JP4011006B2 - Billing management system and billing management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a billing management system comprising a manager computer connected to a network and a plurality of image forming apparatuses, wherein billing management information is generated by the manager computer apparatus, transmitted to the image forming apparatus, and billing management information is set. It relates to the management method.

  In recent image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and scanners, charge management may be performed. In this case, since a plurality of image forming apparatuses are often installed and used, they are networked and centrally managed by one network charging server apparatus. In this unified management, it is necessary to generate billing management information by a network billing server device and transmit it to a plurality of image generation devices to perform initial setting of billing management information. The accounting management information to be set includes, for example, codes for departments and groups that are accounting units (collectively referred to as department codes), the number of prints allowed for departments and groups, personal IDs belonging to accounting units, administrator IDs, and passwords. and so on.

  Conventionally, as a technique for performing an initial setting on a peripheral device such as an image forming apparatus, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. This prior art relates to an initial setting in an information processing system that centrally manages peripheral devices connected to a host computer via a network. When performing the initial setting, it is troublesome for the operator to go to the place where the peripheral device is installed and perform the initial setting. Therefore, the initial setting technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 transmits initial setting values from a management computer connected to the network via the network and performs settings on the management computer side. If it is not completed, the host computer and the peripheral device remain separated, and the initial setting value cannot be transmitted. Therefore, even if the network setting is not completed, for example, when the telephone line setting is completed through the modem device, the initial setting value is transmitted through the telephone line.

  That is, the technique of Patent Document 1 transmits an initial setting value from a host computer to a peripheral device using a telephone line even if the network setting of the peripheral device such as an image forming apparatus is not completed. It is for setting.

JP-A-2000-112863 (paragraph [0009], paragraph [0029], paragraphs [0048] to [0053], paragraph [0058], FIG. 10)

  However, in the conventional initial setting system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the initial setting value is transmitted from the host computer to the peripheral device using the telephone line for the initial setting. Therefore, the host computer needs to prepare a management server having a function of transmitting the initial setting value to the peripheral device, and there are restrictions such as using a telephone line for the transmission. Therefore, since the conventional system can be used for the first time in an environment where a server is prepared, there is a problem that the range of use is limited and the cost is disadvantageous.

  As a result of various studies to solve the above problems, the inventor of the present application generates billing management information by an administrator computer device without installing a billing management server, and transmits it to an arbitrary image forming device. If the image forming apparatus that has received the charging management information is configured to transfer the charging management information to another image forming apparatus, the charging management information can be easily transferred to a plurality of image forming apparatuses without installing a special management server. The present invention has been completed by focusing on the fact that it can be set. That is, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a charging management system and a charging management method capable of easily setting or updating charging information for a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an invention according to claim 1 of the present application comprises an administrator computer device and a plurality of image forming devices connected to a network, and the charge management information generated by the administrator computer device is In a charging management system for setting charging management information of an image forming apparatus,
The administrator computer device generates a billing management information for generating billing management information to be set in the image forming apparatus, and initially sets or updates the billing management information generated by the billing management information generating unit in the image forming apparatus. A job input / output control unit for transmitting
The image forming apparatus includes a receiving unit that receives the charging management information, a determining unit that determines whether the charging management information is transmitted from the administrator computer device, and the charging management information transmitted from the administrator computer device. And a charging management information transfer means for transferring the charging management information to another image forming apparatus via a network, and a charging management information storage means for setting the charging management information.

In the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, the billing management information generation unit is configured to initially set billing management information for initial setting of billing management information in the image forming apparatus, or billing set in the image forming apparatus. Selectively generate billing management information for updating to update the management information,
The determination means further has a function of determining whether the charge management information received from the administrator computer device is initial setting charge management information or update charge management information,
The image forming apparatus further compares the charge management information set in the charge management information storage means when the received charge management information is update charge management information, and a priority level comparison determination of the charge management information for update And a priority level discriminating means.

