JP2017068443A - Management apparatus, image forming apparatus, system, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a management apparatus which allows for efficient maintenance operation on a plurality of image forming apparatuses.SOLUTION: A management MFP(Multi-Function Peripheral) 10A includes: a state acquisition unit 110 which acquires information including a state and an identifier of each of MFPs; a maintenance operation acquisition unit which acquires the contents of maintenance operations for the states acquired from the MFPs; a maintenance operation classifying unit 111 which classifies the contents of maintenance operations acquired for each of a plurality of image forming apparatuses, by kind; and a maintenance information transmission unit 113 which transmits information formed by associating each of the kinds obtained by the maintenance operation classifying means with an identifier group formed of identifiers of the MFPs 100 having the state corresponding to the maintenance operation of the kind, to a request-source mobile terminal 200.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a management apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a system, a method, and a program, and more particularly, to a management apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a system, a method, and a program for managing information related to maintenance of the image forming apparatus.

  In an office environment or the like, a plurality of image forming apparatuses (for example, a copier, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral (MFP)) may be used within a certain range. And those models may be different.

  The service person visits a customer who uses such a method and performs maintenance on the plurality of image forming apparatuses. At this time, the service person determines the order by self-judgment so that the maintenance of the plurality of image forming apparatuses can be efficiently performed, and performs the maintenance according to the determined order.

  However, since there are cases where various types of image forming apparatuses are installed at customer sites, it may be difficult to investigate the state of each image forming apparatus and perform efficient work. As a result, there is a case in which the downtime of the entire image forming apparatus at the customer's site increases and the customer's convenience is impaired.

  With respect to such a problem, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-257132) discloses a method of displaying a necessary page of a manual on a portable terminal when a trouble occurs in an electronic device. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-178095 discloses a system in which an operator can efficiently perform maintenance work and can reduce downtime of the entire plurality of image forming apparatuses.

JP 2012-257132 A JP 2004-178095 A

  However, when a service person performs maintenance on multiple models and multiple image forming apparatuses, for example, when multiple options are set on multiple models and multiple machines, parts replacement and inspection of those options are performed. When implemented, the work was different for each model and for each option, and the efficiency of the maintenance work was not good.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 does not disclose a method for a plurality of maintenance operations. Moreover, although patent document 2 determines the order of the maintenance operation | work with respect to an apparatus, the method for reducing the maintenance operation man-hour of a maintenance man is not proposed. Accordingly, it is difficult to improve the maintenance work efficiency even by the disclosure of these patent documents.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a management apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a system, a method, and a program that enable efficient maintenance work of a plurality of image forming apparatuses. The purpose is that.

  A management apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a status acquisition unit for acquiring information including a status of the image forming apparatus and an identifier of the image forming apparatus for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. Maintenance work acquisition means for acquiring the contents of maintenance work for the state acquired from the image forming apparatus, and maintenance work for classifying the maintenance work contents acquired for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses into the same type A classification unit; and an output unit that outputs each type classified by the maintenance work classification unit.

  Preferably, the apparatus further comprises work order determining means for ordering one or more types of maintenance work based on designated parameters, and the output unit outputs one or more types of maintenance work according to the determined ordering. .

  Preferably, the parameter includes the number of identifiers in the identifier group associated with each type of maintenance operation.

  Preferably, the state includes the urgency level of the maintenance work for the state, and the parameter includes the urgency level of the state corresponding to each type of maintenance work.

  Preferably, at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is installed in each of different locations, and the identifier of the image forming apparatus includes location information for identifying the location where the image forming device is installed, The parameter includes an order attached to the location indicated by the location information of the identifier.

  Preferably, it further comprises manual acquisition means for acquiring manual information indicating a work manual for each of the one or more types of maintenance work, and the output unit is for one or more types of maintenance work of the maintenance work. The manual information of is output.

  Preferably, the output unit outputs each manual information of one or more types of maintenance work in accordance with an order in which the work order determining unit orders the types.

  Preferably, the output unit outputs each type of manual information in association with each identifier of one or more image forming apparatuses having a state corresponding to the type of maintenance work.

  Preferably, when the manual information is switched and displayed, the output unit determines whether or not to switch the manual information when the manual information before and after switching is information corresponding to the content of the same type of maintenance work. Determine according to external operation.

  When the other situation of this invention is followed, an image forming apparatus provided with the management apparatus as described above is provided.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a management apparatus is provided. The system management apparatus acquires, from each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, status acquisition means for acquiring information including the state of the image forming apparatus and an identifier of the image forming apparatus, and the plurality of image forming apparatuses. Maintenance work acquisition means for acquiring the contents of maintenance work for the set state, maintenance work classification means for classifying the maintenance work contents acquired for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses by the same type, and maintenance And an output unit for outputting each type classified by the work classification means.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method implemented in an apparatus that manages a plurality of image forming apparatuses is provided. The method includes, for each of a plurality of image forming apparatuses, obtaining information including a state of the image forming apparatus and an identifier of the image forming apparatus, and maintenance for the state acquired from the plurality of image forming apparatuses. The step of acquiring the contents of work, the step of classifying the contents of maintenance work acquired about each of a plurality of image forming devices for every same kind, and the step of outputting each classified kind are provided.

