JP4622779B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a computer program for managing the number of image formations using a billing counter, and more particularly to counting the number of image formations such as test copy at the time of maintenance with a billing counter. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a computer program that perform deduction processing from the number of times of normal image formation.

  More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that perform appropriate deduction processing while responding to a job request generated in the foreground or background during maintenance work, and a computer program. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a computer program that perform appropriate deduction processing while executing interrupt printing by a background job generated during maintenance work.

  In modern society where documentation is important, image forming apparatuses capable of reproducing images with high resolution and high quality have been deeply penetrated into the living environment for a long time. This type of image forming apparatus originally copied a black-and-white image of a scanned document onto printing paper. However, as copy forms such as color copying, enlargement, and reduction diversify, Resolution and quality have been improved. In addition to the copying function, complex copying machines equipped with a plurality of functions such as a printer, a facsimile machine, and a content service have become widespread.

  Many of this type of image forming apparatus are procured under a lease contract, and a vendor uses a billing counter to count the number of image formations and charges a customer for a usage fee.

  In addition, even when the automatic density adjustment function is activated, the image forming device changes its image quality due to the environment (temperature, humidity, etc.), supply status (photoreceptor fatigue), and changes over time. To do. The electrophotographic process corresponding to the engine portion of the image forming apparatus has a complicated structure, and it is difficult for the customer to adjust it arbitrarily. For this reason, in most cases, a maintenance contract is made between the customer and the vendor in which a customer engineer regularly visits the installation site of the image forming apparatus to perform maintenance.

  During maintenance work of the image forming device, test copy and test print (hereinafter referred to as “test copy”) are performed to check the normal operation of the device and image quality, and various reports are printed. To do. For example, an image forming apparatus that prints out a report when a maintenance operation is performed has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Here, if the number of copies made for maintenance purposes is added to the billing counter, the amount charged for the maintenance contract becomes an unfavorable amount for the customer, so deduction processing is necessary. This deduction process basically writes down the billing counter when the customer engineer visits, and subtracts the counter value at the time of the visit from the billing counter value at the end of the maintenance. Deducted as the number of sheets.

  In general, when a customer engineer performs maintenance work, the customer engineer reports the contents of the maintenance work to the company (refer to FIG. 25), and records maintenance work to the customer “maintenance complete” “Report” (see FIG. 26) is entered, but in the vicinity of the middle part of each form, an “end meter” that writes the value of the billing counter at the end of the maintenance, and the counter value at the time of visit are written down. The “visit meter” column is provided, and the value obtained by subtracting the visit meter from the end meter is written in the “maintenance work” column as a deduction target.

  It is troublesome for the customer engineer to perform such deduction processing manually, and mistakes are likely to occur. Also, when various reports such as service reports and maintenance completion reports are issued on the image forming apparatus that has undergone maintenance, the value of the end meter must be entered in consideration of the number of reports when creating the report. It is easy to make a calculation mistake.

  It is necessary to save the trouble of the customer engineer and perform the deduction processing accurately. For this reason, an image forming apparatus that stops the counter at the time of trial copying (see, for example, Patent Document 2) or the number of image formations performed by the user by subtracting the number of maintenance image formations performed by a serviceman from the total number of image formations is calculated. A proposal has been made regarding a management system for image forming apparatuses (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

  Also, during maintenance, an ordinary counter is stopped and an image forming apparatus having a separate test / copy counter (see, for example, Patent Document 4) or printing when it is determined that there is a problem with print image quality. There has been proposed a system (for example, see Patent Document 5) that switches the counter of the number of sheets to one for maintenance.

  However, in the case of a complex copying machine equipped with a plurality of functions such as a printer and a facsimile, even during maintenance work, such as facsimile reception and network printing via an external connection line such as a LAN or a public line. There is a possibility that a background job is started or operated inside the multifunction peripheral or the like. In addition, during the maintenance work, there may be a foreground job that the user directly instructs and requests on the operation panel of the multifunction peripheral such as an emergency copy of the customer. Corresponding to these interrupt prints during maintenance work, the number of image formations not subject to subtraction is counted in the maintenance counter, and accurate subtraction cannot be performed. When a customer engineer tries to perform a deduction process by hand calculation, the calculation becomes more complicated and it is easy to make a calculation mistake. In addition, if the facsimile reception is performed a plurality of times during the maintenance work, the possibility of making a calculation error increases accordingly. Of course, these interrupt prints interfere with maintenance work for customer engineers.

  For example, by removing the jack during maintenance work or disconnecting the LAN to suppress the start of jobs such as interrupt printing, the customer engineer can concentrate on the maintenance work and easily perform the deduction processing accurately. For network printing and foreground jobs, the customer may refrain from starting during maintenance work, and the customer may restart the job again after the maintenance is completed. However, jobs such as facsimile reception prints are highly important and urgent, and it is not preferable to give the customer the disadvantage of being unable to receive a job due to the convenience of the vendor. If the transmission source facsimile cannot perform reception processing while redialing is activated, data will be lost and recovery will not be possible.

  Even during maintenance work, facsimile reception and other highly important and urgent jobs should be activated. Then, the number of times of image formation by these interrupt prints should be excluded from the deduction target and the normal billing count should be performed. If deductions are not done correctly, it will be detrimental to customers and vendors.

  For example, an image forming apparatus that sets a grace value for a counter has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 6). In this case, execution of the image forming operation for the test purpose is allowed until the counter value becomes 0, and the customer can be freed from the disadvantage due to the increase in the unfairness of the counter value. The deduction process is not exactly performed according to the situation.

JP 2003-244375 A JP-A-6-95463 JP-A-8-152826 JP 2000-352912 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-94783 JP 2003-15487 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent image forming apparatus and image forming method capable of appropriately subtracting the number of times of image formation such as test copy during maintenance from the number of times of normal image formation counted by a billing counter, And providing a computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program capable of performing appropriate deduction processing in response to a job request generated in the foreground or background during maintenance work. Is to provide.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program capable of performing appropriate deduction processing while executing interrupt printing by a background job generated during maintenance work. There is.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and a first aspect thereof is an image forming apparatus that outputs image information, in which image information is recorded on a medium according to a foreground or background job request. An image forming unit formed above, a counter for billing / counting the number of image formations executed by the image forming unit, and a start job enable / disable setting unit that accepts a setting of a job type that can be started during maintenance work of the apparatus And an input means for receiving an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work, and a maintenance work mode start and end in response to an instruction operation for starting and ending maintenance work from the input means. Operation control means for ending, counter control means for controlling the billing / counting operation by the counter, and maintenance When the job request occurs during Nsu operations, an image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a job start permitting means for permitting the start of a job is set to be activated by the start job availability setting means.

  In an image forming apparatus with a lease contract, a vendor uses a billing counter to count the number of image formations and charge a customer for a usage fee. Further, in many cases, a maintenance contract is signed with a vendor in which a customer engineer regularly visits the installation site of the image forming apparatus to perform maintenance.

  Further, if the test print performed at the time of maintenance work is also counted by the billing counter, the amount charged for the maintenance contract will be unfavorable for the customer, so it is necessary to properly deduct it. For example, a normal counter may be stopped at the time of maintenance, and a separate maintenance counter for counting test copies may be provided. However, even during maintenance work, background jobs and foreground jobs may occur, and the value of the maintenance counter may become inaccurate due to interrupt printing or the like.

  Also, by removing the jack during maintenance work so that jobs do not occur in the background, the customer engineer can concentrate on the maintenance work and can accurately perform the deduction processing, but it does not work like a facsimile reception print. However, if a job with high importance or urgency is restrained by the convenience of the vendor, the disadvantage to the customer becomes excessive.

  Therefore, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a job type that can be activated during the maintenance work of the apparatus is set in advance and a job request is generated in the maintenance work mode, The job is allowed to be started only when it is set as startable by the start job enable / disable setting means. Therefore, by setting in advance the types of jobs that can be started during maintenance work according to the importance and urgency of the job, facsimile reception print while ensuring an environment where customer engineers can concentrate on maintenance work as much as possible The job of high importance and urgency like the above can be started as appropriate to protect the customer's profit.

  In some cases, the image forming apparatus connects multiple lines as a facsimile function. If a line is disconnected to restrict jobs during maintenance work, it takes a lot of trouble to connect the line as it was when maintenance work was completed. is there. According to the present invention, since it is not necessary to disconnect the line, such a situation can be avoided.

  Also, the billing count by the counter is stopped at the start of the maintenance work, the billing count by the counter is restarted at the end of the maintenance work, and the job started by the job start permission means during the maintenance work is executed. The number of image formations may be billed and counted. In such a case, it occurred due to the customer's convenience during the maintenance work while maintaining the customer's profits by deducting test prints and various report notifications (prints for) that the customer engineer performed during the maintenance work. The number of times of image formation by an interrupt job such as urgent copying or PC printing can be excluded from the object of deduction, and appropriate deduction processing can be performed.

  The activated job availability setting means may set whether to billing / count the number of times of image formation when each job permitted to be activated during maintenance work of the apparatus is executed. In other words, along with the types of jobs that can be started during maintenance work, whether or not the number of image formations when a job that is allowed to start is executed is set as a target of deduction, and more accurate deduction processing is performed. be able to.

  The start job enable / disable setting unit restricts a job to be set to startable during maintenance work of the apparatus to a part of background jobs such as facsimile reception print, and is used for maintenance work of a customer engineer. Create an environment where you can concentrate.

  In such a case, the counter control unit stops billing counting by the counter during maintenance work, and bills and counts the number of image formations by execution of the background job started by the job start permission unit. The deduction process may be performed.

