JP2019174891A - Information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

To perform display which can cope with a failure, if it occurs, according to the state of other portions.SOLUTION: An information processing system comprises: a first input unit; a first display unit; a first printer 140 corresponding to the first input unit and the first display unit; a second input unit; a second display unit; a second printer corresponding to the second input unit and the second display unit; a data processing server 110 which specifies data as the object of a request inputted by the first input unit or the second input unit; and a print processing server 130 which converts the data specified by the data processing server 110, into image forming data for forming an image by the first printer 140 or the second printer. The first display unit displays a corresponding response message, according to the state of the first printer 140 and the second printer, when a failure occurs in the first printer 140.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system.

  Conventionally, ticket issuing systems such as coupon tickets or air tickets have been developed. The ticket is generated when the operator of the agency operates an operation terminal connected to the server via a network through reservation or payment of money, and is stored in the server as electronic data. In recent years, it has become possible for a ticket user to generate electronic data of a ticket by directly operating a terminal device such as a smart phone instead of a conventional operator operating an operation terminal. It is coming. The generated electronic data is converted into print data and printed by a printer.

  Incidentally, the printer performs printing by transporting paper and attaching a recording material such as toner or ink. At this time, a failure such as “no paper” in which there is no paper or “paper jam” in which paper is jammed in the conveyance path during paper conveyance may occur.

  In this case, it is necessary to notify the operator or user that the printer is temporarily unavailable. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique in which, when an error occurs in a device used, the device used transmits error information to the mobile terminal device by short-range wireless communication.

JP 2017-76173 A

  However, according to the conventional technology, the content of the error is only displayed on the portable terminal device, and the operator or the user can take an appropriate countermeasure in consideration of the state of other parts of the other device. Cannot be displayed properly.

  Accordingly, an object of one or more aspects of the present invention is to enable display capable of dealing with a failure that has occurred, in accordance with the state of another part.

  An information processing system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a first input unit, a first display unit, and a first image forming unit corresponding to the first input unit and the first display unit. A second input unit; a second display unit; a second image forming unit corresponding to the second input unit and the second display unit; and the first input unit or the second input unit. A processing unit for specifying data to be requested input by the input unit and the data specified by the processing unit form an image by the first image forming unit or the second image forming unit. And a data conversion unit that converts the image forming data to image forming data for performing the first image forming unit and the first image forming unit when the first image forming unit fails. In accordance with the state of the second image forming unit, a corresponding countermeasure message is displayed.

  An information processing system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a first input unit, a first display unit, and a first image forming apparatus corresponding to the first input unit and the first display unit. A data processing server that specifies the data to be requested input by the first input unit, and the data specified by the data processing server forms an image by the first image forming apparatus. A data conversion server for converting the data into image forming data, and the first display unit is faulty in any one of the first image forming device, the data processing server, and the data conversion server. When the error occurs, a countermeasure message corresponding to the state of the first image forming apparatus, the data processing server, and the data conversion server is displayed.

  According to one or a plurality of aspects of the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display that can deal with a failure that has occurred according to the state of another part.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a data processing server in the first embodiment. (A) And (B) is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a terminal device roughly. It is the schematic which shows an example of an input screen image. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a print processing server in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a printer. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a monitoring server schematically. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of countermeasure information according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of countermeasure message information according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a printing operation in the printing system. It is a sequence diagram showing an operation when a failure is detected in the information processing system. FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a data processing server in a second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a print processing server in a second embodiment. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of handling information in Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of countermeasure message information in Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows roughly the structure of the information processing system which concerns on the 1st modification in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows roughly the structure of the information processing system which concerns on the 2nd modification in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2. FIG.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the information processing system 100 according to the first embodiment.
The information processing system 100 includes a printing system 101 as an image forming system and a monitoring server 150.

The printing system 101 is a system that accepts a request from a user and performs printing (image formation) based on data to be requested by the user.
The monitoring server 150 monitors failures that occur in the printing system 101, generates countermeasure screen image data that is image data of a countermeasure screen image indicating countermeasures according to the overall state of the printing system 101, and displays the image on the printing system 101. Let
The monitoring server 150 communicates with the printing system 101 via a wireless network (second network) via a LAN (Local Area Network) 102 that is a wired network (first network) and a wireless access point 103. Do.

The printing system 101 includes a data processing server 110 and a plurality of input / output systems 104.
Each of the plurality of input / output systems 104 includes a terminal device 120, a print processing server 130, and a printer 140 as an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the data processing server 110.
The data processing server 110 includes a data storage unit 111, a communication unit 112, a screen image generation unit 113, a request processing unit 114, and a control unit 115.

The data storage unit 111 stores data necessary for processing in the data processing server 110.
For example, the data storage unit 111 stores data that is a target of a request input from the terminal device 120. In the first embodiment, the terminal device 120 accepts input of passport information that is passport information in order to request an airline ticket, and the data storage unit 111 is an airline ticket that is airline ticket data corresponding to the passport information. Store the data. In other words, the terminal device 120 receives input of passport information in order to request an air ticket.

The communication unit 112 is a communication interface connected to the LAN 102. For example, the communication unit 112 transmits input screen image data described later to the terminal device 120.
The screen image generation unit 113 generates input screen image data that is image data of an input screen image for accepting a request input by the terminal device 120. The generated input screen image data is sent to the terminal device 120 via the communication unit 112.

The request processing unit 114 specifies data that is a target of a request input from the terminal device 120. Specifically, the request processing unit 114 reads out the data to be requested input from the terminal device 120 from the data storage unit 111. The read data is sent via the communication unit 112 to the print processing server 130 belonging to the same input / output system 104 as the terminal device 120 to which the request is input. Here, the air ticket data is read from the data storage unit 111.
The control unit 115 controls the overall processing in the data processing server 110.