  A program according to still another aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a management device including a computer to execute the method described above.

  According to the invention described above, it is possible to perform an efficient maintenance operation for a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

1 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a configuration of an image processing system according to a first embodiment; 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a hardware configuration of MFP 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an MFP 100. FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the hardware constitutions of the portable terminal. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a hardware configuration of a server 300. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of a management MFP 10A according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of manual DB410 concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus state information concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of an aggregation table 90 according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of a maintenance work content classification process according to the first exemplary embodiment; 4 is a diagram showing a display example of the display 23 according to the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining manual information switching display according to the first embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an ordering parameter selection screen according to the second embodiment; 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing in an operating unit priority mode according to the second exemplary embodiment; It is a figure for demonstrating the switching display of the manual information at the time of "operating number priority mode" selection. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing in a layout priority mode according to the second exemplary embodiment; It is a figure for demonstrating the switching display of the manual information at the time of "layout priority mode" selection.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts and components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same.

[Technology]
The technical idea disclosed is as follows. An apparatus that manages a plurality of image forming apparatuses classifies the contents of maintenance work for each state of each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. The management apparatus associates and outputs each type obtained by classification and an identifier group including identifiers of one or more image forming apparatuses having a state corresponding to the type of maintenance work.

  According to the management apparatus described above, each type of maintenance work content and an identifier group including identifiers of one or more image forming apparatuses having a state corresponding to the type of maintenance work are output in association with each other. Is done. Therefore, according to the output information, the service person can easily identify one or more image forming apparatuses that require the same type of maintenance work, and continuously perform similar maintenance work. Can be easily set.

[Embodiment 1]
In the present embodiment, the “state” of MFP 100 includes a trouble state such as a failure in which the apparatus cannot be used, an error state in which the apparatus can be used but has a problem, and a state of attention occurrence. In addition, the kind of state is not limited to these.

  The “contents of maintenance work” includes manual information referred to by a service person in order to carry out the maintenance work for dealing with the “state”. The manual information includes, for example, documents and images (including pictures, graphs, photographs, etc.), but is not limited to these. The “type of maintenance work content” indicates the type of manual information.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the configuration of the image processing system according to the first embodiment.

  Referring to FIG. 1, an image processing system includes a plurality of MFPs (Multi-Function Peripheral) 100 as image forming apparatuses, a portable terminal 200 carried by a maintenance man, a server 300, and an access point that is a repeater. Includes AP. These communicate with each other via the network 400. Each MFP 100 or portable terminal 200 can refer to data stored in the server 300 on the network 400 as necessary. The network 400 includes various wired or wireless communication lines (for example, an intranet, the Internet, etc.).

  In the image processing system of FIG. 1, one of the plurality of MFPs 100 is a management MFP 10 </ b> A having a function of managing the plurality of MFPs 100. The management MFP 10A may be any one of the plurality of MFPs 100, and any of the MFPs 100 is a candidate for an MFP management apparatus. By switching operation, one of the plurality of MFPs 100 can be set as the MFP management apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, a plurality of MFPs 100 are installed so that one or more MFPs 100 are laid out in different locations. Each location corresponds to, for example, each department in the office or each floor. In form 1, it is called “island”. Each of the MFPs 100 installed on each “island” stores “island No.” for identifying the “island” on which the MFP 100 is installed in an internal memory. “Island No.” corresponds to an example of “location information” indicating a location where the MFP 100 is installed.

  The image forming apparatus is not limited to the MFP, and may be other apparatuses such as a printer, a facsimile transceiver, and a copier as long as the apparatus has at least one image processing function.

  For example, the portable terminal 200 may be a portable information processing terminal, and may be another device as long as it has at least a communication function, an instruction input function, and an output function including a display. The server 300 includes a cloud server, for example.

<Configuration of MFP>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the hardware configuration of the MFP 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the MFP 100. Referring to FIG. 2, MFP 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10 corresponding to a control unit for overall control, a storage unit 160 for storing programs and data, an information input / output unit 170, a network. A network connection unit 156 for communicating via 400, a sensor unit 175, and various processing units are included.

  The storage unit 160 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) for storing a program executed by the CPU 10 and data, a RAM (Random Access Memory) for functioning as a work area when the CPU 10 executes the program, a nonvolatile memory Including memory.

  Input / output unit 170 includes a display unit 171 including a display and an operation unit 172 operated by a user to input information to MFP 100. Here, the display unit 171 and the operation unit 172 may be provided as an integrally configured touch panel.

