fourth aspect, the activation processing unit is configured such that when an authentication device having an authentication function related to the image forming apparatus is connected to the image forming apparatus as the related device, The authentication data stored in the image forming apparatus is read to perform authentication.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, when the disaster information is read by the reading means after the power is turned on, an image is formed on a sheet. It is comprised so that the energization control means which controls energization so that it may not energize the formation part is further comprised.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein when the disaster information is read by the reading means after the power is turned on, the connection with the transmission partner is not established. In this case, subtraction stop control means for controlling so as not to subtract the number of retransmissions set in the retransmission function to try retransmission after a certain time is configured.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the earthquake information receiving terminal is detected by a P wave detecting means for detecting a P wave accompanying the occurrence of an earthquake and the P wave detecting means. A notification means for notifying the storage means of the image forming apparatus to store the disaster information based on the result, the receiving means receives a notification by the notification means, and the storage means The disaster information is stored based on the reception means receiving the notification by the notification means.

  The invention of claim 9 is the pause control according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein when the disaster information is stored in the storage means, the job being executed and the job waiting for execution are controlled to pause. Means, a time measuring means for starting measurement of a predetermined time when the disaster information is stored in the storage means, and a job suspended by the job suspension means when the predetermined time is measured by the time measuring means And restart control means for controlling to restart.

  Further, according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, when the disaster information is stored in the storage unit, the state of the own device communicates with a management server that manages the communication state of the own device. It is comprised so that the communication disabled notification means which notifies that it is impossible is further provided.

  An image forming system according to an eleventh aspect includes an earthquake analysis center for transmitting earthquake information to an earthquake information receiving terminal, the earthquake information receiving terminal, and an image forming apparatus connected to the earthquake information receiving terminal. When the earthquake information receiving terminal receives the earthquake information from the earthquake analysis center, the earthquake information receiving terminal sends, to the image forming apparatus, regional information on a region where a disaster is predicted based on the earthquake information. When the image forming apparatus receives the area information transmitted from the transmission means, the image forming apparatus controls to stop the job being executed and the waiting job communicating with the area corresponding to the area information. It is comprised so that a stop control means may be comprised.

  According to the invention of claim 1, there is an effect that an unnecessary job recovery function is not executed when a disaster occurs.

  According to the invention of claim 2, there is an effect that a job that has not been recovered by a job is not deleted by mistake.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since a job that has not been job-recovered is transmitted, there is an effect that transmission setting is performed again.

  According to the invention of claim 4, even if the connection with the related device is disconnected, there is an effect that it can be started without causing a failure.

  According to the invention of claim 5, even if there is an external authentication device, there is an effect that it can be used without being authenticated by the external authentication device.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent energization of the image forming unit that generates a high temperature.

  According to the invention of claim 7, since the number of retransmissions set in the retransmission function has been reached, there is an effect that retransmission is not stopped.

  According to the invention of claim 8, there is an effect that processing is performed based on the detection result of the earthquake early warning receiving terminal detecting the occurrence of the earthquake.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the earthquake early warning is received, the execution of the job can be stopped.

  According to the invention of claim 10, there is an effect that it is possible to notify that the state of the own apparatus is incommunicable.

  According to the invention of claim 11, there is an effect that it is possible to suppress transmission to an area where a disaster is predicted and reduce the cause of congestion.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of an image forming system 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a terminal connected to the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a module configuration of software. 10 is a flowchart showing processing in the multifunction peripheral 100 in the business office 6. It is a flowchart which shows the content of step 402 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of step 403 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of step 409 of FIG. It is a table | surface which shows the example of a change of system data. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing in the multifunction peripheral 100 in the business office 8.

  First, the image forming system 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of an image forming system 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 1 exists in the intranet 3 in the office 6 existing in the region A, the emergency earthquake bulletin terminal 10 in the earthquake analysis center 7 existing in the region B, and the region C. An intranet 5 in the office 8 is connected to the Internet 2.

  The Internet 2 also manages a presence server 11 for managing and providing presence information (information relating to online and offline communication states and communication addresses) of each terminal and a telephone number in association with addresses and services on the network. An ENUM (tElephone NUmber Mapping) server 12 is connected.

  The presence server 11 manages the communication state of each terminal.

  In addition, the image forming system 1 is a public telephone exchange network for the facsimile machine 100 to use the multifunction machine 100 in the business office 6 in the area A and the multifunction machine 100 in the business office 9 in the area D. It is connected to a certain PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Networks) 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration of the intranet 3 in the office 6 existing in the region A is configured such that the multifunction peripheral 100, the client PC 20, and the server 30 are connected to the intranet 3.

  A plurality of MFPs 100 are connected to the intranet 3.

  In the multi-function device 100, an IC (Integrated Circuit) card reader 40 and an earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 are connected via a serial interface 121.

  The IC card reader 40 authenticates the user of the multi-function device 100 using a non-contact IC card, and operates according to a predetermined security policy.

  The emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50 receives the emergency earthquake bulletin transmitted from the emergency earthquake bulletin terminal 10 in the earthquake analysis center 7. The earthquake early warning is an example of earthquake information. The emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50 has a function of sending the received emergency earthquake bulletin to the multifunction device 100.

