JP2016159552A - Image formation device, system and abnormality notification method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to confirm a state of an image formation device even in a case the image formation device is not connected to a network.SOLUTION: There are provided an NFC tag board 107 which is short-range radio communication means equipped with a memory part 111, and an abnormality detection part 102 for detecting abnormality in image formation. In a case where the abnormality detection part 102 detects abnormality, with no connection to a network, a content of abnormality is written in the memory part 111 in such a manner as an external smartphone 120 can read. Meanwhile, a light emitting part 110 illuminates to notify a user of detection of abnormality.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a system, and an abnormality notification method.

  There is a need in the market for an inexpensive image forming device with reduced functionality. Therefore, it is conceivable to realize low cost and customer satisfaction by limiting the display capability of the operation panel and the display, or designing an image forming apparatus from which these are removed. However, with such an image forming apparatus, it is difficult to perform complicated print settings. To solve such problems, it is possible to provide a mechanism for operating an image forming apparatus from an external device via a network and receiving various messages (including error messages) output from the image forming apparatus by the external device. It can be considered (for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, the conventional technology such as Patent Document 1 has a problem that the user cannot receive the state of the image forming apparatus unless the image forming apparatus is connected to the network.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that a user can check a state of an image forming apparatus even when the image forming apparatus is not connected to a network. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises network communication means, short-range wireless communication means including a storage unit, abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality relating to image formation, notification means, and control means. The control unit writes the content of the abnormality to the storage unit so that an external portable information terminal can read the abnormality when the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality and the network communication unit is not connected to the network. The notification means notifies the user that an abnormality has been detected.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to allow a user to check the state of an image forming apparatus even when the image forming apparatus is not connected to a network.

It is an external appearance block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the error notification process of embodiment. It is a figure (the 1) which shows the notification aspect by the notification process of the error of embodiment. It is a figure (the 2) which shows the notification aspect by the notification process of the error of embodiment.

  In short, in the embodiment described below, when an error occurs in the image forming apparatus when the network is not connected, an error occurred in the current image forming apparatus in an NFC (Near Field Communication) tag board built in the image forming apparatus. The state of the apparatus including the information is written, and the user is notified by sound and lamp that the information is written on the NFC tag board. The information written in the NFC tag can be read by a portable terminal without being connected to the network. Hereinafter, it explains in detail using a drawing.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of the external appearance of the hardware configuration of this embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of the present embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming system 1 according to the present embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 100 and a smartphone 120.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming unit 101, an abnormality detection unit 102, a paper feeding unit 103, a storage unit 104, a control unit 105, a network communication unit 106, and an NFC tag board 107.

  The image forming unit 101 is a block having a function of forming an image using ink droplets or toner on a paper-like recording medium such as plain paper provided by the paper supply unit 103. Any image forming method may be used. There is no limitation on the paper feeding method.

  The abnormality detection unit 102 is a block including a sensor that detects an error that has occurred in the image forming unit 101 or the paper feeding unit 103. Such errors preferably include “out of paper”, “insufficient ink”, and “paper jam (paper jam)”. An image formation defect may be detected.

The storage unit 104 has a function of storing various types of information using a nonvolatile memory. In the present embodiment, a contact table is stored. The contact table stores information in which a notification destination with a predetermined priority, contact information (preferably an e-mail address), and a user name are associated as follows.
(Contact table example)
E-mail address User name 1 aaa @ domain User 1
2 bbb @ domain user 2
:::

  The control unit 105 performs arithmetic control for executing the notification process of the present embodiment as described with reference to FIG. 3 based on information such as detection errors input from other functional blocks as shown in FIG. Means.

  The network communication unit 106 has a function of performing communication with an external device via a network. Although there is no particular limitation on the physical layer and the upper layer protocol, in the present embodiment, communication is performed using the wi-fi (registered trademark) interface using the IP protocol. Therefore, the network in FIG. 2 is an IP network.

  The NFC tag board 107 is a board including a communication unit 108 for realizing near field communication. The NFC tag board 107 includes an audio output unit 109, a light emitting unit 110, and a storage unit 111 in addition to the communication unit 108.

  The audio output unit 109 outputs a buzzer sound or the like, and the light emitting unit 110 emits light by an LED or the like. Both parts are examples of means for notifying the user of the occurrence of an error.

  The storage unit 111 is a volatile or non-volatile memory, and the stored content is read by the communication counterpart device by short-range wireless communication using the communication unit 108.

  The smartphone 120 is an example of a portable information terminal, and may be a smart device having no telephone function. In the present embodiment, a touch panel 121, a control unit 122, a network communication unit 126, and an NFC reading unit 127 are provided.

  The touch panel 121 has both a display function and an operation input function. The control unit 122 is a calculation control unit. The network communication unit 126 has a function of performing communication with an external device via a network. Although there is no particular limitation on the physical layer mode and the upper layer protocol, in this embodiment, data communication is performed using an LTE (registered trademark) line. It is good also as communicating by IP protocol using a wi-fi (trademark) interface.

