JP2013200755A - Consumables purchase support system and consumables purchase support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a consumables purchase support system that proposes consumables suitable for a user.SOLUTION: An image formation device 10 has storage means 11 for storing use information containing a use history or the like therein and communication means 13 and 14 for transmitting/receiving information containing a consumables purchase support device 20 and the use information. The consumables purchase support device 20 includes: communication means 21 for transmitting/receiving the information to/from the image formation device 10; storage means 22 for storing the information received from the image formation device 10 therein; prediction calculation means 23 for calculating consumables prediction information for identifying replacement consumables from the use information on the basis of the use history; retrieve means 24 for retrieving information of shops selling the replacement consumables identified by the consumables prediction information; and analysis means 25 that analyzes the consumables prediction information and the information of the shops and obtains display information. The consumables purchase support system 20 outputs the display information obtained by the analysis means 25 of the consumables purchase support device 20 to the image formation device 10 via a network 50.

Description

  The present invention relates to a consumables purchase support system and a consumables purchase support device.

  As an apparatus that requires consumables, for example, there is a printer (image forming apparatus). Printer consumables include ink and printing paper. These consumables are purchased at a store where the user sells consumables as necessary.

  In Patent Document 1, information on a plurality of dealers that sell consumables is stored in an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes a control unit that retrieves dealer information suitable for the use situation. A technique that can search for a store suitable for a user from among stores is disclosed.

JP 2011-90534 A

  However, in Patent Document 1 described above, the remaining amount of consumables used in the image forming apparatus is detected, and when the remaining amount is low, only information on a plurality of dealers that sell the consumables is provided. Therefore, only information on a store that sells consumables in use by the user can be obtained.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to propose consumables suitable for the user based on the usage status of the user, and information on a store that sells the proposed consumables. Providing a consumables purchase support system and a consumables purchase support device.

  The present invention can be realized as the following forms or application examples so as to solve at least one of the above-described problems.

  [Application Example 1] A consumables purchase support system according to this application example is a consumables purchase support system in which an image forming apparatus including a replaceable consumable and a consumables purchase support apparatus are connected via a network. The image forming apparatus includes a storage unit that stores usage information including a model name, a usage history, and a consumable product type of the image forming apparatus, and a communication unit that transmits and receives information including the usage information to and from the consumable item purchase support apparatus. The consumables purchase support device includes a communication unit that transmits / receives the information to / from the image forming apparatus, a storage unit that stores the information received from the image forming apparatus, and the usage information based on the usage information. Prediction calculation means for calculating consumables prediction information for specifying replacement consumables based on the history, and search for dealer information for selling the replacement consumables specified from the consumables prediction information. Analyzing the consumables prediction information and the dealer information, and obtaining display information, and the display information obtained by the analyzing means of the consumables purchase support apparatus, The image data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus via the network.

  According to the application example described above, based on the user's usage history, the consumables prediction information for identifying the optimal replacement consumables for the user and the dealer information for selling the specified replacement consumables are analyzed. The displayed display information is output from the consumable purchase support apparatus to the image forming apparatus via the network and displayed. This makes it possible to suggest consumables prediction information and dealer information to the user, so that the user can search for information on the dealer of replacement consumables, analyze the usage history, and match the usage history. There is no need to find new replacement consumables.

  Application Example 2 In the application example described above, the image forming apparatus includes: a detection unit that detects a remaining amount of the consumable item; and an output unit that displays the display information received from the consumable item purchase support device. It is characterized by having.

  According to the application example described above, information on replacement consumables that is optimal for the user is displayed at the timing of replacement of the consumables detected by the detection unit, and information on replacement consumables is proposed to the user. It becomes possible.

  Application Example 3 In the application example described above, the store information includes a location of the store and a price of the replacement consumable to be sold.

  According to the application example described above, since store information is proposed, the user does not have to search for store information such as the location of the store and the price of consumables.

  Application Example 4 In the application example described above, the prediction calculation unit calculates the number of times the consumable item is replaced before the lifetime of the image forming apparatus from the usage history, and the search unit replaces the consumable item. The selling price when the same number as the number of times of purchase is purchased is searched.

  According to the application example described above, the unit price of a consumable when purchasing a plurality of consumables may be lower than the unit price of a consumable when purchasing a single consumable. When exchanging consumables a plurality of times, information on the unit price of consumables when purchasing a plurality of consumables can be obtained, so that the purchase cost of replacement consumables can be reduced.

