JP2021180376A - Image forming apparatus and consumable item delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a consumable item delivery system that delivers consumable items of an image forming apparatus efficiently at an appropriate timing.SOLUTION: A delivery vehicle 20 delivering consumable items has mounted thereon consumable items 12 and a communication device 21 that can communicate with an image forming apparatus 10. When replacement of the consumable items 12 is determined to be necessary based on consumable item information including monitoring information from a consumable item state monitoring unit, the image forming apparatus 10 generates replacement notification information on the consumable items 12. The replacement notification information on the consumable items 12 is transmitted to the communication device 21 of the delivery vehicle 20 directly from the image forming apparatus 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a consumable delivery system for the image forming apparatus.

In the image forming apparatus, consumables such as toner and paper are consumed every time an image is formed. For example, in the case of a toner cartridge type image forming apparatus, it is necessary to order and replace a new toner cartridge at an appropriate timing when the remaining amount of toner becomes a certain level or less.

Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a copier management system has been proposed in which a host computer calculates the replacement timing of consumables based on consumption information of consumables and issues a warning. This is intended to enable the replacement of consumables that are due to be replaced in advance. In addition, there are some that are configured to automatically order replacement consumables based on the consumption information of consumables.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-335365

Image forming devices installed in stores such as convenience stores are used by a large number of users for various purposes such as copying and using contents. In this type of image forming device, if a system is adopted in which consumables are automatically ordered when the remaining amount of consumables falls below a certain level, the usage is concentrated before and after ordering the consumables, and the consumables are consumed. In some cases, the goods were consumed rapidly, or the replacement consumables did not arrive in time and the consumables were out of stock. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the service according to the user's request, and there is an inconvenience that an opportunity loss occurs.

In addition, even if the consumables have been delivered to the store in advance, there are cases where the consumables that are still available are replaced, or the consumables are lost before the replacement. There was a problem that it was not replaced at the right time. When a replacement consumable is suddenly needed, the serviceman directly delivers the consumable to the store, which causes a problem that the serviceman's delivery cost is incurred.

On the other hand, as described above, in a store where an image forming apparatus used by a large number of users is installed, the products sold in the store are delivered a plurality of times a day. It was desired to take advantage of such an opportunity to deliver products to stores, reduce the burden of exchanging consumables, and systematize the exchange of consumables efficiently and without waste.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to efficiently deliver consumables at an appropriate timing when replacement of consumables is required. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of being exchanged, and a consumables delivery system using the image forming apparatus.

The solution of the present invention for achieving the above object is based on an image forming apparatus having a plurality of types of consumables, a communication unit capable of communicating with other communication devices, and a consumable state for monitoring the state of the consumables. It is equipped with a monitoring unit and a replacement determination unit that determines whether or not replacement of consumables is necessary. The replacement determination unit replaces consumables based on consumables information including monitoring information of the consumables status monitoring unit. When it is determined that it is necessary, the exchange notification information of the consumable is generated, and the communication unit transmits the exchange notification information to the communication device of the delivery vehicle.

More specific configurations of the image forming apparatus include the following. That is, the image forming apparatus is further provided with a consumption tendency determination unit for determining the consumption tendency of consumables, and as the consumable information, the monitoring information of the consumable state monitoring unit and the consumption tendency of the consumption tendency determination unit. It is preferable that the replacement determination unit predicts the replacement time of the consumable based on the information.

Further, in the image forming apparatus having the above configuration, the communication unit receives the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle from the communication device, and the exchange determination unit receives the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle in light of the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle, before the exchange time. The delivery vehicle that arrives may be specified, and the communication unit may be configured to transmit the exchange notification information to the communication device of the specified delivery vehicle. It is preferable that the communication unit performs wireless communication with the communication device of the delivery vehicle.

Further, a consumables delivery system including an image forming apparatus according to each of the above-mentioned solutions is also within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. That is, the present invention is a consumables delivery system for delivering consumables of an image forming apparatus, and the delivery vehicle is equipped with a communication device capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus and is loaded with consumables for delivery. The image forming apparatus includes a communication unit capable of communicating with the communication device, a consumable condition monitoring unit for monitoring the status of consumables, and a replacement determination unit for determining whether or not the consumables need to be replaced. The determination unit generates consumables replacement notification information when it is determined that the consumables need to be replaced based on the consumables information including the monitoring information of the consumables status monitoring unit, and the communication unit generates the replacement notification information. Is transmitted to the communication device to request delivery of consumables to the delivery vehicle.

