JP2020016931A - Information storage device, information communication system and information communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information storage device capable of easily finding files in a storage unit.SOLUTION: An information storage device 101 performs short-range radio communication with a portable terminal device 200. The information storage device 101 has a storage unit 20, a reception unit 51a, a search unit 10a and a transmission unit 51b. The storage unit 20 stores a plurality of files. The reception unit 51a receives request information from the portable terminal device 200. The search unit 10a searches related files from among the plurality of files. The transmission unit 51b transmits the search result of the search unit 10a to the portable terminal device 200. The related file is associated with the request information. The request information indicates a character string contained in the name of one file in the plurality of files.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information storage device, an information communication system, and an information communication method.

  An information display system including a portable terminal device and an image forming apparatus is known. In the information display system described in Patent Literature 1, when a trouble occurs in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus specifies the type of the trouble and detects the presence of the portable terminal device by short-range wireless communication. The image forming apparatus transmits access information to the support center to the portable terminal device through short-range wireless communication.

JP 2015-126246 A

  However, according to the information display system described in Patent Literature 1, information on a file stored in the image forming apparatus cannot be transmitted to the portable terminal device. The information on the file is, for example, storage location information or file list information. Therefore, in the information display system described in Patent Literature 1, it is difficult for the user to easily find the file stored in the image forming apparatus.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide an information storage device, an information communication system, and an information communication method that can easily search for a file stored in an image forming apparatus.

  An information storage device according to the present invention performs short-range wireless communication with a portable terminal device. The information storage device has a storage unit, a reception unit, a search unit, and a transmission unit. The storage unit stores a plurality of files. The receiving unit receives request information from the mobile terminal device. The search unit searches for a related file from a plurality of files. The transmission unit transmits a search result of the search unit to the mobile terminal device. The related file is related to the request information. The request information includes a character string included in the name of one of the files.

  An information communication system according to the present invention includes an information storage device and a portable terminal device.

  An information communication method according to the present invention is executed by an information storage device. An information communication method according to the present invention includes a step of receiving request information from a mobile terminal device, a step of searching for a related file from a plurality of files, and a step of transmitting a search result by the searching step to the mobile terminal device. including.

  According to the information storage device of the present invention, a file can be easily found.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an information communication system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a block diagram showing the personal digital assistant device concerning this embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the mobile terminal device according to the embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding portions have the same reference characters allotted, and description thereof will not be repeated.

  An overall configuration of an information communication system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an information communication system 1 according to the present embodiment. The information communication system 1 includes an information storage device 101 and a portable terminal device 200. When the user selects one of the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication, the information storage device 101 and the portable terminal device 200 perform wireless communication.

  The first wireless communication is NFC (NEAR Field Communication). Since the communication speed of NFC is 424 kbps at the maximum, only small-capacity information can be transmitted and received in the first wireless communication. The small-capacity information is, for example, information converted into an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) code.

  The second wireless communication is communication using a communication method (protocol) such as Wi-Fi Direct (Wireless Fidelity Direct) (registered trademark). Therefore, in the second wireless communication, a large amount of information can be transmitted and received. However, in order to use the second wireless communication, connection setting is required.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 includes an information storage device 101, an image forming unit 30, an input unit 40, a display unit 60, a reading unit 70, a feeding unit 80, a conveying unit 90, and a discharging unit 91. . The information storage device 101 includes a control unit 10, a storage unit 20, a large-capacity communication unit 50, and a small-capacity communication unit 51.

  The storage unit 20 includes, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a random access memory (RAM), and a read only memory (ROM). The storage unit 20 stores various data such as a plurality of files A to E and a control program for controlling the operation of each unit of the image forming apparatus 100. The control program is executed by the control unit 10.

  A file name is assigned to each of the plurality of files A to E by the user. The file format of each of the plurality of files A to E is, for example, Word (registered trademark), Excel (registered trademark), PDF (Portable Document Format), TIFF (tag image file format), XPS (XML Paper Specification), or XPS (XML Paper Specification). , JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).

