JP6943058B2 - How to operate the server system, operation information collection system and server system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a server system, an operation information collection system, an operation method of the server system, and the like.

Conventionally, a server system that collects operation information of a plurality of devices connected to a network has been known. Various devices for collecting operation information can be considered, but for example, they are production devices such as printers.

There are various possible uses for the operation information collected by the server system. For example, the server system sends the collected operation information to the terminal device used by the user. In this way, the user can check the operating state of the printer by using the terminal device. For example, a user who is away from the printer can remotely monitor the operating status of the printer (for example, the progress status of a job).

If there is a discrepancy between the actual operating state of the printer and the operating information viewed on the terminal device, the user who uses the terminal device may misunderstand the state of the printer and may not be able to take appropriate measures. In Patent Document 1, in a configuration in which the management server collects printer operation information via an intermediary server (local PC), the frequency at which the intermediary server accesses each printer is set and the operation information is collected (polling). The method of adjusting is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-136309

In the method of Patent Document 1, since the collection of operation information is performed at a set frequency, there is a possibility that information such as job completion or error occurrence that should be notified to the user as soon as possible cannot be quickly transmitted to the terminal device. In addition, if the collection frequency is simply increased, the communication load will increase.

One aspect of the present invention is a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network, and is a first communication in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the communication connection is established. The communication unit includes a communication unit, a processing unit, and a storage unit that perform processing and a second communication process in which the communication connection is disconnected when information is received after the communication connection is established. The first information of the operation information is received by the first communication process, the second information of the operation information is received by the second communication process, and the processing unit receives the second information. The first information received by the first communication process and the second information received by the second communication process are written in the storage unit, and the communication unit receives the first information. It relates to a server system that gives push notifications to a terminal device if it is of a given type.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the first information and the second information of the operation information are received by different communication processes, and when the received first information is of a predetermined type, it is pushed to the terminal device. Make a notification. In this way, by separating the communication path of the first information and the communication path of the second information which may be related to the push notification to the terminal device, the communication load is suppressed and the first information can be obtained. It will be possible to quickly obtain and push notifications.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the processing unit overwrites the storage unit with the first information received by the first communication process, and receives the second information received by the second communication process. Additional writing may be performed in the storage unit.

In this way, it becomes possible to write to the storage unit in an appropriate manner according to the type of information.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the communication unit may receive notification setting information from the terminal device and perform the push notification based on the received notification setting information.

In this way, by executing the push notification based on the settings made on the terminal device side, the push notification can be performed in the manner desired by the user.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the communication unit may receive the notification setting information from the terminal device by the second communication process.

In this way, the notification setting information can be received by appropriate communication processing.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the first information is information transmitted with an event generated in the collection target device as a trigger, and the second information is information transmitted on a given schedule. There may be.

In this way, it is possible to promptly receive the first information after the event occurs, suppress the increase in load due to the communication of the second information, and the like.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the first information is at least one of the status change information of the collection target device, the job start / end information, the information about the consumable material, the job time information, and the job progress information. May include.

In this way, it becomes possible to quickly collect predetermined information having high importance.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the collection target device is a printing device, and the first information has a status including at least one of an error state, a warning state, a normal operating state, and an idle state of the printing device. It may include at least one of change information, information about ink or toner, information about printing medium, printing completion time information, remaining time information until printing is completed, and progress information of printing operation.

In this way, it is possible to quickly collect predetermined information that is highly important in the operation of the printer.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the second information may be historical information about the operating state of the collection target device.

In this way, it becomes possible to collect historical information.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the history information may be information in which a time stamp is associated with an event generated in the collection target device.

In this way, it becomes possible to collect time-series operation information as history information.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the second information may include information in which a plurality of time-series information collected by the collection target device has been processed.

By doing so, it is possible to reduce the amount of information of the second information and to use the information useful for grasping the operating state as the second information.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the collection target device is a printing device, and the second information includes at least parts replacement history information, nozzle check history information, flushing frequency information, and ink ejection frequency information. One may be included.

In this way, it becomes possible to collect useful information for long-term maintenance of the printer.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the first communication process is a communication process corresponding to MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport), and the second communication process is a communication process corresponding to HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It may be.