  The emergency earthquake bulletin sent from the emergency earthquake bulletin terminal 10 detects the P wave accompanying the occurrence of the earthquake and predicts the arrival of the S wave, and is transmitted from the Japan Meteorological Agency.

  Further, the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 has a function of converting the area information of the emergency earthquake early warning received from the emergency earthquake early warning terminal 10 into an area code and sending it to the multifunction peripheral 100 (utilized in the second embodiment).

  Further, the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 may be a terminal that has a function of detecting a P wave in its own device and can predict the arrival of a large S wave by its own device. When the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 is such a terminal, when the P wave is detected and the arrival of the S wave is predicted, an emergency earthquake early warning is generated based on the content detected by the own device and is sent to the multifunction device 100. The P wave detection result is notified to the earthquake analysis center 7 that performs earthquake analysis via the Internet 2.

  The earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 is connected to the Internet 2.

  The multifunction device 100 is connected to the PSTN 4 for facsimile communication, and can perform facsimile communication with the multifunction device 100 in the office 9 in the area D.

  The client PC 20 connected to the intranet 3 is a personal computer used for business in the office 6, and the server 30 connected to the intranet 3 is various servers used for business in the office 6. .

  In this way, the intranet 3 in the office 6 existing in the area A is configured.

  The description will be made assuming that the earthquake occurrence place in the image forming system 1 is the area A where the office 6 exists.

  The region B, the region C, and the region D in the image forming system 1 will be described as locations that are not damaged by the earthquake that occurred in the region A, unlike the region A that is an earthquake occurrence region.

  The earthquake analysis center 7 located in the area B detects the P wave immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake in the area A, predicts the time when the large S wave arrives, and sends the emergency earthquake bulletin to the emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50.

  A multifunction device 100 is connected to the intranet 5 in the business office 8 existing in the region C.

  The IC card reader 40 and the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 are connected to the MFP 100 connected to the intranet 5 through the serial interface 121. Further, the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 is connected to the Internet 2.

  In addition, the multifunction device 100 in the business office 9 existing in the region D is connected to the PSTN 4 and can perform facsimile communication with the multifunction device 100 in the business office 6 present in the region A.

  In the image forming system 1 configured as described above, various problems that are expected to occur immediately after the occurrence of an earthquake are solved in the multifunction peripheral 100 in the office 6 that exists in the area A where the earthquake occurs (Example) 1), and the communication sent from the multifunction device 100 in the business office 8 existing in the area C away from the earthquake occurrence site to the multifunction device 100 in the business office 6 in the area A where the earthquake occurred is temporarily stopped. Thus, the occurrence of congestion is reduced (described in the second embodiment).

  Next, the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a terminal connected to the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 includes a printing device unit 101, a reading device unit 102, and an operation device 103 connected to a controller board 110.

  A printing apparatus unit 101 indicates a print engine that performs printing output by the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The reading device unit 102 has a scanner function and can read an image of a document to be arranged.

  The operation device 103 is a group of interfaces with a user who uses the multifunction peripheral 100 and includes a display unit 104 and an operation unit 105.

  The display unit 104 indicates an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and displays image processing setting information and an image processing state.

  The operation unit 105 indicates a button for receiving an instruction from the user such as a value input by the user.

  Note that when the touch panel is used as the user interface 103, the display unit 104 and the operation unit 105 can be combined into one.

  The controller board 110 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a ROM (Reed Only Memory) 112, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 113, an NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM) 114, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 115, and an image processing unit. 116, an operation device interface 117, a communication interface (denoted as a communication IF in the drawing) 118, and a device interface (denoted as a device IF in the drawing) 119 are connected to the bus 130.

  The CPU 111 performs main control of functions included in the multifunction peripheral 100. Each processing unit performs processing based on an instruction from the CPU 111 and notifies the specified processing unit of the processing result.

  The ROM 112 stores various programs for performing control of the multifunction peripheral 100, user authentication, image processing, and the like, and unique information inherent to the multifunction peripheral 100, and is stored in the NVRAM 114 by a program execution command from the CPU 111 or the like. Execute while referring to the information. Here, the unique information stored in the ROM 112 indicates information that does not need to be rewritten, such as a serial number, a manufacturing number, a manufacturing date, and a manufacturing factory name that are physically identified from the MFP 100.

  The RAM 113 stores system variables such as environment variables for operating the program stored in the ROM 112 and temporary data for performing image processing.

  The NVRAM 114 is a non-volatile memory that can retain stored contents even when the power is turned off. The NVRAM 114 retains various parameters for operating a program stored in the ROM 112, and also retains history information and the like.

  The HDD 115 holds image data for performing image processing based on the control content.

  The image processing unit 116 is configured by an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or the like, and performs image data expansion / compression processing and various types of image processing.

  The operation device interface 117 can transmit a value input by a user, specification of processing contents, and the like to the device.