  Here, if the counter is stopped during the maintenance work, there is a problem that accurate billing cannot be grasped. Therefore, the counter control means further includes a maintenance counter that bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter, and counts the job designated in the foreground during the maintenance work, separately from the counter. It may be. As a result, accurate billing can be ascertained by the counter, and jobs instructed in the foreground such as test copies and various report reports during maintenance work are counted by the maintenance counter and accurately deducted from billing. be able to.

  The image forming apparatus also includes a visit meter holding means for holding the counter value at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter, and the counter value at the end of the maintenance work as an end meter, based on the visit meter and the end meter. A deduction processing means for calculating a maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work, and a report notification means for notifying a maintenance result report such as a service report or a log table based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter are further provided. In addition, each meter value may be automatically calculated and printed on the report shown in FIG. 25 or FIG.

  In such a case, when printing a service report or a history table, the count values of these prints are not reflected in the billing counter. Therefore, the accurate meter value is printed on the report by calculating the maintenance work meter value by adding the predicted value of the number of times of image formation to be printed for the maintenance result report notification to the end meter value. be able to.

  Further, the deduction processing means subtracts a value corresponding to the test copy from the value of the end meter using the value of the maintenance counter that counts the number of times of image formation of the job executed during the maintenance work. A suitable visit meter value can be calculated.

  Specifically, the counter control means bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter, and holds the value of the counter at the start of the maintenance work as a visit meter so that the maintenance work is completed. The value of the counter is used as an end meter, and a maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work is calculated based on the visit meter and the end meter.

  Alternatively, the counter control unit bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs using the counter, sets the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work as an end meter, and performs maintenance separately from the counter. The deduction processing means calculates the value of the visit meter based on the value of the end meter and the value of the maintenance counter.

  Further, the deduction processing unit may calculate a maintenance work meter value by adding a predicted value of the number of times of image formation in the maintenance result report notification by the report notification unit to an end meter value.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus may further include a notification unit that notifies each value of the visit meter, the end meter, and the maintenance work meter to an external device. In such a case, a deduction processing database can be constructed on the network, and the values of the visit meter, the end meter, and the maintenance work meter when the maintenance of each image forming apparatus is performed can be managed centrally.

  When a failure such as a jam occurs during printing for the maintenance result report notification, the maintenance work meter value calculated by the deduction processing means, that is, the count value to be deducted, is accurate if it resumes in the same way as a normal job. Disappear. Therefore, the report notifying means may stop the job and start it again when a jam or other failure occurs during printing for the maintenance result report notification.

  Further, if interrupt printing or the like is performed during the printing for the maintenance result report notification, the maintenance work meter value calculated by the deduction processing unit, that is, the count value to be deducted becomes inaccurate. Therefore, the job activation permission unit may prohibit job activation while the report notification unit is performing the maintenance result report notification. Further, by setting the priority of the maintenance result report notification higher than that of a job that can be normally instructed by the user, job interruption can be suppressed.

  Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, a process for forming image information on a medium in response to a foreground or background job request and billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter is performed by a computer. A computer program written in a computer-readable format to be executed on the system, the start-up job availability setting procedure for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be started during maintenance work for the computer system; Maintenance start procedure for transitioning to the maintenance work mode according to the maintenance start instruction, and job start permission for permitting start of only jobs set as startable by the start job enable / disable procedure when a job request occurs under maintenance work In the procedure and maintenance work mode, A deduction counting procedure for billing and counting the number of image formations by execution of a job activated by the job activation permission procedure during maintenance work, and a maintenance work mode according to a maintenance end instruction. A computer program for executing a maintenance end procedure for returning to a normal mode.

  The computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention defines a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to realize predetermined processing on a computer system. In other words, by installing the computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention in the computer system, a cooperative action is exhibited on the computer system, and the image formation according to the first aspect of the present invention is performed. The same effect as the apparatus can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, an excellent image forming apparatus and image forming method capable of appropriately subtracting the number of times of image formation such as test copy at the time of maintenance from the normal number of image formations counted by the billing counter, In addition, a computer program can be provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, an excellent image forming apparatus and image forming method capable of performing appropriate deduction processing while responding to a job request generated in the foreground or background during maintenance work, and a computer A program can be provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, there are provided an excellent image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program capable of performing appropriate deduction processing while executing interrupt printing by a background job generated during maintenance work. can do.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the non-deductible amount can be accurately determined by subtracting from the maintenance counter the number of times of image formation caused by an interrupt job such as urgent copying or PC printing, which occurs due to the customer's convenience during maintenance work. And appropriate deduction processing can be performed.

  In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform accurate deduction processing including the number of print image formations performed for notifying the report of the maintenance result.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described later and the accompanying drawings.

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

  FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of an FWS (Field Work Support) system that centrally manages maintenance information of multifunction peripherals by customer engineers.

  The image forming apparatus is a multi-function machine equipped with a plurality of functions such as a printer, a facsimile, and a content service in addition to a copying function. In the embodiment described below, the image forming apparatus for which a lease contract and a maintenance contract are made with a vendor is particularly targeted, and a customer engineer visits the image forming apparatus regularly to perform maintenance. Is done. The multifunction peripheral is connected to a wide area network such as the Internet or a public telephone network. In the figure, only one image forming apparatus is drawn for simplification of the drawing, but in reality there are innumerable image forming apparatuses.

  The image forming apparatus can execute jobs such as copy, print, network print, scan, facsimile, mail, media print, and content print in response to a job request from a user. In addition to requesting individual jobs independently, multi-jobs combining two or more jobs such as scan + print and content download + print may be required. When the image forming apparatus executes a job, a service is provided to the user, and the user is charged for the service (in this sense, “job execution” and “service in the image forming apparatus”). "Providing" is almost synonymous).

  Multifunction devices are installed in user offices, convenience stores, and the like according to lease contracts with vendors. A user can directly input a job such as copying, facsimile transmission or reception, network printing, or content downloading from an operation panel provided in the multifunction peripheral. Alternatively, a job requested from a personal computer or the like via a network can be transferred to the multifunction device.

  A billing counter is attached to the multifunction peripheral, and the number of times of image formation is counted each time a job such as copying or printing is executed, and a usage fee charged to the user is calculated based on the count value. In addition to simply counting the number of ejected sheets, the counting method can adopt a counting method according to the difference in image forming mode such as sheet size and monochrome / color.

  The image forming engine of the multifunction machine is configured by an electrophotographic process, for example. Even if an automatic density adjustment function is installed on the multifunction device, the image quality changes due to the influence of the environment (temperature, humidity, etc.) in which it is installed and the change in the supply status (photoconductor fatigue), etc. Therefore, a maintenance contract is made between the vendor and the user so that the customer engineer regularly visits the installation site of the image forming apparatus and performs maintenance.

  This multi-function device is connected to a FWS server installed by a vendor via a wide area network such as the Internet. When a customer engineer visits and performs maintenance work on the multifunction peripheral, various maintenance information is notified (that is, reported) from the multifunction peripheral (or a maintenance terminal connected to the multifunction peripheral) to the FWS server. As a result, the vendor can grasp the status of the MFP, and provide users with appropriate maintenance, automatic ordering of consumables, meter counts, and automatic billing. be able to.

  FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100. Hereinafter, each part in the apparatus 100 will be described.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 is a central controller that comprehensively controls the operation in the apparatus 100, and controls programs under an execution environment provided by the operating system, such as copying, facsimile transmission / reception, and network printing. Main control is performed with respect to various image forming operations and charge processing for the price associated with the image forming processing. In this embodiment, the maintenance process for starting and ending the maintenance operation, the job start availability determination process for determining whether the job requested during the maintenance work can be started, the normal job execution time or during the maintenance work A program such as a billing / counting process for billing / counting the number of image formations during job execution is executed. An appropriate deduction process for a normal billing counter can be performed by a maintenance counter process or the like. Details of this point will be described later. The CPU 101 is interconnected with each device in the apparatus 100 via the bus 102.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 is composed of a read-only semiconductor memory device, and each control program and fixed data for performing service providing operations such as network printing and billing processing associated with service execution are permanent. Has been written. For example, firmware that executes the above-described maintenance processing, job activation availability determination processing, billing / count processing, and the like is stored in the ROM 103. Of course, the ROM 103 can also be configured using a device capable of electrically rewriting stored data, such as a flash memory, and the program and fixed data may be updated as necessary. The fixed data is unique information that does not need to be rewritten, such as a serial number, a manufacturing number, a manufacturing date, and a manufacturing factory name that physically identifies the multifunction peripheral 100.

  A RAM (Random Access Memory) 104 is composed of a rewritable semiconductor memory device, and loads a control program executed by the CPU 101 from the ROM 102, temporarily stores environment variables and system variables during program execution, and the like. Used as system memory for operation. The RAM 104 can be used as a page memory for image processing.

  An NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM) 105 is composed of a rewritable memory such as a flash memory that does not lose its stored contents even in a non-powered state, and includes security data, other nonvolatile data, image quality adjustment, and various counters (described later). It is used to store various setting parameters, various histories at the time of service execution, histories charged for services, etc.

  The HDD 106 is a large-capacity external storage device composed of a magnetic recording type fixed disk. The HDD 106 accumulates image data read from an original, stores various job histories when the image forming process is executed, and is executed by the CPU 101. Used to install programs to do.

  The image processing unit 107 performs various kinds of image processing such as expansion / compression processing and image quality adjustment on image data read from a document or image data downloaded via a network. For example, the image processing unit 107 can be configured by using ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

  The multi-function device 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a display unit 110 including a liquid crystal display as a user interface 109 and a hardware key such as a start / stop / ten key (or a touch panel that also functions as the display unit 110). A unit 111 is provided, and these are connected to the bus 102 via the UI interface 108. However, the CPU 101 may be configured to directly control the user interface 109 without using the UI interface 108.

  The user can directly input job instructions such as copying, facsimile transmission / reception, and content download via the user interface 109.