  The sensor unit 175 includes, for example, a sensor for detecting the remaining amount of toner, and a sensor for detecting jamming (paper jam), temperature abnormality or operation abnormality of each part. The sensor unit 175 may include a counter for counting a copy amount, a scan amount, a print amount, and the like.

  The network connection unit 156 includes a data communication unit 157 for communicating various data including image data via the network 400. The data communication unit 157 transmits data including image data output from the above-described various processing units to other devices via the network 400 and images from other devices via the network 400. A receiving unit 159 that receives data including data and outputs the data to the above-described various processing units or the display unit 171 is included.

  The various processing units include an image processing unit 151, an image forming unit 152, a storage unit 153 such as a hard disk for storing various data including image data, an image output unit 154, a facsimile control unit 155 for controlling a facsimile function, It includes an image reading unit 173 for optically reading a document placed on a document table (not shown) to obtain image data, and a user authentication unit 174 for performing an authentication process using a user ID or a fingerprint. Since the functions of the respective units included in the various processing units are well known, detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

<Configuration of mobile terminal>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 200. Referring to FIG. 4, portable terminal 200 includes a CPU 20 that corresponds to a control unit for controlling the whole, a ROM 21 for storing a program and data executed by CPU 20, and a program executed by CPU 20. A RAM 22 for functioning as a work area, a display 23, an operation panel 25 for a user to input information into the mobile terminal 200, a communication controller 27 for controlling communication via the network 400, and a hard disk device And a memory 28 including Here, the display 23 and the operation panel 25 may be provided as an integrally configured touch panel.

<Server configuration>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the hardware configuration of the server 300. Referring to FIG. 5, server 300 has a CPU 30 corresponding to a control unit for controlling the whole, a ROM 31 for storing a program and data executed by CPU 30, and an operation for executing the program by CPU 30. A RAM 32 for functioning as an area, a hard disk drive (HDD) 33 for storing various information, and a network controller 35 for controlling communication via the network 400 are included.

<Functional configuration of management device>
FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of the management MFP 10A according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 6, the function of the management MFP 10 </ b> A is shown in association with the function of the mobile terminal 200.

  Referring to FIG. 6, management MFP 10A includes status acquisition unit 110 for acquiring information including the status of MFP 100 and the identifier of MFP 100 for each of a plurality of MFPs 100 in FIG. A classification unit 111, a maintenance information transmission unit 113, and a maintenance work acquisition unit 115 are provided. Maintenance work acquisition unit 115 acquires the content of maintenance work for the state acquired for each of the plurality of MFPs 100. Maintenance work classification unit 111 classifies maintenance work contents acquired for each of the plurality of MFPs 100 for each of the same types. Maintenance information transmission unit 113 associates each type obtained by maintenance work classification unit 111 with an identifier group including one or more identifiers of MFP 100 having a state corresponding to the type of maintenance work. Information is transmitted to the requesting terminal. In the first embodiment, the request source terminal corresponds to the mobile terminal 200.

  The management MFP 10A further includes a work order determination unit 112 that orders the types of maintenance work contents based on the designated first parameter, and a manual acquisition part 114 that obtains manual information corresponding to the maintenance work contents.

  Management MFP 10A further includes a reference location extraction unit 116 related to manual acquisition unit 114 and a reference information layout unit 117 related to maintenance information transmission unit 113. The reference location extraction unit 116 searches a manual DB (DB: database abbreviation) 410 to be described later, and extracts the above-described manual information based on the search. The reference information layout unit 117 performs layout for displaying manual information, and outputs the post-layout information to the maintenance information transmission unit 113. In the following description, “type of maintenance work content” is also referred to as “work type”.

  Management MFP 10 </ b> A also includes panel control unit 118 that controls the touch panel of input / output unit 170 as a function common to other MFPs 100. Panel control unit 118 includes a display processing unit 119 that generates image data for controlling image display on display unit 171, and an operation reception unit 120 that receives operation details in operation unit 172.

  The functions of the management MFP 10A shown in FIG. 6 are stored in the storage unit 160 as a program. The function of each unit is realized by the CPU 10 reading the program from the storage unit 160 and executing the read program.

  Referring to FIG. 6, the mobile terminal 200 includes a receiving unit 201 that receives data from the network 400 via the communication controller 27, a display processing unit 202 that generates image data for controlling the display operation of the display 23, and An operation receiving unit 203 that receives operation content on the operation panel 25 is included. These functions of the portable terminal 200 are stored in the ROM 21 as a program. The function of each unit is realized by the CPU 20 reading the program from the ROM 21 and executing the read program.