  Part or all of the screen image generation unit 113, the request processing unit 114, and the control unit 115 described above are stored in the memory 10 and the memory 10 as illustrated in FIG. 3A, for example. It can be configured with a processor 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program being executed. Such a program may be provided through a network, or may be provided by being recorded on a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.

  Further, part or all of the screen image generation unit 113, the request processing unit 114, and the control unit 115 may be a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, as shown in FIG. 3B, for example. It can also be configured by a processing circuit 12 such as a processor programmed in parallel, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

  The data storage unit 111 can be configured by an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), a nonvolatile memory, or a volatile memory.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the terminal device 120.
The terminal device 120 includes a display unit 121, an input unit 122, a communication unit 123, and a control unit 124.

The display unit 121 is a display device that displays various screen images. For example, the display unit 121 displays an input screen image based on the input screen image data generated by the data processing server 110.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an input screen image displayed on the display unit 121.
As shown in FIG. 5, the input screen image 121 a displays a character string instructing to hold the passport over the input unit 122 in order to accept a request for an air ticket from the user.

Returning to FIG. 4, the input unit 122 is an input device that receives an input of a request from a user. Here, the input unit 122 reads passport information from an IC (Integrated Circuit) chip provided in the passport.
The communication unit 123 is a communication interface connected to the LAN 102. For example, the communication unit 123 receives input screen image data from the data processing server 110.
The control unit 124 controls the overall processing in the terminal device 120. For example, the control unit 124 acquires the input screen image data from the data processing server 110 via the communication unit 123 and causes the display unit 121 to display the input screen image based on the acquired input screen image data. .

Part or all of the control unit 124 described above can be configured by the memory 10 and the processor 11 as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. Such a program may be provided through a network, or may be provided by being recorded on a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.
In addition, a part or all of the control unit 124 can be configured by the processing circuit 12 as shown in FIG. 3B, for example.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the print processing server 130.
The print processing server 130 includes a communication unit 131, a data conversion unit 132, and a control unit 133.
The communication unit 131 is a communication interface connected to the LAN 102. For example, the communication unit 131 receives air ticket data from the data processing server 110.
The data conversion unit 132 converts the data received by the communication unit 131 into print data (image formation data) for printing (image formation) based on the data. For example, the data conversion unit 132 converts the data into print data that the printer 140 can interpret and print. The converted print data is sent via the communication unit 131 to the printer 140 belonging to the same input / output system 104 as the own apparatus.
The control unit 133 controls the overall processing in the print processing server 130.

A part or all of the data conversion unit 132 and the control unit 133 described above can be configured by the memory 10 and the processor 11 as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. Such a program may be provided through a network, or may be provided by being recorded on a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.
Further, part or all of the data conversion unit 132 and the control unit 133 can be configured by the processing circuit 12 as shown in FIG. 3B, for example.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the printer 140.
The printer 140 includes an operation panel 141, a wired communication unit 142, a wireless communication unit 143, a printing unit 144 as an image forming unit, a failure detection unit 145, and a control unit 146.

  The operation panel 141 functions as a display unit that displays various screen images and an input unit that receives input of instructions. For example, the operation panel 141 can be configured with a touch panel.

The wired communication unit 142 is a communication interface connected to the LAN 102. For example, the wired communication unit 142 receives print data from the print processing server 130. Further, when there is a request from the monitoring server 150, the wired communication unit 142 transmits status information including the status (failure status) of the printing unit 144 of the own device to the monitoring server 150. The state here indicates, for example, whether or not a failure has been detected and, if a failure has been detected, the content of the detected failure.
The wireless communication unit 143 is a communication interface that connects to a wireless network. For example, the wireless communication unit 143 transmits status information to the monitoring server 150 via the wireless access point 103 when a failure is detected in the own device. In addition, the wireless communication unit 143 receives the handling screen image data from the monitoring server 150 via the wireless access point 103.

The printing unit 144 performs printing on a medium such as paper.
The failure detection unit 145 is an image formation failure detection unit that detects a failure that occurs in the printer 140. For example, the failure detection unit 145 detects a failure of the printing unit 144.
When the failure detection unit 145 detects a failure in the printing unit 144, the failure detection unit 145 sends status information indicating the content of the failure and identification information for identifying the own device via the wireless communication unit 143. 150. In the first embodiment, the content of the failure is “no paper”, “paper jam”, or “other”. Specifically, the failure detection unit 145 may detect a failure related to the printing unit 144 based on detection results from various sensors arranged in the printing unit 144. Note that the failure detected by the failure detection unit 145 is also referred to as an image formation failure.

  Further, when the failure detection unit 145 receives a status acquisition request from the monitoring server 150 via the wired communication unit 142, the failure detection unit 145 identifies the failure status related to the printing unit 144 of the own device and the own device as a response. Status information indicating the identification information for generating the status information is sent to the monitoring server 150 via the wired communication unit 142. Here, it is assumed that the state of the printing unit 144 of the own apparatus indicates that no failure has occurred.

The control unit 146 controls the overall processing in the printer 140.
For example, when the failure detection unit 145 detects a failure, the control unit 146 instructs the wired communication unit 142 to disconnect from the LAN 102 and connects the wireless communication unit 143 to the wireless access point 103. To establish

A part or all of the failure detection unit 145 and the control unit 146 described above can be configured by a memory 10 and a processor 11 as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. Such a program may be provided through a network, or may be provided by being recorded on a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.
Further, part or all of the failure detection unit 145 and the control unit 146 may be configured by the processing circuit 12 as shown in FIG. 3B, for example.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the monitoring server 150.
The monitoring server 150 includes a storage unit 151, a wired communication unit 152, a wireless communication unit 153, a failure grasping unit 154, a handling determination unit 155, and a control unit 156.