In the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, the charging management information generation unit adds priority level information indicating a priority level and time stamp information to the charging management information for update, and transmits the information to the image forming apparatus. The priority level discriminating means discriminates the priority level by comparing the priority level information and the time stamp information with the priority level information and the time stamp information of the billing management information set in the billing management information storage means. In the case of the priority level information, it is characterized in that it is determined to give priority to the newer time stamp.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application includes an administrator computer device and a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to a network, and charging management of the image forming apparatus based on charging management information generated by the administrator computer apparatus. A billing management method for setting information,
The administrator computer device generates billing management information to be set in the image forming apparatus by a billing management information generation unit, and initially sets the billing management information generated by the billing management information generation unit in the image forming device or Send to any image forming device to update,
The arbitrary image forming apparatus receives the charging management information from the administrator computer device, and determines whether or not the charging management information is transmitted from the administrator computer device by the determining means, and the charging management information is stored in the administrator computer. When the information is transmitted from the apparatus, the charge management information is transferred by the charge management information transfer means to another image forming apparatus, and the charge management information is set in the charge management information storage means.

In the invention according to claim 2 of the present application, the image forming apparatus further includes a priority level determining unit,
The charging management information generating unit is for initial setting charging management information for initially setting charging management information in the image forming apparatus, or for updating charging management information for updating the charging management information set in the image forming apparatus. Selectively generate
The determination means further includes a procedure for determining whether the charge management information is initial setting charge management information or update charge management information,
The priority level determination means compares and determines the priority level of the charge management information set in the charge management information storage means and the update charge management information when the received charge management information is the update charge management information. It is characterized by.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2 of the present application, the update billing management information generated by the administrator computer device is sent with priority level information indicating a priority level and time stamp information attached thereto,
The priority level determining means determines the priority level by comparing the priority level information and time stamp information with the priority level information and time stamp information of the charge management information set in the charge management information storage means. In the case of peer priority level information, it is characterized in that it is determined to give priority to the newer time stamp.

  In the invention according to claim 1, the image forming apparatus that has received the charging management information generated by the administrator computer apparatus and transmitted via the network executes the setting based on the charging management information and uses the determination means. Then, it is determined that the accounting management information has been transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus, and the accounting management information is transmitted to another image forming apparatus through the network by the accounting information data sending means. Then, the other image forming apparatuses perform setting based on the charging management information received by each of the image forming apparatuses. For this reason, an existing image forming apparatus having a server function can be used as the image forming apparatus that receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus. Therefore, the administrator computer apparatus can manage a plurality of image forming apparatuses in an integrated manner. There is no need to provide server functions. Accordingly, the billing management system can be provided with a simplified system configuration and advantageous in cost.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus that has received the charge management information transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus determines that the image forming apparatus has been transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus by the determining means, and is charged. The management information is set, and the accounting management information is transmitted to another image forming apparatus through the network by the accounting management information sending means. Then, the other image forming apparatuses execute setting of charging management information based on the charging management information received by each of the image forming apparatuses. Therefore, the image forming apparatus that receives the charging management information from the administrator computer can use an existing one that has a server function. Therefore, the server function that centrally manages the charging management information of a plurality of image forming apparatuses in the administrator computer apparatus. This eliminates the need to provide a billing management system, which simplifies the configuration of the billing management system and is advantageous in terms of cost. Also, the update billing management information for updating the billing management information that has already been set can be compared and determined with the priority level with the billing management information that has already been set by the priority level determining means. Since it is possible not to update the already set accounting management information, it is possible to provide an effective accounting management system in which accounting management is diversified.

