JP2013190922A - Data acquisition device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data acquisition device which can enhance convenience by reducing time and labor for registering a management target apparatus.SOLUTION: A data acquisition device comprises: a management information determination unit which determines management information to be acquired from a terminal for management of the terminal by a remote management device, at first connection with the terminal; an acquisition unit which acquires identification information of the connection destination terminal at the first connection; and a notification unit which notifies the remote management device that remotely manages the terminal of the acquired identification information at the first connection, and also notifies the remote management device of the management information at a predetermined period.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data collection device and a program for collecting data from a connected terminal.

  Conventionally, remote management apparatuses that remotely manage image forming apparatuses, MFPs, and the like are known. The remote management device collects management information such as the number of printed sheets, remaining toner information, and operation time from the device to be managed. For example, the remote management device can remotely notify the administrator that the remaining amount of toner is low, Such as sending a message prompting the user.

  However, when registering a device to be managed by the remote management device as described above, since the device is provided in the firewall, the operator actually goes to the site and the device to be managed is placed in the remote management device. I had to go through the process of registering with, and it took time and effort for the procedure.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a data collection device that can reduce the effort for registering a device to be managed and improve convenience.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is a data collection device that is used by being connected to a terminal and collects data of the terminal necessary for a remote management device that remotely manages the terminal. In order for the remote management device to manage the terminal, a management information determination unit that determines management information acquired from the terminal at the time of first connection to the terminal, and identification information of the connection destination terminal An acquisition unit that is acquired at the time of the first connection, and the acquired identification information are notified to the remote management device that remotely manages the terminal at the time of the first connection, and the management information is transmitted to the remote management device. And a notification unit that notifies in a cycle.

  The data collection device according to the present invention has an effect that it is possible to improve the convenience by reducing the effort for registering the management target device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the data collection apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for registering a management target device using the data collection apparatus according to the embodiment.

  Embodiments of a data collection device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiment, an example is shown in which the data collection device is realized as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard device. An MFP is taken as an example of a device to be managed. However, the present invention can also be applied to a device that is remotely managed via the Internet, such as a printer, a copier, a projector, a general household appliance, or the like. it can.

  FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a data collection device 1 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the data collection device 1 is used by connecting to an MFP 100, which is a device to be managed (MFP in the present embodiment) according to the USB standard. The data collection device 1 is connected to the remote management device 200 via a network.

  The data collection device 1 includes a CPU 10, a device I / F unit 20, a communication I / F unit 30, a ROM 40, and a RAM 50. Device I / F unit 20 inputs and outputs data with I / F unit 101 of MFP 100. The communication I / F unit 30 is connected to the remote management device 200 via the firewall 60. Setting information for connection with the remote management apparatus 200 is stored in advance in a storage area in the apparatus, and is stored in the ROM 40 in this embodiment. The communication I / F unit 30 performs a connection procedure with the remote management apparatus 200 when connecting to the MFP 100.

  The ROM 40 is a storage area for storing nonvolatile data and programs, and is configured by SRAM, DRAM, or the like. In the ROM 40, a management information determination unit 41, an acquisition unit 42, and a notification unit 43 are stored as programs. The management information determination unit 41 determines which data is acquired as management information from the connected MFP 100 when the data collection device 1 is first connected to the MFP 100. The management information is data acquired by the remote management apparatus 200 for managing the management target device, and is information such as residual toner information, the number of printed sheets, continuous operation time, and access log, for example. The management information determination unit 41 loads the setting information stored in advance in the ROM 40 or the like at the time of connection, and determines which management information is to be acquired. If the setting information is changed in advance according to the remote management apparatus 200, information can be collected according to the remote management apparatus 200 as appropriate.

  The acquisition unit 42 acquires a MAC address as device identification information of the connection destination MFP 100. The identification information may be any information that can identify the device, and may be substituted by an IP address, a device management number, or the like. Acquisition unit 42 outputs an identification information acquisition request to MFP 100 when first connected to MFP 100. In response to the acquisition request, the MFP 100 returns a MAC address to the acquisition unit 42 from the storage unit in which the device identification information is stored. The acquisition unit 42 that has acquired the MAC address stores the MAC address in the RAM 50.

  The notification unit 43 notifies the acquired MAC address to the remote management device 200 at the first connection. In addition, the notification unit 43 notifies the management information to the remote management device 200 at a predetermined cycle. The notification unit 43 transmits data to the remote management device 200 through the communication I / F unit 30. The period for sending the management information may be set as appropriate, for example, every time a predetermined time elapses, every time the device to be managed is turned on, or every time the number of printed sheets exceeds a predetermined value. can do.