  The storage unit 151 stores information necessary for processing in the monitoring server 150. For example, the storage unit 151 stores state information sent from the printer 140. In addition, the storage unit 151 stores handling information indicating handling when a failure occurs in the printer 140. Furthermore, the storage unit 151 stores handling message information indicating a handling message for each handling.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of handling information.
The handling information 160 shown in FIG. 9 is information in a table format having a faulty printer column 160a, another printer column 160b, and a handling column 160c.
Each row of the faulty printer column 160a stores the contents of the fault detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 in which the fault has occurred.

Each row of the other printer column 160b stores the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred.
For example, when the other printer row 160b is “normal”, it indicates that no failure is detected in the printing units 144 of all the printers 140 other than the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred.
When the other printer row 160b is “no paper”, it indicates that the “no paper” is the only fault detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 in which the fault has occurred.
When the other printer row 160b is “paper jam”, it is indicated that the fault detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 in which the fault has occurred is only “paper jam”.
When the other printer row 160b is “other”, the failure detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred is only “other” or the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred. This indicates that the faults detected by the printing unit 144 of the other printer 140 include at least two of “others”, “no paper”, and “paper jam”.

Each row of the countermeasure column 160c stores countermeasure identification information for identifying a countermeasure to be taken by the printer 140 in which a failure has occurred.
With the handling information 160 as described above, the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred, the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred, and the handling can be associated. For this reason, it is possible to specify a countermeasure corresponding to the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred and the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of countermeasure message information.
The handling message information 161 shown in FIG. 10 is information in a table format having a handling column 161a and a handling message column 161b.
Each row of the countermeasure column 161a stores countermeasure identification information.
Each row of the handling message column 161b stores a handling message indicating what kind of handling should be performed.
Based on the handling message information 161 as described above, handling and handling messages for performing such handling can be associated with each other. For this reason, the countermeasure message corresponding to the countermeasure can be specified.

  Returning to FIG. 8, the wired communication unit 152 is a communication interface connected to the LAN 102. For example, the wired communication unit 152 transmits a status acquisition request, which is a request for acquiring status information, to the printer 140, and receives the status information as a response.

  The wireless communication unit 153 is a communication interface that connects to a wireless network. For example, the wireless communication unit 153 receives status information from the printer 140 in which a failure has occurred via the wireless access point 103. In addition, the wireless communication unit 153 transmits the handling screen image data to the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred via the wireless access point 103.

The failure grasping unit 154 grasps the status of all the printers 140 from the detection result of the failure in all the printers 140 when a failure is detected in any of the printers 140.
Specifically, when acquiring the state information from the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred from the wireless communication unit 153, the failure grasping unit 154 stores the state information in the storage unit 151. Then, the failure grasping unit 154 sends a status acquisition request to another printer 140 via the wired communication unit 152. Then, when acquiring the status information from the other printer 140 from the wired communication unit 152 as a response to the status acquisition request, the fault grasping unit 154 stores the status information in the storage unit 151. At this time, when the status information from the corresponding other printer 140 is already stored in the storage unit 151, the corresponding status information already stored is obtained from the status information acquired from the wired communication unit 152. Update. Thereby, the failure grasping unit 154 can acquire the latest state information.
With the above processing, the failure grasping unit 154 can grasp the contents of the failure detected by all the printers 140. Accordingly, the failure grasping unit 154 can grasp the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred and the state of the printing unit 144 of other printers 140 from the detection result of the failure. Specifically, the failure grasping unit 154 can grasp the content of the failure detected by the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred and the state of other printers 140.

The handling determination unit 155 determines a handling corresponding to the state of the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred and the state of the printing unit 144 of the other printers 140. For example, the handling determination unit 155 refers to the handling information stored in the storage unit 151, so that the contents of the failure detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred and the printing units of the other printers 140. The countermeasure corresponding to the state of 144 is determined. Then, the handling determination unit 155 refers to the handling message information stored in the storage unit 151 to identify the handling message corresponding to the determined handling, and the screen image data of the handling screen image including the handling message Is generated. Then, the handling determination unit 155 sends the handling screen image data to the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred via the wireless communication unit 153. In the printer 140, a countermeasure screen image is displayed on the operation panel 141 based on the countermeasure screen image data.
When the countermeasure screen image data is generated, the countermeasure determination unit 155 deletes the state information stored in the storage unit 151.

  The control unit 156 controls the overall processing in the monitoring server 150.

A part or all of the fault grasping unit 154, the handling determining unit 155, and the control unit 156 described above are configured by a memory 10 and a processor 11, for example, as shown in FIG. be able to. Such a program may be provided through a network, or may be provided by being recorded on a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.
In addition, a part or all of the fault grasping unit 154, the handling determining unit 155, and the control unit 156 can be configured by the processing circuit 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3B, for example.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a printing operation in the printing system 101.
Here, an operation in which the terminal device 120, the data processing server 110, the print processing server 130, and the printer 140 print an air ticket in cooperation with each other will be described.

First, the display unit 121 of the terminal device 120 displays an input screen image 121a as shown in FIG. 5, and the input unit 122 reads passport information from the user's passport (S10).
The communication unit 123 of the terminal device 120 transmits the read passport information to the data processing server 110 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 124 (S11).

In the data processing server 110 that has received the passport information, the request processing unit 114 reads the air ticket data corresponding to the received passport information from the data storage unit 111 (S12).
The request processing unit 114 provides the read air ticket data to the communication unit 112, and the communication unit 112 transmits the air ticket data to the print processing server 130 (S13).

In the print processing server 130 that has received the air ticket data, the data converter 132 converts the received air ticket data into print data that can be interpreted by the printer 140 (S14).
The data conversion unit 132 provides the converted print data to the communication unit 131, and the communication unit 131 transmits the print data to the printer 140 (S15).