<Configuration of Manual DB 410>
FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of the manual DB 410 according to the first embodiment. The manual DB 410 includes an index DB 411 and a detailed information DB 412 referred to via the index DB 411. Detailed information DB 412 indicates the contents of manual information for each model of MFP 100. The detailed information DB 412 includes, for example, a document composed of a plurality of pages and drawing data. The drawing comprises a plurality of figures showing images.

  The index DB 411 includes, as items, the model name (A, B, C...) Of the MFP 100, the state of the MFP 100, and reference information in association with each other. The state of MFP 100 includes a trouble state and an error state. Trouble states include multiple types (Tr-0001, Tr-0002). Error status includes multiple types (Er-001, Er-002). Further, the reference information item includes a part (page number and the number of lines) to be referred to in the document of the detailed information DB 412 that is uniquely specified by the set of the corresponding model name and trouble state (or error state) and in the drawing. Includes figure numbers to be referenced (Fig.1, Fig.2, etc.). Here, each item of the reference information in the index DB 411 (each of the reference location, reference diagram, and notes) is associated with the corresponding manual information in the detailed information DB 412 by a link or the like.

<Device status information>
FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example of device state information according to the first embodiment. Each MFP 100 stores device state information 80 for indicating the state of the MFP 100 in the storage unit 160. The apparatus status information 80 includes a machine number for identifying the MFP 100. , Model name (A, B, C, etc.), installed software version information Ver, information indicating current or past troubles, errors, etc., and an island identifying the “island” on which the MFP 100 is installed No. , And optional device status (punch Opt etc.). In the first embodiment, an identifier for uniquely identifying MFP 100 is a machine number. And island no. including.

  The machine No. , Model name and island No. Is set by a user operation via the operation unit 172 when the MFP 100 is installed in the system of FIG. CPU 150 acquires information indicating the state of MFP 100 based on the output of sensor unit 175 or the contents of a user operation from operation unit 172.

<Device status information table>
FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the aggregation table 90 according to the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, when receiving a request from the mobile terminal 200, the management MFP 10A generates a total table 90 and stores the generated total table 90 in the storage unit 160. Specifically, the status acquisition unit 110 receives the device status information 80 of each MFP 100 from each MFP 100 via the network connection unit 156, and generates the table of FIG. From the table of FIG. 8, a totaling table 90 is generated as follows.

  First, the maintenance work acquisition unit 115 acquires the maintenance work content for the state of each MFP 100 from the table of FIG. Specifically, the maintenance work acquisition unit 115 searches the index DB 411 of the manual DB 410 based on the combination of the model name and status (Pm001, Tr-001, etc. in FIG. 9) of each MFP 100. Based on the search result, the reference information items (page number, line number and figure number in the document) corresponding to the items (model name, state) matching the set are read from the index DB 411, and the read items are stored in the storage unit. 160 is stored. The items of reference information (page number, number of lines, and figure number in the document) read in this way represent the content of maintenance work in the present embodiment.

  The maintenance work classification unit 111 obtains one or more work types by classifying the maintenance work contents of the MFPs 100 acquired as described above for the same contents. The maintenance work classification unit 111 generates the aggregation table 90 based on the classification result and the information of FIG. 8 acquired by the state acquisition unit 110. In FIG. 9, work types 91, 92, and 93 are acquired by the maintenance work classification unit 111.

  The tabulation table 90 includes one or more records 94 corresponding to each work type. Each record 94 includes a maintenance work content 98 (reference information items: page number, line number and figure number in the document) of the corresponding work type, a state 97 corresponding to the maintenance work content, and each MFP 100 having the state. Machine No. 99a, model name 95 and island no. 96, as well as 99. The number 99 indicates the machine No. of the record 94. It is obtained by counting 99a.

  The work order determination unit 112 determines the work order from the tabulation table 90. Specifically, the work order determination unit 112 sorts the records 94 in the descending order of the number 99 of the records. Based on the result of sorting, records 94 are registered in order from the top, for example, in the counting table 90 in descending order of the number 99. Therefore, according to the totaling table 90, the work types ordered according to the ascending order or descending order of the number 99 are presented.

<Maintenance work classification process>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of the maintenance work content classification process according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 10, processing executed in the management MFP 10 </ b> A and processing executed in the mobile terminal 200 are shown in association with each other. A program for processing of the management MFP 10A is stored in the storage unit 160. The CPU 150 reads the program from the storage unit 160 and executes the read program, thereby realizing the processing in FIG. A program for processing of the mobile terminal 200 is stored in the ROM 21. The CPU 20 reads the program from the ROM 20 and executes the read program, thereby realizing the processing in FIG. Here, the manual DB 410 is stored in the server 300.

  Referring to FIG. 10, portable terminal 200 transmits a request for collecting the status of each MFP 100. When the request is received, the status acquisition unit 110 of the management MFP 10A inquires each MFP 100 and collects status (trouble, error) information (step S1).