In this way, each communication process can be realized by using a specific communication protocol.

Another aspect of the present invention is a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network, and is a communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the communication connection is established. The processing unit includes a communication unit, a processing unit, and a storage unit for receiving the operation information, and the processing unit overwrites the first information of the operation information on the storage unit, and the operation information is transmitted. The second information is additionally written to the storage unit, and the communication unit is related to a server system that gives a push notification to the terminal device when the received first information is of a given type. do.

In another aspect of the present invention, the operation information is received by the communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained, and the writing to the storage unit is controlled according to whether the operation information is the first information or the second information. Further, when the received first information is of a predetermined type, a push notification is given to the terminal device. In this way, it is possible to promptly perform push notifications for predetermined information while receiving operation information by communication processing in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained.

Further, in another aspect of the present invention, the communication unit may receive information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device as the second information.

In this way, it is possible to reduce the communication load due to the reception of the second information.

Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to an operating information collecting system including the server system according to any one of the above and the terminal device.

Still another aspect of the present invention is a method of operating a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network, and the first information among the operation information is communicated. After the connection is established, it is received by the first communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained, and the second information of the operation information is said to be received when the information is received after the communication connection is established. The first information received by the second communication process in which the communication connection is disconnected and received by the first communication process and the second information received by the second communication process are written to the storage unit. It relates to a method of operating a server system that gives a push notification to a terminal device when the received first information is of a given type.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a method of operating a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network, and the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the communication connection is established. The operation information is received, the first information of the operation information is overwritten in the storage unit, the second information of the operation information is additionally written and written in the storage unit, and received. It relates to a method of operating a server system that gives a push notification to a terminal device when the first information is of a given type.

Configuration example of operation information collection system. Printer configuration example. Configuration example of information processing device. Server system configuration example. Configuration example of terminal device. An example of the data structure of operation information stored in the printer. An example of a data structure of operation information stored in an information processing device or the like. A specific example of the first information. The schematic diagram of the communication mode between a printer side, a server system, and a terminal device. The schematic diagram of the communication mode in the 1st communication processing. The explanatory view of the communication sequence regarding the 1st information. The explanatory view of the communication sequence regarding the 2nd information. An example of a display screen used for notification settings. The schematic diagram of the communication mode between a printer side, a server system, and a terminal device. An example of a display screen that displays a list of information on multiple printers. Detailed information display screen example.

Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described. The present embodiment described below does not unreasonably limit the content of the present invention described in the claims. Moreover, not all of the configurations described in the present embodiment are essential constituent requirements of the present invention.

Further, an example in which the device for collecting operation information is a printer (printing device) will be described below, but the device for collecting operation information can be extended to other devices (for example, production devices other than printers).

1. 1. Operation Information Collection System FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an operation information collection system according to the present invention. The operation information collection system 1 includes a server system 7 that collects operation information of the printer 3 via an information processing device 5, and a terminal device 9. The server system 7 transmits the collected operation information to the terminal device 9. The information transmitted to the terminal device 9 does not need to include all the operation information collected by the server system 7. For example, the server system 7 may transmit information obtained by extracting a part of the operation information or information obtained by processing the operation information such as statistical processing to the terminal device 9. The terminal device 9 displays the information received from the server system 7 on the display unit, or notifies by ringing or the like.

However, the system including the operation information collection system 1 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and various modifications such as omitting some of these components or adding other components can be performed. For example, the information processing device 5 may be omitted from FIG. 1, and each printer 3 may be directly connected to the network NE2 (Internet).

As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of printers 3 and the information processing device 5 are connected to the network NE1 and can communicate in both directions via the network NE1. Further, the information processing device 5 and the server system 7 are connected to the network NE2 and can communicate in both directions via the network NE2. Further, the terminal device 9 is also connected to the network NE2, and the server system 7 and the terminal device 9 can communicate with each other in both directions via the network NE2.

For example, the network NE1 is a LAN (Local Area Network), and the network NE2 is the Internet. However, LAN and the Internet are shown as examples of communication lines, and are between the printer 3 and the information processing device 5, between the information processing device 5 and the server system 7, and between the server system 7 and the terminal device 9. The specific configuration of the communication line connecting the above is not limited to these.