  The communication interface 118 is a group of interfaces for realizing communication with an external device, and includes a LAN (Local Area Network) 120, a serial interface (referred to as Serial in the drawing) 121, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 122, and a modem 123. Configured.

  The LAN 120 indicates a LAN port to which an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable is connected, and is a port for realizing communication in accordance with a communication method defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

  The serial interface 121 indicates a port conforming to the RS-232C standard and realizes connection to various external peripheral devices.

  The USB 122 is an interface standard that can connect various peripheral devices with a common connector, and is an interface for connecting various peripheral devices.

  The modem 123 is connected to the PSTN 4 for facsimile communication.

  In addition, the device interface 119 realizes communication with various devices constituting the multi-function device 100.

  The various devices connected to the device interface 119 include a reading device unit 102 and a printing device unit 101.

  A cable connecting the IC card reader 40 and the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 is connected from the serial interface 121 of the multi-function device 100 configured as described above.

  Next, the module configuration of the software of the controller that controls the hardware of the multifunction peripheral 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a module configuration of software of a controller that controls the hardware of the multifunction peripheral 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the software is configured from each layer of an OS (Operating System) 301, middleware 302, a functional module 303, and an application 304.

  The OS 301 is a built-in real-time OS, and a general-purpose OS manufactured for the MFP 100 can be used.

  The middleware 302 is a layer that mediates between the OS 301 and the functional module 303, and is positioned above the OS 301, suppresses the influence unique to the hardware, and the API (Application Program Interface) common to the upper modules such as the functional module 303 and the application 304. ). By adopting such a software layer, even if there is a change in hardware or OS 301, it is possible to suppress the influence on the layer of the functional module 303 level and the application 304 level (referred to as a change in implementation).

  The middleware 302 includes a system manager 305 and a device driver library 306.

  The system manager 305 is a module that manages the core of the MFP 100, such as status / resource management, job management, file management, buffer management, timer management, and various log management, and also provides these management functions to functional modules. Do.

  The device driver library 306 is a group of modules that provide functions of the external system and hardware to the function module 303, and performs low-level control of various protocols and various devices.

  The device driver library 306 includes a mode library 307, a mailer 308, a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) library 309, a document volume library 310, and an accessory interface (referred to as an accessory IF in the drawing) 311.

  The mode library 307 provides each function module with a management function for managing a normal use state of the MFP 100, a special state for maintenance, a special state for performing a diagnosis function, and the like based on the concept of mode.

  The mailer 308 provides a function that uses an electronic mail protocol.

  The document volume library 310 provides a function for controlling the number of printed sheets, that is, a counter.

  The SIP library 309 provides functions related to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol).

  The accessory IF 311 is a control API that controls an interface with the IC card reader 40 and the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50.

  Further, the device driver library 306 includes modules (not shown) that perform communication modem control, LAN control, HDD access control, and interface control with the printing apparatus 101 / reading apparatus 102 / operation apparatus 103, etc. (not shown).

  The functional module 303 is a module group for notifying request processing, communication processing with the operation apparatus 103, image processing for realizing various applications, and various states to a remote device.

  The function module 303 includes a request manager 312, a printer controller 313, a reader controller 314, a spool controller 315, a decomposer 316, a report generation 317, a fax controller 318, a Lan controller 319, an authentication manager 320, and HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). A controller 321, an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) controller 322, and a timer controller 323 are included.

  The request manager 312 performs request processing and communication processing with the controller device 103.

  The printing apparatus controller 313 controls the printing apparatus unit 101.

  The reading device controller 314 controls the reading device unit 102.

  The spool controller 315 controls job accumulation.

  The decomposer 316 converts the print data into a printable intermediate representation.

  The report generation 317 performs report creation processing.

  A fax controller 318 performs communication control of facsimile communication.

  The LAN controller 319 performs LAN communication control.

  The authentication manager 320 performs authentication management.

  The HTTP controller 321 performs notification processing such as various states to a remote device using HTTP.

  The SNMP controller 322 performs various types of notification processing to a remote device by SNMP.

  The timer controller 323 performs processing for controlling the disaster occurrence monitoring timer.

  The application 304 is a group of functional processes provided to the user such as copy, fax, and scanner, and is realized by the processing of each functional module.

  For example, when a copy is instructed by the user, the request manager 312 that receives the instruction from the operation apparatus 103 copies the instruction / setting parameters such as the document size and the paper size. Set as job activation information and create a copy job.

  A job is a processing request for image forming processing.

  The system manager 305 checks system information necessary for starting the copy, such as status / resource management information. If there is no problem, the system manager 305 starts a copy job and puts it in a wait state.

  Subsequently, the system manager 305 changes the copy job to an operation state in accordance with predetermined job scheduling control.

  According to a predetermined processing procedure for a copy job, a copy function is provided to the user by giving a reading instruction to the reading device unit 102, an instruction to store the read image data to the spool controller 315, and a printing instruction to the printing device unit 101. Is provided.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment and a second embodiment to which the image forming system 10 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 is applied will be described. In the first embodiment, the processing of the multifunction peripheral 100 in the office 6 existing in the area A where the earthquake occurs in the image forming system 10 will be mainly described. In the second embodiment, the processing in the image forming system 10 is mainly performed. The processing of the MFP 100 in the business office 8 existing in the area C, which is an area outside the earthquake occurrence area, will be described.