Further, in the consumables delivery system having the above configuration, the image forming apparatus includes a consumption tendency determination unit for determining the consumption tendency of the consumables to generate consumption tendency information, and the exchange determination unit can be used as the consumables information. Based on the monitoring information of the consumables status monitoring unit and the consumption tendency information of the consumption tendency determination unit, the replacement time of the consumables is predicted, and the communication unit determines the delivery vehicle arriving before the replacement time. It is preferable to transmit the exchange notification information.

Further, in the consumables delivery system having the above configuration, the consumables to be loaded on the delivery vehicle may be determined based on the consumption tendency information transmitted from the communication unit.

Further, in the consumables delivery system having the above configuration, the delivery vehicle targets a plurality of image forming devices for delivery of consumables, and the plurality of image forming devices can communicate with each other and share the consumption tendency information with each other. Therefore, the communication device may be capable of receiving consumption tendency information of a plurality of image forming devices from any one of the image forming devices.

Further, in the consumables delivery system having the above configuration, the image forming apparatus and the communication device can be transmitted and received via wireless communication, and among a plurality of delivery vehicles, a specific delivery vehicle approaching the image forming apparatus can be used. The exchange notification information may be configured to be transmitted.

By providing the above-mentioned specific items, it becomes possible to deliver the consumables at an appropriate timing when the replacement of the consumables is required.

According to the present invention, it is possible to deliver the consumables at an appropriate timing when the consumables need to be replaced, and it is possible to avoid a situation where the remaining amount of the consumables is exhausted by the time the replacement consumables arrive. The load required for replacement can be reduced, and consumables can be replaced efficiently without waste.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and the consumables delivery system which includes the image forming apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the consumables delivery system schematically. It is a flowchart which shows the processing example of the image forming apparatus in the consumables delivery system. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the consumables delivery system.

An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a consumables delivery system using the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an image forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a configuration of a consumables delivery system including the image forming apparatus 10. The image forming apparatus 10 is configured as a multifunction device (MFP; Multifunction Peripheral) having a plurality of functions such as a facsimile communication function, a data filing function, and a scanner function in addition to a printer function and a copy function. The image forming apparatus 10 is a multimedia kiosk (MMK) terminal installed in a store such as a convenience store or a shopping center, and a facility available to a large number of users such as a station, a bus terminal, an airport, a government office or a library. You may. In that case, the image forming apparatus 10 can provide various information or predetermined services to the user depending on the place where the image forming apparatus 10 is installed.

The image forming apparatus 10 includes an image forming unit 11, a control unit 13, a communication unit 17, and a storage unit 18. The image forming unit 11 has a function of forming (printing) image data on recording paper such as paper 12B, and includes an image carrier, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a fixing device, and the like. .. In the image forming unit 11, for example, image data acquired by a scanner unit (not shown) or data acquired from other external devices, a memory, or the like can be image-formed on recording paper.

The image forming unit 11 is provided with a plurality of types of consumables 12 used for forming an image. As the consumable item 12, for example, a toner cartridge 12A for accommodating toner which is a visualization material is mounted. In the toner cartridge 12A, unique physical identification information that can individually identify the toner cartridge 12A, for example, ID (identification) information is recorded. For example, an IC chip is mounted on the toner cartridge 12A, and ID information is recorded in advance in a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) or a ferroelectric memory in the IC chip. The ID information may be configured by a simple method such as a barcode.

In addition to the toner cartridge 12A, the consumables 12 include a paper (sheet) 12B for recording image data, a special paper (photographic sheet, film, etc.) 12C, an image carrier (photoreceptor, dielectric), and the like. In the image forming apparatus 10, it is necessary to appropriately replace and maintain such consumables 12.

The control unit 13 realizes various functions by reading and executing a control program stored in the storage unit 18 by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit). As functions realized by the control unit 13, it has a consumables condition monitoring unit 14, a consumption tendency determination unit 15, and a replacement determination unit 16.

The consumables state monitoring unit 14 reads identification information from the consumables 12 and monitors the state of the consumables 12 and the presence or absence of a state change. For example, the consumables condition monitoring unit 14 reads identification information from the toner cartridge 12A as the consumables 12 and monitors the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge 12A. The monitoring information of the consumables condition monitoring unit 14 can be notified to various functions of the control unit 13.