  When each MFP 100 receives an inquiry from the management MFP 10A, it transmits information (machine number, model name, island number, and status) including the status of the MFP 100 as a response. Status acquisition unit 110 receives information from each MFP 100 and reads information (machine number, model name, island number, and status) from its own device status information 80.

  The maintenance work acquisition unit 115 and the maintenance work classification unit 111 generate the tabulation table 90 in which information is registered for each work type as described above (step S3). At this time, the work order determination unit 112 sorts and rearranges the records 94 of the tabulation table 90 as described above (step S5). Thereby, the aggregation table 90 of FIG. 9 is obtained.

  Moreover, the manual acquisition part 114 acquires manual information via the reference location extraction part 116 (step S7). Specifically, the manual acquisition unit 114 acquires manual information corresponding to the maintenance work content 98 (reference information items: page number, line number, and figure number in the document) of each record 94 of the aggregation table 90. Then, the reference location extraction unit 116 is activated. The reference location extraction unit 116 transmits a search request to the server 300 via the network connection unit 156. The search request includes the maintenance work content 98. The server 300 searches the detailed information DB 412 via the index DB 411 based on the search request from the management MFP 10A. Manual information (document and image data) read from the detailed information DB 412 by the search is transmitted to the management MFP 10A. The manual acquisition unit 114 stores the manual information received from the server 300 in the storage unit 160 in association with the record in the aggregation table 90.

  The reference information layout unit 117 sets a layout for displaying the information in the tabulation table 90 and the above manual information, and generates manual data for display (step S9). Specifically, the reference information layout unit 117 generates display manual data, for example, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data, which is laid out based on each record 94 of the tabulation table 90 and the acquired manual information. To do. The maintenance information transmission unit 113 transmits the generated manual data to the mobile terminal 200 (step S11).

  The receiving unit 201 of the portable terminal 200 receives manual data for display from the management MFP 10A (step S13).

  The CPU 20 of the portable terminal 200 stores the received manual data for display in the RAM 22, and the display processing unit 202 generates image data based on the received manual data, and the display 23 based on the generated image data. Is driven (step S15). As a result, a manual for maintenance work is displayed on the display 23.

<Display example>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display 23 according to the embodiment. In the above step S15, the record Ri (i = 1, 2, 3) corresponding to each record 94 of the tabulation table 90 of FIG. 9 is displayed on the display 23 of the portable terminal 200 according to the manual data received from the management MFP 10A. ..., n) are displayed in tabular form. Therefore, the record Ri is displayed for each work type for the state (trouble, error). The record Ri includes the identifier (island number, machine number) of the MFP 100, the state, and the manual information. As described in the tabulation table 90 of FIG. 9, even if the work type is the same, the record Ri is displayed for each island. The records Ri are displayed in the order of the corresponding records 94 in the tabulation table 90, that is, in descending order of the total number 99 of MFPs 100 having a state requiring the maintenance work.

  According to the image in FIG. 11, for each type of work to be performed, the serviceman confirms the island of MFP 100 that should perform the maintenance work, the total number of MFPs 100 on the island, and the identifier of each MFP 100. Can do. In addition, according to the image of FIG. 11, the service person can obtain a criterion for determining whether or not to start the maintenance work in the order of the work type with the largest number of MFPs 100, on the contrary, in the order of the work type with the smaller number of MFPs. it can.

  In the record Ri of FIG. Is displayed with an icon 231, and manual information is displayed with an icon 232. For example, the service person is a machine number. When the maintenance operation is performed on the MFP 100 having “11”, when the icon 232 of the record R1 is operated, the display processing unit 202 enlarges and displays the manual information associated with the record Ri on the display 23. Alternatively, when the icon 232 is operated, the manual information is enlarged and displayed on the display 23.

  In addition, although a document, an image, etc. were displayed here as manual information, it is not limited to this. For example, when the service person has a booklet for maintenance work, the page number in the booklet on which the manual information is posted may be displayed.

<Manual information switching display>
FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the manual information switching display according to the first embodiment. The display processing unit 202 switches information display based on the icon operation of FIG.

  Specifically, when the display processing unit 202 accepts the operation content of the icon 232, the display processing unit 202 displays the manual information according to the display manual data (FIG. 12A) based on the total table 90 received from the management MFP 10A. 23 (see FIG. 12B).

  FIG. 12A shows a display table 121 generated by the display processing unit 202 based on the manual data received in step S13. The display table 121 includes records 122, 123, 124, 125,... Corresponding to the respective records 94 of the aggregation table 90 (see FIG. 9).

  Each record in the display table 121 in FIG. 12A includes a work order 126 (1, 2, 3,...) And corresponding record 94 data (model name, island number, state, reference location, reference diagram). , And data on precautions for maintenance work.