  In addition, the customer engineer can start and end maintenance work, test print during maintenance work, print various report reports and network transmission to FWS server, interrupt print during maintenance work, etc. via the user interface 109. Can be input.

  Various external devices, network interfaces, and the like are connected to the bus 102 via the communication interface 112.

  The LAN interface 113 provides a LAN port, such as 10 / 1000Base-T, through which the MFP 100 is network-connected in accordance with a predetermined protocol by IEEE (Institut of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). A wireless LAN can also be included. The multi-function device 100 can connect to an external network such as the Internet through a LAN and access a desired information resource. In addition, the multifunction device 100 can perform various services such as copying, facsimile transmission / reception, content search and other content processing, and network printing from a personal computer (PC) or a portable terminal (none of which is shown) used by the user. It is possible to receive a job instruction defining the contents and execute the service according to the instruction. In the present embodiment, the LAN interface 113 is used to connect to an FWS server on the Internet. Various maintenance information can be notified to the FWS server when the customer engineer performs maintenance work on the multifunction peripheral.

  The multi-function device 100 is equipped with an IC card read / write device to perform non-contact and short-range communication with the IC card, and is connected to the bus 102 via the RS232C or other serial interface 114. Between the IC card and the IC card read / write device, non-contact and short-distance communication is carried out while maintaining high tamper resistance through a predetermined mutual authentication process on a transmission path using electromagnetic coupling, electromagnetic induction, or radio wave communication. be able to. The multi-function device 100 charges the service fee from the IC card or charges the IC card.

  A USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface 115 conforms to, for example, USB 1.1 or USB 2.0, and can be used when a peripheral device is externally connected or locally connected to a personal computer or the like. For example, a customer engineer can connect a maintenance terminal (not shown) to the multifunction machine 10 via the USB interface 115.

  The modem 116 is a modem that performs mutual conversion between signals on the computer and signals on the public line. The modem 116 connects to a public line such as a facsimile, and performs normal facsimile transmission / reception, time designation transmission, and other various facsimiles. Provide functionality.

  The coin kit 117 has a receiving port for receiving cash such as coins and banknotes, a cash storage unit for storing the cash inserted through the receiving port, a counter for the amount charged and collected after counting the amount of the input and the remaining amount And a display unit for displaying the remaining amount or the amount currently collected.

  The device interface 118 is composed of, for example, RS422, and implements an interface protocol for connecting various devices constituting the multi-function peripheral 100 to the bus 102.

  Examples of the devices constituting the multifunction peripheral include a reading device unit 119 that reads an image from a document, and a printing device unit 120 that prints and outputs an image on a sheet.

  The reading device unit 119 is generally configured by a combination of a platen on which a document is placed and a scan for reading an image, and may be an automatic document reading device. The read image is appropriately subjected to image processing in the image processing unit 107 and output to the printing apparatus unit 120 or stored in the HDD 106.

  The printing apparatus unit 120 includes, for example, an electrophotographic print engine unit. The electrophotographic process includes a plurality of sub-processes such as charging of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, exposure of a scanned original image, development, that is, toner superimposition on the photosensitive member, toner transfer and fixing on a sheet, and cleaning of the photosensitive member. However, the configuration of the print engine itself is not directly related to the gist of the present invention and will not be described further here.

  When the sheet printed by the printing apparatus unit 120 is discharged, it is stored in the discharged sheet storage unit 121. The discharge sheet storage unit 121 can also be configured using a general discharge tray.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows a software configuration for controlling operations on the multifunction machine. As shown in the figure, the control software includes an operating system (OS) layer, a middleware layer, a functional module layer, and an application layer.

  The OS is a built-in real-time OS, and a general-purpose one manufactured for a multi-function peripheral can be used.

  The middleware is a layer that mediates between the OS and the function module, and is positioned above the general-purpose OS, suppresses the influence specific to hardware, and has a common API (Application Programming Interface) for the upper module such as a job or a function module. This is a group of modules to be provided. By interposing such a software hierarchy, it is possible to suppress the influence of a change in the implementation to the functional module or the job level hierarchy when the hardware or OS in the multifunction peripheral 100 is changed.

  The system manager is a module that manages the core of the multifunction peripheral 100 such as status / resource management, job management, file management, buffer management, timer management, job log management, and various log management. Also provided to functional modules.

  The device driver and library are a group of modules that provide the functions of the external system and hardware to the function modules, and control various protocols and various devices at a lower level.

  In the present embodiment, the MFP 100 manages a normal use state, a special state for maintenance, a special state for performing a diagnostic function, and the like based on the concept of mode. The mode library provides this management function to each function module.

  A mailer provides a general electronic mail protocol function, and performs, for example, transmission / reception of IFAX and communication with an FWS server.

  The DV library provides the number of printed DV sheets, that is, a counter control function (described later). An accessory driver is a driver for an authentication device such as a card reader or a management device.

  The device driver and library further include modules (not shown) that perform interface control with facsimile communication modem control, LAN control, HDD access control, reading device 119, printing device 120, user interface 109, and the like. is there.

  The functional modules are configured by a module group that notifies request processing, communication processing with the user interface 109, image processing for realizing an application, and various states to a remote device. Hereinafter, individual modules of the functional module group will be described.

  A request manager performs a request process and a communication process between the user interface 109 and the request manager. The output device controller (Output Device Cont) controls the printing device. The input device controller (Input Device Cont) controls the reading device. A spool controller (SpoolCont) controls accumulation. The Decomposer prints print data and performs conversion processing to an intermediate representation. A report generator (Report Gen) performs various report creation processes such as a service report and a maintenance completion report at the end of the maintenance work. The facsimile controller (FaxCont) performs facsimile communication control. An authentication manager performs authentication management. The HTTP controller performs notification processing such as various states to a remote device using the HTTP protocol. An SNMP controller (SNP PC Controller) performs notification processing of various states and the like on a remote device by SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). The LAN controller (LANCont) performs communication control on the LAN.

  The application is a function processing layer provided to the user such as copying, facsimile, and scanner.

  For example, when performing authentication using an IC card, if there is a user authentication operation instruction from the accessory driver and an inter-module message notification regarding information in the IC card read by the card reader, the authentication driver is stored in the NVRAM 105. The user management table is accessed and authentication processing is performed.

  After that, when a copy is instructed by the user, the request manager that has received the instruction via the user interface 109 checks the set values such as the document size and the paper size and sets them as copy job activation information. The system manager API is used to check system information necessary for starting the copy, such as status / resource management information. If there is no problem, the system manager is requested to start the application. The system manager performs scheduling control and starts an application according to a predetermined schedule.

  As a result, the copy of the application layer is activated, and the copy performs a current reading control instruction to the input device controller, an instruction to store the read image data to the spool controller, and a print control instruction to the output device controller. Thus, a copy function is provided to the user.

  In a maintenance contract for a multifunction device, it is necessary to properly deduct the amount of test prints and various report prints that are executed during maintenance work so that the billing amount is not disadvantageous for the user. In addition, a maintenance counter that counts the number of image formations during maintenance work is provided. The present invention is characterized in that the deduction process is accurately performed even when an interrupt print occurs during the maintenance work. The details of the deduction processing will be described below together with the maintenance work flow.

  The maintenance work includes phases of a maintenance start instruction, a maintenance work instruction, and a maintenance end instruction. The general operation in each phase is as follows.

Maintenance start instruction:
Enter CE (customer engineer) password Enter maintenance mode → Set maintenance mode flag Maintenance start processing
Maintenance counter operation starts
Enter maintenance details for creating reports End of maintenance mode transition

During maintenance work:
When Passive Service is requested, check whether it can be started. Startup not possible 1 → Rejected, notify the requesting user Startup not possible 2 → Receive without starting, handle as a waiting job Startable → Job start
→ Do not add the start job print to the maintenance counter. Billing counter only.
Active Service determines that it is for maintenance, and increases the billing counter and the maintenance counter. Here, Passive Service is a service that starts in the background. On the other hand, the Active Service is a service directly requested by the user through the operation on the operation unit 111 and needs to be activated immediately. Therefore, it can be determined that the Active Service instructed from the operation unit 111 during the maintenance work is requested by the customer engineer for maintenance.

Maintenance end instruction Report creation process → Service report, machine history table (the latter can be selected)
Service report creation process Report item creation from input contents at the time of mode transition Machine history table creation process Report item creation from input contents at the time of mode transition Notification to the FWS server Note that the machine history table is a history of maintenance work by the customer engineer It leaves the result of inspecting the machine, and many items such as meter information are common with the service report.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic procedure of a maintenance operation in the MFP according to the present embodiment in the form of a flowchart.

  First, a predetermined maintenance mode transition process (described later) is performed, and the multifunction device transitions from the normal mode to the maintenance mode (step S1).

  When there is a job activation request in the maintenance mode (step S2), a predetermined job activation determination process (described later) is performed (step S3), and whether or not the job can be activated is determined (step S4).

Then, when the start of the job is allowed, after executing the job (step S5), and performs the termination processing of the job (step S6). Since job execution is a general matter, the description is omitted here. Further, job end processing will be described later.

  Thereafter, until a maintenance end instruction is input from the customer engineer (step S7), the process returns to step S2, and job start control is continued under the maintenance mode.

  When there is a maintenance end instruction, a transition process (described later) to a predetermined normal mode is performed (step S8), and the entire processing routine is ended.

  FIG. 5 shows a processing procedure for shifting to the maintenance mode, which is executed in step S1, in the form of a flowchart. FIG. 6 shows an operation sequence at the time of shifting to the maintenance mode.

  When the customer engineer performs a predetermined operation for entering the maintenance mode (for example, pressing the start button for a long time on the operation unit 111), the user interface 109 performs an operation for shifting to the maintenance mode. Determines that the user has been instructed and requests the password.