  First, processing in the MFP 100 in the office 6 existing in the area A where the earthquake occurs in the image forming system 1 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing in the multifunction peripheral 100 in the business office 6 existing in the earthquake occurrence area.

  First, when a P wave is generated in the area A, the generated P wave is observed by the earthquake analysis center 7 existing in the area B.

  The seismic analysis center 7 predicts the arrival of the S-wave with large shaking that comes after the P-wave based on the observed P-wave.

  Then, the earthquake early warning terminal 10 of the regional analysis center 7 transmits information predicting the arrival of the S wave as an emergency earthquake early warning to the emergency earthquake early receiving terminal 50 of the image forming system 1 via the Internet 2.

  In general, the arrival of S waves, which cause enormous damage, will be described as an earthquake.

  When the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 in the office 6 existing in the area A receives the emergency earthquake early warning sent from the emergency earthquake early warning terminal 10, the own apparatus exists from the area information of the occurrence of the earthquake described in the contents. Confirm the prediction that a large S wave will arrive in area A.

  Then, the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 predicts how many seconds later a large S wave will come to the area A where the device is connected to the multifunction peripheral 100 connected by the serial interface 121. Notify me of notifications.

  When receiving the disaster occurrence prediction notification from the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 (YES in step 401), the MFP 100 in the office 6 performs processing after receiving the disaster occurrence prediction notification (step 402). .

  In the subroutine of step 402, which is processing after receiving the disaster occurrence prediction notification, as shown in FIG. 5, first, the MFP 100 in the office 6 writes disaster occurrence prediction information in the NVRAM 114 (step 501).

  The disaster occurrence prediction notification and the disaster occurrence prediction information are examples of disaster information.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the subroutine in step 402.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the processing of the subroutine of step 402 will be described.

  Then, the multifunction device 100 in the office 6 to which the disaster occurrence prediction information is written emits a warning sound from the multifunction device 100 or displays a warning message such as “an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 6 or more in 15 seconds” on the display unit 104. The user is alerted (step 502).

  By alerting the user, it is possible to avoid any danger to the user due to the shaking of the multifunction device 100 due to the earthquake.

  In addition, by displaying a warning on the display unit 104, a user who is deaf is alerted to prepare for an earthquake.

  In this way, when the multifunction device 100 in the office 6 receives the disaster occurrence prediction notification of writing the disaster occurrence prediction information and alerting the user, then the disaster occurrence monitoring timer is set. The job is suspended and a job suspension process is performed (step 403).

  In the subroutine of step 403, which is a process for starting the disaster occurrence monitoring timer and suspending the job, as shown in FIG. 6, first, the MFP 100 in the office 6 starts the disaster occurrence monitoring timer (step 601). .

  The set time of the disaster occurrence monitoring timer is set to be longer than the time at which a disaster occurrence is predicted based on the disaster occurrence prediction notification notified from the emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50. For example, if a disaster occurrence is predicted after 15 seconds, a longer time is set in the disaster occurrence monitoring timer.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the sub-reaching process in step 403.

  With reference to FIG. 6, the processing of the subroutine of step 403 will be described.

  Then, the MFP 100 in the office 6 temporarily suspends the job being executed (Yes in Step 603) or the job waiting to be executed stored in the spool (Yes in Step 602) (Step 604).

  Here, the job being executed may be set to an interrupt state instead of being temporarily stopped.

  Further, the object to be paused may be a document to be communicated instead of a job.

  The reason why all jobs being executed or waiting to be executed is temporarily stopped is that a failure or a fire may occur if an earthquake occurs while the printing apparatus unit 101 or the image reading unit 102 is operating.

  Then, when all jobs in execution or waiting to be executed are temporarily stopped (No in step 603), the communication is offline indicating that all communication means of the MFP 100 cannot communicate. A presence document indicating the above is created and transmitted to the presence server 11 (step 605). Upon receiving the offline presence document, the presence server 11 registers the presence state of the multifunction peripheral 100 that has transmitted the presence document as offline.

  In the case of communication using the presence service by IP fax or the like, since all the information of the multifunction device 100 is offline, transmission or polling from the other bases to the multifunction device 100 in the office 6 is prevented.

  Further, instead of transmitting an offline presence document to the presence server 11, processing such as changing the priority of the communication means may be performed on the ENUM server 12 so as to lower the priority of facsimile communication, for example. Good.

  Then, the disaster occurrence monitoring timer started in step 601 is in a state where measurement is being continued (time is being measured in step 606), and the power of the multifunction peripheral 100 in the office 6 is turned off due to the earthquake without an earthquake occurring. If the time set for the disaster occurrence monitoring timer elapses without being disconnected and the time is up (time up in step 606), it is assumed that an earthquake has not occurred, and the disaster occurrence prediction written in the NVRAM 114 in step 501 The information is overwritten with the information on the occurrence of disaster (step 607).