  When the icon 232 of the record R1 in FIG. 11 is operated, the display processing unit 202, based on the operation content from the operation reception unit 203, the reference information item 127 of the record 122 corresponding to the record R1 of the display table 121. The display 23 is controlled based on the document and the image associated with. As a result, the image of manual information shown in FIG. 12B is displayed. The manual information may be displayed in association with the identifier of the MPF 100 having a state corresponding to the work type.

  The service person selects the machine number of the first record R2 in FIG. When the maintenance work is performed for all the MFPs 100 indicated by (2), the icon 232 of the second record R2 in FIG. 11 is operated.

  The display processing unit 202 compares the reference information item 127 of the second record R2 with the reference information item 127 of the first record R1 previously displayed, and both are the same based on the comparison result. Whether or not the same work type is determined. If they are the same, the display processing unit 202 does not switch (update) the image on the display 23. As described above, when the work type corresponding to the icon 232 operated next is the same work type as the icon 232 operated immediately before, the manual information on the display 23 is not switched and displayed (updated). it can.

  The switching of manual information from step 1 to step 2 is not limited to icon operation, and may be performed according to a user's scroll operation.

  When displaying manual information of the same work type, it may be possible to select whether to display repeatedly because of the same manual information based on the operation content received from the service person.

[Embodiment 2]
The second embodiment shows a modification of the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the types of maintenance work contents are displayed in order according to the number of MFPs 100, but the parameters for ordering are not limited to the number.

  In the second embodiment, “urgent level” of maintenance work and “location (island)” where MFP 100 is installed will be described as other examples of the above parameters. Here, “notice” is indicated as the state of the MFP 100 in addition to the above trouble and error. The urgency of these states is the highest in the “trouble” state in which the MFP 100 cannot be used, followed by “error” and then “attention”.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an ordering parameter selection screen according to the second embodiment. The service person can select parameters from the screen shown in FIG. 13 displayed on the display 23. For example, in order to increase the number of MFPs 100 to be operated, when the MFP 100 in which a trouble or error has occurred is preferentially maintained over the MFP 100 in a state of attention, the “operating unit priority mode” is selected. When maintaining the MFP 100 at the designated location with priority over the MFP 100 at another location, the “layout priority mode” is selected. In the “operating unit priority mode”, it is possible to increase the number of MFPs 100 that are operating. In the “layout priority mode”, maintenance can be performed with priority from the MFP 100 on the island designated by the user. 13 is displayed on the display 23 of the portable terminal 200, it may be displayed on the display unit 171 of the management MFP 10A.

<Operating unit priority mode>
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of processing in the operating unit priority mode. The program according to the flowchart of FIG. 14 is stored in the storage unit 160 of the management MFP 10A. The CPU 150 reads the program from the storage unit 160 and executes the read program, thereby realizing the processing. The process of FIG. 14 will be described by exemplifying a case where the icon 131 of FIG. 13 is operated.

  The CPU 20 of the portable terminal 200 transmits a status collection request including the “operating unit priority mode”. When receiving the request, the status acquisition unit 110 of the management MFP 10A inquires each MFP 100 and collects status information (step S20). Thereby, the information of FIG. 8 is obtained. The status acquisition unit 110 analyzes the information in FIG. 8 and determines whether or not there is the MFP 100 in which “trouble has occurred” (step S21). If a trouble has occurred (YES in step S21), the identifier (machine number and island number) of the MFP 100 is stored in the storage unit 160 so that the reference information layout unit 117 can refer to it (step S23). .

  The status acquisition unit 110 determines from the collected status whether an “error” has occurred (step S35), and if an error has occurred (YES in step S35), the identifier (machine number. And the island No.) are stored in the storage unit 160 so that the reference information layout unit 117 can refer to them (step S37).

  The state acquisition unit 110 determines whether there is a caution occurrence state from the collected state (step S39). If it has occurred (YES in step S39), the identifier (machine number and island number) of the MFP 100 is determined. .) Is stored in the storage unit 160 so that the reference information layout unit 117 can refer to it (step S41). If neither has occurred (NO in step S39), other processing is performed.

  When the above determination process is completed, the manual acquisition unit 114 acquires manual information corresponding to each state of trouble, error, and attention occurrence via the reference location extraction unit 116 (step S25). As a result, the aggregation table 90 described in the first embodiment is generated.

  The work order determination unit 112 sorts the records 94 in the tabulation table 90 based on the “operating unit priority mode” parameter included in the request. As a result, the record 94 whose state is “error” is earlier than the other state (error occurrence), so that the record 94 whose state is “trouble” is earlier than the other state (error occurrence or attention occurrence). The order is set so as to be earlier so as to be earlier (step S27, step S29).

  The reference information layout unit 117 generates manual data in which a layout for displaying manual information is set according to the tabulation table 90 in which the records 94 are ordered by the work order determination unit 112 (step S31). The maintenance information transmission unit 113 transmits manual data to the mobile terminal 200 (step S33). In portable terminal 200, processing similar to that in the first embodiment is performed based on data received from management MFP 10A.