In the present invention according to claim 1 , since the priority level between the received charging management information and the already set charging management information is determined by comparing the priority level information with the time stamp information, the priority levels are the same. Even so, the discriminating means can discriminate so that the latest time stamp information is prioritized, so that depending on the image forming apparatus, the already set accounting management information can be prevented from being updated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus that has received the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus executes the setting of the charging management information and receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus. The charge management information is transferred to another image forming apparatus through the network. Then, the other image forming apparatuses execute setting of charging management information based on the charging management information received by each of the image forming apparatuses. For this reason, an existing image forming apparatus having a server function can be used as the image forming apparatus that receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus. Therefore, the administrator computer apparatus can manage a plurality of image forming apparatuses in an integrated manner. There is no need to provide server functions. Accordingly, the billing management system can be provided with a simplified system configuration and advantageous in cost.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus that has received the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus executes the setting of the charging management information and receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus. The charge management information is transferred to another image forming apparatus through the network. Then, the other image forming apparatuses execute setting of charging management information based on the charging management information received by each of the image forming apparatuses. For this reason, an existing image forming apparatus having a server function can be used as the image forming apparatus that receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus. Therefore, the administrator computer apparatus can manage a plurality of image forming apparatuses in an integrated manner. There is no need to provide server functions. Accordingly, the billing management system can be provided with a simplified system configuration and advantageous in cost. Also, the update billing management information for updating the billing management information that has already been set can be compared and determined with the priority level with the billing management information that has already been set by the priority level determining means. Since it is possible not to update the already set accounting management information, it is possible to provide an effective accounting management system in which accounting management is diversified.

In the present invention according to claim 2 , the priority level between the received charging management information and the already set charging management information is determined by comparing the priority level information with the time stamp information. Even so, the discriminating means can discriminate so that the latest time stamp information is prioritized, so that depending on the image forming apparatus, the already set accounting management information can be prevented from being updated.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a billing management system in an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a system configuration diagram and (b) is a schematic block diagram. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the administrator computer apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the initial setting operation of the billing management information in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the charging management information update operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

  1A, an accounting management system 1 includes an administrator computer device 3 connected via a network 2 and a plurality of image forming devices 4a, 4b,... 4n that receive a print job and execute printing. Has been. The administrator computer device 3 operates as a console device that functions as an operation unit of the image forming apparatus 4a and the like, and does not have a charge management server function for centrally managing charge management of the image forming apparatus 4a or the like. . The administrator computer device 3 includes a charging management information generation unit 31 and a job input / output control unit 33 as shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 4a and the like further include a receiving unit 54, a determining unit 64, a charging management information transfer unit 74, a charging management information storage unit 84, and a priority level determining unit 94. Details of these elements will be described below with reference to the block diagram of the administrator computer apparatus in FIG. 2 and the block diagram of the image forming apparatus in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the administrator computer device 3 is composed of a charging management information generation unit 31, a display unit 32, and a job input / output control unit 33 connected to the main control unit 30 to form charging management information generation means. Yes. The main control unit 30 controls the charging management information generation unit 31 to generate charging management information, and sets the charging management information from the job input / output control unit 33 to the image forming apparatus 4a or the like via the network 2. It is controlled to be sent out as a job. The charge management information includes, for example, codes for departments and groups (collectively referred to as department codes) serving as charge units, the number of prints allowed for departments and groups, personal IDs belonging to charge units, administrator IDs, passwords, and the like. . In addition, the main control unit 30 can control the job input / output control unit 33 to request and receive billing result data in the image forming apparatuses 4a, 4b... 4n and display the data on the display unit 32.

  In FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 4 a includes a job input / output control unit 41, a job generation unit 46, a job analysis unit 42, an image forming apparatus detection unit 43 that detects other image forming apparatuses, and a charge connected to the main control unit 40. A management information management unit 44, an address book 45, and a data output control unit 47 are provided. The accounting management information management unit 44 is connected to an account management table storage unit 440 composed of a memory. The other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n have the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 4a, although not shown.

  The job input / output control unit 41 forms reception means (54 in FIG. 1) for receiving job data such as billing management information and print data. The job analysis unit 42 determines whether or not the received job data is billing management information. Further, when the job analysis unit 42 receives billing management information as a first determination function, it determines whether this is for initial setting or for update. Further, the job analysis unit 42 determines whether the accounting management information is transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus 3 or the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n as a second determination function. is there. As described above, the job analysis unit 42 forms determination means (64 in FIG. 1) for determining the characteristics of the received billing management information.