  In the multifunction device 100 in the office 6, the disaster occurrence monitoring timer that has timed up is turned off (step 608), and it is online indicating that the communication means of the multifunction device 100 can communicate. A presence document indicating this is created and transmitted to the presence server 11 (step 609). Upon receiving the online presence document, the presence server 11 registers the presence state of the multifunction peripheral 100 that has transmitted the presence document as online.

  Then, when there is a paused job in step 604 or the like (Yes in step 610), the multifunction peripheral 100 changes the job status of the paused job to executing, The job is executed (step 611). Alternatively, the job status is changed to “execution” for the job that has been interrupted in step 604, and the job is executed.

  If the job status is executed in the processing of step 611 and there is no paused job or interrupted job (no step 610), the processing ends.

  Then, the state shifts to a state in which no earthquake occurs (NO in step 404 in FIG. 4), and enters a state of waiting for reception of a disaster occurrence prediction notification (NO in step 401).

  The above is a case where an earthquake that is predicted after the multifunction device 100 in the office 6 receives the disaster occurrence prediction notification and the disaster occurrence monitoring timer is started does not occur, but is predicted during the time counting in step 606. A case where an earthquake occurs will be described with reference to YES in step 404 of FIG.

  When the disaster occurrence monitoring timer is timing (timed in step 606), if a predicted earthquake occurs in the area A where the office 6 is located, a power failure occurs in the area A due to the earthquake, and the multifunctional machine in the office 6 A state occurs in which the power supply of 100 is cut off (step 405).

  When the power failure due to the earthquake is restored, the user in the office 6 performs a process of turning on the MFP 100 in the office 6 (step 406).

  In addition, the state in which the power of the MFP 100 is turned off in Step 405 is determined by the manual power-off by the user who is worried about the occurrence of an earthquake or the predetermined time after receiving the disaster occurrence prediction notification other than the power failure due to the earthquake. The power may be automatically turned off or the processing may be automatically performed as soon as the presence document is created and transmitted in step 605 after the disaster occurrence prediction notification.

  When the MFP 100 is turned on (step 407), the CPU 111 reads out disaster occurrence prediction information stored in the NVRAM 114 at an early stage of activation (step 407).

  When the disaster occurrence prediction information is read from the NVRAM 114 (YES in step 408), the MFP 100 performs initialization processing when a disaster occurs (step 409).

  As shown in FIG. 7, the subroutine of step 409 indicating the initialization process at the time of occurrence of a disaster performed in the multifunction device 100 is first directed to the printing apparatus unit 101 for power supply to each hardware in the multifunction device 100. Is not supplied (step 701).

  The printing apparatus unit 101 includes an apparatus such as a fixing unit that generates a high temperature. If the printing apparatus unit 101 has some trouble due to the occurrence of an earthquake, it is conceivable that a fire may occur due to energization. Therefore, after the occurrence of the earthquake, the printing apparatus unit 101 is not energized to prevent a secondary disaster such as a fire.

  Next, the system data of the multifunction device 100 is changed (step 702).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing of the subroutine of Step 409.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the system data change process performed as an initialization process when a disaster occurs changes the system data related to the related device connection 1 from “IC card reader connected” to “IC card reader not connected”. There are contents to be changed and contents to change the system data related to the related device connection 2 from “Earthquake Early Warning Receiving Terminal Connected” to “Earthquake Early Warning Receiving Terminal Not Connected”.

  FIG. 8 is a table showing an example of changing system data.

  If the system data remains “IC card reader connected” or “Earthquake Early Warning receiving terminal connected” and communication with the related device fails due to disconnection of the connection cable to the related device or damage to the connector, the multifunction device 100 Will not be able to control related equipment, and will report a failure abnormality as a control abnormality, and will not accept jobs such as copying.

  In the event of a disaster, it is impossible for the service person to rush immediately to repair the multifunction device 100. In such a state, even if there is a fax or the like that is urgently communicated, it becomes impossible to operate.

  Therefore, in order to avoid in advance the inoperable state of the multifunction peripheral 100 due to the disconnection of the connection cable with the related device, the system data regarding the connection to the related device is changed to unconnected. When the connection to the related device is set to unconnected, the connection processing with the related device is not performed, and the multifunction peripheral 100 starts up normally without detecting a control abnormality.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the system data changing process performed as an initialization process at the time of a disaster is changed from “external authentication (IC card reader)” to “main unit authentication (data reading)”. There is a content to change.

  As described above, the system data for user authentication of the user who uses the MFP 100 is changed from the external authentication by the IC card to the main body authentication performed by reading the data stored in the main body, thereby connecting to the IC card reader 40. The MFP 100 can be used even when is not connected.

  In addition, the system data changing process performed as an initialization process at the time of a disaster includes changing the system data related to redial (retransmission) subtraction from “Yes” to “No” as shown in FIG.

  Redial (retransmission) is a function in which the MFP 100 attempts to retransmit after a predetermined time when a connection with the transmission partner is not established.

  Redial (retransmission) subtraction is a function of subtracting a predetermined value every time redialing (retransmission) and repeating redialing (retransmission) until the value becomes zero.