  On the display 23 of the portable terminal 200, work types are displayed in order according to the order of urgency. The service person can prioritize maintenance work for a more urgent state. Therefore, troubles of MFP 100 can be solved and the number of operating units can be increased.

<Manual information switching display>
FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the manual information switching display when the “operating number priority mode” according to the second embodiment is selected. Also in the second embodiment, a display table 121 (see FIG. 15A) of manual data for display is generated as in the first embodiment.

  The records 122, 123, 124, and 125 of the display table 121 in FIG. 15A are ordered according to the urgency of the state 128 as indicated by the work order 126 (1, 2, 3,...).

  The display processing unit 202 displays the manual information (document and image) of the display table 121 on the display 23 together with the identifier (machine number, island number) of the MFP 100 according to the user operation (see FIG. 15B). ). The service person can perform maintenance while referring to the manual information (documents and images) in order from the MFP 100 in a highly urgent state.

<Layout priority mode>
FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of processing in the layout priority mode. The program according to the flowchart of FIG. 16 is stored in the storage unit 160 of the management MFP 10A. The CPU 150 reads the program from the storage unit 160 and executes the read program, thereby realizing the processing. The process of FIG. 16 will be described by exemplifying a case where the icon 132 of FIG. 13 is operated.

  The CPU 20 of the portable terminal 200 transmits a status collection request including the “layout priority mode”. When the request is received, the status acquisition unit 110 of the management MFP 10A collects information including the status of each MFP 100 (step S41). Thereby, the information of FIG. 8 is obtained.

  The manual acquisition unit 114 acquires manual information corresponding to each state of trouble, error, and attention occurrence via the reference location extraction unit 116 (step S43). Thereby, the tabulation table 90 is generated as in the first embodiment.

  The work order determination unit 112 sorts the records 94 in the aggregation table 90 based on the “layout priority mode” parameter included in the request. The parameter includes one or more island numbers that should be maintained over other islands. Includes the ordering information added in advance. The work order determination unit 112 classifies the records 94 of the tabulation table 90 for each island, and groups the records 94 of each island for each work type (step S45).

  The work order determination unit 112 sorts the groupings of the records 94 for each island based on the “ordered island numbers” indicated by the above parameters (step S47). Based on the sorting result, in the totaling table 90, for each ordered island, the records 94 of the MFP 94 installed on the island are grouped and registered by work type.

  The reference information layout unit 117 generates manual data in which a layout for displaying manual information is set in accordance with the tabulation table 90 in which the records 94 are ordered by the work order determination unit 112 (step S49). The maintenance information transmission unit 113 transmits the laid out manual data to the mobile terminal 200 (step S51). In portable terminal 200, processing similar to that in the first embodiment is performed based on data received from management MFP 10A.

<Manual information switching display>
FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the manual information switching display when the “layout priority mode” according to the second embodiment is selected. The display processing unit 202 generates the display table 121 (see FIG. 17A) based on the manual data, as in the case where the “operating unit priority mode” is selected.

  The records 122, 123, 124, and 125 of the display table 121 in FIG. 17A are ordered for each island according to the above parameters as indicated by the work order 126 (1, 2, 3,...). .

  In accordance with the user operation, the display processing unit 202 displays the island No. Based on the order of (1, 2, 3,...), The display 23 is controlled to display manual information (documents and images) (see FIG. 17B).

  In the display of the manual information in FIG. 15 and FIG. 17, the display table 121 is duplicated as information when the same manual information (work type) continues. Manual information may be laid out.

  In the above, as the location information where the MFP 100 is installed, the island No. However, the information indicating the installation location of the MFP 100 is not limited to this. For example, the location or position where the MFP 100 is installed may be specified using a machine name, an IP (Internet Protocol) address, or information on a connected AP (access point) when wirelessly connected.

<Modification of each embodiment>
In the above-described embodiment, the management apparatus is provided in the MFP 100, but is not limited thereto, and may be installed in the mobile terminal 200, for example. Alternatively, the server 300 may be mounted.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the display destination of the manual information is the mobile terminal 200, but is not limited to this. For example, it may be displayed on the display unit 171 of the management MFP 10A. Alternatively, when a service person operates the operation unit 172 of each MFP 100, the MFP 100 receives display data from the management MFP 10A, and displays an image in the manual information on the display unit 171 based on the display data. You may do that.

  Although the manual DB 410 is stored in the server 300, the storage destination is not limited to the server 300, and may be the portable terminal 200, the management MFP 10A, or each MFP 100.

  In each of the above embodiments, sensor unit 175 is used for detecting the state of MFP 100. Therefore, the status acquisition unit 110 can acquire the status of the MFP 100 from the detection output of the sensor unit 175 of each MFP 100.