  In the printer 140 that has received the print data, the printing unit 144 executes printing based on the received print data (S16).

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation when a failure is detected in the information processing system 100.
First, when a failure occurs in the printing unit 144 of the printer 140, the failure detection unit 145 detects the failure (S20). For example, the failure detection unit 145 detects a failure of “no paper” or “paper jam”. Then, the failure detection unit 145 notifies the control unit 146 of the content of the detected failure.

  Upon receiving the notification from the failure detection unit 145, the control unit 146 instructs the wired communication unit 142 to disconnect from the LAN 102, and in response to such an instruction, the wired communication unit 142 Is disconnected (S21). As a result, the print processing server 130 can no longer send print data to the printer 140, and the print processing server 130 can continue to process a plurality of subsequent requests and suppress the situation in which the print data stays. .

Further, the control unit 146 instructs the wireless communication unit 143 to establish a connection with the wireless access point 103, and the wireless communication unit 143 establishes a connection with the wireless access point 103 (S22).
Then, the failure detection unit 145 generates state information indicating the content of the failure and identification information for identifying the own device, and gives the generated state information to the wireless communication unit 143. The wireless communication unit 143 The status information is transmitted to the monitoring server 150 (S23).

  In the monitoring server 150 that has received the state information, the failure grasping unit 154 stores the received state information in the storage unit 151 (S24). At this time, the failure grasping unit 154 notifies the handling determining unit 155 of the identification information included in the received state information.

  In addition, the failure grasping unit 154 sends a predetermined state acquisition request to the wire communication to grasp the contents of the failure detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 other than the printer 140 that has transmitted the state information in step S23. The wired communication unit 152 transmits a status acquisition request to the printer 140 connected to the LAN 102. Then, the wired communication unit 152 receives the status information from the printer 140 as a response to the status acquisition request, and provides the received status information to the failure grasping unit 154. The failure grasping unit 154 stores the received state information in the storage unit 151 (S25).

  The coping judgment unit 155 uses the status information stored in the storage unit 151 to determine the contents of the failure detected by the printing unit 144 of the printer 140 that has sent the status information in step S23 and the printing units 144 of the other printers 140. And the corresponding countermeasure is identified by referring to the countermeasure information stored in the storage unit 151. Then, the countermeasure determination unit 155 refers to the countermeasure message information stored in the storage unit 151, identifies the countermeasure message corresponding to the identified countermeasure, and displays the countermeasure screen image data for displaying the identified countermeasure message. Generate (S26).

  Here, if a failure has occurred in the printing unit 144 of the other printer 140, the other printer 140 has also disconnected from the LAN 102, and therefore the other printer 140 displays “normal”. The status information shown is transmitted. For the printer 140 that has not transmitted the state information, it is assumed that the state information indicating the content of the failure has already been transmitted via the wireless access point 103 and stored in the storage unit 151.

  When all the other printers 140 have sent “normal” status information, the handling determination unit 155 sets the other printer column 160b of the handling information 160 shown in FIG. to decide. When the status indicated by the status information sent from the other printer 140 indicates only “no paper” other than “normal”, the countermeasure determining unit 155 sets the other printer column 160b to “no paper”. " Further, when the status indicated by the status information sent from the other printer 140 indicates only “paper jam” other than “normal”, the countermeasure determining unit 155 sets the other printer column 160b to “paper jam”. " Further, when the status indicated by the status information sent from another printer 140 indicates only “Other” other than “Normal”, or “Normal”, “No paper”, “Paper jam” And “other”, the coping determination unit 155 determines that the other printer column 160b is “other”.

Then, the handling determination unit 155 gives the generated handling screen image data to the wireless communication unit 153, and the wireless communication unit 153 transmits the handling screen image data to the printer 140 that has sent the state information in step S23. (S27).
In the printer 140 that has received the handling screen image data, the control unit 146 causes the operation panel 141 to display a handling screen image for displaying a handling message based on the received handling screen image data (S28).

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, in the printer 140 in which a failure has occurred, it is possible to display a countermeasure message indicating a countermeasure in consideration of the state of another printer 140.

  In the first embodiment described above, the failure grasping unit 154 of the monitoring server 150 sends a status acquisition request to the other printer 140 using the wired communication unit 152. It is not limited to such an example. For example, the failure grasping unit 154 may send a status acquisition request to another printer 140 via the wireless communication unit 153. In such a case, status information indicating “normal”, “no paper”, “paper jam”, or “other” is sent from the other printer 140. In order to enable such processing, the printer 140 always establishes a connection with the wireless access point 103.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing system 200 according to the second embodiment includes a printing system 201 and a monitoring server 250.

The printing system 201 includes a data processing server 210 and a plurality of input / output systems 204.
Each of the plurality of input / output systems 204 includes a terminal device 120, a print processing server 230, and a printer 140.
The terminal device 120 and the printer 140 in the second embodiment are the same as the terminal device 120 and the printer 140 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the data processing server 210 in the second embodiment.
The data processing server 210 includes a data storage unit 111, a communication unit 112, a screen image generation unit 113, a request processing unit 114, a control unit 215, a wireless communication unit 216, and a failure detection unit 217.
The data storage unit 111, the communication unit 112, the screen image generation unit 113, and the request processing unit 114 of the data processing server 210 in the second embodiment are the same as the data storage unit 111, the communication unit 112, and the data processing unit 110 of the first embodiment. The screen image generation unit 113 and the request processing unit 114 are the same.

  The wireless communication unit 216 is a communication interface that connects to a wireless network. For example, when a failure occurs in the device itself, the wireless communication unit 216 indicates the state of the device itself, in other words, the state of the request processing unit 114 of the device itself, to the monitoring server 250 via the wireless access point 103. Send status information.