  Further, when the system data is changed so as not to perform such redial subtraction, after the MFP 100 is activated, the display unit 104 displays that the disaster occurrence mode is displayed, and the operation unit 105 does not perform redial subtraction. When the release button for canceling is pressed, the redial subtraction operation is configured to return from the “do not redial subtraction” state to the “redial subtraction” state. In order to return to such a state of “do not redial subtraction” from “do not redial subtraction”, in addition to an instruction from the operation unit 105 of the multifunction peripheral 100, it is connected to the client PC 20 connected to the intranet 3 or the Internet 2. It is also possible to perform a process for returning to a state returned by a remote operation from an operation terminal (not shown) or the like located outside the earthquake occurrence site.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the system data change process performed as the initialization process at the time of the disaster includes a system related to the number of redials (retransmissions) with the redial subtraction set to “Yes” on the system data. There is a content to change the data from “5 times” to “99 times” which is the maximum value that can be set.

  Thus, by setting the number of redials (retransmissions) to the maximum value, it is possible to avoid a situation where the counter is easily set to 0, the redialing (retransmission) is finished, the document is deleted, and the job is completed.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the system data related to the redial (retransmission) interval is changed from “10 seconds” to “100 seconds” as shown in FIG. There is a content to be changed to set a longer (resend) interval. Thus, by setting the redial (retransmission) interval longer, the occurrence of congestion is prevented.

  Such retransmission control may be used not only for redialing but also for page retransmission.

  In addition, the system data changing process performed as the initialization process at the time of the disaster has a content of changing the system data related to recovery from “Yes” to “No” as shown in FIG.

  The recovery function is a process request restart function that automatically restarts an image forming process request that is ongoing when the MFP 100 is powered off the next time the power is turned on.

  For example, when the multifunction device 100 is started up with a large amount of documents to be recovered for facsimile transmission, the multifunction device 100 immediately starts facsimile transmission of the documents to be recovered by the recovery process.

  Even if there is a new facsimile communication that you want to communicate urgently, such as safety information after the earthquake, if the collected transmission job of the document to be recovered gets in the way and a new emergency facsimile communication is performed, It takes time and effort to delete the job once. Therefore, in the initialization process when a disaster occurs, the system data is changed in advance so that the recovery process is not performed so that new emergency facsimile communication can be performed smoothly.

  Changing the system data so that the recovery process is not performed is included in stopping the recovery function.

  The contents of the change of the system data are as described above. However, depending on the type of the system data, there is a case that the MFP 100 needs to be restarted after the change of the system data. In that case, the MFP 100 is rebooted after changing the system data as described above, and the system data is rewritten and started up.

  When the system data is rewritten in this way (step 702), the multi-function device 100 reads the stored authentication information for when a disaster occurs, and the multi-function device 100 performs authentication by the IC card reader 40. Even if not, it is in a usable state (step 703).

  By switching to such main body authentication, it is possible to easily perform emergency communication after the occurrence of an earthquake without the need for authentication by the IC card reader 40.

  Next, the MFP 100 protects the document to be recovered that has not been job-recovered (step 704). In normal processing, internal documents that are not recovered are deleted as unrecoverable documents that were not stored normally, so no job recovery was performed from the software module in the MFP 100 or the client PC 20 on the intranet 3. This is to prevent the document to be recovered from being accidentally deleted. In order to protect a document from being deleted, for example, a flag for prohibiting deletion may be set on the document, but the document may be configured by other methods.

  Then, the multi-function device 100 sets the protected recovery target document to wait for a retransmission instruction (step 705).

  Communication processing including recovery has been completed, but the sent document with the destination that could not be sent due to reasons such as redial over is displayed as an unsent document on the display unit 104, and the operator selects the unsent document. There is a function of facilitating a re-transmission instruction for an untransmitted document having an untransmitted destination by instructing a re-transmission.

  The protected recovery target document is originally a document for which communication processing has not yet been completed. However, as a document that is awaiting retransmission, retransmission is performed by the user instructing the contents of transmission again for each document. The user selects a document and a destination according to the recovery state from the disaster and gives a re-transmission instruction, whereby an appropriate re-transmission is performed for each document.

  Here, what is protected and waits for a retransmission instruction may be handled not only as a document as described above but also as a job.

  The recovery target here may be “job” instead of “document”. For example, in step 704, the “job” to be recovered that was not recovered by the job is protected, and protected in step 705. A “job” to be recovered can also be configured to wait for a retransmission instruction.

  Then, the multi-function device 100 creates a presence document for notifying available communication means and notifies the presence server 11 (step 706).

  By performing the initialization process at the time of the occurrence of the disaster in this way, the recovery process is suppressed, for example, the impossibility to the PSTN 4 is reduced, the occurrence of congestion is suppressed, and a new emergency communication is enabled.

  When the MFP 100 is initialized and started up in the event of a disaster in this way, the display unit 104 displays on the display unit 104 that it has been activated in the “disaster occurrence special mode” and informs the user when a disaster occurs. Informs that it is running in the special mode.