  The extension indicating Word is “.doc”. The extension indicating Excel is “.xls”. The extension indicating PDF is “.pdf”. The extension indicating TIFF is “.tif”. The extension indicating XPS is “.xps”. The extension indicating JPEG is “.jpeg”.

  Further, the storage unit 20 is provided with a plurality of folders a to c. A folder name is given to each of the plurality of folders a to c by the user. Each of the plurality of files A to E is stored in any of the plurality of folders a to c.

  The control unit 10 is a hardware circuit including a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 10 controls the operation of each unit of the image forming apparatus 100 by causing the processor to read and execute the control program stored in the storage unit 20. The control unit 10 functions as a search unit 10a, a request information control unit 10b, a search result control unit 10c, and a creation unit 10d.

  The small-capacity communication unit 51 (first wireless communication unit) includes a small-capacity receiving unit 51a and a small-capacity transmitting unit 51b. Only when the portable terminal device 200 is located within the first predetermined distance from the small-capacity communication unit 51, information is transmitted and received between the small-capacity communication unit 51 and the portable terminal device 200. For example, the first predetermined distance is 10 cm, and it is preferable that the portable terminal device 200 and the small-capacity communication unit 51 are in contact with each other. The small-capacity receiving unit 51a receives request information from the mobile terminal device 200. The small-capacity transmitting unit 51b transmits the search result to the mobile terminal device 200.

  The large-capacity communication unit 50 (second wireless communication unit) includes a large-capacity reception unit 50a and a large-capacity transmission unit 50b. When the distance between the large-capacity communication unit 50 and the portable terminal device 200 falls within the second predetermined distance, and the connection setting is performed by the user, the information between the large-capacity communication unit 50 and the portable terminal device 200 is changed. Is transmitted and received. For example, the second predetermined distance is 100 m. The large-capacity receiving unit 50a receives information from the mobile terminal device 200. The large-capacity transmitting unit 50b transmits one of the plurality of files A to E to the mobile terminal device 200.

  Subsequently, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a copying machine, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral. Hereinafter, as an example, a case where the image forming apparatus 100 is a monochrome multifunction peripheral having a printer function and a copying function will be described.

  The reading unit 70 includes a document feeder 71, a document placing plate 72, and a scanner 73. The reading section 70 reads an image of the original M placed on the tray of the original transport device 71 or the original placing plate 72. The reading unit 70 generates image information from the read image. The feeding unit 80 stores a plurality of sheets S and feeds the sheets S to the transport unit 90. The sheet S is, for example, a sheet made of paper or a synthetic resin. The transport unit 90 includes a plurality of transport roller pairs, and transports the sheet S to the image forming unit 30. The image forming unit 30 forms an image on the sheet S by consuming consumables (for example, toner).

  Specifically, the image forming unit 30 forms an image on the sheet S by an electrophotographic method, and fixes the image on the sheet S by heating and pressing the image. Specifically, the image forming unit 30 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a replenishing device, a transfer device, a cleaning device, a charge removing device, and a fixing device. The image is, for example, an image of the document M or an image included in the files A to E stored in the storage unit 20. The transport unit 90 transports the sheet S on which the image has been fixed to the discharge unit 91. The discharge unit 91 discharges the sheet S to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100.

  The display unit 60 is a display having a touch panel function. Various instructions from the user are input to the display unit 60. The display unit 60 displays a screen image.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the configuration of the portable terminal device 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the portable terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. The mobile terminal device 200 is, for example, a smartphone. The portable terminal device 200 is carried by a user.

  The mobile terminal device 200 includes a terminal storage unit 220, a terminal control unit 210, a terminal large capacity communication unit 250, a terminal small capacity communication unit 251, and a terminal input display unit 240.

  The terminal small-capacity communication unit 251 (first wireless communication unit) includes a small-capacity reception unit 251a and a small-capacity transmission unit 251b. The small capacity receiving unit 251a receives the search result from the small capacity transmitting unit 51b. The small capacity transmitting unit 251b transmits the request information to the small capacity receiving unit 51a.