The failure detection unit 217 is a request processing failure detection unit that detects a failure that occurs in the data processing server 210. For example, the failure detection unit 217 detects a failure related to the request processing unit 114.
When the failure detection unit 217 detects a failure that occurs in the data processing server 210, the failure detection unit 217 transmits status information indicating the content of the failure and identification information for identifying the own device via the wireless communication unit 216. To the monitoring server 250. Note that a failure detected by the failure detection unit 217 is also referred to as a request processing failure.

  The data processing server 210 may not be able to connect to the LAN 102 due to an unexpected power failure or the like, and may not be able to communicate with the terminal device 120 and the print processing server 230. In such a case, the failure detection unit 217 detects a failure in which the request processing unit 114 cannot identify the data to be requested, or a failure in which the data specified in the request processing unit 114 cannot be transmitted. Generate status information indicating the contents of the failure. The state information generated here indicates, for example, “communication impossible”.

  Further, when the failure detection unit 217 receives a status acquisition request from the monitoring server 250 via the communication unit 112, the failure detection unit 217 responds with the status of the own device, in other words, the status of the request processing unit 114 of the own device. Then, status information indicating identification information for identifying the device itself is generated, and the generated status information is sent to the monitoring server 250 via the communication unit 112. The state information generated here indicates, for example, “normal”.

  When the failure detection unit 217 detects a failure, the control unit 215 instructs the communication unit 112 to disconnect from the LAN 102 and establishes a connection with the wireless access point 103 in the wireless communication unit 216. To instruct.

A part or all of the screen image generation unit 113, the request processing unit 114, the control unit 215, and the failure detection unit 217 described above may include, for example, a memory 10 as illustrated in FIG. The processor 11 can be configured.
Further, part or all of the screen image generation unit 113, the request processing unit 114, the control unit 215, and the failure detection unit 217 are configured by the processing circuit 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3B, for example. You can also.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the print processing server 230.
The print processing server 230 includes a communication unit 131, a data conversion unit 132, a control unit 233, a wireless communication unit 234, and a failure detection unit 235.
The communication unit 131 and the data conversion unit 132 of the print processing server 230 in the second embodiment are the same as the communication unit 131 and the data conversion unit 132 of the print processing server 130 in the first embodiment.

  The wireless communication unit 234 is a communication interface that connects to a wireless network. For example, when a failure occurs in the own device, the wireless communication unit 234 indicates the state of the own device, in other words, the state of the data conversion unit 132 of the own device, to the monitoring server 250 via the wireless access point 103. Send status information.

The failure detection unit 235 is a data conversion failure detection unit that detects a failure that occurs in the print processing server 230. For example, the failure detection unit 235 detects a failure of the data conversion unit 132.
When the failure detection unit 235 detects a failure that occurs in the print processing server 230, the failure detection unit 235 sends status information indicating the content of the failure and identification information for identifying the device itself via the wireless communication unit 234. To the monitoring server 250. Note that a failure detected by the failure detection unit 235 is also referred to as a data conversion failure.

  Further, when the failure detection unit 235 receives a status acquisition request from the monitoring server 250 via the communication unit 131, the failure detection unit 235 responds with the status of the own device, in other words, the status of the data conversion unit 132 of the own device. Then, status information indicating identification information for identifying the own device is generated, and the generated status information is sent to the monitoring server 250 via the communication unit 131. The state information generated here indicates, for example, “normal”.

  The print processing server 230 is a process in which the data conversion unit 132 converts the air ticket data into print data when, for example, many users who wish to issue air tickets are forced to accept a large number of requests at once. May temporarily stay, or may not be processed due to excessive requests. In such a case, the failure detection unit 235 detects a failure and generates state information indicating the content of the failure. The status information generated here indicates, for example, “request retention” or “request excess”.

  When the failure detection unit 235 detects a failure, the control unit 233 instructs the communication unit 131 to disconnect from the LAN 102 and establishes a connection with the wireless access point 103 in the wireless communication unit 234. To instruct.

A part or all of the data conversion unit 132, the control unit 233, and the failure detection unit 235 described above are configured by the memory 10 and the processor 11, for example, as shown in FIG. be able to.
In addition, some or all of the data conversion unit 132, the control unit 233, and the failure detection unit 235 may be configured by the processing circuit 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3B, for example.

As shown in FIG. 8, the monitoring server 250 according to the second embodiment includes a storage unit 251, a wired communication unit 152, a wireless communication unit 153, a failure grasping unit 254, a countermeasure determining unit 255, and a control. Part 156.
The wired communication unit 152, wireless communication unit 153, and control unit 156 of the monitoring server 250 in the second embodiment are the same as the wired communication unit 152, wireless communication unit 153, and control unit 156 of the monitoring server 150 in the first embodiment. .

  The storage unit 251 stores information necessary for processing in the monitoring server 250. For example, the storage unit 251 stores state information sent from the data processing server 210, the print processing server 230, and the printer 140. In addition, the storage unit 251 stores handling information indicating handling when a failure occurs in the data processing server 210, the print processing server 230, or the printer 140. Furthermore, the storage unit 251 stores countermeasure message information indicating a countermeasure message for each countermeasure.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of countermeasure information in the second embodiment.
The handling information 260 shown in FIG. 15 is information in a table format having a data processing server column 260a, a faulty input / output system column 260b, another input / output system column 260e, and a handling column 260h.
The failure occurrence input / output system column 260b includes a print processing server column 260c and a printer column 260d, and the other input / output system column 260e includes a print processing server column 260f and a printer column 260g.