  The NFC reading unit 127 has a function of reading the storage content of the storage unit of the NFC tag board of the counterpart device by near field communication. In the present embodiment, the storage content of the storage unit 111 is acquired.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of error notification processing in this embodiment.
The subject of each step of the flow is the control unit 105 unless otherwise specified.

  In step S <b> 101, the abnormality detection unit 102 detects an error in image formation that has occurred in the image forming unit 101 or the paper feeding unit 103. Then, the network communication unit 106 checks whether or not connection to the network is possible (S102). If a network connection is possible here, the content of the error is notified to the smartphone 120 and the process ends (S103).

  As a notification method in S103, notification is made to the contacts stored in the contact table stored in the storage unit 104 via the network. If an email address that can be received by the smartphone 120 is registered at the top of the contact table, a notification can be sent to the smartphone 120 at this step. FIG. 4 shows an example of a notification screen notified in S103.

  When the abnormality is detected and the network connection is not possible, the control unit 105 writes the content of the error detected by the abnormality detection unit 102 in the storage unit 111 of the NFC tag board 107 in a manner that the smartphone 120 can read ( S104). Since the short-range wireless communication storage area is limited, it is preferable to predetermine an error code representing the error content and write the error code representing the error content.

  Next, the NFC tag board 107 that has detected writing to the control unit 105 or the storage unit 111 causes the light emitting unit 110 to emit light (S105). This light emission informs the user that an abnormality has been detected. Furthermore, it is preferable to notify that an error has been written in the storage unit 111. In addition to light emission, the sound output unit 109 preferably outputs sound such as a buzzer sound. There is an effect that the user can easily notice an abnormality. FIG. 5 shows an example of the notification mode in S105.

  According to the configuration described so far, the user can check the state of the image forming apparatus even if the image forming apparatus is not connected to the network as long as the user reads the error content with his / her smartphone 120. Even if the image forming apparatus is not connected to the network, the user can check the state of the image forming apparatus.

  After S105, it is detected whether or not the short-range wireless communication has been read (S107). If the reading has not been performed for a certain time (for example, 5 minutes), the error content is written to the NFC tag board. Perform again (S108). When the reading is performed, the notification by the light emission of the light emitting unit 110 of the NFC tag board 107 is stopped (S111). This process can suppress unnecessary error notifications.

  However, the determination in S102 that the network connection is not made is, for example, that the image forming process related to this error is a process immediately after starting the image forming apparatus 100, and the network connection including the authentication process or the like takes time. It can be considered that the connection is not connected in S102. While waiting for the user's operation (S108), the connection to the network may be completed.

  Further, since there may be a case where the user who has instructed the image forming apparatus 100 to perform image forming processing is in an adjacent room, for example, it is preferable to send a notification to the smartphone 120 at hand of the user. This is because the error release time can be shortened.

  In order to solve such a problem, in the present embodiment, the control unit 105 performs network connection by the network communication unit 106 while waiting for the reading of the NFC tag board 107, that is, during the loop of S106 to S108. There is provided a step of confirming whether or not this is possible (S106). For this reason, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to shorten the time for error cancellation in a situation where the network connection is restored after an error occurs.

  When the network communication unit 106 confirms that the network connection is possible (S106, Yes), it notifies the contact stored in the contact table stored in the storage unit 104 via the network. (S109). If an email address that can be received by the smartphone 120 is registered at the top of the contact table, a notification can be sent to the smartphone 120 at this step. FIG. 4 shows an example of a notification screen notified in S109.

  When the control unit 122 of the smartphone 120 detects a user operation, such as detecting the pressing of the OK button shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 122 notifies the image forming apparatus 100 that there is a response. The control unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 100 waits for a predetermined time until a user response is received (S110).

  If there is no response or response, the process returns to the process of writing the error content to the NFC tag board 107 (S104). If there is a response or reaction (S110, Yes), the NFC tag board 107 stops light emission of the light emitting unit 110 (S111). This process can suppress unnecessary error notifications.

  Details of processing when the content of the error stored in the storage unit 111 of the NFC tag board 107 is read by the smartphone 120 by short-range wireless communication will be described. In this case, in FIG. 3, the process proceeds from S107, Yes to S111. At the time of reading, the NFC tag board 107 stops the light emission of the light emitting unit 110 on the image forming apparatus 100 side (S111), but on the smartphone 120 side, the content of the error read by the NFC reading unit 127 by the control unit 122 Based on the above, the error notification screen as shown in FIG. Accordingly, even when the image forming apparatus is not connected to the network, the user can check the state of the image forming apparatus.

  Further, according to the above flow, when the error is not canceled even after a certain time has passed as in S108 and S110, the content of the error is again written to the NFC tag board 107 and the light emitting unit 110 is written. Since the user notification is performed by the light emission or the like (FIG. 5), it is possible to appropriately alert the user who has not canceled the error.