  When this password is requested, the authentication manager checks the CE (customer engineer) password via the user interface 109 and the request manager. If the authentication result is OK, a process for shifting to the maintenance mode is started to perform the maintenance process.

  The request manager calls the mode library to request mode transition. At this time, almost simultaneously, the user interface 109 is notified that the mode transition state has been entered. Upon receiving this notification, the user interface 109 puts the operation unit 111 into a locked state. This is because, in this state, unless the user request such as the user interface 109 is locked, the mode transition process may cross the user request.

  Specifically, when a service that cannot be started after the mode transition is requested, the mode activation process is not completed during the mode transition process, so the service activation process is started. On the other hand, when the mode transition process is completed, the service is in an inconsistent state that cannot be activated. In order to avoid such a case, the request is locked as described above. Such processing is not limited to the user interface 109, but also to a LAN controller that accepts a request via a LAN.

  Next, the entry condition is checked to see if the various states of the current multifunction peripheral satisfy the condition for shifting to the maintenance mode (step S11). Since what kind of conditions should be checked is a design matter, description thereof is omitted here.

  If this entry condition is not satisfied, it is notified to the customer engineer via the user interface 109 that the migration is impossible (step S16).

  If the entry condition is satisfied, a flag indicating that the maintenance mode is entered is turned on (step S12), and a maintenance counter (see Table 11 described later) is started, that is, reset and counted. A possible state is set (step S13). Then, the result of satisfying the entry condition is notified to the related module (notifying the mode transition state).

  Next, the following items regarding maintenance are input from the user interface 109 (step S14).

・ Treatment purpose (periodic inspection, failure diagnosis, replacement of consumables, etc.)
・ Measures (XX replacement, jam removal, parts replacement, firmware version update, etc.)
・ Defect contents (Select from comment description, error history, job history)

  The inputted maintenance information is written in the NVRAM 105 and temporarily held (step S15).

  When the above steps are completed, the customer engineer is notified through the user interface 109 that the transition to the maintenance mode is completed, and the display unit 110 is displayed in the maintenance mode. Normally, in the maintenance mode, a black and white reversed display state is set so that it can be understood.

  In maintenance mode, customer engineers can print test copies, test prints, error history reports, and job history reports to check operation and image quality in addition to checking and replacing hardware parts. To do.

  At this time, an interrupt print such as a customer's PC print or a customer's business partner's facsimile reception print may occur. Therefore, it is necessary to update the maintenance counter in order to perform appropriate deduction processing for making the number of interrupt prints non-deductible.

  Next, the determination of whether or not to start the service during the maintenance work and the counting process will be described. Prior to this, the service control and parameters for performing the control will be described.

  The software of the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment uses the following three types of parameters, URP, SCB, and VDP, for control. FIG. 7 conceptually shows how to use each parameter. However, the figure shows an example of generating a monitor report at the time of facsimile transmission.

  URP (User Request Parameter) is a parameter set by an operation when the user (customer) operates the user interface 109 to instruct a start. For example, parameters necessary for a job request, such as paper size, number of copies, and magnification, correspond to this.

  The SCB (Service Control Block) is a parameter for performing service control, and corresponds to, for example, a job state, a job startable mode, and resource information.

  A VDP (Virtual Display Parameter) is a parameter generated based on the URP, and changes a parameter that has changed in a job operation process at a predetermined timing. The notification of the user interface 109, HTTP, SNMP, etc. can be notified in real time by referring to this at a predetermined timing.

  Although not shown, a parameter called JLP is also provided for the job history of the application. JLP (Job Log Parameter) is a parameter that is generated to take a job history at the end of service, and is generated by copying a part of URP, SCB, and VDP. This JLP is controlled by the FIFO and stored in the NVRAM 105. When the JLP exceeds a predetermined amount, it is moved to the HDD 106 and a new job history is stored in the NVRAM 105 again.

  FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of URP. As shown in the figure, URP is composed of a common part and a specific part depending on the application type.

  The common part has the ID, type, and error code of the URP itself. Since only URP is created at the time of a parameter check error, the above-mentioned part copied to the JLP is a copy of the common part for this reason. Table 1 shows a specific data configuration example of the URP application type common part.

  In addition, the unique part of URP has user setting parameters for each application such as copying and facsimile transmission. Tables 2 and 3 show specific data configuration examples of the unique parts in copying and facsimile transmission, respectively.

  FIG. 9 shows a schematic configuration of the SCB. As shown in the figure, the SCB is also composed of a common part and a specific part for each application type, similar to URP. Table 4 shows a specific data configuration example of the application type common part of the SCB.

  The unique part of the SCB includes application status, type, stop / hold type, error code, SCB ID, pointer information to each parameter, and the like, and further includes phase management information. Table 5 shows a specific data configuration example (in the case of copying) of the SCB application type specific part.

  FIG. 10 shows a schematic configuration of the VDP. As shown in the figure, VDP is also composed of a common part and a specific part depending on the application type, like URP and SCB. Table 6 shows a specific data configuration example of the VDP application type common part.

  The VDP is generated based on the URP. For example, in the case of copying, VDP has progress information such as the total number of printed sheets (number of original sheets × number of copies), the number of read sheets, the number of printed sheets, and the like, and has data indicating the current state of the application . Table 7 shows a specific data configuration example of the VDP application type specific part (in the case of copying).

  Here, returning to FIG. 7, the relationship between the above three types of parameters and application control will be described.

  When the user selects the Fax menu on the operation unit 111, selects a destination, etc., and presses the start button, the parameter selected by the user is notified to the request manager.

  The request manager generates a URP, sets the parameter and automatic setting selected by the user in the URP, and checks whether there is an invalid parameter. If there is no problem in the parameters, SCB and VDP are secured through the system manager API. The parameter check is performed by the request manager, but the prohibition process is naturally performed even at the level of the user interface 109.

  During the securing and checking period of SCB and VDP, task switching is not performed and the request manager occupies processing. The reason is that when a task is switched when securing or checking resources (described later), the resource that is scheduled to be secured in the next step becomes unavailable during the task switch. This is because there is a possibility of becoming. Furthermore, the SCB and VDP securing and checking processes are performed by the request manager because there is no occurrence of a cross sequence in the outermost module.

  The SCB is generated based on the URP, and is further set by adding resource information and phase information that the system manager has in advance. Resource information is roughly classified into three types: exclusive resources, machine state resources, and application unique resources.

  Exclusive resources, such as print engines, scanners, and modem public lines, are occupied during use, so resources that can be used exclusively or semaphore resources that have limited sharing (for example, encoding processing for image processing) Multiplicity, etc.).

  The machine state resource is a software resource such as an application management memory and a storage memory capacity, and a mode resource indicating that the multifunction peripheral is in an application regulation mode.

  The application unique resource is resource information that accompanies the activation of a specific application, and includes application unique resources such as a copy card not installed, frequency, and insufficient balance. Application phase transition conditions are also included in this resource.

  Since the above description of resources is general in terms of embedded control, descriptions other than those relating to the gist of the present invention are omitted.

  The prohibition of application activation in the maintenance mode, which is one of the points of the present invention, is generated based on the mode resource application restriction information among the resource information of the system manager when the SCB is generated. . Table 8 below shows a job list describing restriction information for each application. In the same table, a record is provided for each application, and the mode in which startup is not possible, and whether the number of image formations is deducted when the job is executed in the maintenance mode (that is, whether the job is to be deducted) Is done. For example, the application “copy” is prohibited in the diagnosis (diagnostic) mode and the remote maintenance mode, and it is understood that the copy executed in the maintenance mode is an object of deduction.

  According to Table 8, it becomes a quick reference table for confirming whether it is a mode that cannot be activated for each application or whether it is a deduction target. On the other hand, Table 9 shows a quick reference table format for confirming applications that are prohibited from being activated for each mode. From the table, for example, it can be confirmed that activation of applications such as PC printing and PC printing / security reception is prohibited under the maintenance mode.

  Table 9 shows a quick reference table format for confirming applications whose activation is prohibited for each mode. From the table, for example, it can be confirmed that activation of applications such as PC printing and PC printing / security reception is prohibited under the maintenance mode.

  By using the application regulation information as shown in Tables 8 and 9, the type of job that can be activated during the maintenance work can be set in advance according to the importance or urgency of the job. It is also possible to set whether or not the number of times of image formation when executing a job that is permitted to be activated during maintenance work is subject to deduction.

  Such information is stored in phase Info [x]. It is stored in McStatus res (x is the number of phases constituting the Service), and it is determined whether or not it can be activated during maintenance work based on this information. For example, when setting the parameters of the SCB for facsimile transmission, as shown in Table 8, information that activation is not possible during maintenance, diagnosis, and remote maintenance is set. Further, whether the activated application is a deduction object or a non-deduction object is similarly set to Apl CountStatus from the application restriction information of the mode resource of the resource information that the system manager has.

  Next, based on the generated resource information, it is determined whether the first phase is Active or Passive. This is because Active is a phase that needs to be started immediately, and immediately determines whether resources can be secured and whether a job can be started (hereinafter referred to as “resource check”). On the other hand, since Passive may be activated later, at that time, it is not determined whether to secure resources.

In the case of Passive, every time the phase shifts , the resource of the current phase is released and the resource check of the next phase occurs. On the other hand, in the case of Active, the resource check of the continuous Active phase is performed at the time of the resource check of the first phase.

  The difference between Active and Passive is not only the above but also scheduling, and each is placed in a dedicated waiting queue. In addition, it is Active when activated by a specific event, and Passive when checking availability of activation in a predetermined (for example, 1 second) unit.