The replacement determination unit 16 determines whether or not the consumables need to be replaced based on the consumables information including the monitoring information notified from the consumables status monitoring unit 14. When it is determined that the consumable item 12 needs to be replaced, the exchange determination unit 16 generates exchange notification information of the delivery request of the consumable item 12. The replacement determination unit 16 can determine whether or not replacement is necessary, including the monitoring information of the consumables condition monitoring unit 14 and other consumables information regarding the consumables 12.

The storage unit 18 temporarily stores non-volatile ROM (Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc., which stores programs and data for executing various functions of the image forming apparatus 10, and data. It is used as a storage means such as RAM (Random Access Memory).

The communication unit 17 is configured to be able to transmit the exchange notification information sent from the exchange determination unit 16. The consumables 12 of the image forming apparatus 10 are delivered through the delivery vehicle 20 loaded with the consumables stock. The communication unit 17 transmits the exchange notification information of the exchange determination unit 16 to the communication device 21 of the delivery vehicle 20 that delivers the consumables 12.

A communication device 21 is mounted on the delivery vehicle 20 that delivers the consumables 12. The communication device 21 includes a communication unit 22 capable of communicating with the communication unit 17 of the image forming apparatus 10. Further, the display unit 23 for displaying the exchange notification information transmitted from the image forming apparatus 10 is provided. The delivery vehicle 20 is loaded with a consumable stock (a plurality of consumables 12) used for the image forming apparatus 10.

The image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a management server 31 such as a service center that centrally manages the services to be provided via the network 40. The management server 31 is further connected to the systems of various external businesses, such as the system of the distribution center 30, the system of the ticket issuing business, and the like.

In a store (or facility) where the image forming apparatus 10 is installed, the user selects a desired service, for example, on the operation panel (monitor) of the image forming apparatus 10. If it is a paid service, the service will be provided on condition of billing. For example, if you receive a copy service, you will be charged according to the type and number of copies. A billing device that can be settled with cash, electronic money, or the like is connected to the image forming apparatus 10, and a receipt is issued at the end of the service after the payment of the billing determined according to the service is completed. ..

The management server 31 is notified of the service used by the user from the communication unit 17 of the image forming apparatus 10. The management server 31 stores the information of the service in the storage unit 33, and transmits the service information of the used service. The service information includes the date and time of use, the type of service used, the amount of money used, and the like.

The communication unit 32 of the management server 31 communicates with an external device via the network 40, and transmits / receives data. As the network 40, a wide area communication network such as the Internet or any existing communication network such as a LAN can be used. A plurality of image forming devices 10 can be connected to the management server 31, and notifications from the plurality of image forming devices 10 can be centrally managed.

The storage unit 33 is a storage means such as a non-volatile ROM or HDD for storing programs and data for executing various functions of the management server 31, and a RAM or the like for temporarily storing data. The storage unit 33 stores, for example, the ID information of the delivered toner cartridge 12A as the replacement information of the consumables 12.

The control unit 34 of the management server 31 reads and executes the control program stored in the storage unit 33 by a processor such as a CPU or MPU, and realizes various functions.

When the image forming apparatus 10 performs the delivery request processing of the consumables 12, the identification information of the consumables 12 is added, and the exchange notification information of the delivery request of the consumables 12 is sent to the communication unit 17. The communication unit 17 can directly transmit the exchange notification information generated by the exchange determination unit 16 to the communication device 21 of the delivery vehicle 20 without going through the management server 31. Further, the communication unit 17 of the image forming apparatus 10 can communicate with the management server 31 via the network 40 to notify consumables information such as transmission of exchange notification information.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a consumables delivery system for delivering the consumables 12 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. In the consumables delivery system according to this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 is installed in a store 50 such as a convenience store, and products and the like are delivered from the delivery vehicle 20 to each of the plurality of stores 50. The plurality of illustrated stores 50 are affiliated stores such as franchises, and the same type of image forming apparatus 10 is installed. The consumables 12 of the image forming apparatus 10 of each store 50 are delivered together with the products for sale through the delivery vehicle 20.

At the distribution center 30, in addition to various products sold at each store 50, consumable stocks (a plurality of consumables 12) for the image forming apparatus 10 are loaded on the distribution vehicle 20. The delivery vehicle 20 is equipped with a communication device 21 capable of communicating with the image forming device 10. At the distribution center 30, a plurality of delivery vehicles 20 arrive and depart to patrol each store 50, and the delivery vehicles 20 arrive at the store 50 a plurality of times a day to deliver products for sale.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the image forming apparatus 10 in the consumables delivery system according to the present embodiment. As an example of the consumable item 12 of the image forming apparatus 10, the case of the toner cartridge 12A will be described.

