JP2016206277A - Counter value management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a counter value management system that enables a user to acquire a proper counter value even when the user has reset a counter by mistake.SOLUTION: A counter value management system comprises a management server and an image forming apparatus connected via a network. The image forming apparatus includes a first communication part that can communicate with the management server, a counter that counts the number of sheets used, a first storage part that stores a counter value of the counter, and an agent part that, when instructed to reset the counter value, transmits the counter value to the management server, receives a notification that storage of the counter value has been completed from the management server, and then resets the counter value. The management server includes a second communication part that can communicate with the image forming apparatus, a second storage part that can store the counter value, and a manager part that stores the counter value received from the agent part in the second storage part in association with an identifier of the image forming apparatus including the agent part having transmitted the counter value and the date and time at which the counter value has been acquired.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a counter value management system that manages counter information for billing.

  In companies that lease image forming devices, a counter is provided in the image forming device, the number of printed sheets is counted by the counter, and the user is charged based on the count value. is important.

  Therefore, for example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the counter value cannot be acquired by the billing closing date, the counter value confirmation method is changed to a more reliable method to ensure the counter value confirmation. To be able to

JP 2008-250201 A

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, if the counter is erroneously reset, an appropriate counter value cannot be acquired.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a counter value management system capable of acquiring an appropriate counter value even when the counter is erroneously reset.

  In order to achieve the above object, a counter value management system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a management server and an image forming apparatus connected via a network, and the image forming apparatus is capable of communicating with the management server. A communication unit, a counter for counting the number of sheets used, a first storage unit for storing the counter value of the counter, and the counter value is transmitted to the management server when an instruction to reset the counter value is given And an agent unit that resets the counter value after receiving from the management server that the saving of the counter value is completed, and the management server is capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus. A second storage unit capable of storing the counter value, and the counter value received from the agent unit, And a manager unit for wearing date and string identifier and acquired the counter value of the image forming apparatus provided with the agent unit that sent the Unter value is stored in the second storage unit. Therefore, even if the counter is accidentally reset, an appropriate counter value can be acquired.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the counter value management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the agent unit, when instructed to restore the counter value, transmits the request for the counter value to the management server, and The manager unit restores the counter value after receiving the counter value from the management server, and the manager unit receives the request from the image forming apparatus, and based on the identifier of the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the request. The latest counter value may be acquired from the second storage unit, and the acquired counter value may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the counter value management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the agent unit periodically transmits the counter value to the manager unit, and the manager unit receives the received counter value. The second storage unit may store the identifier and the date and time in association with each other.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an appropriate counter value before resetting can be acquired even when the counter value is reset due to a failure or the like according to an aspect of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the counter value management system 1 concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram in case the management server 10 is comprised by a general computer. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus 20. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen displayed on the display unit 27a of the image forming apparatus 20 and used when a service person resets a counter value. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a confirmation screen displayed on the display unit 27a of the image forming apparatus 20 and used when a counter value is reset by a service person. FIG. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the flow of a process in the counter value management system.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overview]
First, an outline of a counter value management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a counter value management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The counter value management system 1 broadly provides services to an image forming apparatus (MFP, Multifunction Peripheral) 20 installed at the user site 200 and an image forming apparatus 20 installed at the user site 200 from a remote location. And a management server 10 installed in the management site 100. The image forming apparatus 20 and the management server 10 are connected by a network.

  When copying or printing is performed in the image forming apparatus 20, the counter value increases in accordance with the number of sheets used. The counter value is stored as the counter value 30 a and is periodically transmitted to the management server 10.

  A service person visiting the user site 200 reads the counter value 30a of the image forming apparatus 20 and records it, and then resets the counter. When the counter is reset, the image forming apparatus 20 transmits the counter value 30a before the reset to the management server 10.

  The management server 10 that has received the counter value 30a stores the counter value 30a in the database 17a as the counter value 17b together with the identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 and the date and time when the counter value 30a is acquired. Therefore, if a plurality of counter values 17b stored in the management server 10 are used, changes in the counter value 30a in time series can be seen.

  When a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus 20 or the serviceman accidentally resets the counter, the serviceman instructs the image forming apparatus 20 to restore the counter value 30a.

  Upon receiving the instruction, the image forming apparatus 20 acquires the counter value 30a stored in the database 17a of the management server 10, and restores the counter value 30a before the occurrence of the failure or before the reset to the counter.

  The overview of the counter value management system according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

[Management Server Configuration]
Next, the configuration of the management server 10 will be described. The management server 10 may be configured by dedicated hardware or software, or may be configured by a general computer. FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram when the management server 10 is configured by a general computer.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the management server 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a read only memory (ROM) 12, a random access memory (RAM) 13, an operation input unit 14, a network interface unit (first communication unit). ) 15, a display unit 16, and a storage unit (first storage unit) 17, and these blocks are connected via a bus 18.