  Table 10 shows some contents related to the resource determination of the SCB for facsimile transmission shown in FIG. Since the first “Scan & Store” phase (Scan & Store in Table 10) performed by the scan controller is Active (the notation in Table 10 is ACT), the mode resource check is performed in the request manager activation request processing. The resources are secured and checked in the order of VDP generation, exclusive resource reservation, and storage memory reservation.

  First, it is determined whether or not the mode is a non-startable mode from the non-startable mode set in the SCB by checking the mode resource. Here, if it can be activated, the process proceeds to the next step. If it cannot be activated, the process is terminated without being activated.

  For example, in the case of facsimile transmission, information indicating that the activation in the maintenance mode is not possible is set in the SCB as shown in Table 10 in accordance with the settings in Table 8, so that the activation is impossible and the process ends. On the other hand, since copying and facsimile reception are not activated in the maintenance mode, such information is not set in the SCB and it is determined that activation is possible, and the process proceeds to the next step.

  Next, VDP is generated. Since URP and SCB have already been secured for application management, if VDP can be generated, management memory is secured and the check is completed. If the management memory cannot be secured, the process is terminated without starting.

  Next, exclusive resources such as a scanner (that is, the reading unit 119), the RAM 104, and the HDD 106 are secured. If the exclusive resource can be secured, the process proceeds to the next step. If the exclusive resource cannot be secured, the process is terminated without being activated.

  Next, a memory for storage is secured by generating a file using the file system of the OS. If the storage memory can be secured, the process proceeds to the next step. If the storage memory cannot be secured, it is determined that the memory is insufficient and the process is terminated without being started.

  In the subsequent phases, if there is an active phase, the above exclusive resource is secured. In the example shown in FIG. 7, since this is Passive, this process is not performed. However, when copying and printing without performing the accumulation process, all phases are set to Active. Do.

  As described above, the resource is secured and checked. Note that when the first phase is Passive, no resource is secured and checked.

  Subsequently, the SCB is put in a waiting queue for scheduling. The wait queue includes an idle, ready-active, ready-passive, run, wait (time designation) queue, and the like.

  Idle is an unused SCB link, and is designed so that the number of queues is equal to the maximum number of applications that can be accepted by software in the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100. Further, Ready-Active is an SCB link of an active application, and Ready-Passive is an SCB link of a passive application. Run is the SCB link of the application in the running state, and the number of queues is designed so that the maximum number of software that can be executed simultaneously in the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 is reached.

  In the example shown in FIG. 7, the facsimile transmission is arranged in Ready-Active.

  Then, the request manager makes an application activation request to the system manager. The system manager performs scheduling by using this event as a trigger.

  If the first phase is Active, the resource check has already been completed, so the application is changed to the Run queue and a job activation instruction is issued to the Fax module. When the Fax module receives this event, it instructs each functional module such as the scanner controller, fax controller, report generator, and printer controller to control each phase based on the SCB, and reflects the result in the VDP. Let

  During execution of each phase, the application such as Fax updates only the SCB application-specific information, and the system manager updates only the SCB common information, thereby realizing SCB exclusive control.

  At the end of each phase, an application status notification is notified to the system manager. The system manager uses this as a trigger to move to the next phase start processing.

  If the next phase is Passive, the current resource is released, the resource check for the next phase is performed, and the SCB is placed in the Ready-Passive queue. If the next phase is Active, the resource has already been implemented at the time of request manager activation request processing, so the resource check is not performed and the next phase processing is started as it is.

  In the example shown in FIG. 7, the subsequent reading & communication, report creation & storage, and reading & P printing are all processed as a passive phase.

  When the above process ends, the application generates a JLP based on the contents of the SCB and VDP, and ends the process.

  FIG. 11 shows, in the form of a flowchart, a processing procedure for determining whether or not to start a job, which is executed when a background job is generated during the maintenance mode. This processing routine corresponds to the processing executed in step S3 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, URP is set (step S21), and URP parameters are checked (step S22). If the URP parameter check fails, a result indicating that the job cannot be started is returned (step S26).

  On the other hand, if the URP parameter check is successful, an SCB is subsequently set (step S23), and a resource check is performed (step S24). If the resource check is successful, the result of job activation permission is returned (step S25). If the resource check fails, a result indicating that the job cannot be started is returned (step S26).

  FIG. 12 shows the procedure of the resource check process performed in step S24 in the form of a flowchart.

  First, mode resource check processing is performed (step S31), and the check result is determined (step S32). If the mode resource check fails, a result indicating that the resource check has failed is returned.

  Subsequently, VDP generation processing is performed (step S33), and it is determined whether or not the VDP has been successfully generated (step S34). If the VDP generation fails, a result indicating that the resource check has failed is returned.

  Subsequently, the exclusive resource is secured (step S35), and it is determined whether or not the exclusive resource was successfully secured (step S36). If the exclusive resource allocation fails, a result indicating that the resource check has failed is returned.

  Subsequently, the storage memory is secured (step S37), and it is determined whether or not the storage memory can be secured safely (step S38). If the storage memory allocation fails, a result indicating that the resource check has failed is returned.

  Since the VDP generation process in step S33, the exclusive resource securing process in step S25, and the storage memory securing process in step S37 are general processes, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 13 shows the processing procedure of the mode / resource check executed in step S31 in the form of a flowchart.

  First, the current mode and mode reading are performed (step S41).

  Next, it is checked whether or not the mode is being changed (step S42). If the mode is being changed, a result indicating that the mode resource check has failed is returned.

  Next, it is checked whether or not it is a start-disabled mode (step S43). Here, if the mode is not startable, a result indicating that the mode resource check has failed is returned.

  If the above check is successful, a result indicating that the mode resource check is successful is returned.

  FIG. 14 shows a processing procedure for ending a job started during the maintenance mode in the form of a flowchart. This processing routine corresponds to the processing executed in step S6 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the VDP is finally updated (step S51), and then the SCB is collected and updated by reflecting the VDP value (step S52).

  Next, JPL is acquired (step S53), and JPL is set (step S54). JPL is ring buffer controlled, acquires the oldest log, and writes the information of the job that has been completed this time.

  Then, after releasing the VDP and SCB, the exclusive resource is released, and this processing routine ends.

  Next, the counter process will be described. Since the processing related to printing is the same as that of normal printing, copying machines, and multifunction machines, description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 15 shows a counter processing sequence and a processing flow in the DV library, taking as an example a case where a monitor report is generated after facsimile transmission. Table 11 shows a list of counters.

  The Fax module, which has received the print processing progress notification of the completion of one-page printing from the printer controller, appropriately updates parameters such as the current print count of the SCB, and then calls the counter control DV library.

  At this time, the deduction / non-deduction classification, application type, printed paper size, and color mode at the time of printing are passed to the DV library based on the SCB parameters.

  As shown in Table 11, the DV library holds and controls a plurality of counters corresponding to the target application, color type, billing or maintenance counter type, and paper size classification in the NVRAM 105, and the parameters passed The counter to be increased is specified and increased based on the above.

  The billing or maintenance counter type is a counter that billing counts all billing including deduction and non-deduction, and the maintenance counter counts the number of prints to be subtracted due to maintenance or the like.

In addition, “meter category on service” in Table 11 indicates a category of meters notified to the customer. This meter is divided into
・ Meter 1 Full Color (full color)
・ Meter 2 Simple Color (single color)
・ Meter 3 BW (black and white)
When the operator operates the operation unit 111 to confirm the meter value, the count values of the respective meter sections are totaled and displayed on the display unit 110.

  Further, the paper size classification is for determining and classifying paper sizes having different count units and charging units based on a predetermined paper size standard. In the present embodiment, the A3 size is used as a reference, and the classification is A3 or more and less than A3. In this way, by supporting the paper size classification, it is possible to provide more detailed aggregate information in cooperation with external client or server software.

  When each of the meters 1 to 3 is counted, in order to match the count unit for each counter, the count value of A3 or more is counted by a predetermined multiple (in this embodiment, twice) based on the section of less than A3.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 15, since the monitor report is a report that is automatically activated, an automatic report is set as the application type of the SCB. Therefore, the counters of the target applications Print and Report in Table 11 are counted up.

  Further, the monitor report has the color type set to black and white (notation in Table 11 is BW), the deduction type is non-deductible, and the paper size is A4 size parameter set to SCB. The billing counter of counter ID010 to be incremented is passed to the DV library together with the information, and can be specified.

  In addition, when a customer engineer tests and copies an A3 size chart during maintenance, the application type is copy, the color type is Full Color, the subtraction type is subtraction, the paper size category is A3 or higher, and the counter ID 013 is increased. Billing counters and maintenance counters with counter ID 015 can be specified.

  Next, processing when maintenance work is completed will be described.

  The maintenance end operation is started by a predetermined operation on the operation unit 111 (for example, pressing the start button for a long time, pressing the button on the touch panel for maintenance end, etc.). FIG. 16 shows a processing procedure for starting mode transition when the maintenance work is completed in the form of a flowchart. This corresponds to step S8 in the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When receiving the maintenance end instruction, the user interface 109 notifies the request manager of this. When the system manager recognizes that the maintenance end instruction has been received via the request manager, the system manager notifies the user interface 109 or a module that receives an activation request for an application such as a LAN or a modem to lock the activation request ( Step S61). This is because, since the calculation process of the counter value is included in the report (described later), when the maintenance end process is performed, the job request is temporarily closed so that the count value is not changed any more. Further, the user interface 109 prohibits acceptance of an interrupt key so that no new print processing occurs during the processing.

  Next, the customer engineer is requested to confirm via the user interface 109 whether only the service report is printed or whether the machine history table is printed together with the service report (step S62).

  If the machine history table is not created, service report creation processing is performed (step S67). When creating a machine history table, a service report creation process is executed (step S63), and then a machine history table creation process is executed (step S64).