In the image forming apparatus 10, for example, with respect to the toner cartridge 12A, which is one of the consumables 12, whether or not the remaining amount of toner is changed is monitored by the consumables state monitoring unit 14 (step S1).

When the remaining amount of toner is changed, the replacement determination unit 16 determines whether or not the current remaining amount of toner corresponds to the condition requiring replacement. That is, it is determined whether or not the state of the consumable item 12 is the near end (step S2).

The near end is determined on condition that, for example, it is detected that the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge 12A is equal to or less than a predetermined value. If the condition of the near end is not met in step S2, that is, if it is determined that the remaining amount of toner is sufficient, the process returns to step S1 to further monitor the change in the remaining amount of toner.

If the remaining amount of toner in step S2 meets the condition of near-end, it is determined that the toner cartridge 12A is near-end. The exchange determination unit 16 of the image forming apparatus 10 generates exchange notification information including the identification information of the toner cartridge 12A (step S3).

The generated replacement notification information of the toner cartridge 12A is transmitted to the communication device 21 of the delivery vehicle 20 (step S4). As a result, the replacement notification information of the toner cartridge 12A is recognized by the driver of the delivery vehicle 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 communicates from the communication unit 17 to the communication device 21 of the delivery vehicle 20 and transmits the exchange notification information of the consumables 12. The image forming apparatus 10 and the communication apparatus 21 can transmit and receive via wireless communication.

For wireless communication, it is sufficient that at least communication including a wireless line can be performed between the communication device 21 that moves together with the delivery vehicle 20 and the communication unit 17 of the image forming device 10. For example, examples of wireless communication include, but are not limited to, the Wifi (registered trademark) method. The image forming apparatus 10 may perform wireless communication with the delivery vehicle 20 whose position information is specified by using GPS (Global Positioning System).

Further, the communication device 21 of the delivery vehicle 20 approaching within a predetermined distance and the image forming device 10 may be configured to perform short-range wireless communication. As this type of short-range wireless communication, for example, communication at a distance of several centimeters to several tens of meters is possible in accordance with communication standards such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth, registered trademark) method and NFC (Near Field Communication). Wireless communication is preferable. As a result, the exchange notification information of the consumables 12 can be transmitted to the specific delivery vehicle 20 that has approached the image forming apparatus 10 of the store 50 among the plurality of delivery vehicles 20.

The communication device 21 is not limited to a device that is visually fixed to the driver who drives the delivery vehicle 20, and may be a portable terminal such as a handy terminal that the driver can carry. Further, as shown in the lower left of FIG. 2, the communication device 21 is a device attached to a trolley (or pallet or the like) 24 used for transporting goods, consumables 12, and the like from the delivery vehicle 20 to the store 50. May be good. When there is a distance between the place where the delivery vehicle 20 is stopped and the store 50, the trolley 24 is provided with the communication device 21, so that communication with the image forming device 10 can be smoothly performed.

Upon receiving the exchange notification information of the consumables 12 from the image forming apparatus 10, the driver selects the consumables 12 that match the exchange notification information from the consumables stock loaded on the delivery vehicle 20 and delivers them to the store 50. It is preferable that the consumables 12 are replenished or replaced with the image forming apparatus 10 by the driver on the spot when they arrive. The driver may notify the staff of the store 50 of the arrival of the consumables 12 and prompt them to replenish or replace them immediately.

As a result, the necessary consumables 12 arrive at the store 50 at an appropriate time for replacement of the consumables 12, without the staff of the store 50 always paying attention to the state of the consumables 12 of the image forming apparatus 10. Can be configured to. At the store 50, the load on the staff involved in the replacement of the consumables 12 can be reduced. Further, since the consumables 12 can be replaced at an appropriate timing, the consumables 12 are not wasted, and the situation where the remaining amount of the consumables 12 is exhausted can be avoided, improving the convenience of the user. be able to.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image forming apparatus in the consumables delivery system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, one delivery vehicle 20 patrols a plurality of stores 50, and a plurality of image forming devices 10 are targeted for delivery of the consumables 12. Further, the delivery vehicle 20 that patrols the plurality of stores 50 is composed of a plurality of vehicles. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, these plurality of image forming devices 10 can communicate with each other. As a result, the plurality of image forming devices 10 share consumables information and the like with each other, and the communication device 21 of one delivery vehicle 20 shares the consumables information for each of the plurality of image forming devices 10 in a plurality of stores. It is said that it can be received from any one of the image forming devices 10 in 50.