The system 10 composed of a plurality of printers 3, a LAN, and an information processing device 5 collects operation information of each printer 3 by the information processing device 5 and transmits it to an external server system 7. The information processing device 5 is, for example, a device constructed in a facility of the same company, and may be a PC (Personal Computer) or a server in the company. Although one system 10 is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of systems 10 may be connected to the server system 7.

The printer 3 includes a display unit 333 as described later with reference to FIG. Therefore, if the user is working near the printer 3, the state of the printer can be recognized by viewing the operation information displayed on the display unit 333. However, it is conceivable that the user works away from the printer 3.

For example, in a small-to-medium-sized company (business establishment) with few employees, in addition to operating the printer 3, the user needs to perform accounting, sales, delivery of products, and other tasks, and there are situations where the user leaves the printer 3. appear. Therefore, it is important to construct a system that can confirm the operating state of the printer 3 by using the terminal device 9 operated by the user. Specifically, the terminal device 9 receives, displays, and notifies information based on the operation information collected by the server system 7, so that the user remotely monitors the operating state of the printer 3.

In addition, if it is a relatively large-scale business establishment, it is possible to allocate personnel to each printer 3 (each production line). However, the manager who controls a plurality of production lines cannot always check the display units 333 of all the printers 3. Therefore, in order to appropriately grasp the overall progress of the work, it is important to display information on the terminal device 9, and the operation information collection system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is also useful in this case.

Although one terminal device 9 is shown in FIG. 1, there may be a plurality of terminal devices 9. For example, a plurality of users in a company using one system 10 may receive and browse information using the terminal device 9, respectively. Further, when a plurality of systems 10 are connected to the server system 7, one or a plurality of terminal devices 9 may be used for each system 10.

2. Detailed Configuration Examples of Each Device Next, configuration examples of the printer 3, the information processing device 5, the server system 7, and the terminal device 9 will be described.

2.1 Printer FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the printer 3. The printer 3 includes a processing unit 31, an interface unit 33, a printing unit 35, and a storage unit 37. The processing unit 31 comprehensively controls the operation executed by the printer 3. The function of the processing unit 31 can be realized by various processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, gate array, etc.), a program, and the like. The interface unit 33, the printing unit 35, and the storage unit 37 operate under the control of the processing unit 31.

The interface unit 33 includes a communication unit 331, an operation unit 332, and a display unit 333. The communication unit 331 is connected to the LAN and executes communication with the information processing device 5 via the LAN. Further, the operation unit 332 is composed of a button or the like for receiving an input operation from the user, and the display unit 333 is composed of a display or the like for displaying various information about the printer 3 to the user. The operation unit 332 and the display unit 333 may be integrally configured by, for example, a touch panel.

The printing unit 35 includes a printing engine 351 and a sensor 352, and a counter 353. The print engine 351 is a mechanical configuration that executes printing of an image on a print medium. The printing engine 351 prints an image on a print medium by ejecting ink from an inkjet ejection head onto a take-up print medium conveyed in a roll-to-roll manner. The specific configuration of the printing engine 351 is not limited to the one illustrated here, and the printing engine 351 may be one that prints on a sheet-fed printing medium or one that prints with toner by a laser method. The sensor 352 detects various physical quantities related to the operating state of the printing engine 351, and the counter 353 counts various numerical values that change with the operation of the printing engine 351.

The physical quantity indicating the operating state of the printing engine 351 includes, for example, the voltage applied to the electrical components of the printing engine 351, the temperature and humidity in the printing engine 351 and the positions of the ejection head and the printing medium. In order to detect these physical quantities, various sensors 352 such as a voltage sensor, a temperature / humidity sensor, a position sensor, and an acceleration sensor are provided. The numerical values that change with the operation of the printing engine 351 include, for example, the elapsed time after the power of the printing engine 351 is turned on, the integrated length of the printed printing medium, the amount of ink consumed (or the remaining amount), and the rotating machine. There is an integrated rotation amount of parts (for example, a roller that conveys a print medium). Then, various counters 353 are provided to count these numerical values.