Next, each item stored at the time of report creation is read and converted into text data.
Then, an e-mail header addressed to the FWS server is created and encrypted, and notified to the FWS server as an e-mail (step S65).

  Now that the work associated with the end of the maintenance is completed, the process to move to the normal mode is performed next, the flag information indicating that the machine is in the maintenance mode, the maintenance counter is reset, and the process shifts to the normal mode. (Step S66).

  In the service report creation process, the contents of the service report are displayed, displayed on the user interface 109 sequentially, and the contents are confirmed, added, and changed. However, the unique information of the MFP installed at the customer site is not changed. FIG. 17 shows the procedure of the service / report generating process executed in steps S63 and S67 in the form of a flowchart.

  Information is read from the ROM 103 or the NVRAM 105 (step S71), displayed on the display unit 110 (step S72), and the content is confirmed. Items to be checked here include customer management ID, model code, machine number, service classification, and the like. When the customer engineer confirms (approves) each of the above items (step S73), it is temporarily stored in the RAM 104 and held so that it can be printed in the corresponding column in the report (step S74).

  In order to retain the items in the report for printing, the RAM 104, the NVRAM 105, and the HDD 106 can be used. Even when an abnormality such as NVRAM 105 or HDD 106 that causes a power interruption occurs, it is preferable that the storage means can hold the data of the item.

  Next, information at the start of the maintenance work is read (step S75), and items to be automatically set are set from the maintenance information (step S76).

  Items to be set and confirmed from information at the start of maintenance work can include a purpose code and an error code. The purpose code is set from the entered treatment purpose (periodic inspection, failure diagnosis, consumable replacement, etc.) and confirms the content of the failure information treatment. The error code is set from the entered defect content (selected from comment description, error history, and job history), and the error code at the time of occurrence of the defect is set from the error history.

  Items that are automatically set from the maintenance information can include failure information treatment content and next work memo. The failure information treatment content includes error content and treatment code. As the error content, the error content stored in advance corresponding to the error code is described. As the treatment contents, a treatment code stored in advance and the treatment contents corresponding to the error code are described. When additional treatment is required, the treatment content is additionally input from the operation unit 110 or the like. Further, in the case of inspection or firmware version update in the ROM 103, since there is no error code, the code and contents are additionally input. The next work memo describes the parts used, the reason for consumables used, the reason for consumables, and the like. These set pre-stored replacement parts corresponding to error codes. As a result, when an input is made to the FWS server, parts are automatically ordered. If there are additional parts, enter them. When there are parts on hand and the work is completed, the parts are deleted.

  Additional items to be entered as maintenance information include customer engineer employee number, maintenance reception date, reception time, travel time to work site, visit date, maintenance work start time and end time, failure You can list cut-off time, diagnosis / repair / inspection time, etc. As the visit date and the start time, the date and time when the maintenance mode is entered may be automatically set. In addition, the user interface 109 notifies that the time obtained by adding the diagnosis / repair / inspection time to the failure separation time is set in the range of the total work time. Further, since miscopy information received from customers is also subject to deduction, meter 1, meter 2, and meter 3 for counting miscopy are input.

  Then, the maintenance information and the items automatically set from the maintenance information are displayed on the display unit 110 (step S77), and the contents are confirmed. When the customer engineer confirms (approves) each of the above items (step S78), these items are temporarily stored in the RAM 104 and held so that they can be printed in the corresponding columns in the report (step S79). If approval cannot be obtained, a change item setting process is performed (step S92), the process returns to step S57, and item display and confirmation are performed again.

  Next, the meter information is read (step S80), and an end meter calculation process (step S81), a maintenance work meter calculation process (step S82), and a visit meter calculation process (step S83) are performed.

  Then, the automatically calculated meter information is displayed on the display unit 110 (step S64), and the contents are confirmed. When the customer engineer confirms (approves) each of the above items (step S85), these items are temporarily stored in the RAM 104, filled in the corresponding columns in the report, and stored in the HDD 106 (step S86). If approval cannot be obtained, the meter information change item setting process is performed (step S93), and the process returns to step S83 to display and confirm the item again.

  Next, an item to be separately input by handwriting is displayed on the display unit 109 (step S87), and the customer engineer is prompted to input by handwriting from the operation unit 110. Separately, an item to be input by handwriting is a return time or the like. When handwritten input is performed (step S88), these are temporarily stored in the RAM 104, filled in the corresponding fields in the report, and stored in the HDD 106 (step S89).

  Then, a report is created using the information written in steps S74, S79, S86, and S89, and stored in the HDD 106 (step S90). Thereafter, the process proceeds to the reading and printing phase, and the service report is printed (step S91). Further, when the creation of the machine history table is instructed, it is created in the same manner as the service report, but the description is omitted here.

  FIG. 18 shows a detailed procedure of the end meter calculation process executed in step S81 in the form of a flowchart.

  First, the counter ID, end meter 1, end meter 2, and end meter 3 are initialized. Specifically, the end meter 1, the end meter 2, and the end meter 3 are reset to 0, and processing is performed from the first counter ID001 (step S101).

  Next, since only the billing counter is counted by the end meter, it is determined whether the count type of the counter is billing (step S102). If it is not billing, it is determined whether or not the counting operation has been completed for all counters (step S114). If billing is performed, it is determined whether the counter meter category is category 1 (step S103). If not, the meter classification 2 is determined (step S107).

  If it is meter category 1, the paper size category is determined (step S104). If it is A3 or larger, the count value is doubled as described above and the end meter 1 is totaled (step S104). In S105), if it is less than A3, the end meter 1 is counted as it is (Step S106).

  Similarly, in the case of meter category 2, the paper size category is determined (step S108), and the end meter 2 is counted for A3 or larger size (step S109). (Step S110).

  If neither meter category 1 nor 2 is determined, similarly to meter category 3, the paper size category is determined (step S111), and the end meter 2 is tabulated for sizes larger than A3 (step S112). The end meter 3 is counted as it is (step S113).

  When the above processing is completed, it is determined whether the counting work has been completed for all counters (step S114). If the counting has not been completed, the count type is determined for the next counter ID counter (step S115). The same processing is performed from (Step S102), and if not, meter correction processing is performed (Step S116), and counting of the end meter 1, the end meter 2, and the end meter 3 is completed.

  The meter correction process is a process for correcting each end meter by adding an expected billing count value of a service report or machine history table to be executed in the future, and details thereof will be described later.

  FIG. 19 shows a detailed procedure of the maintenance meter calculation process executed in step S82 in the form of a flowchart.

  The way of counting is the same as the counting process of the end meter, and the counter ID, the maintenance meter 1, the maintenance meter 2, and the maintenance meter 3 are initialized (step S121).

  Next, since only the maintenance counter is counted by the maintenance meter, it is determined whether or not the count type of the counter is maintenance (step S122). If it is not maintenance, the counting work is completed for all the counters. (Step S134).

  If the counter type is maintenance, it is subsequently determined whether the meter category of the counter is category 1 (step S123). If not, meter category 2 is determined (step S127).

  If it is meter category 1, the paper size category is determined (step S124), and maintenance meter 1 with a size of A3 or larger is totaled (step S125). If less than A3, maintenance meter 1 is totaled as it is. (Step S126).

  Similarly, in the case of the meter category 2, the paper size category is determined (step S128), and the maintenance meter 2 is aggregated at a size larger than A3 (step S129). (Step S130).

  If neither meter category 1 nor 2 is selected, the paper size category is similarly determined as meter category 3 (step S131), and maintenance meter 2 is tabulated for sizes larger than A3 (step S132). Then, the maintenance meter 1 is totaled as it is (step S133).

  When the above processing is completed, it is determined whether the counting work has been completed for all counters (step S134). If the counting has not been completed, the count type determination is performed for the counter of the next counter ID (step S135). From (step S122), the same processing is performed. If not, meter correction processing is performed (step S136), and the counting of the maintenance meter 1, the maintenance meter 2, and the maintenance meter 3 is completed.

  FIG. 20 shows the procedure of meter correction processing executed in step S116 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 18 and step S136 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 19 in the form of a flowchart.

  In the meter correction process, it is checked whether the machine history table is instructed to be printed (step S141). If the machine history table is not instructed to be printed, the service report meter is determined and increased (step S142). .

  Further, when the machine history table is instructed to be printed, the service report meter confirmation and increase processing (step S143) and the machine history table meter determination and increase processing (step S144) are performed to correct the meter. The process ends.

  FIG. 21 shows the procedure of meter determination and increase processing in the form of a flowchart.

  In the meter determination and increase processing, first, the service startup parameters (“application type”, “color type”, “deduction type” (deduction and non-deduction) stored in the program as resource information possessed by the system manager, etc. Distinction), “number of prints” (the number of prints is determined in advance for report services), and “paper size” (paper size for printing the report)) based on the designation of the service report and the machine history table, The corresponding service activation parameter is read (step S151).

  As is clear from the list of counters shown in Table 11, “application type”, “color type”, “deduction type” (distinguishment between deduction and non-deduction), “paper size classification” (specified from paper size) from the read parameters. ) And the counter ID that is actually increased during printing is specified (step S152).

  Next, the increment value of the counter is calculated at the time of actual printing based on the number of printed reports and a predetermined multiple of the “paper size classification” of the counter, which in this embodiment is twice as described above (step S153). ).

  Next, since the meter classification N (N = 1 to 3) can be uniquely identified from the counter ID, either the end meter N or the maintenance meter N is identified based on this (Step) In step S154, the increment of the previously determined counter is added to increase the meter (step S155).

  FIG. 22 shows the detailed procedure of the visit meter calculation process executed in step S83 in the form of a flowchart.

  The visit meter can be calculated by taking the difference between the end meter N and the maintenance meter N for each visit meter N (step S161, step S162, step S163).