  Preferably, the information indicated by the detection output of sensor unit 175 includes counter information indicating the number of times MFP 100 has been activated, information indicating the presence / absence of abnormality in each unit, information indicating the history of occurrence of abnormality, and information indicating whether component replacement is necessary. , Information on the operation mode, information on maintenance frequency and history, and information on necessity of cleaning and confirmation. The state of the MFP 100 is represented by the above information indicated by the detection output of the sensor unit 175 or a combination of two or more pieces of information.

  Further, the work types may be ordered by appropriately combining the ordering parameters of the respective embodiments.

[Embodiment 3]
In the third embodiment, a program is provided for causing a management apparatus (such as the management MFP 10A) to perform an operation for managing the above-described maintenance work information. Such a program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), ROM, RAM, and memory card attached to the computer of MFP 100 as a program product. It can also be provided. Alternatively, the program can be provided by being recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk built in the computer. A program can also be provided by downloading via a network.

  The program may be a program module that is provided as a part of the OS of the computer and that calls necessary modules in a predetermined arrangement at a predetermined timing to execute processing. In that case, the program itself does not include the module, and the process is executed in cooperation with the OS. A program that does not include such a module can also be included in the program of the second embodiment.

  The program according to the third embodiment may be provided by being incorporated in a part of another program. Even in this case, the program itself does not include the module included in the other program, and the process is executed in cooperation with the other program. Such a program incorporated in another program can also be included in the program according to the second embodiment.

  The provided program product is installed in a program storage unit such as a hard disk and executed. The program product includes the program itself and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

<Effect of Embodiment>
As described above, according to the embodiment, when a service person performs maintenance work on a plurality of models and a plurality of MFPs 100, the reference items of the manuals of each model corresponding to the work scheduled to be performed correspond to the work order. Display items on the mobile terminal 200 without searching for items, minimizing the man-hours of service personnel (Embodiment 1), or increasing the number of operating units as quickly as possible ("operating unit priority mode"), or user productivity Maintenance work can be performed efficiently without lowering ("layout priority mode").

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

1A image processing system, 2 communication network, 100 MFP, 10A management MFP, 200 portable terminal, 300 server, 110 status acquisition unit, 111 maintenance work classification unit, 112 work order determination unit, 113 maintenance information transmission unit, 114 manual acquisition 115, maintenance work acquisition unit, 116 reference location extraction unit, 117 reference information layout unit, 118 panel control unit, 119, 202 display processing unit 120, 203 operation reception unit.

Claims (13)

For each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, a state acquisition unit for acquiring information including the state of the image forming apparatus and the identifier of the image forming apparatus;
Maintenance work acquisition means for acquiring the content of maintenance work for the state acquired from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Maintenance work classification means for classifying the content of the maintenance work acquired for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses into the same types;
An output unit that outputs each type classified by the maintenance work classification means. A work order determining means for ordering one or more types of the maintenance work based on designated parameters;
The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs one or more types of the maintenance work according to the determined ordering.   The management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the parameter includes the number of identifiers of the identifier group associated with each type of the maintenance work. The state includes the urgency of the maintenance work for the state,
The management device according to claim 2, wherein the parameter includes an urgency level of the state corresponding to each type of the maintenance work. The plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed in one or more different places,
The identifier of the image forming apparatus includes location information for identifying a location where the image forming device is installed,
5. The management device according to claim 2, wherein the parameter includes an order attached to a location indicated by the location information of the identifier. 6. Manual acquisition means for acquiring manual information indicating a work manual for each of the one or more types of maintenance work;
The output unit is
The management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the manual information for one or more types of maintenance work of the maintenance work is output. The output unit is
The management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the manual information of each of the one or more types of the maintenance work is output in the order ordered by the work order determination unit for the type. The output unit is
The management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the manual information of each type is output in association with each identifier of one or more image forming apparatuses having a state corresponding to the maintenance work of the type. The output unit is
When the manual information is switched and displayed, if the manual information before and after switching is information corresponding to the content of the same type of maintenance work, whether or not to switch the manual information is displayed according to an external operation. The management device according to claim 7 or 8, which is determined.   An image forming apparatus comprising the management device according to claim 1. A system comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a management apparatus,
The management device
For each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, a state acquisition unit for acquiring information including the state of the image forming apparatus and the identifier of the image forming apparatus;
Maintenance work acquisition means for acquiring the content of maintenance work for the state acquired from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Maintenance work classification means for classifying the content of the maintenance work acquired for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses into the same types;
And an output unit that outputs each type classified by the maintenance work classification means. A method implemented in an apparatus for managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
Obtaining information including the state of the image forming apparatus and the identifier of the image forming apparatus for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Acquiring the contents of maintenance work for the state acquired from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Classifying the contents of the maintenance work acquired for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses into the same types;
Outputting each classified type.   The program for making a management apparatus provided with a computer perform the method of Claim 12.

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