As described above, the image forming apparatus 10 installed in the store 50 such as a convenience store can provide various services, and also serves as a service station in the city, and the user has a wide variety of usage patterns. In recent years, various contents have been provided in the image forming apparatus 10, and various information can be output. For example, it is possible to provide services called killer contents such as idol bromide and character pinup, and the use of the image forming apparatus 10 may temporarily increase rapidly.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a consumption tendency determination unit 15 for determining the consumption tendency of the consumables 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the consumption tendency determination unit 15 is provided in the control unit 13 to generate consumption tendency information of the consumables 12. As a result, the communication unit 17 notifies the management server 31 of the consumption tendency information of the consumables 12 of the image forming apparatus 10 for each store 50.

In the management server 31, consumables information such as replacement notification information and consumption tendency information of the consumables 12 is stored in the storage unit 33. The management server 31 grasps the consumption tendency of the consumables 12 for each store 50 based on the consumption tendency information from the image forming apparatus 10. At the distribution center 30, the type and amount of consumables 12 to be loaded on each delivery vehicle 20 can be determined based on the consumables information acquired via the management server 31, and an appropriate consumable stock is delivered. It is processed so as to be loaded on the vehicle 20.

Further, the replacement determination unit 16 of the image forming apparatus 10 replaces the consumables 12 based on the monitoring information from the consumables status monitoring unit 14 and the consumption tendency information from the consumption tendency determination unit 15 as consumables information. Predict the time. For example, regarding the toner cartridge 12A as a consumable item 12, it is based on the near-end determination of the replacement determination unit 16, the consumption tendency information of the consumption tendency determination unit 15, and the consumables information such as the daily consumption amount stored in the storage unit 18. Therefore, the time at which the consumables 12 are near-end is predicted. On the other hand, the communication unit 17 receives the arrival schedule information of the plurality of delivery vehicles 20.

Further, the exchange determination unit 16 identifies the delivery vehicle 20 that arrives before the predicted exchange time from among the plurality of delivery vehicles 20 in light of the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle 20, and the specified delivery vehicle. The exchange notification information can be transmitted to the communication device 21 of 20. As a result, even if there is a sudden change in the state of the consumables 12 in the store 50, it becomes possible to quickly respond.

At the store 50, the consumables 12 can be appropriately replaced and the desired service can be provided to the user before the replacement time of the consumables 12 arrives. Further, it is not necessary to store the stock of the consumables 12 in the store 50 in preparation for the sudden consumption of the consumables 12, and the load required for the replacement of the consumables 12 can be reduced.

The consumption tendency information from the consumption tendency determination unit 15 can be suitably used not only when the consumption of the consumables 12 is abrupt, but also when the consumption of the consumables 12 is moderate. For example, in a store 50 where the use of the image forming apparatus 10 is very small in the region, the replacement interval of the consumables 12 is relatively long. Based on such consumption tendency information of the consumables 12, it is possible to reduce the consumables stock loaded on the delivery vehicle 20 and prepare for the replacement of the consumables 12.

Further, since one delivery vehicle 20 can receive the consumption tendency information of the consumables 12 related to the plurality of image forming devices 10 from any one of the image forming devices 10 in the plurality of stores 50. When the consumables 12 are loaded on the delivery vehicle 20 at the distribution center 30, an appropriate consumable stock is loaded on the delivery vehicle 20 based on the consumption tendency information of the image forming apparatus 10 of all the stores 50 to be delivered. It becomes possible to do.

According to the image forming apparatus 10 configured as described above and the consumables delivery system of the image forming apparatus 10, the consumables stock is loaded on the delivery vehicle 20 that delivers the goods to the store 50, and the consumables 12 are replaced. It is possible to deliver the consumables 12 as requested to the store 50 in which the necessary image forming apparatus 10 is installed at an appropriate timing for replacing the consumables 12. Therefore, it is possible to systematize the replacement of consumables efficiently without waste, and it is possible to reduce the burden of replacing the consumables.