  Then, the multifunction peripheral 100 receives a communication sent to the local station or waits for an instruction for processing such as an emergency document transmission from the user (step 410).

  When the post-earthquake recovery progresses and the MFP 100 is not in the disaster special mode in which the initialization process is performed when a disaster occurs, but is desired to be used in a normal routine operation, the user can use the operation unit 105. Press the special mode release button when a disaster occurs.

  When the special mode release button at the time of disaster occurrence is pressed, the multi-function device 100 overwrites the disaster occurrence prediction information written in step 501 in the NVRAM 114 with the disaster occurrence information and restarts.

  The restarted MFP 100 reads the NVRAM 114 (step 407), and since the disaster non-occurrence information is written instead of the disaster occurrence prediction information (NO in step 408), the normal startup that is not the special mode at the time of disaster occurrence is performed. Processing is performed (step 411).

  Further, the special mode release button at the time of the occurrence of harm may be configured to be operated only by a serviceman so that it can be pressed by the serviceman when the repair is completed after the earthquake and maintenance is completed by the serviceman.

  Furthermore, when remote diagnosis and response to the MFP 100 in the office 6 from a remote location using the Internet 2 is possible, the special mode is canceled when a disaster occurs by remote processing. May be.

  The congestion occurrence prevention system 1 can be applied not only to the occurrence of an earthquake but also to various disasters that can predict disasters and provide disaster early warnings.

  First, with reference to FIG. 9, processing in the MFP 100 in the business office 8 existing in the area C outside the earthquake occurrence site in the image forming system 1 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described. .

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing in the multifunction peripheral 100 in the business office 8 existing in the area C, which is an area outside the earthquake occurrence area.

  First, the earthquake analysis center 7 detects the P wave emitted from the area A, and the earthquake early warning, which is information for predicting the arrival of the S wave, is transmitted from the earthquake early warning terminal 10 via the Internet. 50.

  The earthquake early warning is transmitted not only to the area A in which a great deal of damage is expected due to the occurrence of an earthquake due to an S wave, but also to the emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50 in the area C in which no damage is expected from the area A.

  In general, the arrival of S waves, which cause enormous damage, will be described as an earthquake.

  When the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 in the office 6 existing in the area A receives the emergency earthquake early warning, the multi-function device 100 to which the emergency earthquake early receiving terminal 50 is connected notifies the presence server 11 of offline.

  When the earthquake early warning receiving terminal 50 in the office 8 existing in the area C receives the emergency earthquake early warning (YES in step 901), the emergency earthquake early receiving terminal 50 receives the earthquake source included in the received emergency earthquake early warning. Based on the area information around the area, the area code of the area is determined (step 902).

  This is to reduce the occurrence of congestion by not performing transmission jobs or polling jobs around the epicenter where significant damage is expected due to the occurrence of an earthquake.

  And the emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50 of the area C creates other-point disaster occurrence prediction information including the calculated area code, the information of the epicenter, and the earthquake information that the earthquake of seismic intensity ~ will occur after how many seconds, The information is transmitted to the MFP 100 in the area C to which the own apparatus is connected (step 903).

  When the multifunction peripheral 100 in the region C receives the other-location disaster occurrence prediction information from the emergency earthquake bulletin receiving terminal 50 (YES in step 904), it writes the other-location disaster occurrence prediction information in the NVRAM 114 (step 905).

  Then, the multifunction peripheral 100 in the office 8 in the area C emits a warning sound or displays a warning message on the display unit 104 such as “an earthquake having a seismic intensity of 6 or more in 15 seconds in the area A”. Tell.

  In addition, the MFP 100 in the office 8 prohibits the use of the area code (area code around the epicenter) where the disaster is expected to be included in the received disaster prediction information at other points (step number) 906).

  Regarding the prohibition of use of area codes around the epicenter, job transmission to a destination having the area code and polling jobs may be prohibited using an address book.

  The MFP 100 in the office 8 searches the transmission destination dial information of the job being executed, temporarily sends the job to the area code in the area where the disaster is expected to occur (the area code around the epicenter), and pauses the polling job. (Step 907).

  In addition, the MFP 100 in the office 8 searches the transmission destination dial information of the job waiting to be executed, and sends a job to the area code of the area where the disaster is expected to occur (the area code around the epicenter), and performs a polling job. It is temporarily stopped (step 908).

  Here, prohibiting the use of a specific area code, sending a job to a specific destination, prohibiting a polling job, sending a job in progress, a job waiting for execution, and a destination area code that pauses a polling job are: The area code of the destination that is offline as a result of inquiring of the presence server may be used instead of the area code of the disaster predicted area included in the disaster occurrence prediction information at other points. Further, for destinations that are offline as a result of inquiring of the presence server, job transmission and polling jobs may be prohibited, and job transmission and polling jobs for jobs being executed or jobs waiting to be executed may be suspended.

  The multifunction device 100 in the business office 8 is a destination registered in the address book and having an area code in the area where the disaster is expected to occur (for example, the multifunction device 100 in the business office 6 in the region A). A monitoring request is notified to the presence server (step 909).