  Next, the flow of processing when the data collection apparatus 1 of this embodiment is connected to the MFP 100 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for registering the MFP 100 in the remote management apparatus 200. As shown in FIG. 2, (0) First, when the device I / F unit 20 detects that the data collection device 1 is connected to the MFP 100, the process is started. (1) Next, the device I / F unit 20 notifies the management information determination unit 41 of activation. (2) Upon receiving the activation notification, the management information determination unit 41 loads and acquires the management information item to be acquired stored in the ROM 40. (3) Next, the acquisition unit 42 outputs an acquisition request for the MAC address of the connection destination to the device I / F unit 20. (4) The device I / F unit 20 outputs a MAC address acquisition request to the I / F unit 101 on the MFP 100 side. (5) The I / F unit 101 of the MFP 100 acquires the MAC address stored in the storage unit 102 of the MFP 100 and (6) returns the MAC address to the device I / F unit 20 of the data collection device 1. (7) The device I / F unit 20 transfers the MAC address to the acquisition unit 42. (8) The acquisition unit 42 stores the acquired MAC address in the RAM 60. (9) Next, the notification unit 43 refers to the ROM 40 and the RAM 50, acquires setting information for network connection, acquires a MAC address, and performs connection setting through the communication I / F unit 30. . (10) Then, the notification unit 43 outputs the MAC address to the communication I / F unit 30 and makes a connection request to the remote management device 200. (11) Finally, the communication I / F unit 30 transmits the MAC address to the remote management device 200. The remote management device 200 registers the received MAC address and registers the MFP 100 as a device to be managed. Thereafter, the notification unit 43 periodically acquires management information from the management target MFP 100 and transmits the management information to the remote management apparatus 200.

  In the data collection device 1 of the present embodiment described above, identification information for identifying the device and management information are automatically output and transmitted to the remote management device 200 simply by connecting to the device to be managed. can do. Therefore, it is not necessary for the operator to visit and register the device to be managed, and remote management of the device can be realized by the work of sending the data collection device 1 storing the setting information to the customer. Therefore, the convenience of the procedure for starting management can be greatly improved.

  In the present embodiment, the data collection device 1 is configured to be connected to the management target device according to the USB standard, but other standards can be used for the connection method.

  A program executed by the data collection device 1 according to the present embodiment is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and is a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Compact). The program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a disk recordable (DVD) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and provided as a computer program product.

  Further, the program executed by the data collection apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment may be configured to be stored by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The program executed by the data collection device 1 according to the present embodiment may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The program executed by the data collection device 1 according to the present embodiment may be configured to be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The program executed by the data collection device 1 according to the present embodiment has a module configuration including the management information determination unit 41, the acquisition unit 42, and the notification unit 43 described above, and the CPU 10 (processor) is the actual hardware. When the program is read from the storage medium and executed, the respective units are loaded onto the main storage device, and the above-described units are generated on the main storage device.

1 Data collection device 10 CPU
20 Device I / F part 30 Communication I / F part 40 ROM
41 Management Information Determination Unit 42 Acquisition Unit 43 Notification Unit 50 RAM
60 Firewall 200 Remote management device

JP 2009-32277 A

Claims (4)

A data collection device that is used in connection with a terminal and collects data of the terminal necessary for a remote management device that remotely manages the terminal,
In order for the remote management device to manage the terminal, management information acquired from the terminal, a management information determination unit that determines at the time of the first connection to the terminal,
An acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of the terminal of the connection destination at the time of the first connection;
Notifying the acquired identification information to the remote management device that remotely manages the terminal at the time of the first connection, and a notification unit for notifying the management information to the remote management device at a predetermined cycle;
A data collection device comprising: The terminal is an image processing apparatus;
The data collection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management information includes at least one of print counter information and toner remaining amount information. The data collection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the remote management device is connected to the terminal according to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard. A program for collecting terminal data necessary for a remote management device used to connect to a terminal and remotely manage the terminal,
On the computer,
In order for the remote management device to manage the terminal, management information to be acquired from the terminal, management information determination step to determine at the first connection to the terminal,
An acquisition step of acquiring identification information of the terminal of the connection destination at the time of the first connection;
Notifying the acquired identification information to a remote management device that remotely manages the terminal at the time of the first connection, and notifying the management information to the remote management device at a predetermined cycle;
A program for running

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