  The ROM 12 fixedly stores a plurality of programs and data such as firmware for executing various processes.

  The RAM 13 is used as a work area for the CPU 11 and temporarily holds an OS (Operating System), various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

  The storage unit 17 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or other nonvolatile memory. The storage unit 17 stores a database 17a in addition to the OS, various applications, and various data. In the database 17a, an identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 and a counter value 17b associated with the date and time when the counter value 30a is acquired can be registered.

  The network interface unit 15 is connected to a network for exchanging information with the image forming apparatus 20, and collects information from the image forming apparatus 20 and provides the collected information to the image forming apparatus 20.

  The CPU 11 develops a program corresponding to an instruction given from the operation input unit 14 among the plurality of programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 17 in the RAM 13, and the display unit 16 and the storage unit according to the expanded program. 17 is appropriately controlled.

  The operation input unit 14 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other operation devices.

  The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a plasma display, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, or the like. The display unit 16 may be built in the management server 10 or may be externally connected.

  The CPU 11 has a manager unit 11a. The manager unit 11a is a functional block realized by the CPU 11 executing a program loaded from the ROM or the like to the RAM.

  The manager unit 11a associates the counter value 30a sent from the image forming apparatus 20 with the identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 that has transmitted the counter value 30a and the date and time when the counter value 30a is acquired, as a counter value 17b. And stored in the database 17a.

  Further, the manager unit 11 a transmits the latest stored counter value 17 b to the image forming apparatus 20 in accordance with a request from the image forming apparatus 20.

  The configuration of the management server 10 has been described above.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The image forming apparatus 20 includes a control unit 21. The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and governs overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 21 includes an image reading unit 22, an image processing unit 23, an image memory 24, an image forming unit 25, a counter 26, an operation unit 27, a facsimile communication unit 28, a network interface unit (second communication unit) 29, and a storage unit. (Second storage unit) 30 and the like. The control unit 21 performs operation control of each of the above connected units, and transmission / reception of signals or data to / from each unit.

  The control unit 21 performs operation control on each function such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, and a facsimile transmission / reception function in accordance with a job execution instruction input from the user through the operation unit 27 or a network-connected PC. Controls the drive and processing of the mechanisms necessary to execute.

  The control unit 21 includes an agent unit 21a. The agent unit 21a is a functional block realized by the CPU executing a program loaded from the ROM or the like to the RAM.

  The agent unit 21a acquires the counter value 30a periodically or in accordance with an instruction from the service person, and transmits it to the management server 10. Further, the latest counter value request stored in the management server 10 is transmitted to the management server 10 in accordance with an instruction from the service person.

  The image reading unit 22 reads an image from a document.

  The image processing unit 23 performs image processing on the image data of the image read by the image reading unit 22 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 23 performs image processing such as shading correction in order to improve the quality after the image read by the image reading unit 22 is formed.

  The image memory 24 is an area for temporarily storing document image data obtained by reading by the image reading unit 22 or temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming unit 26.

  The image forming unit 25 forms an image of the image data read by the image reading unit 22.

  The counter 26 counts the number of sheets used (used) for copying or printing in the image forming apparatus 20.

  The operation unit 27 includes a touch panel unit and operation key units that receive instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 20. The touch panel unit includes a display unit 27a such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided with a touch panel.

  The facsimile communication unit 28 includes an encoding / decoding unit, a modulation / demodulation unit, and an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown), and performs facsimile transmission using a public telephone line network.

  The network interface unit 29 includes a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits and receives various data to and from a device (such as a PC) in the local area via a LAN or the like connected to the network interface unit 29.

  The storage unit 30 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD that stores an original image read by the image reading unit 22. The storage unit 30 stores a counter value 30a.

  The counter value 30a is a value counted by the counter 26.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

[Screen example]
Next, an example of an operation screen displayed on the display unit 27a of the image forming apparatus 20 and used when the counter value is reset by a service person will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen displayed on the display unit 27a of the image forming apparatus 20 and used when the counter value is reset by a service person.

  On the operation screen, the current counter value (for example, counter value cv1) for each counter (for example, cassette 1 counter ct1) for each sheet cassette in which sheets are stored is displayed.

  A clear button CB for receiving a counter reset instruction and a restore button RB for receiving a counter value restoration instruction from the service person are displayed.

  When the service person presses the clear button CB, for example, a confirmation screen shown in FIG. 5 may be displayed. When the service person presses the OK button on this screen, the counter value 30a is transmitted to the management server 10, and then all counter values are cleared.