  The terminal large-capacity communication unit 250 (second wireless communication unit) includes a large-capacity reception unit 250a and a large-capacity transmission unit 250b. The large-capacity receiving unit 250a receives one of the files A to E from the large-capacity transmitting unit 50b. The large-capacity transmitting unit 250b transmits information to the large-capacity receiving unit 50a.

  The terminal input display unit 240 is a display having a touch panel function. Various instructions by the user are input to the terminal input display unit 240. The terminal input display unit 240 displays a terminal screen image.

  The terminal storage unit 220 includes, for example, an HDD, a RAM, and a ROM. The terminal storage unit 220 may include an external memory. The external memory is a removable medium. The terminal storage unit 220 includes, for example, an SD (Secure Digital) card as an external memory. The terminal storage unit 220 stores various data and control programs. The control program is a program for controlling the operation of each unit of the portable terminal device 200, and is executed by the terminal control unit 210.

  The terminal control unit 210 is a hardware circuit configured by a processor such as a CPU. The terminal control unit 210 controls the operation of each unit of the portable terminal device 200 by causing the processor to read and execute the control program stored in the terminal storage unit 220. The terminal control unit 210 functions as a request information control unit 210a and a search result control unit 210b.

  The request information control unit 210a converts the first request information input to the terminal input display unit 240 into second request information, and converts the second request information from the small capacity transmission unit 251b to the small capacity reception unit of the image forming apparatus 100. 51a. The first request information includes a character string included in the file name and is represented by a character code. The second request information is represented by an ASCII code. For example, the user wants to search for a file in the Word format stored in the storage unit 20, and thus inputs “.doc” to the terminal input display unit 240 as the first request information. The request information control unit 210a converts “.doc” into “0x2e 0x64 0x6f 0x63”. Then, the request information control unit 210a transmits “0x2e 0x64 0x6f 0x63” from the small capacity transmitting unit 251b to the small capacity receiving unit 51a of the image forming apparatus 100.

  The search result control unit 210b converts the second search result received by the small capacity receiving unit 251a into a first search result, and causes the terminal input display unit 240 to display the first search result. The first search result is represented by a character code. The second search result is represented by an ASCII code. For example, in the search result control unit 210b, the small-capacity receiving unit 251a receives "0x62 0x6f 0x78 0x2f 0x64 0x61 0x74 0x61 0x31 0x2f 0x74 0x69 0x74 0x6c 0x65 0x2e 0x64 0x6f0. The search result control unit 210b converts “0x62 0x6f 0x78 0x2f 0x64 0x61 0x74 0x61 0x31 0x2f 0x74 0x69 0x74 0x6c 0x65 0x2e 0x64 0x6f 0x63” into “bot / at. The search result control unit 210b causes the terminal input display unit 240 to display “box / data1 / title.doc” as the first search result. Therefore, the user can easily find the file stored in the storage unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 100.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the configuration of the control unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. The creating unit 10d creates a file based on the image read by the reading unit 70, and causes the storage unit 20 to store the file.

  The request information control unit 10b converts the second request information received by the small capacity receiving unit 51a into first request information. For example, the request information control unit 10b converts “0x2e 0x64 0x6f 0x63” into “.doc”.

  The search unit 10a outputs a first search result by searching for a related file from a plurality of files A to E. The related file is a file related to the first request information. For example, the search unit 10a searches for a file whose extension is “.doc” based on “.doc”. The search unit 10a determines that the extension of the file C is “.doc”. File C is stored in folder c in folder b. The name of the folder b is “box”, the name of the folder c is “data1”, and the name of the file C is “title.doc”. As a result, the search unit 10a outputs a file path (information indicating a storage location) as a first search result. The file path is “box / data1 / title.doc”.