  Application Example 5 A consumables purchase support apparatus according to this application example purchases consumables in a consumables purchase support system in which an image forming apparatus having replaceable consumables and a consumables purchase support apparatus are connected via a network. A support device, a communication unit that transmits / receives information to / from the image forming device, a storage unit that stores the information including the usage history of the image forming device received from the image forming device, and the usage history from the information A prediction calculation unit that calculates consumables prediction information that identifies replacement consumables based on the consumables, a search unit that searches dealer information that sells replacement consumables identified from the consumables prediction information, and the consumables prediction An analysis unit that analyzes the information and the store information and obtains display information to be output to the image forming apparatus.

  According to the application example described above, based on the user's usage history, the consumables prediction information for identifying the optimal replacement consumables for the user and the dealer information for selling the specified replacement consumables are analyzed. The displayed display information is output from the consumable purchase support apparatus to the image forming apparatus via the network and displayed. This makes it possible to suggest consumables prediction information and dealer information to the user, so that the user can search for information on the dealer of replacement consumables, analyze the usage history, and match the usage history. There is no need to find new replacement consumables.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the consumable goods purchase assistance system in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of the information of the consumables management system in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the consumable goods purchase assistance system in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of the information of the consumables management system in 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a consumables purchase support system according to the first embodiment.
The consumables purchase support system is configured such that the image forming apparatus 10 is connected to the consumables purchase support apparatus 20 via the network 50. In addition, the image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a computer 30, and the user (user) can attach and remove the consumable 40.
The image forming apparatus 10 is, for example, a printer, and the consumable 40 is, for example, a toner cartridge.
Printing is performed on the printing paper using the consumable 40 in accordance with a printing instruction from the computer 30. A consumable item storage unit 41 in which identification information is stored is attached to the consumable item 40. The consumables storage unit 41 is, for example, an IC chip or an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes at least a storage unit 11 as a storage unit, a detection unit 12 as a detection unit, a transmission unit 13 and a reception unit 14 as communication units, and an output unit 15 as an output unit.

The storage unit 11 includes, for example, the model name of the image forming apparatus 10, the product name of the consumable 40, the simple use years indicating the elapsed period since the start of use of the image forming apparatus 10, and the image forming apparatus 10. The total number of prints, which is the cumulative number of prints, the user-specific usage characteristics related to the print format (for example, layout printing, color or black-and-white printing, high-quality printing, etc.), and user information input to the computer 30 (for example, Address, postal code, telephone number, etc.) and at least one usage information.
Note that the model name of the image forming apparatus 10 is stored in the storage unit 11 in advance. The simple use years are calculated by the control unit in the image forming apparatus 10 based on the elapsed time up to the current time based on the date and time when the image forming apparatus 10 was first energized after the purchase. Is written to. The total number of printed sheets is counted by a counting unit (not shown) in the image forming apparatus 10 every time printing is performed, and the count result is overwritten in the storage unit 11.

  The detection unit 12 detects whether the remaining amount of the consumable 40 is equal to or less than a reference value. For example, a sensor is provided, and it is determined by the sensor whether or not a reference value arbitrarily set in advance as a value to be exchanged is exceeded.

  The transmission unit 13 transmits information including the usage information read from the storage unit 11 to the consumables purchase support apparatus 20 via the network 50.

  The receiving unit 14 receives display information transmitted from the consumables purchase support device 20. The display information will be described later.

  The output unit 15 outputs display information. The output unit 15 is provided with a display (not shown) such as a liquid crystal display device in the image forming apparatus 10 and displays display information on the screen of the display. Further, the output unit 15 outputs the display information to the computer 30 to display the display information on a display device (not shown) of the computer 30.

  The consumables purchase support apparatus 20 includes a communication unit 21 as a communication unit, a storage unit 22 as a storage unit, a prediction calculation unit 23 as a prediction calculation unit, a search unit 24 as a search unit, and an analysis unit 25 as an analysis unit. At least.

  In the consumables purchase support apparatus 20, the communication unit 21 communicates with the image forming apparatus 10 via the network 50. The communication unit 21 transmits the usage information transmitted from the transmission unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 10 and the result obtained by the analysis unit 25 described later to the reception unit 14 of the image forming apparatus 10 as display information. It has the function to do.