The storage unit 37 is composed of a storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage unit 37 uses the status information (errors, warnings, etc.) of the printer 3, the identification information (job name) of the job executed by the printer 3, the information indicating the progress of the job (printing time information, progress information), or the sensor 352. The data and the like output from the counter 353 are stored as operation information indicating the operation status of the printer 3.

2.2 Information processing device FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing device 5. The information processing device 5 includes a processing unit 51, an interface unit 53, and a storage unit 55, accesses the storage units 37 of each of the plurality of printers 3 to collect operation information, and transmits the collected operation information to the server system 7. Performs information processing operations. The processing unit 51 is a processor such as a CPU, and executes an information mediation operation while using the interface unit 53 and the storage unit 55.

The interface unit 53 includes a communication unit 531, an operation unit 532, and a display unit 533. The communication unit 531 is connected to the LAN and the Internet, executes communication with each printer 3 via the LAN, and executes communication with the server system 7 via the Internet. Further, the operation unit 532 is composed of a mouse, a keyboard and the like that accept input operations from the user, and the display unit 533 is composed of a display and the like that display various information to the user. The operation unit 532 and the display unit 533 may be integrally configured by, for example, a touch panel.

The storage unit 55 is composed of a storage medium such as an HDD, a ROM, or a RAM, and stores the operation information received from the printer 3 by the communication unit 531. Since the information processing device 5 may acquire operation information from a plurality of printers 3, the storage unit 55 stores the identification information (printer ID) of the printer 3 in association with each information such as the status information. ..

2.3 Server system FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server system 7. The server system 7 includes a processing unit 71 (processor), a communication unit 731 (communication interface), and a storage unit 75 (storage device, memory), receives operation information collected by the information processing device 5, and is a terminal device 9. Sends operation information to. The function of the processing unit 71 can be realized by various processors such as a CPU, hardware such as an ASIC, a program, or the like, and the processing unit 71 executes a predetermined operation using the communication unit 731 and the storage unit 75.

The communication unit 731 is connected to the Internet and executes communication with the information processing device 5 or the terminal device 9 via the Internet. The server system 7 may include an operation unit and a display unit (not shown). The operation unit is composed of a mouse, a keyboard, etc. that accepts input operations from the user, and the display unit is composed of a display, etc. that displays various information to the user. However, the server system 7 may be managed by using an external device (management terminal device) without including the operation unit and the display unit. For example, the server system 7 has a function as a Web server, is operated by using software (Web browser) that operates on an external device, and various information is displayed on the display unit of the external device. You may.

The storage unit 75 is composed of a storage medium such as an HDD, a ROM, or a RAM. The storage unit 75 stores the operation information from the printer 3 and the notification setting information. The storage unit 75 may be a database (relational database in a narrow sense), and the storage unit 75 stores an operation information table and a notification setting information table. The operation information table is a table that stores operation information. The notification setting information table is a table used when notifying the terminal device 9 from the server system (push notification). The push notification here represents a communication mode in which information is transmitted from the transmitting side even if there is no request from the receiving side. The push notification from the server system 7 to the terminal device 9 means that the server system 7 is the starting point for transmitting information to the terminal device 9.

The server system 7 is not limited to the one realized by one server. For example, the server system 7 may include a database server (storage unit 75) that stores an operation information table and the like, and an application server (processing unit 71, a part of communication unit 731) that transmits and receives information to and from the terminal device 9. .. Alternatively, the server system 7 may include a server for load balancing and a server for push notification to the terminal device 9. Further, a database server, an application server, or the like may be realized by distributed operation of a plurality of servers. Further, each server constituting the server system 7 may be a virtualized server (virtual server). In this case, each virtual server may operate on the same server (physical server) or may operate on different physical servers. Further, the server system 7 may be dynamically scaled (for example, dynamically changing the number of virtual servers) by monitoring the communication load and the like. That is, the server system 7 of the present embodiment can be variously modified with respect to the number of physical servers, the number of virtual servers when virtualizing the servers, the correspondence between the virtual servers and the physical servers, and the like.

2.4 Terminal device FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal device 9. The terminal device 9 includes a processing unit 91 (processor), an interface unit 93, and a storage unit 95 (storage device, memory), and receives operation information collected by the server system 7. The function of the processing unit 91 can be realized by various processors such as a CPU, hardware such as an ASIC, a program, and the like.