The error notification process described above can be further performed as described below.
In S103 and S109 in FIG. 3, the e-mail is transmitted to the contact registered in the contact table in the storage unit 104, but the registered e-mail address is temporarily received by the smartphone 120. It may not be possible. In this case, the user may not be able to recognize that some kind of error has occurred in the image forming apparatus 100.

  Therefore, it is preferable to configure the image forming system 1 to include a push server (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) as an alternative process of the processes in S103 and S109. Alternatively, the image forming apparatus 100 itself is preferably configured to have a push server function.

  As the push server, an HTTP server may be used, or a server provided by a mobile communication line provider and capable of server push to each portable information terminal assigned with a telephone number may be used. In the latter case, the image forming apparatus 100 requests the push server to transmit a message notifying that there is an abnormality in the telephone number registered in the contact table. In response to this, the push server delivers the message.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to transmit a notification to the user more reliably and stably than when using an e-mail address. Further, when a server provided by a mobile communication line provider is used as a push server, the possibility of delivery of an error occurrence notification can be further increased.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system 100 Image forming apparatus 101 Image forming part 102 Abnormality detection part 103 Paper feeding part 104 Storage part 105 Control part 106 Network communication part 107 NFC tag board 108 Communication part 109 Audio | voice output part 110 Light emission part (notification means)
111 Storage unit 120 Smartphone (personal digital assistant)
121 Touch Panel 122 Control Unit 126 Network Communication Unit 127 NFC Reading Unit

JP 2013-186824 A

Claims (12)

Network communication means;
Short-range wireless communication means comprising a storage unit;
An abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality related to image formation;
Notification means;
Control means, and
When the abnormality detecting unit detects an abnormality and the network communication unit is not connected to a network, the control unit writes the content of the abnormality to the storage unit so that an external portable information terminal can read the information,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the notification unit notifies the user that an abnormality has been detected.   2. The image according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit stops notification that an abnormality has been detected when the external portable information terminal reads the content of the abnormality stored in the storage unit. 3. Forming equipment.   When the network connection by the network communication unit becomes possible after the notification by the notification unit is started, the control unit informs the user of the content of the detected abnormality via the network connected by the network communication unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein notification is performed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit selects a plurality of notification destinations registered in advance and notifies the user of the content of the detected abnormality.   The control unit, when receiving a notification that the user has confirmed the content of the detected abnormality, causes the notification unit to stop the notification that the abnormality has been detected. The image forming apparatus described in 1.   6. The notification device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit is attached to the short-range wireless communication unit, and notifies the user that an abnormality has been detected by light emission and voice. Image forming apparatus. An image forming system including a portable information terminal and an image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Network communication means;
Short-range wireless communication means comprising a storage unit;
An abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality related to image formation;
Notification means;
Control means, and
The control means, when the abnormality detection means detects an abnormality and the network communication means is not connected to a network, writes the content of the abnormality to the storage unit so that the portable information terminal can be read,
The notification means notifies the user that an abnormality has been detected,
The portable information terminal
A reading unit for reading the storage content of the storage unit;
An image forming system, comprising: a display unit configured to display contents read by the reading unit. An abnormality notification method executed by an image forming apparatus having a short-range wireless communication unit including a storage unit,
An abnormality detection step for detecting an abnormality related to image formation;
A network communication step for determining whether or not connection to the network is possible;
Abnormality in which an abnormality is detected in the abnormality detection step, and when it is determined in the network communication step that connection to the network is not possible, the content of the abnormality is written to the storage unit so that it can be read by an external portable information terminal A content writing step;
A notification step for notifying the user that an abnormality has been detected;
An abnormality notification method characterized by comprising: An abnormality notification method executed by an image forming apparatus including a short-range wireless communication unit including a storage unit and an image forming system including a portable information terminal,
An abnormality detection step of detecting an abnormality relating to image formation in the image forming apparatus;
A network communication step for determining whether or not connection to the network is possible;
Abnormality in which an abnormality is detected in the abnormality detection step, and when it is determined in the network communication step that connection to the network is not possible, the content of the abnormality is written to the storage unit so that it can be read by an external portable information terminal A content writing step;
A notification step for notifying the user that an abnormality has been detected;
A reading step in which the portable information terminal reads the stored content of the storage unit;
A display step for displaying the content read in the reading step;
An abnormality notification method characterized by comprising: An information processing apparatus,
A network interface;
NFC tag,
An audio output unit;
An abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality on the information processing apparatus;
When an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection means and communication via the network interface is not possible, information indicating the content of the detected abnormality is written to the NFC tag and a predetermined value is output from the audio output unit. An information processing apparatus comprising: control means for outputting the voice information of the voice. An information processing apparatus,
A network interface;
NFC tag,
A light emitting unit;
An abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality on the information processing apparatus;
When an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection means and communication via the network interface is not possible, information indicating the content of the detected abnormality is written to the NFC tag, and a predetermined amount is transmitted from the light emitting unit. An information processing apparatus comprising: control means for emitting and outputting an optical signal. When the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection means and communication via the network interface is possible, the control means sends information indicating the detected abnormality content to the user via the network interface. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein notification is performed.

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