  The search result control unit 10c converts the first search result output from the search unit 10a into a second search result, and converts the second search result from the small capacity transmission unit 51b to the terminal small capacity communication unit 251 of the portable terminal device 200. Send to For example, the search result control unit 10c converts the "box / data1 / title.doc" to "0x62 0x6f 0x78 0x2f 0x64 0x61 0x74 0x61 0x31 0x2f 0x74 0x69 0x74 0x6c 0x65 0x2e 0x64 0x6f 0x63". The search result control unit 10c sends the small-capacity transmission unit 25b the small-capacity transmission unit 51 from the small-capacity transmission unit 51 to the small-capacity transmission unit 25b from the small-capacity communication terminal 25b to the small-capacity communication terminal 25b "0x62 0x6f 0x78 0x2f 0x64 0x61 0x74 0x61 0x31 0x2f 0x74 0x69 0x74 0x6c 0x65 0x2e 0x64 0x6f 0x63".

  Here, the processing of the image forming apparatus 100 and the portable terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the mobile terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. The process of the mobile terminal device 200 includes steps S101 to S106.

  In step S101, the request information control unit 210a determines whether the first request information has been input. If the request information control unit 210a determines that the first request information has not been input (NO in step S101), the process enters a standby state. On the other hand, when the request information control unit 210a determines that the first request information has been input (YES in step S101), the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, the request information control section 210a converts the first request information into the second request information. When the request information control unit 210a converts the request information into the second request information, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, when the distance between the small-capacity transmitting unit 251b of the portable terminal device 200 and the small-capacity receiving unit 51a of the image forming apparatus 100 is within the first predetermined distance, the request information control unit 210a sets the second request information Is transmitted from the small-capacity transmitting unit 251b of the portable terminal device 200 to the small-capacity receiving unit 51a of the image forming apparatus 100. When the request information control unit 210a transmits the second request information, the process proceeds to Step S104.

  In step S104, the search result control unit 210b determines whether the second search result has been received. If the search result control unit 210b determines that the second search result has not been received (NO in step S104), the process enters a standby state. On the other hand, if search result control section 210b determines that the second search result has been received (YES in step S104), the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S105, the search result control unit 210b converts the second search result into a first search result. When the search result control unit 210b converts the first search result, the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S106, the search result control unit 210b causes the terminal input display unit 240 to display the first search result. When the search result control unit 210b displays the first search result on the terminal input display unit 240, the processing of the mobile terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment ends.

  Next, the processing (information communication method) of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The processing of the image forming apparatus 100 includes steps S201 to S205.

  In step S201, the request information control unit 10b determines whether the second request information has been received. If the request information control unit 10b determines that the second request information has not been received (NO in step S201), the process enters a standby state. On the other hand, if the request information control unit 10b determines that the second request information has been received (YES in step S201), the process proceeds to step S202.

  In step S202, the request information control unit 10b converts the second request information into the first request information. When the request information control unit 10b converts the first request information, the process proceeds to Step S203.

  In step S203, the search unit 10a outputs a first search result by searching for a related file from among the plurality of files A to E. When the search unit 10a outputs the first search result, the process proceeds to step S204.

  In step S204, the search result control unit 10c converts the first search result into a second search result. When the search result control unit 10c converts the search result into the second search result, the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S205, when the distance between the small-capacity transmission unit 51b of the image forming apparatus 100 and the terminal small-capacity communication unit 251 of the mobile terminal device 200 is within the first predetermined distance, the search result control unit 10c performs the second search. The result is transmitted from the small capacity transmission unit 51b of the image forming apparatus 100 to the terminal small capacity communication unit 251 of the portable terminal device 200. When the search result control unit 10c transmits the second search result, the processing of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment ends.

  As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, according to the present embodiment, the user inputs the first request information to the terminal input display unit 240. The user brings the portable terminal device 200 into contact with the image forming apparatus 100. As a result, the terminal input display unit 240 displays the first search result. Therefore, the user can easily find the file stored in the storage unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 100 using the portable terminal device 200.