  If the job analysis unit 42 determines that the received job is the charge management information and the initial setting charge management information, the main control unit 40 uses the charge management information management unit 44 to charge the account management table storage unit 440. Control to perform initial setting of management information. On the other hand, when the job analysis unit 42 determines that the received job data is the charging management information and the charging management information for update, the main control unit 40 determines the charging management information management unit based on the received charging management information. 44, the accounting management information set in the account management table storage unit 440 is controlled to be updated. Here, the charge management information management unit 44 holds the priority level information indicating the priority level for the update in advance, and is updated only when the priority level information indicating the priority level of the received charge management information is more dominant. It is like that.

  If you do not want to update, if you want to change the setting value for the limited number of prints to a reduced value, depending on the image forming device, you may want to maintain the current status without reducing it to the same level as the others, depending on the user, usage record, etc. Sometimes. For example, in an image forming apparatus used by officers, updating is prohibited to reduce the number of print limits set in the initial settings, so the priority level of the initial billing management information is set to the highest level and updating is prohibited. This is the case. Therefore, priority level information of high, medium, and low is attached in advance to the account management table storage unit 440 of the image forming apparatuses 4a, 4b,. Similarly, high, medium and low priority level information is added to the billing management information to be transmitted, and it is determined whether or not both of the priority level information are analyzed and updated by the job analysis unit 42. As a result of the determination, if the priority level of the received billing management information is high, the setting content is updated, and if it is low, it is not updated and remains unchanged. That is, the job analysis unit 42, the charging management information management unit 44, the account management table storage unit 440, and the like form a priority level determination unit (94 in FIG. 1).

  In the determination of the priority level, if only the priority level information is used, a determination result cannot be obtained between the priority level information of the peers. Therefore, the time stamp information is added to the charge management information in addition to the priority level information, and when the priority level information is the same as the determination condition in the job analysis unit 42, the new time stamp information is determined to be prioritized and charged. Management information shall be updated.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the received billing management information is transmitted from the administrator computer device 3, the main control unit 40 controls the other image forming device detection unit 43 to exist the image forming devices 4b... 4n. And the received charging management information is supplied to the job generation unit 46 to generate job data in which identification information for identifying that the transmission source is the image forming apparatus 4a is embedded. The job data is transmitted (transferred) to the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n via the job input / output control unit 41.

  The other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n determine that the charging management information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 4a based on the identification information in each job analysis unit 42, and do not execute the transmission operation to other image forming apparatuses. It has become. In the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n, each job analysis unit 42 determines whether the charging management information for initial setting or the charging management information for updating is set, and executes the initial setting or updating in the same manner as described above. It is like that.

  The main control unit 40, job analysis unit 42, other image checking device detection unit 43, charging management information management unit 44, etc., as described above, whether the received job data is charging management information or not from the administrator computer device 3. Setting processing means for determining whether or not the data has been transmitted and performing setting processing according to the result is formed. The account management table storage unit 440 stores billing management information and forms storage means.

  An engine unit 48 is connected to the main control unit 40 via a data output control unit 47. For the print data, the main control unit 40 controls the data output control unit 47 to supply the print data to the engine unit 48 to execute printing. In addition, the main control unit 40 calculates and accumulates data such as the number of printed sheets, paper size, and presence / absence of color printing in the print job executed by the engine unit 48, that is, print result data, and passes through the data output control unit 47 The billing management information management unit 44 is supplied.

  The account management table storage unit 440 calculates charging data based on the printing result data under the control of the charging management information management unit 44 and stores it as charging result data. The address book 45 stores the address data of the administrator of the accounting management system, and the main control unit 40 stores the accounting result data in the account management table storage unit 440 when there is a report request for accounting result data from the administrator computer device 3. Read stored accounting result data. Then, the job generation unit 46 controls to generate a charging result notification job and send it from the job input / output control unit 41 to the network 2. The administrator computer device 3 receives the accounting result data and displays it on the display unit 32.

  The flow of billing management information and billing result data is as follows. In FIG. 1, the charge management information generated by the administrator computer apparatus 3 is first transmitted to an arbitrary image forming apparatus 4a selected as indicated by an arrow A, and as indicated by an arrow B from the image forming apparatus 4a. Are transmitted to other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n. On the other hand, the accounting result data is transmitted from each of the image forming apparatuses 4a, 4b,..., 4n to the administrator computer apparatus 3 as indicated by an arrow C in response to a request from the administrator computer apparatus 3.

