JP2017170796A - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a procedure to obtain consumable items from an inventory that an electronic device other than an own device has.SOLUTION: An electronic device comprises inquiry means for inquiring an inventory of a consumable item when an own device has no inventory of the consumable item; and reservation means for making a reservation for the consumable item, to an electronic device which is found, through the inquiry means, to have an inventory of the consumable item. The inquiry means inquiries the inventory of the consumable item to electronic devices other than the own device within a group that the own device belongs to, when the own device has no inventory of the consumable item. Then, when no inventory of the consumable item is found, the inquiry means inquiries an inventory of the consumable item to electronic devices in another group.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device.

Patent Document 1 describes a system for notifying a printer error. This system includes a printer that performs printing in response to a print request from a host, and a status monitoring unit that monitors the status of the printer during printing processing and detects an error. When an error is detected, the event notification processing unit notifies the terminal determined corresponding to the error stored in the notification destination storage unit.
Patent Document 2 describes a system for notifying information on printer consumables. In this system, when it is desirable to replenish paper, but not urgently, it is necessary to determine a user having a large amount of use as a notification destination based on the amount of paper used by the user, and to replenish the paper as soon as possible. In this case, the user who uses the terminal device that has sent the print command within the past predetermined time starting from the present is determined as the notification destination.

JP 2001-256029 A JP 2004-5463 A

  An object of the present invention is to simplify a procedure in the case where consumables are procured from inventory held by an electronic device other than its own device.

The invention according to claim 1 reveals that when there is no consumables in stock, the inquiry means for inquiring the stock of consumables to an electronic device other than the own apparatus, and the inquiry means has the stock of consumables. There is provided an electronic device comprising a reservation means for reserving the consumable for the electronic device.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the first aspect, the inquiry means consumes an electronic device other than the own device in the group to which the own device belongs when the own device does not have a stock of consumables. When the inventory of consumables is inquired and it is found that the consumables are not in stock, the inventories of consumables are inquired to electronic devices in other groups.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the second aspect, when a person corresponding to the other group plans to visit a place where the apparatus is installed, the consumable item is delivered to the person. A request means for requesting is provided.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the first or second aspect, the consumables are delivered to a person corresponding to a place where the electronic device is found to be in stock by the inquiry means. A request means for requesting is provided.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided the electronic device according to the first aspect, further comprising storage means for storing a stock quantity of consumables of the device itself.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the fifth aspect, when the inventory quantity of the consumables of the device itself is changed, the electronic apparatus includes an updating unit that updates the inventory quantity stored in the storage unit.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the electronic device includes a reception unit that receives registration of consumables inventory, and the update unit receives the registration of inventory by the reception unit, and the storage unit Update the stock quantity stored in.

  According to the present invention, the procedure for procuring consumables from the inventory of electronic devices other than its own device is simplified compared to the case where it is not configured to inquire about the inventory of consumables to electronic devices other than its own device. be able to.

The figure which shows an example of a system configuration. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printer 1. FIG. The figure which shows inventory data. The figure which shows personnel management data. Flow chart of processing.

An example for carrying out the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration. The establishment A and the establishment X are establishments belonging to the same company. Printers A, B, and C are installed at the office A, and printers X, Y, and Z are installed at the office X. In the illustrated example, each printer is installed on a separate floor, but a plurality of printers may be installed on the same floor. Printers A, B, and C belong to group 1, and printers X, Y, and Z belong to group 2. A plurality of groups may be provided in one office. A printer is an example of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention.

  Each printer stores inventory data relating to the inventory quantity of consumables consumed by the printer. The consumable item is, for example, a toner cartridge used for electrophotographic development. All printers have the same toner cartridge specifications. Each business office is provided with a LAN, and each printer, a terminal (for example, a personal computer) installed at an employee's seat, a server, and the like are connected to the LAN. Further, the LAN of the first office and the LAN of the second office are connected to each other.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printer 1. The printer 1 is an example of an electronic device according to the present invention. The control device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13, and controls the printer 1. The control device 10 may be configured as an external device of the printer 1, and the control device 10 and the printer 1 may be configured to communicate with each other by a communication unit.