  In the service report creation processing procedure shown in FIG. 17, a report for printing a service report or the like is created after steps S74, S79, S86, and S89. The application is started from step S80. It may be done before. In this case, when the application is started and the paper size is determined and scheduling is performed, control is performed so that the application waits for execution until “meter value determination and report start instruction wait”.

  In the case of such a modification, the parameters for correction shown in FIG. 20 are read from the SCB of the application waiting for execution start, the calculation process of each meter is completed based on the parameters, and the process of step S89 ends. When is confirmed, the execution waiting state is canceled and report generation is started.

  Normally, in an automatic report or the like, when a sheet that matches the sheet size of the report print is not stored in the tray, another sheet size that can be automatically printed can be selected and printed. In the above-described modification, even in such a case, the other paper size selected is stored in the SCB, and meter correction processing corresponding to the paper size is possible.

  In addition, in the case of a device with a sensor that detects the remaining amount of paper in the tray, in the situation where the sensor detects that the remaining paper is about to run out, you can select another size paper in the same way, Paper out-of-paper is reduced and meter correction processing according to the paper size is possible.

  When printing a service report, the report print priority is set to high. This is because if the interrupt printing or the like is performed while the report is being printed, the meter value to be subtracted becomes inaccurate, so that the job interruption is suppressed by setting the priority higher.

  In addition, if a jam occurs when creating a service report or machine history table, an accurate meter cannot be counted, so everything is re-executed from the service report meter calculation.

  An example of a service report is as shown in FIG. In the example shown in the figure, there are only two copies of the technical center bank and customer copy, but when you need a sales office copy and issuer copy (both basic contents are the same as the technical center line) The number of prints is four.

  FIG. 23 shows, in the form of a flowchart, the processing procedure for notifying the FWS server of the service report, which is executed in step S45 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When each item stored in the service report creation process shown in FIG. 17 is read (step S171), the report data is converted into text data (step S172).

  Next, an e-mail header addressed to the FWS server is created in the text data (step S173), the mail document is further encrypted (step S174), and is sent as an e-mail to the FWS server (step S175).

  By notifying the service report to the FWS server according to the processing procedure shown in FIG. 23, when the work accompanying the end of the maintenance is completed, the process for shifting to the normal mode is performed. FIG. 24 shows the procedure of mode transition processing executed in step S46 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 16 in the form of a flowchart.

  In this migration process, first, entry conditions are checked (step S181). If this check fails, a result indicating that the mode cannot be changed is returned (step S185).

  On the other hand, if the entry condition check is successful, then the flag information indicating that the maintenance mode is entered is reset (step S182), the maintenance counter is further reset (step S183), and the maintained maintenance information is retained. The information is cleared (step S184), and the mode is changed to the normal mode.

  With the above configuration, when a customer engineer is performing maintenance work at a customer site, when a test copy for image quality or operation check is activated, it is counted as a deduction, while the customer's PC print is prohibited from being activated. As a result, the influence on maintenance work is eliminated, and by starting the facsimile reception print from the customer's business partner and counting it as non-deductible, various applications can be started and the counter can be counted appropriately. .

  The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can make modifications and substitutions of the embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  As an application example of the above-described embodiment, a maintenance counter may not be prepared. In the maintenance state, the counter may be stopped and the counter operation may be resumed only when a non-deduction job is started. In this case, the deduction item by the maintenance work of the service report becomes unnecessary. Such a configuration is simple and easy to implement. However, it should be noted that the life of the consumables whose life is calculated based on the number of sheets cannot be accurately calculated because the counter is stopped.

  Further, when the notification to the FWS server is made, information input by electronic information is performed, so that the service report for the sales office copy or the issuer copy may not be issued. Further, regarding the jam at the time of creating the report and the history table, the meter value may be recalculated and notified when the final transmission data to the FWS server is created. In this way, since accurate numerical values are notified to the FWS server, it is sufficient to print the report and the history table by handwriting correction.

  In the above-described embodiment, PC printing is not activated in the maintenance state. However, if maintenance of the MFP does not involve power off / on or reboot during maintenance such as periodic inspections, the PC print job is started, the print data reception and storage phase is executed, Scheduling control may be performed so that processing in the subsequent print phase is not performed and is placed in the Passive queue. In addition, control that can be prohibited may be selected as in the above-described embodiment. In the case of the above-described embodiment, activation of PC printing is rejected, so the customer must give a print instruction again after the maintenance is completed. Therefore, there is no need for re-instruction, and there is an advantage that a job can be executed immediately after the maintenance is completed.

  Also, a billing count that is more appropriate than conventional ones can be realized only by activating only applications that can be activated by determining whether or not activation is possible during maintenance based on the table shown in Table 8. Further, whether or not billing is counted for those that can be activated during maintenance for each activated application, for example, by having deduction and non-deduction information as in this embodiment, billing and counting can be performed more appropriately. it can.

  In addition, while determining whether or not to activate during maintenance based on the table as shown in Table 8, certain applications are prohibited, but applications such as facsimile reception with high importance are controlled to be activated and controlled. High-accuracy facsimile reception can provide the user's merit and CE (customer engineer) merit that the less important background applications can be regulated to concentrate on maintenance work. Furthermore, a more appropriate billing count can be realized by simply counting the applications started during maintenance as usual.

  Also, by determining whether or not to start during maintenance based on the table as shown in Table 8, the maintenance counter for the foreground job started during maintenance is held as shown in Table 11 and is counted. More appropriate deduction work can be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the meter value at the time of the visit is calculated from the end meter and the maintenance meter. It is also possible to calculate and notify the minute meter value from the difference between the count value at the end of the maintenance work and the count value at the time of the visit.

  In this specification, the software configuration and names as shown in FIG. 3 are shown. However, the control software of the multifunction peripheral is not limited to such a configuration. Also, regarding job activation control, various determinations are made after storing necessary information in the parameter block called SCB. A control method for determining whether or not activation is possible directly from the table corresponding to Table 8 and the application name, etc. There is no particular limitation as long as it is a control method that can determine whether or not activation is possible during maintenance.

  The counters shown in Table 11 may also be counter control applied to the apparatus, method, and system, except for the gist such as the maintenance counter. For example, even if a counter is not provided for each paper size category, control for setting a count increase value for each paper size (A4: 1 count, A3: 2 count, etc.) may be used. If it is not possible, items such as color type may be omitted.

  In short, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the description of the present specification should not be interpreted in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims should be taken into consideration.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of an FWS system that centrally manages maintenance information of a multifunction machine by a customer engineer. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a software configuration for controlling operations on the multifunction peripheral. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a schematic procedure of the maintenance operation. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the MFP 100 to shift to the maintenance mode. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation sequence when the multifunction peripheral 100 shifts to the maintenance mode. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the concept of parameters used in the multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic data structure of URP. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a schematic data structure of the SCB. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a schematic data configuration of VDP. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for determining whether or not a job can be activated when a background job is generated during the maintenance mode. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the resource check process. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the mode resource check processing procedure. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a procedure of job end processing. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a counter processing sequence and a processing flow in the DV library. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for starting mode transition when the maintenance work is completed. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the service / report creation process. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the end meter calculation process. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the maintenance meter calculation process. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the procedure of meter correction processing. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the procedure of meter determination and increase processing. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the visit meter calculation process. FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for notifying a service report to the FWS server. FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a mode transition process for returning from the maintenance mode to the normal mode. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a service report. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a maintenance completion report.

Explanation of symbols

100 ... MFP 101 ... CPU
102 ... Bus 103 ... ROM
104 ... RAM
105 ... NVRAM
106 ... HDD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 107 ... Image processing part 108 ... UI interface 109 ... User interface 110 ... Display part 111 ... Operation part 112 ... Communication interface 113 ... LAN interface 114 ... Serial interface 115 ... USB interface 116 ... Modem 117 ... Coin kit 118 ... Device * Interface 119... Reading device unit 120... Printing device unit 121.

Claims (19)