  Next, an initial setting operation of the charge management system 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. The administrator generates charging management information for initial setting in the charging management information generating unit 31 in the administrator computer device 3. The generated accounting management information is sent over the network 2 with the transmission destination set as the image forming apparatus 4a under the control of the job input / output control unit 33 by the main control unit 30. The job data sent to the network 2 in this way is received by the image forming apparatus 4a.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an initial setting operation in the image forming apparatus 4a. First, in step S1, the job analysis unit 42 determines whether the received job data is billing management information, and at the same time, determines whether the job data is initial setting billing management information by the first discrimination function. As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the initial setting charge management information has been received, the job analysis unit 42 determines whether or not the charge management information has been transmitted from the administrator computer device 3 as shown in the next step S2. Discrimination is performed by the second discrimination function. If the charge management information is transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus 3, the presence of the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n is detected by the other image forming apparatus detection unit 43 in step S4. On the other hand, in the next step S3, the billing management information management unit 44 stores the billing management information in the account management table storage unit 440 and executes the initial setting.

  In the next step S5, the image forming apparatus 4a supplies the charge management information to the job generating unit 46, and generates transfer job data in which identification information for identifying that the transmission source is the image forming apparatus 4a is embedded. Then, the main control unit 40 controls the job input / output control unit 41 to execute this transfer job and transmit (transfer) the job data to the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n.

  In the next step S6, the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n to which the accounting management information has been transmitted determine whether or not the accounting management information is for initial setting, and determine that it is initial setting accounting management information. Make initial settings based on the results. Further, each job analysis unit 42 determines that the charging management information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 4a based on the identification information, and does not execute a transmission operation to another image forming apparatus.

  When the print job is received after the initial setting of the charge management information is completed in the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n, the main control unit 40 sends the print data to the engine unit 48 via the data output control unit 47. Supply. Then, as shown in step S7, the engine unit 48 executes the print job.

  In step S8, the result of printing is counted by incrementing the usage record data in the account management table storage unit 440 under the control of the accounting management information management unit 44 to update and store the accounting result data. The accounting result data of the print job thus obtained can be notified to the administrator computer apparatus 3 in the next step S9. When the main control unit 40 receives a charge result data report request from the administrator computer device 3, this notification reads the charge result data stored in the account management table storage unit 440 and reports the charge result data in the job generation unit 46. This is performed by generating job data as a job and sending it from the input / output control unit 41. In addition, the notification is made only when the address data of the administrator of the accounting management system is registered in the address book 45. The notified accounting result data is displayed on the display unit 32 of the administrator computer device 3.

  On the other hand, when the image forming apparatus 4a initially set in step S3 receives the print job, it executes the print job in step S10 as in step S7 described above. In the next step S11, the accounting result data is stored in the account management table storage unit 440. The billing result data is notified of the billing result as shown in step S12 in response to a report request from the billing management system administrator, and is displayed on the display unit 32 of the manager computer device 3. This procedure is the same as the procedure in step S9 described above.

  If it is determined in step S1 that the received job data is not billing management information, it is a print job, so printing is executed as shown in step S13. If the determination result is billing management information but not for initial setting, the setting information update operation shown in FIG. 5 is executed.

  Next, an operation for updating the charging management information already set in each of the image forming apparatuses 4a to 4n in the charging management system 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. The administrator generates charging management information for updating by the charging management information generation unit 31 in the administrator computer device 3. The generated update billing management information is sent over the network 2 with the destination being the image forming apparatus 4a under the control of the job input / output control unit 33 by the main control unit 30. The job data sent to the network 2 in this way is received by the image forming apparatus 4a.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation when updating the set accounting management information. First, in step S21, the job analysis unit 42 in the image forming apparatus 4a determines whether or not the received job is accounting management information for updating by the first determination function at the same time as determining whether or not the received job is accounting management information. To do. If it is determined as a result of this determination that the update billing management information has been received, the job analysis unit 42 transmits the billing management information from the administrator computer apparatus 3 by the second determination function in the next step S22. It is determined whether it is a thing. When the charge management information is transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus 3, the presence of the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n is detected by the other image forming apparatus detection unit 43 in step S24. On the other hand, in the next step S23, the billing management information management unit 44 determines whether to change the setting contents of the account management table storage unit 440 and execute the setting change.