  The control unit 11 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM stores firmware that describes the procedure for starting up hardware and an OS (Operating System). The RAM stores data when the CPU executes the calculation. The storage unit 12 includes, for example, a hard disk storage device, and stores an OS, application programs, and the like. The communication unit 13 is a communication I / F (Interface) for connecting the printer 1 to a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The image forming unit 14 forms an image based on raster data on a sheet-like recording medium by, for example, an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method. The recording medium is, for example, printing paper (hereinafter referred to as paper). The display unit 15 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display device, and displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen for operating the printer 1. The reception unit 16 includes a touch panel provided so as to cover the display surface of the display unit 15, for example, and receives an operation on the printer 1.

  The reading unit 17 includes an image scanner, for example, and optically reads a document and outputs an image signal. A document feeding device that feeds the stacked documents one by one to the reading position may be provided. The facsimile communication unit 18 includes, for example, a modem connected to a telephone line, and transmits / receives image data to / from the facsimile apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing inventory data. The inventory data is stored in the storage unit 12 of each printer. This example is the inventory data of the printer A, but the same format of inventory data is also stored in the storage unit 12 of other printers. The inventory data is data in which a printer name, priority, installation location, inventory quantity, and borrowed and borrowed quantity are associated with each printer. “Priority” is, for example, the order in which the quantity of toner cartridges in stock is large. For example, if there is no inventory of printer A and the inventory of printer B is 2, and the inventory of printer C is 1, the priority of printer B is 1 and the priority of printer C is 2. The “installation place” is a place where the printer is installed. “Inventory quantity” is the quantity of inventory that the device itself has. For example, this amount of toner cartridges is placed at a predetermined place on the same floor as the apparatus itself. The lending / borrowing quantity is a lending / borrowing quantity when the inventory of the own apparatus is lent to another printer or when the own apparatus borrows the inventory of another printer. Also, each printer in the same group may store the inventory data shown in FIG. 3, and each printer has only the printer name of its own device, the inventory quantity corresponding to its own device, and the installation location as inventory data. The printers that are out of stock inquire the stock data of each printer in the same group, and obtain the stock quantity of each printer to determine the stock quantity and priority of other printers. Good.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing personnel management data. Personnel management data is stored in the storage unit 12 of each printer and is periodically updated by transmission from the server. Personnel management data is data in which an employee ID, an office, a floor, and a going-out schedule are associated with each employee. For example, an employee with employee ID = 0001 works on the first floor of the first office. That is, this employee is a user who uses the printer A. “Scheduled to go out” is the date and place where the employee plans to go out.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the process. The control unit 11 of the printer 1 executes the following processing according to an application program installed in the printer 1. In this example, an example of an electrophotographic printer is shown.

<Step S01>
The control unit 11 monitors the toner density of the image forming unit.

<Step S02>
The control unit 11 determines whether or not the remaining amount of consumables is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. If the remaining amount is equal to or less than the threshold value (step S02: YES), the process of the control unit 11 is performed as a step. Proceed to S03. For example, when the consumable item is toner, the remaining amount of the consumable item may be determined by the toner density in the developing device, or the toner consumption amount may be estimated from the number of printed sheets to determine the remaining amount.

<Step S03>
The control unit 11 notifies that the toner needs to be replenished. For example, the control unit 11 displays a message on the display unit 15 that the toner needs to be replenished.

<Step S04>
The control unit 11 refers to the inventory data and confirms the inventory of the toner cartridge of the own apparatus. If there is a stock (step S04: YES), the control unit 11 ends the process. When there is no stock (step S04: NO), the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step S05.

<Step S05>
The control unit 11 inquires of other printers in the same group (in this case, the first group) whether toner cartridges are in stock.

<Step S06>
If other printers in the same group are in stock (step S06: YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S07. When there is no stock (step S06: NO), the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step S09.

<Step S07>
The control unit 11 reserves a toner cartridge for a printer in stock. Specifically, the printer having the highest priority among the printers in stock (for example, the printer having the largest quantity of toner cartridges in stock) is notified that the toner cartridge is reserved. In addition, the control unit 11 transmits an e-mail indicating that the toner cartridge is ordered from the supplier.

<Step S08>
The control unit 11 updates the inventory quantity. Specifically, the control unit 11 adds 1 to the lending / borrowing quantity of the inventory data. On the other hand, the controller 11 of the reservation destination printer subtracts 1 from the inventory quantity of the inventory data.