The interface unit 93 includes a communication unit 931 (communication interface), an operation unit 932, a display unit 933, and a notification unit 934. The communication unit 931 is connected to the Internet and executes communication with the server system 7 via the Internet. The operation unit 932 is composed of buttons and the like that receive input operations from the user, and the display unit 933 is composed of a display and the like that display various information to the user. The operation unit 932 and the display unit 933 may be integrally configured by, for example, a touch panel. The notification unit 934 notifies the user. The notification unit 934 may be, for example, a speaker that notifies by sound, a vibration unit (vibration motor) that notifies by vibration, or a combination thereof.

The storage unit 95 is composed of a storage medium such as an HDD, a ROM, or a RAM. The storage unit 95 may store software (application) that performs operation information acquisition processing, display processing, and the like from the server system 7. Further, the storage unit 95 stores the operation information received from the server system 7.

3. 3. Communication between the printer and the information processing device FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a storage mode of operation information in the storage unit 37 of the printer 3. As shown in FIG. 6, in the storage unit 37, the type of operation information and the address of the memory are associated with each other, and each operation information is stored in the address corresponding to the type. To give a specific example, the operation information v1 indicating the value of the elapsed time after the power is turned on is stored in the address a1 corresponding to the type. However, the storage unit 37 can perform modification such as storing the operation information in association with the update time (time stamp) of the operation information.

The processing unit 31 of the printer 3 and the printing unit 35 (sensor 352, counter 353) periodically (always in a narrow sense) monitor the operating state, and when the operating state changes, the operation information of the storage unit 37 is stored. Will be updated.

The processing unit 51 (communication unit 531) of the information processing device 5 performs polling and periodically acquires operation information from one or a plurality of printers 3 connected via a LAN.

As shown in FIG. 6, if the type of operation information and the address are associated with each other in the storage unit 37 of the printer 3, the processing unit 51 accesses the address corresponding to the operation information to be collected. Then, the operation information stored in the address is collected. For example, the processing unit 51 collects information that has changed from the previously collected information. Alternatively, the processing unit 51 determines the operation information to be collected for each printer 3 based on the model, firmware version, and the like of the printer 3.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a storage mode of operation information stored in the storage unit 55 of the information processing device 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the operation information is recorded in the storage unit 55 in association with the identification information (ID, serial number) of the printer 3 and the acquisition time information. Although omitted in FIG. 7, the storage unit 55 has a type of information (“Y ink consumption”, etc.) and a specific value (if it is ink consumption, as in the case of FIG. 6), as in the example of FIG. The combination with the number of discharges, volume, ratio, etc.) is stored as operation information.

However, as described above, the information processing device 5 can be omitted, and the printer 3 may directly communicate with the server system 7.

4. Communication control of the server system Next, the communication method of the operation information regarding the server system 7 will be described. Specifically, it varies depending on the first embodiment, the first communication process (MQTT), in which various operation information is communicated by using the first communication process (MQTT) and the second communication process (HTTP) in combination. A second embodiment for communicating the operation information of the above and a modified example will be described.

4.1 First Embodiment Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described. First, the first information and the second information of the operation information will be described, and then a specific communication path and communication sequence will be described. Further, a setting method for performing push notification from the server system 7 to the terminal device 9 will also be described.

4.1.1 First Information As described above, the collection target device (printer 3) collects various operation information. The operation information includes information with relatively high real-time performance and information with low real-time performance. Here, high real-time property means that it is highly necessary to shorten the time from the acquisition of information by the printer 3 to the presentation of the information to the user in the terminal device 9 via the server system 7. show. Alternatively, high real-time performance means that it is highly necessary to shorten the time from the acquisition of information by the printer 3 to the collection of the information by the server system 7. On the contrary, the information with low real-time property means that after the information is acquired by the printer 3, it takes a certain amount of time to transmit the information to the server system 7 and the information to the terminal device 9 via the server system 7. Represents information that is unlikely to cause problems.

Hereinafter, the operation information having a relatively high real-time property will be referred to as the first information, and the operation information having a relatively low real-time property will be referred to as the second information.