  In the next step S25, the image forming apparatus 4a supplies the charge management information to the job generating unit 46 to generate transfer job data in which identification information for identifying that the transmission source is the image forming apparatus 4a is embedded. The main control unit 40 controls the job input / output control unit 41 to execute a transfer job and transmit (transfer) job data to other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n.

  The other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n that have received the job data determine that the job data is the charging management information for updating in the respective job analysis units 42 (step S26), and the image forming apparatus 4a based on the identification information. It is determined that it was sent from. The transmission operation to other image forming apparatuses is not executed by this determination.

  In the next step S26, the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n determine whether or not to update the contents of the setting information in the account management table storage unit 440 by the analysis of the job analysis unit. This determination is performed so that the priority level information indicating the priority level for the update is held in the account management table storage unit 440 in advance and is updated only when it is superior to the priority level information added to the charging management information for update. It has become.

  For example, when the update is not performed, for example, when the set value of the limit number of prints is updated to a reduced value, some image forming apparatuses do not reduce the same as other image forming apparatuses depending on the user, actual use, etc. For example, when maintaining Therefore, priority level information indicating high, medium, and low priority levels is added to the account management table storage unit 440 of the image forming apparatuses 4a, 4b,. Similarly, high, medium, and low priority level information is added to the received billing management information, and it is determined whether or not both of the priority level information are updated in comparison with the job analysis unit 42. If the received charge management information has a higher priority level as a result of determination, the setting information is updated as shown in the next step S27. However, if the determination result is a low priority level, it remains as it is without being updated.

  In this priority level determination, in the case of peer priority level information, such determination cannot be made, so time stamp information is added to both the set charging management information and the update charging management information in addition to the priority level information. It is. If the priority level information is the same, it is determined that the time stamp information is new and the setting information is updated.

  As shown in step S28, when the print job is received and printing is executed after the charging management information is updated, the printing is charged based on the updated charging management information in the next step S29. This charging result is stored in the account management table storage unit 440 as charging result data. The accounting result data is notified to the administrator computer device 3 in response to the report request from the administrator as shown in step S30 and displayed on the display unit 32.

  If it is determined in step S26 that the setting information is not updated (billing management information is not for updating), the setting contents of the account management table storage unit 440 remain the same as before. Therefore, when a print job is received and printing is executed as shown in step S31, the charge is made based on the charge management information before update as shown in the next step S32.

  On the other hand, as described above, whether or not the image forming apparatus 4a can be updated is determined in step S23. When the setting information is updated based on the determination result, the update is executed in the next step S33. Thereafter, as shown in step S34, when the print job is received and printing is executed after the update of the charge management information, the print is charged based on the updated charge management information in the next step S35. This charging result is stored in the account management table storage unit 440 as charging result data. The accounting result data is notified to the administrator computer device 3 in response to the report request from the administrator as shown in step S36 and displayed on the display unit 32.

  If it is determined in step S23 that the billing management information is not updated, the contents of the account management table storage unit 440 remain unchanged. Therefore, when a print job is received and printing is executed as shown in step S37, the charge is made based on the charge management information before update as shown in the next step S38.

  Furthermore, if it is determined in step S21 that the received job data is not the update billing management information, it is print job data, so printing is executed as shown in step S39. The billing is performed under the pre-update conditions as shown in the next step S40.

  In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the image forming apparatus 4a to which the charging management information generated by the charging management information generating unit 31 of the administrator computer apparatus 3 is transmitted through the network 2 includes the job analysis unit that forms the determination unit. 42 determines that the information has been transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus 3 and executes setting of charging management information, and transfers the charging management information to the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n. Then, the other image forming apparatuses 4b... 4n execute setting based on the charging management information received by each of them. For this reason, an existing image forming apparatus having a server function can be used as the image forming apparatus that receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus. Therefore, the administrator computer apparatus can manage a plurality of image forming apparatuses in an integrated manner. There is no need to provide server functions. Accordingly, the billing management system can be provided with a simplified system configuration and advantageous in cost.