  The embodiment of the invention has been described with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 6). However, the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof. In the drawings, each component is schematically shown mainly for the sake of easy understanding, and the thickness, length, number, interval, etc. of each component shown in FIG. Is different. In addition, the materials, distances, and the like of the components shown in the present embodiment are merely examples, and are not particularly limited, and various changes can be made without substantially departing from the configuration of the present invention.

  (1) In the present embodiment, the user inputs an extension indicating the file format as the first request information into the terminal input display unit 240. However, the user may input a part of the file name (for example, Specification). As a result, the search unit 10a searches for a file that includes “Specification” in the file name. Further, the user may input both the extension indicating the file format and a part of the file name as the first request information. As a result, the search unit 10a searches for a file that includes both the extension and a part of the file name.

  (2) In the present embodiment, the search unit 10a outputs a file path as a first search result. However, the search unit 10a may output information indicating a list of a plurality of related files as the first search result. For example, if the file format of the file B and the file format of the file D are Word, information indicating a list of related files indicating the file B and the file D is output. Therefore, the user can use the portable terminal device 200 to recognize whether a desired file is stored in the storage unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 100.

  (3) In the present embodiment, when transmitting and receiving the files A to F between the image forming apparatus 100 and the portable terminal apparatus 200, wireless communication such as Wi-Fi Direct is used. However, wired communication may be used.

  (4) The image forming apparatus 100 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 is an electrophotographic monochrome multifunction peripheral, but the present invention is not limited to this. The image forming apparatus 100 may be, for example, an ink jet recording system or a color multifunction peripheral. For example, in the embodiment in which the image forming apparatus 100 is an MFP of an ink jet recording system, the image forming unit 30 includes a recording head. The consumable is ink. Further, the case where the information storage device 101 is provided in the image forming apparatus 100 has been described, but is not limited thereto. For example, the information storage device 101 may be a server or an image forming apparatus without a display unit.

  The present invention can be used in the field of information communication systems.

Reference Signs List 1 information communication system 10 control unit 10a search unit 10b request information control unit 10c search result control unit 20 storage unit 51 small-capacity communication unit 51a small-capacity reception unit 51b small-capacity transmission unit 100 image forming apparatus 101 information storage device 200 mobile terminal device 210 terminal control section 210a request information control section 210b search result control section 220 terminal storage section 240 terminal input display section 251 terminal small capacity communication section 251a small capacity reception section 251b small capacity transmission section

Claims (9)

An information storage device that performs short-range wireless communication with a portable terminal device,
A storage unit for storing a plurality of files;
A receiving unit that receives request information from the mobile terminal device;
A search unit for searching for a related file from among the plurality of files;
A transmission unit that transmits a search result of the search unit to the portable terminal device,
The related file is related to the request information,
The information storage device, wherein the request information includes a character string included in a name of one of the plurality of files.   The information storage device according to claim 1, wherein the character string is at least a part of a name of the one file or an extension indicating a format of the one file.   The information storage device according to claim 1, wherein the search result includes information indicating a storage location of the related file in the storage unit.   4. The information storage device according to claim 1, wherein the search result includes information indicating a list of the plurality of related files. A request information control unit,
And a search result control unit.
The receiving unit receives the request information represented by an ASCII code from the portable terminal device,
The request information control unit converts the request information represented by the ASCII code into the request information represented by a character code,
The search unit, based on the request information represented by the character code, by searching the relevant file, to output the search result represented by the character code,
The search result control unit converts the search result represented by the character code into the search result represented by the ASCII code,
The information storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transmission unit transmits the search result represented by the ASCII code to the portable terminal device.   The said receiving part and each of the said transmitting parts perform short-range wireless communication with the said portable terminal apparatus only when the said portable terminal device is located within 10 cm from each of the said receiving part and the said transmitting part. The information storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A reading unit that reads an image,
The information storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: a creation unit that creates the file including the image and stores the file in the storage unit. An information storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An information communication system comprising: the portable terminal device. An information communication method executed by the information storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Receiving the request information from the mobile terminal device;
Searching for the related file from among the plurality of files;
Transmitting the search result by the searching step to the portable terminal device.

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