  The storage unit 22 stores usage information received from the image forming apparatus 10 by the communication unit 21. Note that the usage information may be stored in the storage unit 22 by appropriately processing the data, for example, storing it as average data for each month as the used print volume as shown in FIG.

The storage unit 22 stores the product life of the image forming apparatus 10 as a standard product life in association with each model name.
This standard product life is the elapsed use time since the start of use of the image forming apparatus 10 or the total number of prints that can be printed after the start of use when a print instruction is issued at the standard time. When the product reaches the end of its service life. Further, the product lifetime is determined in advance based on the specifications of the image forming apparatus 10, and one of the product lifetimes is selected based on information from the storage unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 10.
Note that the standard time is a guideline for the number of printable pages when A4 plain paper is printed on one side with two pages printed at a time. In color printing, the print ratio is further set to color: monochrome = This is the case of 4: 6.

Further, the storage unit 22 stores the printable number of consumables 40 read from the storage unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 10 and the printable number of replaceable consumables 40 for each type as the standard consumable life. To do.
The standard consumable life is the total number of printable sheets that can be printed when printing at standard time. The standard consumable life is predetermined for each type of consumable and is based on usage information obtained from the storage unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 10. Determined. Note that the standard time is a case where single-sided continuous printing is performed on A4 plain paper based on JISX6932 (ISO / IEC 19798) in color printing, and single-sided continuous printing on A4 plain paper based on JISX6931 (ISO / IEC19752) in monochrome printing. This is the case when printing.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, from the usage information read from the storage unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 10, the standard product life of the image forming apparatus 10 is 5 years or 600,000 pages. Is stored in the storage unit 22 with 10,000 pages and 200 print volumes used per month. Further, in the replaceable consumable 40, the standard consumable remaining lifetimes of S size, M size and L size having different capacities are also stored in the storage unit 22.

The prediction calculation unit 23 calculates the remaining consumable life of the consumable 40 in use, the remaining product life of the image forming apparatus 10, and the product from the standard product life, standard consumable life and used print volume stored in the storage unit 22. Consumables prediction information specifying the type of consumables to be replaced (replacement consumables) based on the prediction is calculated. Note that there may be a plurality of replacement consumable product type information.
The consumable remaining life of the consumable 40 in use is preset to the standard consumable life of the consumable 40 in use when the detection unit detects that the remaining amount of the consumable 40 is below a reference value. The remaining amount of the consumable 40 is indicated by multiplying the overall ratio of the reference value, and is calculated by dividing by the used print volume.
The remaining product life of the image forming apparatus 10 is calculated by subtracting the number of years of simple use from the standard product life and the consumable product remaining life and the date detected by the detection unit 12.

For example, in the case shown in FIG. 2, the reference value as a value to replace the consumable 40 is 10% of the entire standard consumable life, and the date when the reference value or less is detected is the use of the image forming apparatus 10. Assume that 3 years and 9 months from the start, the standard consumable life is 10,000 pages, and the print volume used is 200 sheets per month.
Since the reference value is 1000 pages, which is 10% of the standard consumable life of 10,000 pages, the remaining life of the consumable when the reference value is detected by the detection unit 12 is 1000 pages of the reference value. 5 months divided by the number of sheets.
When the standard product life is 5 years, the product remaining life of the image forming apparatus 10 is obtained by subtracting 5 months of the remaining life of consumables and 3 years and 9 months of use from 5 years of the standard product life. It will be 10 months. Therefore, the print volume until the product life is 2000 sheets obtained by multiplying the used print volume 200 sheets by 10 months of the remaining product life.
Since the print volume up to the end of the product life is 5000 or less printable sheets of S size consumables, the type of replacement consumables calculated as consumables prediction information is S size consumables.

  The search unit 24 searches the store information based on the usage information and the consumables prediction information. The dealer information includes at least the name of the dealer that handles the replacement consumables specified in the consumables prediction information, the price of the replacement consumables, and includes the address, telephone number, dealer website URL (uniform resource locator), etc. You can leave. The search unit 24 has a function of searching for a store near the user's location based on information for identifying the user's location, for example, usage information such as the user's address, telephone number, and postal code. doing. Alternatively, the user may be able to arbitrarily specify in advance a store near the whereabouts by the computer 30 or a desired store.