FIG. 8 is a specific example of the first information among the operation information and a specific example of the event corresponding to each information. The first information includes status change information including at least one state of an error state, a warning state, a normal operating state, and an idle state of the printer 3 (printing apparatus).

When the printer 3 shifts from the normal operating state (printing) to the warning state or error state, it is necessary for the user to return to the printer 3 and perform some work in order to continue or restart the job (printing). Is high. The warning state is a state in which printing may not be continued (for example, the remaining amount of ink is low), and the error state is a state in which the printing operation is stopped due to some abnormality. Alternatively, when the job on the printer 3 ends and the normal operating state (printing) shifts to the idle state (standby), the user returns to the printer 3 and submits a new job to press the printer 3. It becomes possible to operate efficiently. Therefore, the status change from printing to standby is also highly real-time information.

As shown in FIG. 8, the status information takes any value of "printing", "waiting", "warning", and "error". "Printing" corresponds to the above-mentioned normal operation state, "Waiting" corresponds to the idle state, "Warning" corresponds to the warning state, and "Error" corresponds to the error state.

The first information includes information on the ink or toner of the printer 3 and information on the print medium. Ink and the like are consumable materials whose remaining amount decreases as the printer 3 operates. The user is interested in how much ink is left in the printer 3 at the moment, that is, whether there is a problem in continuing the printing operation, and whether it is necessary to return to the printer 3 and refill the ink. It is considered that the information is such as. Therefore, the information regarding the ink and the like needs to have a sufficiently small deviation from the actual ink amount and the like of the printer 3, and is highly real-time information.

The information about the ink or toner and the information about the print medium are, specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the remaining amount of the liquid ink or toner, and the remaining amount of the print medium. The remaining amount of ink is, for example, the ratio of the remaining amount when the capacity of the ink tank is 100%, and the unit is%. The remaining amount of the print medium may be, for example, the number of sheets, or may be the length (unit: m) when roll paper or the like is used. Further, although FIG. 8 shows an example of using the remaining amount information, the consumption amount information of ink or the like may be used.

The first information includes information on the remaining time until printing is completed, information on printing completion time, and information on the progress of printing operation. FIG. 8 shows an example in which the first information is the remaining time information. The remaining time information is information representing the remaining time until printing is completed, and is, for example, information representing the hours and minutes of the remaining time (“1 hour and 45 minutes remaining”, etc.).

The print completion time information is information representing a time such as "14:25". The print completion time information can also include date information. The progress information of the printing operation is information indicating the progress of how much the printing operation is completed at the present time with respect to the entire printing operation (for example, the operation for completing the printing of the entire image file to be printed). be. The progress information is, for example, a ratio (“60%” or the like) when the entire printing operation is set to 100%.

By using the remaining time information (or printing completion time information), it is possible for the user to easily grasp how many minutes (or at what time) the printing currently being executed will be completed. Further, by using the progress information, it is possible to make the user easily grasp the progress degree of the printing operation. If there is a discrepancy between the latest information grasped by the printer 3 and the information presented to the user, this information may mislead the user's judgment. For example, if the user mistakenly recognizes that printing is not completed for the time being, the printer cannot return at the timing when it should return to the printer 3, or because printing is mistakenly completed early, the printing operation of the printer 3 is not completed for a while. It is conceivable to go back and waste time. Therefore, the remaining time information and the like need to have a sufficiently small deviation from the information held by the printer 3, and are highly real-time information.

It is possible to calculate the other information from one of the remaining time information and the print completion time information. In addition, progress information can be calculated from the ratio of the execution time of the printing operation at the present time to the remaining time. Similarly, progress information can be calculated from the print completion time information. That is, it can be said that the remaining time information, the print completion time information, and the progress information are mutually convertible information. Therefore, a part of the above three pieces of information may be transmitted from the printer 3, and the conversion process may be performed by the information processing device 5, the server system 7, or the terminal device 9. For example, the printer 3 acquires and transmits the remaining time information and the progress information, and the terminal device 9 calculates and displays the print completion time information based on the remaining time information received via the server system 7.