Each row of the data processing server column 260a stores the state of the data processing server 210 (the state regarding the request processing unit 114 of the data processing server 210).
Each row of the print processing server column 260c includes the state of the print processing server 230 in which the failure has occurred (the state of the data conversion unit 132 of the print processing server 230) or the input / output including the printer 140 in which the failure has occurred. The state of the print processing server 230 included in the system 204 (the state of the data conversion unit 132 of such a print processing server 230) is stored.
Here, the input / output system 204 including the print processing server 230 in which a failure has occurred or the printer 140 in which a failure has occurred is also referred to as a failure input / output system 204.
Each row of the printer column 260d stores the status of the printer 140 included in the failure input / output system 204 (the status of the printing unit 144 of such a printer 140).

Each row of the print processing server column 260c stores the state of the print processing server 230 included in the input / output systems 204 other than the faulty input / output system 204 (the state of the data conversion unit 132 of the print processing server 230). To do.
Each row of the printer column 260d stores the status of the printer 140 included in the input / output systems 204 other than the faulty input / output system 204 (the status of the printing unit 144 of such a printer 140).

Each row of the response column 260h identifies a response to be taken by all the printers 140 or a response to be taken by the printer 140 included in the failure occurrence input / output system 204 when a failure occurs in the data processing server 210. The action identification information for storing is stored.
With the handling information 260 as described above, when a failure occurs in the printing system 201, the state of the device in which the failure has occurred, the state of another device, and the handling can be associated with each other. For this reason, it is possible to identify the countermeasure corresponding to the state of the device in which the failure has occurred and the state of the other device. Specifically, when a failure occurs in the printing system 201, the content of the failure detected by the device in which the failure has occurred, the state of another device, and the response can be associated with the countermeasure information 260. For this reason, it is possible to identify the countermeasure corresponding to the content of the failure detected by the device in which the failure has occurred and the state of the other device.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of countermeasure message information.
The handling message information 261 shown in FIG. 16 is information in a table format having a handling column 261a and a handling message column 261b.
Each row of the countermeasure column 261a stores countermeasure identification information.
Each row of the handling message column 261b stores a handling message indicating what kind of handling should be performed.
Based on the handling message information 261 as described above, handling can be associated with a handling message for performing such handling. For this reason, the countermeasure message corresponding to the countermeasure can be specified.

Returning to FIG. 8, when a failure is detected in any one of the data processing server 210, the print processing server 230, and the printer 140, the failure grasping unit 254 includes the data processing server 210 and print processing included in the printing system 201. The contents of the failure detected in all of the server 230 and the printer 140 are grasped. Accordingly, the failure grasping unit 254 can grasp the state of the device in which the failure has occurred and the state of the group including other devices. Specifically, the failure grasping unit 254 can grasp the content of the failure that has occurred in the device in which the failure has occurred and the state of the group that includes other devices.
For example, when the failure grasping unit 254 acquires the state information indicating the content of the failure from the wireless communication unit 153, the failure grasping unit 254 stores the state information in the storage unit 251. Then, the failure grasping unit 254 sends a status acquisition request to another device connected to the LAN 102 via the wired communication unit 152. Then, when the failure grasping unit 254 acquires the state information of another device from the wired communication unit 152 as a response to the state acquisition request, the failure grasping unit 254 stores the state information in the storage unit 251. At this time, if the status information from the corresponding other device is already stored in the storage unit 251, the corresponding status information already stored is updated with the status information acquired from the wired communication unit 152. To do. Thereby, the failure grasping unit 254 can acquire the latest state information.

The coping determination unit 255 determines coping corresponding to the state of the device in which the failure has occurred and the state of the other device. Specifically, the handling determination unit 255 refers to the handling information stored in the storage unit 251, and corresponds to the content of the failure detected by the device in which the failure has occurred and the state of the other device. Determine what to do.
Also, the handling determination unit 255 identifies the handling message corresponding to the determined handling by referring to the handling message information stored in the storage unit 251, and generates handling screen image data indicating the handling message. . Then, the handling determination unit 255 sends the handling screen image data to all the printers 140 or the printers 140 included in the failure occurrence input / output system 204 via the wireless communication unit 153 or the wired communication unit 152.
Note that the handling determination unit 255 deletes the state information stored in the storage unit 251 when the handling screen image data is generated.

  Here, when the data processing server 210 has transmitted status information indicating the content of the failure via the wireless access point 103, the countermeasure screen image is transmitted to all the printers 140 via the wired communication unit 152. Data is sent.

  On the other hand, when the print processing server 230 transmits status information indicating the content of the failure via the wireless access point 103, the input / output system 204 including the print processing server 230 is set as the failure occurrence input / output system 204. The countermeasure is determined based on the state of the other device. Then, the countermeasure screen image data is sent to the printer 140 belonging to the failure occurrence input / output system 204 via the wireless communication unit 153. In the second embodiment, a failure has occurred in the print processing server 230 included in the failure input / output system 204, and a failure has occurred in the printer 140 included in the failure input / output system 204. In such a case, the countermeasure determining unit 255 may send the countermeasure screen image data via the wired communication unit 152.

  When the printer 140 has transmitted status information indicating the content of the failure via the wireless access point 103, the input / output system 204 including the printer 140 is designated as the failure input / output system 204, and other devices The action is determined in the state of. Then, the handling screen image data is sent to the printer 140 via the wireless communication unit 153.

A part or all of the fault grasping unit 254, the handling determining unit 255, and the control unit 156 described above are configured by a memory 10 and a processor 11, for example, as shown in FIG. be able to.
In addition, part or all of the fault grasping unit 254, the countermeasure determining unit 255, and the control unit 156 can be configured by the processing circuit 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3B, for example.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the input unit 122 of the terminal device 120 reads the passport information from the passport. However, the first embodiment and the second embodiment are such examples. It is not limited to. For example, the input unit 122 may input a reservation number or read a barcode of a boarding reservation ticket.

  In the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above, the terminal device 120 receives a request from the user, but the first embodiment or the second embodiment is not limited to such an example. For example, an information processing system 300 illustrated in FIG. 17 may be configured.