  The analysis unit 25 analyzes the consumables prediction information predicted by the prediction calculation unit 23 and the dealer information searched by the search unit 24, and displays information on replacement consumables in view of usage information. Get as.

  The information on replacement consumables refers to the store that handles the replacement consumables, the price of the replacement consumables, and the type of replacement consumables (for example, capacity, black and white, color, and recycled products).

Next, the operation of the consumable item purchase support system having the above-described configuration will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the consumables purchase support system according to the first embodiment.

In the image forming apparatus 10, first, printing is performed in accordance with a printing instruction (step S 10), usage information is stored in the storage unit 11 (step S 11), and the remaining amount of the consumable 40 is detected by the detection unit 12 ( Step S12).
Next, it is determined whether or not the remaining amount of the consumable 40 is equal to or less than a preset reference value (step S13). When it is determined that the remaining amount of the consumable 40 is equal to or less than the reference value (step S13—YES), the use information stored in the storage unit 11 is transmitted by the transmission unit 13 to the communication unit of the consumable item purchase support apparatus 20. 21 (step S14).
Next, it is determined whether display information has been received from the consumable item purchase support apparatus 20 (step S21). When display information is not received from the consumable item purchase support apparatus 20 (step S21—NO), step S21 is repeated. In other words, it waits until display information is received.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the remaining amount of the consumable 40 exceeds the reference value (step S13—NO), the process proceeds to step S10 and printing is performed. Therefore, the transmission unit 13 does not transmit usage information to the communication unit 21 of the consumables purchase support apparatus 20.

When the consumables purchase support apparatus 20 receives the usage information transmitted from the transmission unit 13 by the communication unit 21 (step S15), the storage unit 22 stores the usage information, the standard product life, and the standard consumable life. (Step S16).
Next, from the usage information, the standard product life, and the standard consumable life stored in the storage unit 22, the prediction calculation unit 23 determines the remaining consumable life of the consumable 40 in use and the product of the image forming apparatus 10. The remaining life and the print volume up to the product life are predicted, and consumables prediction information specifying replacement consumables is calculated (step S17).
Next, based on the usage information and consumables prediction information stored in the storage unit 22, the search unit 24 searches for store information (step S18).
Then, the consumables prediction information predicted by the prediction calculation unit 23 and the dealer information searched by the search unit 24 are analyzed by the analysis unit 25 and used as replacement consumable information based on the usage information. Is obtained (step S19).

  Display information obtained by the analysis unit 25 of the consumables purchase support device 20 is transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the consumables purchase support device 20 to the reception unit 14 of the image forming apparatus 10 (step S20), and the consumables purchase support is performed. The flow of the apparatus 20 is finished.

  In the image forming apparatus 10, when the receiving unit 14 receives the display information transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the consumables purchase support apparatus 20 (step S <b> 21 -YES), the display information is output to the output unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 10. (Step S22), and the flow of the image forming apparatus 10 is terminated.

  Note that step S18 for searching for store information in the search unit 24 is performed after step S17 for calculating consumables prediction information in the prediction calculation unit 23. From step S15 for receiving usage information, step S17 is performed. It may be performed at any timing as long as it is between. In any case, it is sufficient that the analysis unit 25 analyzes the store information together with the consumables prediction information.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, replacement consumables suitable for the user are displayed based on the usage information, but in this embodiment, the number of predicted consumable replacements until the product life is further calculated. Then, the display information including the price when the number of consumables of the same number as the predicted consumable replacement number is purchased is displayed. In this embodiment, the description of the same processing as that of the first embodiment is omitted, and different processing will be described.

  The prediction calculation unit 23 predicts the remaining life of the consumable 40 in use, the remaining life of the image forming apparatus 10, the print volume up to the product life, and the type of replacement consumables. Using the print volume and the number of printable copies of the predicted replacement consumables at the standard time, the number of consumable replacements up to the product life is predicted, and consumables prediction information is calculated.