As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the consumables 12 are rapidly consumed and the replacement consumables 12 do not arrive in time, and it is possible to suitably provide the service according to the user's request in the image forming apparatus 10. It will be possible. Further, it is not necessary to use a separate delivery vehicle 20 or the like for the delivery of the consumables 12, the delivery efficiency can be improved, and the cost and the environmental load associated with the delivery can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the toner cartridge 12A has been described as an example of the consumables 12, but the consumables 12 include all the consumables 12 whose performance can be restored and maintained by replacement. In the case of the image forming apparatus 10, in addition to the toner cartridge 12A, a photoconductor cartridge, a cartridge in which a developing member and a photoconductor are integrally formed, an ink cartridge, a cartridge in which an ink tank and a print head are integrally formed, Ink sheet cartridges for thermal transfer methods can also be targeted.

Further, the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to a franchise-affiliated store such as a convenience store, but may include any facility that can be used by a large number of users.

The technical scope of the present invention is not to be construed solely by the above-described embodiment, but is based on the scope of claims. In addition, the technical scope of the present invention includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

10 Image forming device 11 Image forming unit 12 Consumables 12A Toner cartridge 12B Paper 12C Special paper 13 Control unit 14 Consumables condition monitoring unit 15 Consumption tendency determination unit 16 Replacement determination unit 17 Communication unit 18 Storage unit 20 Delivery vehicle 21 Communication device 22 Communication unit 23 Display unit 24 Cart 30 Distribution center 31 Management server 32 Communication unit 33 Storage unit 34 Control unit 40 Network 50 Stores

Claims (9)

An image forming apparatus having multiple types of consumables.
A communication unit that can communicate with other communication devices,
Consumables status monitoring unit that monitors the status of consumables,
Equipped with a replacement determination unit that determines the necessity of replacement of consumables
The replacement determination unit generates replacement notification information for the consumables when it determines that the replacement of the consumables is necessary based on the consumables information including the monitoring information from the consumables status monitoring unit.
The communication unit is an image forming apparatus characterized in that the exchange notification information is transmitted to the communication device of the delivery vehicle. In the image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
It also has a consumption tendency determination unit that determines the consumption tendency of consumables.
The replacement determination unit is characterized in that the replacement time of the consumable is predicted based on the monitoring information of the consumable state monitoring unit and the consumption tendency information of the consumption tendency determination unit as the consumable information. Image forming device. In the image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The communication unit receives the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle from the communication device, and receives the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle.
The exchange determination unit identifies a delivery vehicle arriving before the exchange time in light of the arrival schedule information of the delivery vehicle.
The communication unit is an image forming device, characterized in that the exchange notification information is transmitted to the communication device of the specified delivery vehicle. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The communication unit is an image forming device that performs wireless communication with the communication device of the delivery vehicle. A consumables delivery system that delivers consumables for image forming equipment.
The delivery vehicle is equipped with a communication device capable of communicating with the image forming device and is loaded with consumables for delivery.
The image forming apparatus includes a communication unit capable of communicating with the communication device, a consumable condition monitoring unit that monitors the status of consumables, and a replacement determination unit that determines whether or not the consumables need to be replaced.
The replacement determination unit generates replacement notification information for the consumables when it determines that the replacement of the consumables is necessary based on the consumables information including the monitoring information from the consumables status monitoring unit.
The consumables delivery system is characterized in that the communication unit transmits the exchange notification information to the communication device to request delivery of consumables to the delivery vehicle. In the consumables delivery system according to claim 5,
The image forming apparatus includes a consumption tendency determination unit for determining the consumption tendency of consumables, and generates consumption tendency information.
The replacement determination unit predicts the replacement time of the consumable based on the monitoring information of the consumable state monitoring unit and the consumption tendency information of the consumption tendency determination unit as the consumable information.
The communication unit is a consumables delivery system characterized by transmitting the exchange notification information to a delivery vehicle arriving before the exchange time. In the consumables delivery system according to claim 6,
A consumables delivery system, characterized in that consumables to be loaded on the delivery vehicle are determined based on the consumption tendency information transmitted from the communication unit. In the consumables delivery system according to claim 6 or 7.
The delivery vehicle targets a plurality of image forming devices for delivery of consumables, and the plurality of image forming devices are made communicable with each other and share the consumption tendency information with each other.
The communication device is a consumables delivery system characterized in that consumption tendency information of a plurality of image forming devices can be received from any one of the image forming devices. In the consumables delivery system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, the consumables delivery system
The image forming apparatus and the communication apparatus can be transmitted and received via wireless communication, and the exchange notification information is transmitted to a specific delivery vehicle approaching the image forming apparatus among a plurality of delivery vehicles. Consumables delivery system.

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