  The notification of the monitoring request to the presence server is a destination registered in the address book, and SUBSCRIBE (start of monitoring) for the number of destinations having the area code in the predicted disaster occurrence area is issued and notified to the presence server. The

  Then, the MFP 100 in the office 6 in the area A where the earthquake occurred is subjected to a recovery process from the occurrence of the earthquake, and a presence document for bringing the MFP 100 online is sent to the presence server 11.

  Then, the presence server 11 sends the information of the destination that is the object of monitoring and online, to the MFP 100 in the office 8 as NOTIFY (notice of presence status).

  The multifunction device 100 in the office 8 receives NOTIFY from the presence server 11 and receives an online notification of the monitoring target destination (YES in step 910 connected via the connector A from step 909).

  The MFP 100 in the office 8 cancels the use prohibition for the destination notified of online (step 911), and executes the job being executed, the job transmission of the job waiting for execution, and the polling job suspended to the destination. It is restarted (step 912).

  As described above, the multifunction peripheral 100 in the area C that is out of the location of the earthquake performs processing such as job transmission to the multifunction peripheral 100 in the area A, and temporarily stopping the polling job, thereby reducing the possibility of occurrence of congestion.

  The congestion occurrence prevention system 1 can be applied not only to the occurrence of an earthquake but also to various disasters that can predict disasters and provide disaster early warnings.

  The present invention can be used in an image forming apparatus and an image forming system.

1 Image forming system 2 Internet 3 Intranet 4 PSTN
5 Intranet 6 Office 7 Earthquake Analysis Center 8 Office 10 Earthquake Early Warning Terminal 11 Presence Server 12 ENUM Server 40 IC Card Reader 50 Emergency Earthquake Early Warning Receiving Terminal 100 Multifunction Machine 111 CPU
114 NVRAM
121 Serial interface 309 SIP library 318 Fax controller 323 Timer controller

Claims (11)

A processing request restart function that is connected to an earthquake information receiving terminal capable of receiving earthquake information and automatically restarts a processing request for ongoing image formation after the power is turned off,
Receiving means for receiving from the earthquake information receiving terminal disaster information which is a notification that the earthquake information receiving terminal has received the earthquake information;
Storage means for storing disaster information received by the receiving means;
Reading means for reading out the disaster information stored in the storage means when the power is turned on;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a processing request resumption function stopping unit that stops the processing request resumption function when the disaster information is read by the reading unit. Claims further comprising protection means for protecting the information of the job that is the target of the processing request resumption function when the processing request resumption function is stopped by the processing request resumption function stop means. Item 2. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1. The processing request resumption function stop means further comprises a changing means for changing a job that is a target of the processing request resumption function to wait for a retransmission instruction when the processing request resumption function is stopped. 2. The image forming apparatus according to 2. The image forming apparatus is connected to one or more related devices including the earthquake information receiving terminal,
When the disaster information is read by the reading unit after the power is turned on to the own device, the device further includes an activation processing unit that performs an activation process of the own device in a state where the connection with the related device is not connected. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The activation processing means includes
The image according to claim 4, wherein when an authentication device having an authentication function related to the image forming device is connected to the image forming device as the related device, authentication data stored in the image forming device is read and authenticated. Forming equipment. 2. An energization control unit that controls energization so that an image forming unit that performs image formation on a sheet is not energized when the disaster information is read by the reading unit after the power is turned on. 5. The image forming apparatus according to any one of 5 above. When the disaster information is read by the reading means after the power is turned on, the number of retransmissions set in the retransmission function to try retransmission after a certain time when a connection with the transmission partner is not established is set. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a subtraction stop control unit that controls so as not to subtract. The earthquake information receiving terminal is
P wave detection means for detecting P waves accompanying the occurrence of an earthquake;
Notification means for notifying the storage means of the image forming apparatus to store the disaster information based on the result detected by the P-wave detection means,
The receiving means is
Receiving a notification by the notification means;
The storage means
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the disaster information is stored based on the reception unit receiving a notification from the notification unit. When the disaster information is stored in the storage means, a suspension control means for controlling to pause the job being executed and the job waiting to be executed;
Time measurement means for starting measurement of a predetermined time when the disaster information is stored in the storage means;
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a restart control unit configured to control to resume the job suspended by the job suspension unit when the predetermined time is measured by the time measurement unit. . The communication failure notifying means for notifying the management server that manages the communication state of the own device that the state of the own device is incommunicable when the disaster information is stored in the storage means. The image forming apparatus described. An image forming system including an earthquake analysis center that transmits earthquake information to an earthquake information receiving terminal, the earthquake information receiving terminal, and an image forming apparatus connected to the earthquake information receiving terminal,
The earthquake information receiving terminal is
When the earthquake information is received from the earthquake analysis center, a transmission unit is provided that transmits, to the image forming apparatus, regional information of a region where a disaster is predicted based on the earthquake information.
The image forming apparatus includes:
When receiving the area information transmitted from the transmission unit, an image forming system comprising: a stop control unit that controls to stop an executing job and a waiting job that communicate with an area corresponding to the area information.

Images