In the information processing system 300 illustrated in FIG. 17, the printing system 301 includes an input / output system 304.
In the input / output system 304, the printer 140 illustrated in FIG. 7 executes the processing performed by the display unit 121, the input unit 122, the communication unit 123, and the control unit 124 of the terminal device 120 illustrated in FIG. The input / output device 340 is realized.
With this configuration, the terminal device 120 can be omitted.

  Further, for example, an information processing system 400 illustrated in FIG. 18 may be configured.

In the information processing system 400 illustrated in FIG. 18, the printing system 401 includes an input / output device 440.
The input / output device 440 performs processing performed by the display unit 121, the input unit 122, the communication unit 123, and the control unit 124 of the terminal device 120 illustrated in FIG. 4, and communication of the print processing server 130 illustrated in FIG. The processing performed by the unit 131, the data conversion unit 132, and the control unit 133 is implemented by the printer 140 illustrated in FIG.
With this configuration, the terminal device 120 and the print processing server 130 can be omitted.
Note that the failure detection unit 145 of the input / output device 440 can display a handling message as in the second embodiment by detecting the failure of the data conversion unit 132 in addition to the printing unit 144.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the information processing systems 100 to 400 are described as systems that issue airline tickets. However, in the first and second embodiments, the information processing systems 100 to 400 are systems that issue airline tickets. It is not limited to such an example.
For example, the information processing systems 100 to 400 can be used as a system for issuing coupon tickets.

  Specifically, the information processing systems 100 to 400 can be used as a system attached to a POS (Point of sale) installed at a cash register such as a retail store. In such a system, the terminal device 120 reads product information that is product information in order to request a coupon, and the data processing servers 110 and 210 are coupon data that is coupon data corresponding to the product information. Data is transmitted to the print processing server 130. Such coupon data is converted into print data by the print processing servers 130 and 230, and a coupon is printed by the printer 140 based on the print data.

In such a case, for example, if a handling message such as “Please use another terminal” is displayed on the printer 140, the user who wants to obtain a coupon can line up at another cash register without obtaining a coupon. Good users can be encouraged to just pay for it.
In such a POS system, in the information processing system 400 shown in FIG. 18, it is desirable that processing in the input / output device 440 is executed by a register.

The information processing systems 100 to 400 can also be used as a reception system installed near the entrance of a securities company or a bank.
Specifically, the terminal device 120 accepts a request for issuing a receipt number, and the data processing servers 110 and 210 print the receipt number slip data, which is data of the receipt number slip corresponding to the order of the accepted requests. Send to server 130. Such receipt number slip data is converted into print data by the print processing servers 130 and 230, and the receipt number slip is printed by the printer 140 based on the print data.

  Also in such a case, in the information processing system 400 shown in FIG. 18, it is desirable that the processing in the input / output device 440 is executed by the reception device.

  In the first and second embodiments, the print processing servers 130 and 230 are provided so as to correspond to the printer 140 on a one-to-one basis. However, the first and second embodiments are such examples. It is not limited. For example, the printing systems 101 to 301 may include one print processing server 130 or 230 and transmit print data to the corresponding printer 140 or input / output device 340.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the countermeasure message is displayed on the operation panel 141 of the printer 140, but the first embodiment and the second embodiment are not limited to such an example. For example, the terminal device 120 and the printer 140 are each provided with an interface corresponding to USB (Universal serial bus), are connected by a USB cable or the like, and a countermeasure message is sent from the printer 140 to the terminal device 120, and the terminal device 120 A countermeasure message may be displayed.

In the first embodiment, the printer 140 includes the wired communication unit 142 and the wireless communication unit 143, and disconnects the connection to the LAN 102 when a failure occurs. It is not limited to a specific example. For example, the printer 140 uses a first IP address (first communication address) belonging to the first subnet, a first communication unit that communicates with the first network, and a second subnet belonging to the second subnet. And a second communication unit that communicates with the second network using the second IP address (second communication address), and the monitoring server 150 also includes a third subnet belonging to the first subnet. Using the IP address (third communication address), the third communication unit that communicates with the first network, and the fourth IP address (fourth communication address) belonging to the second subnet, You may comprise so that the 4th communication part which communicates with a 2nd network may be provided. The data processing server 110, the terminal device 120, and the print processing server 230 are configured to be able to communicate with the first network, so that when the printer 140 fails, the connection with the first network is disconnected. However, communication with the monitoring server 150 may be performed via the second network.
In the second embodiment, similarly, the first network and the second network may be switched.
With this configuration, it is not necessary to provide the wireless access point 103.

  100, 200, 300, 400 Information processing system, 101, 201, 301, 401 Printing system, 104, 204, 304 Input / output system, 110, 210 Data processing server, 111 Data storage unit, 112 Communication unit, 113 Screen image generation Unit, 114 request processing unit, 115, 215 control unit, 216 wireless communication unit, 217 failure detection unit, 120 terminal device, 121 display unit, 122 input unit, 123 communication unit, 124 control unit, 130, 230 print processing server, 131 communication unit, 132 data conversion unit, 133, 233 control unit, 234 wireless communication unit, 235 failure detection unit, 140 printer, 340, 440 input / output device, 141 operation panel, 142 wired communication unit, 143 wireless communication unit, 44 printing unit, 145 failure detection unit, 146 control unit, 150,250 monitoring server, 151,251 storage unit, 152 wired communication unit, 153 wireless communication unit, 154,254 failure grasping unit, 155,255 coping determination unit, 156 Control unit.