For example, in the case shown in FIG. 4, the reference value as a value to replace the consumable 40 is 10% of the entire standard consumable life, 27 days after the start of use on the day when the reference value or less is detected. Assume that the standard consumable life is 10,000 pages and the print volume used is 10,000 sheets per month.
Since the reference value is 1000 pages, which is 10% of the standard consumable life of 10,000 pages, the consumable remaining life when the reference value is detected by the detection unit 12 is 1000 pages of the reference value. 3 days divided by 10,000 sheets / month).
When the standard product life is 5 years, the product remaining life of the image forming apparatus 10 is 59 months by subtracting the consumables remaining life of 3 days and the service life of 27 days from the standard product life of 5 years. It becomes. Therefore, the print volume until the product life is 590,000 sheets, which is obtained by multiplying the used print volume of 10,000 sheets by 59 months of the remaining product life.
Since the print volume until the product life is 20,000 or more printable sheets of L size consumables, the type of replacement consumable selected is L size consumables. Furthermore, the number of consumables exchanged until the product lifetime is 29.5 times obtained by dividing the print volume 590,000 by the product lifetime by the printable number of L size consumables 20,000.

The consumables prediction information including the consumable replacement times (29.5 times) until the product life predicted by the prediction calculating unit 23 and the dealer information searched by the searching unit 24 are analyzed by the analyzing unit 25. Analyze and display information as replacement consumable information.
The store information searched by the search unit 24 includes a price when a plurality of target replacement consumables are purchased. The analysis unit 25 further analyzes the number of consumable replacements up to the end of the product life and the price of replacement consumables when multiple products are purchased at the dealer. Information on replacement consumables including the price when purchased is obtained as display information.
For example, in the case shown in FIG. 4, since the number of consumable replacements up to the end of the product life is 29.5, one replacement consumable is purchased at a plurality of dealers, and ten replacements are purchased. , And the unit price of each replacement consumable when 20 are purchased, is displayed as display information.

  As described above, in the first and second embodiments described above, a program for realizing the function of each unit of the consumables purchase support apparatus 20 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and recorded on the recording medium. The information of replacement consumables may be provided to the image forming apparatus 10 by causing the computer system to read the executed program and execute it. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW (World Wide Web) system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable disk such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a CD-ROM, or a hard disk built in the computer system. This means a storage device such as
Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” includes a medium that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system serving as a server or a client.
The program may be a program for realizing a part of the above-described functions, or may be a program that can realize the above-described functions in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes a design and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus, 11 ... Memory | storage part, 12 ... Detection part, 13 ... Transmission part, 14 ... Reception part, 15 ... Output part, 20 ... Consumables purchase support apparatus, 21 ... Communication part, 22 ... Memory | storage part, 23 ... Prediction calculation part, 24 ... Search part, 25 ... Analysis part, 30 ... Computer, 40 ... Consumables, 41 ... Consumables storage part, 50 ... Network.

Claims (5)

A consumables purchase support system in which an image forming apparatus having replaceable consumables and a consumables purchase support device are connected via a network,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Storage means for storing usage information including model name, usage history, and consumable product type of the image forming apparatus;
Communication means for transmitting and receiving information including the consumables purchase support device and the usage information,
The consumables purchase support device includes:
Communication means for transmitting and receiving the information to and from the image forming apparatus;
Storage means for storing the information received from the image forming apparatus;
Prediction calculation means for calculating consumables prediction information for identifying replacement consumables based on the usage history from the usage information;
Search means for searching dealer information for selling replacement consumables identified from the consumables prediction information;
Analyzing the consumables prediction information and the dealer information, and obtaining display information,
A consumables purchase support system, wherein the display information obtained by the analysis means of the consumables purchase support apparatus is transmitted to the image forming apparatus via the network. The image forming apparatus includes:
Detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the consumables;
The consumables purchase support system according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit that displays the display information received from the consumables purchase support device.   The consumables purchase support system according to claim 1, wherein the dealer information includes a location of the dealer and a price of the replacement consumables to be sold. The prediction calculation means calculates the number of times the consumable is replaced from the usage history until the lifetime of the image forming apparatus;
The consumables purchase support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the search unit searches for a selling price when the same number of the consumables as the number of replacements is purchased. A consumables purchase support device in a consumables purchase support system in which an image forming apparatus including a replaceable consumable and a consumables purchase support device are connected via a network,
A communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the image forming apparatus;
A storage unit for storing the information including a use history of the image forming apparatus received from the image forming apparatus;
A prediction calculation unit for calculating consumables prediction information for specifying replacement consumables based on the use history from the information;
A search unit for searching dealer information for selling replacement consumables identified from the consumables prediction information;
A consumable item purchase support apparatus, comprising: an analysis unit that analyzes the consumable item prediction information and the store information and obtains display information to be output to the image forming apparatus.

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