  The example of the operation screen for clearing the counter has been described above.

[Process flow]
Next, the flow of processing in the counter value management system 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of processing in the counter value management system 1. In the following description, the flow of processing will be described by dividing it into three processes: periodic counter value 30a storage processing, counter value 30a reset processing, and counter value 30a restoration processing.

(Regular counter value storage process)
In the regular storage process of the counter value 30a, the agent unit 21a periodically acquires the counter value 30a from the counter 26 and transmits it to the management server 10 using the timer of the image forming apparatus 20 as a trigger (step S1). .

  The manager unit 11a of the management server 10 that has received the counter value 30a associates the received counter value 30a with the identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 and the date and time when the counter value 30a is acquired and stores it in the database 17a (step S1.1). .

  The above is the regular storage process of the counter value 30a.

(Process when counter value is reset)
Next, processing when the counter value 30a is reset will be described.

  First, it is assumed that the service man operates the operation unit 27 of the image forming apparatus 20 and issues an instruction to reset the counter value 30a to the agent unit 21a (step S2).

  Next, the agent unit 21a transmits the counter value 30a to the manager unit 11a of the management server 10 (step S2.1).

  The manager unit 11a that has received the counter value 30a associates the received counter value 30a with the identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 and the date and time when the counter value 30a is acquired, and saves it in the database 17a (step S2.1.1). When the saving to the database 17a is completed, the database 17a returns to the manager unit 11a that the saving is completed, and the manager unit 11a also returns to the agent unit 21a of the image forming apparatus 20 that the saving is completed.

  When receiving the notification that the saving to the database 17a is completed, the agent unit 21a resets the counter value 30a (step S2.2).

  Next, the agent unit 21a displays the reset result on the display unit 27a.

  The above is the processing for resetting the counter value 30a.

(Process when restoring counter value)
Next, a process for restoring the counter value 30a will be described.

  First, it is assumed that the service person operates the operation unit 27 of the image forming apparatus 20 and issues an instruction to restore the counter value 30a to the agent unit 21a (step S3).

  Next, the agent unit 21a transmits a request for the counter value 30a to the manager unit 11a of the management server 10 (step S3.1).

  Upon receiving the request for the counter value 30a, the manager unit 11a searches the database 17a using the identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 that issued the request as a key, and obtains the latest counter value 30a (step S3.1.1). The manager unit 11a transmits the acquired counter value 30a to the agent unit 21a.

  The agent unit 21a that has received the latest counter value 30a from the manager unit 11a of the management server 10 applies and restores the received counter value 30a to the counter 26 (step S3.2).

  When the restoration is completed, the agent unit 21a displays the restoration result on the display unit 27a.

  The above is the processing for restoring the counter value 30a.

  The flow of processing in the counter value management system 1 has been described above.

[Additional notes]
In addition, this invention is not limited only to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course, various changes can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

1 ... Counter value management system 10 ... Management server 11 ... CPU
11a ... Manager part 12 ... ROM
13 ... RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Operation input part 15 ... Network interface part 16 ... Display part 17 ... Memory | storage part 17a ... Database 17b ... Counter value 18 ... Bus 20 ... Image forming apparatus 21 ... Control part 21a ... Agent part 22 ... Image reading part 23 ... Image processing Section 24 ... Image memory 25 ... Image forming section 26 ... Counter 27 ... Operation section 27a ... Display section 28 ... Facsimile communication section 29 ... Network interface section 30 ... Storage section 30a ... Counter value 100 ... Management site 200 ... User site

Claims (3)

Including a management server and an image forming apparatus connected via a network,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A first communication unit capable of communicating with the management server;
A counter that counts the number of sheets used,
A first storage unit for storing a counter value of the counter;
When instructed to reset the counter value,
Sending the counter value to the management server;
After receiving from the management server that the storage of the counter value is complete,
An agent unit for resetting the counter value,
The management server is
A second communication unit capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus;
A second storage unit capable of storing the counter value;
The counter value received from the agent unit is stored in the second storage unit in association with the identifier of the image forming apparatus including the agent unit that transmitted the counter value and the date and time when the counter value was acquired. Counter value management system with a manager and. The counter value management system according to claim 1,
The agent part
When restoration of the counter value is instructed,
Sending the counter value request to the management server;
After receiving the counter value from the management server,
Restore the counter value,
The manager section
When the request is received from the image forming apparatus,
Obtaining the latest counter value from the second storage unit based on the identifier of the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the request;
Counter value management system for transmitting the acquired counter value to the image forming apparatus The counter value management system according to claim 1 or 2,
The agent part
The counter value is periodically transmitted to the manager unit,
The manager section
The counter value management system that stores the received counter value in the second storage unit in association with the identifier and the date and time.

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