<Step S09>
The control unit 11 inquires of the printers of other groups (in this example, the second group) whether there is inventory.

<Step S10>
If there is a stock (step S10: YES), the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step S11. When there is no stock (step S10: NO), the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step S13.

<Step S11>
The control part 11 confirms the presence or absence of the prospective visitor to a 1st office with reference to personnel management data. When there is a prospective visitor (step S11: YES), the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step S12. If there is no prospective visitor (step S11: NO), the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step S07.

<Step S12>
As in step S07, the control unit 11 reserves a toner cartridge for a printer in stock and sends an e-mail to the supplier to order the toner cartridge. Further, the control unit 11 transmits an e-mail requesting delivery of the toner cartridge to the prospective visitor.

<Step S13>
The control unit 11 transmits an e-mail indicating that a toner cartridge is ordered from the supplier.
The above is the operation of the present embodiment.

  According to this embodiment, consumables are procured from the electronic devices in the group to which the own device belongs when there is no consumable stock in the own device. When there is no stock of consumables in the electronic devices in the group to which the device belongs, consumables are procured from electronic devices in other groups. If there is a prospective visitor from an office where an electronic device of another group is installed, the prospective visitor delivers the consumables.

The above embodiment may be modified as in the following modified example. A plurality of modified examples may be combined.
<Modification 1>
When procuring consumables from other printers in the same group as the own device, the control unit 11 identifies employees in the vicinity of the printer from the personnel management data, and delivers the consumables to the identified employees. An e-mail requesting the request may be transmitted.

<Modification 2>
The update of the inventory quantity of the inventory data may be processed by reading the delivery slip of the toner cartridge by the reading unit 17. For example, when the reading unit 17 reads the information on the product number of the toner cartridge described in the delivery slip and an image obtained by encoding the information, the control unit 11 recognizes that the toner cartridge has been delivered and added as inventory. The inventory quantity of the inventory data stored in the storage unit 12 of the printer is updated. Further, the inventory quantity may be updated by reading information such as a two-dimensional code added to a consumable or a consumable box by the reading unit 17.

<Modification 3>
In the above example, the consumable item is a toner cartridge. However, the consumable item may be anything such as printing paper.

<Modification 4>
In step S02, when the remaining amount of the consumables is less than or equal to the threshold value, the control unit 11 orders the consumables to be completely consumed (first time) and the consumables are ordered from the supplier and delivered. If the first time is shorter, the processing after step S03 is executed. If the second time is shorter, the consumables are ordered from the supplier. You may decide to do.

<Modification 5>
The present invention may be applied to electronic devices other than printers.
In the embodiment, an example in which the above function is realized by an application program has been described. However, a part or all of the above function may be implemented by a hardware circuit. The application program may be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as an optical recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and the program may be read from the recording medium and installed. In addition, this program may be provided through a telecommunication line.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 10 ... Control apparatus, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... Memory | storage part, 13 ... Communication part, 14 ... Image formation part, 15 ... Display part, 16 ... Reception part, 17 ... Reading part, 18 ... Facsimile communication part

Claims (7)

Inquiry means for inquiring the inventory of consumables to electronic devices other than the own device when there is no consumables in stock
An electronic device comprising: reservation means for reserving the consumable item for an electronic device that has been found to be in stock by the inquiry means. The inquiry means inquires about the inventory of consumables to electronic devices other than the self-device in the group to which the self-device belongs when the self-device does not have the stock of the consumable, and finds out that the consumables do not have the stock The electronic device according to claim 1, further inquiring of an inventory of consumables from an electronic device in another group.   The electronic device according to claim 2, further comprising request means for requesting delivery of the consumable item to a staff member corresponding to the other group who intends to visit a place where the device is installed.   The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising request means for requesting delivery of the consumables to a person corresponding to an installation location of the electronic equipment that has been found by the inquiry means to have inventory of consumables.   The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing a stock quantity of consumables of the device itself.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising an updating unit that updates the inventory quantity stored in the storage unit when the inventory quantity of the consumables of the device itself is changed. A reception means for accepting registration of consumables inventory,
The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the update unit updates the inventory quantity stored in the storage unit when the registration of the inventory is received by the reception unit.

Images