Claims (13)

A first input unit;
A first display unit;
A first image forming unit corresponding to the first input unit and the first display unit;
A second input unit;
A second display;
A second image forming unit corresponding to the second input unit and the second display unit;
A processing unit for specifying data to be requested by the first input unit or the second input unit;
A data conversion unit that converts the data specified by the processing unit into image formation data for forming an image in the first image forming unit or the second image forming unit;
The first display unit includes:
When a failure occurs in the first image forming unit, a corresponding message is displayed according to the states of the first image forming unit and the second image forming unit. system. A first image formation failure detection unit for detecting the failure occurring in the first image formation unit;
A second image formation fault detecting unit for detecting the fault occurring in the second image forming unit;
Detection by the first image formation failure detection unit and the second image formation failure detection unit when the first image formation failure detection unit detects the failure occurring in the first image forming apparatus. From the result, a fault grasping unit for grasping the state of the first image forming unit and the second image forming unit,
A coping judgment unit that judges coping with the fault detected by the first image formation fault detection unit according to the grasped state;
The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first display unit displays the handling message indicating the handling. The failure grasping unit grasps the content of the failure detected by the first image formation failure detection unit from the detection result in the first image formation failure detection unit,
The response determination unit determines the response according to the content of the failure detected by the first image formation failure detection unit and the state of the second image formation unit. Item 3. The information processing system according to Item 2. A storage unit for storing handling information indicating the handling corresponding to the content of the fault detected by the first image forming fault detection unit and the state of the second image forming unit;
The information processing system according to claim 4, wherein the countermeasure determination unit determines the countermeasure by referring to the countermeasure information. The storage unit further stores handling message information that associates the handling and the handling message indicating the handling,
The handling determination unit refers to the handling message information, identifies the handling message corresponding to the determined handling, generates image data of a handling screen image indicating the identified handling message,
The information processing system according to claim 4, wherein the first display unit displays the countermeasure message based on the image data. A first input unit;
A first display unit;
A first image forming apparatus corresponding to the first input unit and the first display unit;
A data processing server for specifying data to be requested, which is input at the first input unit;
A data conversion server that converts the data specified by the data processing server into image formation data for forming an image by the first image forming apparatus;
The first display unit is configured to display the first image forming apparatus and the data processing when a failure occurs in any one of the first image forming apparatus, the data processing server, and the data conversion server. An information processing system displaying a corresponding message according to a state of the server and the data conversion server. The first image forming apparatus includes a first image forming fault detection unit that detects the fault occurring in the first image forming apparatus.
The data processing server includes a request processing failure detection unit that detects the failure that occurs in the data processing server,
The data conversion server includes a data conversion failure detection unit that detects the failure that occurs in the data conversion server,
When the first image formation failure detection unit, the request processing failure detection unit, or the data conversion failure detection unit detects the failure that has occurred in the one device, the first image formation failure detection unit, A failure grasping unit for grasping the status of the first image forming apparatus, the data processing server, and the data conversion server from the detection results in the request processing failure detection unit and the data conversion failure detection unit;
A coping determination unit that determines coping with the failure that has occurred in the one device according to the grasped state;
The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the first display unit displays the countermeasure message indicating the countermeasure. The failure grasping unit, from the detection results in the first image formation failure detection unit, the request processing failure detection unit, and the data conversion failure detection unit, the content of the failure that occurred in the one device, and the Grasping the status of the group including the first image forming apparatus, the data processing server and the data conversion server, excluding one apparatus;
The information processing system according to claim 7, wherein the coping judgment unit judges the coping according to a content of the failure that has occurred in the one device and a state of the group. A second input unit;
A second display;
A second image forming apparatus corresponding to the second input unit and the second display unit,
The data processing server also identifies data to be requested by the second input unit,
The data conversion server also converts the data to be requested by the second input unit into image forming data for forming an image by the second image forming apparatus,
The first display unit responds to a state of the first image forming apparatus, the second image forming apparatus, the data processing server, and the data conversion server when a failure occurs in the one apparatus. The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the countermeasure message is displayed. The first image forming apparatus includes a first image forming fault detection unit that detects the fault occurring in the first image forming apparatus.
The second image forming apparatus includes a second image forming fault detection unit that detects the fault occurring in the second image forming apparatus,
The data processing server includes a request processing failure detection unit that detects the failure that occurs in the data processing server,
The data conversion server includes a data conversion failure detection unit that detects the failure that occurs in the data conversion server,
When the first image formation failure detection unit, the request processing failure detection unit, or the data conversion failure detection unit detects the failure that has occurred in the one device, the first image formation failure detection unit, From the detection results of the second image formation failure detection unit, the request processing failure detection unit, and the data conversion failure detection unit, the first image formation device, the second image formation device, the data processing server, and A fault grasping unit for grasping the state of the data conversion server;
A coping determination unit that determines coping with the failure that has occurred in the one device according to the grasped state;
The information processing system according to claim 9, wherein the first display unit displays the countermeasure message indicating the countermeasure. The fault grasping unit is configured by the one device based on detection results of the first image forming fault detecting unit, the second image forming fault detecting unit, the request processing fault detecting unit, and the data conversion fault detecting unit. Understanding the contents of the failure that has occurred and the status of the group including the first image forming apparatus, the second image forming apparatus, the data processing server, and the data conversion server, excluding the one apparatus,
The information processing system according to claim 10, wherein the coping judgment unit judges the coping according to a content of the failure that has occurred in the one device and a state of the group. A storage unit for storing countermeasure information indicating the countermeasure corresponding to the content of the failure that has occurred in the one device and the state of the group;
The information processing system according to claim 8 or 11, wherein the countermeasure determination unit determines the countermeasure by referring to the countermeasure information. The storage unit further stores handling message information that associates the handling and the handling message indicating the handling,
The handling determination unit refers to the handling message information, identifies the handling message corresponding to the determined handling, generates image data of a handling screen image indicating the identified handling message,
The information processing system according to claim 12, wherein the first display unit displays the countermeasure message based on the image data.

Images