An image forming apparatus that outputs image information,
An input means for receiving an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work;
Image forming means for forming image information on a medium in response to a foreground job request received from a user by the input means or a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus ;
A counter for billing and counting the number of image formations executed by the image forming means;
A start job enable / disable setting means for accepting a setting of a job type that can be started during maintenance work of the device;
Operation control means for starting and ending maintenance work mode in response to a start and end instruction operation of maintenance work from the input means;
Counter control means for controlling the billing and counting operation by the counter;
Job start permission means for allowing the start of the job set to be startable by the start job enable / disable setting means when a job request is generated under the maintenance work mode;
Equipped with,
The counter control means stops billing count by the counter at the start of maintenance work, restarts billing count by the counter at the end of maintenance work, and is started by the job start permission means during maintenance work Billing and counting the number of image formations by job execution,
The activation job availability setting means sets whether to billing / count the number of image formations when each job that is permitted to be activated during maintenance work of the apparatus is executed.
An image forming apparatus. The activation job availability setting means sets a job that can be activated during maintenance work of the device from background jobs.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The counter control means stops billing counting by the counter during maintenance work, and bills and counts the number of image formations by execution of the background job activated by the job activation permission means.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. The counter control means bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
A maintenance counter for counting the number of image formations of a job instructed in the foreground during maintenance work;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. An image forming apparatus that outputs image information,
An input means for receiving an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work;
Image forming means for forming image information on a medium in response to a foreground job request received from a user by the input means or a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus;
A counter for billing and counting the number of image formations executed by the image forming means;
A start job enable / disable setting means for accepting a setting of a job type that can be started during maintenance work of the device;
Operation control means for starting and ending maintenance work mode in response to a start and end instruction operation of maintenance work from the input means;
Counter control means for controlling the billing and counting operation by the counter;
Job start permission means for allowing the start of the job set to be startable by the start job enable / disable setting means when a job request is generated under the maintenance work mode;
A visit meter holding means for holding the value of the counter at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter;
The deduction processing means for calculating the maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
Report notification means for performing a maintenance result report notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter,
Comprising
The counter control means bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
The deduction processing unit calculates a maintenance work meter value by adding a predicted value of the number of times of image formation in the maintenance result report notification by the report notification unit to an end meter value.
An image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus that outputs image information,
An input means for receiving an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work;
Image forming means for forming image information on a medium in response to a foreground job request received from a user by the input means or a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus;
A counter for billing and counting the number of image formations executed by the image forming means;
A start job enable / disable setting means for accepting a setting of a job type that can be started during maintenance work of the device;
Operation control means for starting and ending maintenance work mode in response to a start and end instruction operation of maintenance work from the input means;
Counter control means for controlling the billing and counting operation by the counter;
Job start permission means for allowing the start of the job set to be startable by the start job enable / disable setting means when a job request is generated under the maintenance work mode;
The deduction processing means for calculating the maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
Report notification means for performing maintenance result notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter,
Comprising
The counter control means bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs using the counter, sets the counter value at the end of maintenance work as an end meter, and a maintenance counter different from the counter Is used to count the number of image formations of jobs executed during maintenance work,
The deduction processing unit calculates a visit meter value based on the end meter value and the maintenance counter value, and calculates a predicted value of the number of times of image formation in the maintenance result report notification by the report notification unit as an end meter value. To calculate the maintenance work meter value,
An image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus that outputs image information,
An input means for receiving an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work;
Image forming means for forming image information on a medium in response to a foreground job request received from a user by the input means or a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus;
A counter for billing and counting the number of image formations executed by the image forming means;
A start job enable / disable setting means for accepting a setting of a job type that can be started during maintenance work of the device;
Operation control means for starting and ending maintenance work mode in response to a start and end instruction operation of maintenance work from the input means;
Counter control means for controlling the billing and counting operation by the counter;
Job start permission means for allowing the start of the job set to be startable by the start job enable / disable setting means when a job request is generated under the maintenance work mode;
A visit meter holding means for holding the value of the counter at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter;
The deduction processing means for calculating the maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
Report notification means for performing a maintenance result report notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter,
Comprising
The counter control means bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
The report notifying means restarts the maintenance work meter calculation process by the deduction processing means when a jam or other failure occurs when performing the maintenance result report notification.
An image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus that outputs image information,
An input means for receiving an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work;
Image forming means for forming image information on a medium in response to a foreground job request received from a user by the input means or a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus;
A counter for billing and counting the number of image formations executed by the image forming means;
A start job enable / disable setting means for accepting a setting of a job type that can be started during maintenance work of the device;
Operation control means for starting and ending maintenance work mode in response to a start and end instruction operation of maintenance work from the input means;
Counter control means for controlling the billing and counting operation by the counter;
Job start permission means for allowing the start of the job set to be startable by the start job enable / disable setting means when a job request is generated under the maintenance work mode;
A visit meter holding means for holding the value of the counter at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter;
The deduction processing means for calculating the maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
Report notification means for performing a maintenance result report notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter,
Comprising
The counter control means bills and counts the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
The job activation permission unit prohibits job activation while the report notification unit is performing the maintenance result report notification.
An image forming apparatus. Set the priority of the maintenance result report notification higher than the job that the user can normally instruct.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 8. Foreground job request received from the user by the input unit on the image forming apparatus that outputs image information including an input unit that receives an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work Or an image forming method for forming image information on a medium in response to a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus and billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter,
An activation job availability setting step for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be activated during maintenance work; and
A maintenance start step for transitioning to a maintenance work mode in response to a maintenance start instruction;
A job activation permission step for permitting activation of only a job set to be activated in the activation job availability step when a job request is generated under maintenance work;
A maintenance end step for returning from the maintenance work mode to the normal mode according to the maintenance end instruction;
A first billing count step for billing and counting the number of image formations by execution of a job under normal mode;
A second billing count step for billing and counting the number of image formations by execution of the job activated in the job activation permission step during the maintenance operation in the maintenance operation mode;
Have
In the start job enable / disable setting step, whether to billing / count the number of image formations when executing each job permitted to start during maintenance work,
An image forming method. In the start job availability setting step, a startable job during maintenance work of the device is set from background jobs.
The image forming method according to claim 10. A step of stopping billing and counting by the counter during maintenance work;
Billing and counting the number of image formations by execution of the background job started by the job start permission step;
The image forming method according to claim 11, further comprising: Billing and counting the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
A step of counting the number of image formations of the job instructed in the foreground during the maintenance operation by a maintenance counter;
The image forming method according to claim 11. Foreground job request received from the user by the input unit on the image forming apparatus that outputs image information including an input unit that receives an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work Or an image forming method for forming image information on a medium in response to a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus and billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter,
An activation job availability setting step for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be activated during maintenance work; and
A maintenance start step for transitioning to a maintenance work mode in response to a maintenance start instruction;
A job activation permission step for permitting activation of only a job set to be activated in the activation job availability step when a job request is generated under maintenance work;
A maintenance end step for returning from the maintenance work mode to the normal mode according to the maintenance end instruction;
A visit meter holding step for holding the value of the counter at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter;
A deduction processing step of calculating a maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
A report notification step for performing a maintenance result report notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter;
Have
Billing and counting the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
In the deduction processing step, a maintenance work meter value is calculated by adding a predicted value of the number of times of image formation of the maintenance result report notification in the report notification step to an end meter value,
An image forming method. In job request and the image forming apparatus for outputting image information with an input means for receiving an input of inclusive instruction operation an instruction to start and end of the maintenance work, a job request of full Oagurando that received from the user by the input means Or an image forming method for forming image information on a medium in response to a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus and billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter,
An activation job availability setting step for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be activated during maintenance work; and
A maintenance start step for transitioning to a maintenance work mode in response to a maintenance start instruction;
A job activation permission step for permitting activation of only a job set to be activated in the activation job availability step when a job request is generated under maintenance work;
A maintenance end step for returning from the maintenance work mode to the normal mode according to the maintenance end instruction;
A billing count step that counts the number of image formations of all jobs and uses the counter value at the end of maintenance work as an end meter;
A maintenance counting step for counting the number of image formations of a job executed during maintenance work;
A visit meter calculation step of calculating a value of the visit meter based on the value of the end meter and the count value in the maintenance count step;
A deduction processing step for calculating a maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
A report notification step for performing a maintenance result notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter;
Have
In the deduction processing step, a maintenance work meter value is calculated by adding a predicted value of the number of times of image formation of the maintenance result report notification in the report notification step to an end meter value,
An image forming method. Foreground job request received from the user by the input unit on the image forming apparatus that outputs image information including an input unit that receives an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work Or an image forming method for forming image information on a medium in response to a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus and billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter,
An activation job availability setting step for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be activated during maintenance work;
A maintenance start step for transitioning to a maintenance work mode in response to a maintenance start instruction;
A job activation permission step for permitting activation of only a job set to be activated in the activation job availability step when a job request is generated under maintenance work;
A maintenance end step for returning from the maintenance work mode to the normal mode according to the maintenance end instruction;
A visit meter holding step for holding the value of the counter at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter;
A deduction processing step for calculating a maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
A report notification step for performing a maintenance result report notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter;
Have
Billing and counting the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
When a jam or other failure occurs when performing the maintenance result report notification in the report notification step, the calculation process of the maintenance work meter in the deduction processing step is started again.
An image forming method. Foreground job request received from the user by the input unit on the image forming apparatus that outputs image information including an input unit that receives an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work Or an image forming method for forming image information on a medium in response to a background job request generated inside the image forming apparatus and billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter,
An activation job availability setting step for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be activated during maintenance work; and
A maintenance start step for transitioning to a maintenance work mode in response to a maintenance start instruction;
A job activation permission step for permitting activation of only a job set to be activated in the activation job availability step when a job request is generated under maintenance work;
A maintenance end step for returning from the maintenance work mode to the normal mode according to the maintenance end instruction;
A visit meter holding step for holding the value of the counter at the start of maintenance work as a visit meter;
A deduction processing step of calculating a maintenance work meter value to be deducted by the maintenance work based on the visit meter and the finish meter based on the value of the counter at the end of the maintenance work,
A report notification step for performing a maintenance result report notification based on the values of the visit meter and the end meter;
Have
Billing and counting the number of image formations of all jobs by the counter,
In the job activation permission step, while performing the maintenance result report notification in the report notification step, job activation is prohibited.
An image forming method. Execute maintenance result report notification at a higher priority than jobs that can be normally instructed by the user.
The image forming method according to claim 17. Foreground job request received from the user by the input unit on the image forming apparatus that outputs image information including an input unit that receives an input of an instruction operation including a job request and instructions for starting and ending maintenance work Alternatively, image information is formed on a medium in response to a background job request generated in the image forming apparatus, and processing for billing and counting the number of image formations using a counter is executed on a computer. A computer program written in a computer readable format for the computer,
A start job enable / disable setting procedure for accepting the setting of the type of job that can be started during maintenance work;
A maintenance start procedure for transitioning to a maintenance work mode in response to a maintenance start instruction;
A job activation permission procedure for permitting activation of only a job set to be activated in the activation job availability procedure when a job request is generated under maintenance work;
A maintenance end procedure for returning from the maintenance work mode to the normal mode according to the maintenance end instruction;
A first billing count procedure for billing and counting the number of image formations by execution of a job under normal mode;
A second billing count procedure for billing and counting the number of image formations by execution of the job activated in the job activation permission step during the maintenance operation in the maintenance operation mode;
Have
In the start job enable / disable setting procedure, whether to billing / count the number of image formations when executing each job permitted to start during maintenance work,
A computer program characterized by the above.

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