  In addition, priority level information indicating a priority level is added to the charging management information for update, and the priority level can be determined by the job analysis unit 42 and the charging management information management unit 44 that form the priority level determination unit. Since it is possible to arbitrarily select an image forming apparatus that does not update the set information, billing management can be diversified.

  Further, since the determination is made by comparing the priority level information indicating the priority level between the received charge management information and the already set charge management information and the time stamp information, a determination means is formed even if the priority levels are the same. The job analysis unit 42 can determine to give priority to the latest time stamp information. Therefore, it is possible to easily select an image forming apparatus that does not update setting information that has already been set.

  In the present invention described above, the data to be printed by the image forming apparatuses 4a, 4b,... 4n is not limited to data read by the image forming apparatuses 4a, 4b,. Data obtained by a client device such as a personal computer may be received as a print job.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a billing management system in an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a system configuration diagram and (b) is a schematic block diagram. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the administrator computer apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the initial setting operation of the billing management information in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the charging management information update operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Accounting management system 2 Network 3 Administrator computer apparatus 4a-4n Image forming apparatus 31 Accounting information generation part 33 Job input / output control part 54 Receiving means 64 Discriminating means 74 Accounting management information transfer means 84 Accounting management information storage means 94 Priority level discrimination means

Claims (2)

Consists networked a and administrative computer system with a plurality of image forming apparatus, the charging management system to set the billing management information of the image forming apparatus by the billing management information generated by the administrator's computer device,
The administrator computer apparatus selectively selects initial charge management information for initial setting of the charge management information in the image forming apparatus or update charge management information for updating the set charge management information. A charging management information generating unit to generate, and a job input / output control unit to transmit the generated charging management information to the image forming apparatus for initial setting or update,
The image forming apparatus includes: a receiving unit that receives the charging management information; whether the received charging management information is transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus; the initial setting charging management information or the update charging management; discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the information, billing management said billing management information for transferring the billing management information via the network to another of the image forming apparatus when it is transmitted from the administrator's computer system An information transfer means; a charge management information storage means for setting the charge management information; and, when the received charge management information is the update charge management information, the charge management set in the charge management information storage means Priority level determination means for comparing and determining the priority level of the information and the charging management information for update ,
The charging management information generation unit adds priority level information indicating the priority level and time stamp information to the charging management information for update and transmits the information to the image forming apparatus, and the priority level determination unit includes the priority level information Information and time stamp information and the priority level information and time stamp information set in the accounting management information storage means are compared to determine the priority level. A billing management system characterized in that a newer stamp is given priority . An accounting management method comprising an administrator computer device and a plurality of image forming devices connected to a network, wherein the accounting management information of the image forming device is set by accounting management information generated by the administrator computer device,
The administrator computer device has an accounting management information generating unit for initial setting accounting management information for initially setting accounting management information in the image forming apparatus or updating accounting management for updating the set accounting management information. Information is selectively generated, and the generated charging management information is transmitted to any of the image forming apparatuses for initial setting or updating in the image forming apparatus,
Any of the image forming apparatuses receives the charging management information from the administrator computer apparatus, and whether or not the charging management information is transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus by the determination unit, the initial setting charging management information or It is determined whether or not the charging management information is for update, and when the charging management information is transmitted from the administrator computer apparatus, the charging management information is transferred to another image forming apparatus by a charging management information transfer unit. The accounting management information is set in the accounting management information storage means when the accounting management information is set in the accounting management information storage means and the received accounting management information is the update accounting management information by the priority level determination means. A priority level comparison determination between the charge management information and the update charge management information is performed,
The update billing management information generated by the administrator computer device is sent with priority level information indicating the priority level and time stamp information,
The priority level determining means determines the priority level by comparing the priority level information and time stamp information with the priority level information and time stamp information of the charge management information set in the charge management information storage means, A charging management method characterized by discriminating to give priority to a newer time stamp when both are priority level information of the peers .

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