The first information includes job name information. The job name information is, for example, a file name (image file name, etc.) to be printed. Further, the job name is not limited to the name of the job being executed, and can be expanded to the job name (job history information) of a predetermined number of jobs executed in the past. Details of the job history information will be described later as a modification.

As described above, the first information should be transmitted to the server system 7 at least in a shorter time (ideally immediately) than the second information described below after being acquired by the printer 3. Information. However, it is not preferable to simply increase the transmission frequency of the first information. For example, when the communication unit 531 (communication unit 331) periodically transmits the first information to the server system 7 every relatively short predetermined period (for example, one minute or several tens of seconds), the number of communications is increased. The communication load is heavy because it becomes very large. The same applies to the case where the printer 3 or the information processing device 5 is periodically accessed from the communication unit 731 side of the server system 7.

Therefore, the first information is transmitted (event-driven) by executing the transmission process triggered by the occurrence of a given event in the collection target device. FIG. 8 is also a diagram for explaining an event corresponding to each information of the first information. For each piece of information of the first information, the situation in which the information should be transmitted is defined as an "event". Then, when the event occurs, the server system 7 can collect the first information at an appropriate timing by transmitting the corresponding first information. In this case, the event occurrence determination frequency is the upper limit of the transmission frequency of the first information. Therefore, if the frequency of determining the occurrence of an event is set higher than the frequency of transmitting the second information, the first information is transmitted to the server system 7 with high frequency (in real time) in a situation where the event occurs frequently. Will be possible. On the other hand, if the event does not occur, it is not necessary to send the first information to the server system 7. Therefore, unnecessary communication can be suppressed, and the communication load can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 8, the event that triggers the transmission of the status information to the server system 7 is an event in which the value of the status information changes. The printer 3, the information processing device 5, and the server system 7 manage the transition to "warning" or "error" and the transition to "printing" or "standby" separately as separate events. You may. The former is an event representing an abnormal state in which the operation of the printer 3 has stopped or may stop, while the latter is an event representing a start point and an end point in normal operation such as printing start and end.

Further, the event that triggers the transmission of the remaining time information to the server system 7 is an event in which the remaining time information changes. For example, the printer 3 and the information processing device 5 determine that an event has occurred when a flushing operation occurs during printing and the remaining time increases.

Further, the event that triggers the transmission of the remaining amount information of the consumable material to the server system 7 may be an event in which the remaining amount changes by a predetermined amount (a predetermined ratio, a predetermined number of sheets, a predetermined length), or the remaining amount. It may be an event in which the quantity is below a given threshold.

The event that triggers the transmission of the job name to the server system 7 is an event that represents the execution of a new job. The event representing the execution of a new job may be managed by the printer 3 or the like as an event similar to the transition event (printing start event) from "waiting" to "printing".

Note that the communication unit 531 (communication unit 331) may thin out information transmission to the server system 7 depending on the type of the first information. Specifically, the communication unit 531 does not transmit information even if a new event occurs for a predetermined period (for example, several minutes) after the previous information transmission. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the communication load between the information processing device 5 (printer 3) and the server system 7. For example, the communication unit 731 of the server system 7 receives the status information having a particularly high real-time property among the first information immediately after the event occurs, and sets an upper limit on the reception frequency for the other information.

For example, errors, warnings, and print completion should be presented to the user immediately, so thinning is not performed. Further, regarding the remaining time information and the like, since it is not preferable that the information browsed by the user and the actual information (information grasped by the printer 3) are different from each other, the information is not thinned out. On the other hand, for information on consumable materials such as ink, a delay of about several minutes is unlikely to be a problem. Therefore, the communication unit 531 (communication unit 331) thins out information on consumable materials such as ink to reduce the communication load.

Although the example in which the device for collecting operation information is the printer 3 is shown above, the device for collecting operation information can be expanded to devices other than the printer 3. In this case, the first information can be extended to information including at least one of the status change information of the collection target device, the job start / end information, the information about the consumable material, the job time information, and the job progress information.

4.1.2 Second information With respect to the above first information, the count results such as the amount of rotation of the rollers of the printing unit 35, the number of reciprocations of the header, and the number of cleaning executions are the long-term results of the printer 3. It's useful for maintenance, but it's less necessary for users to view it within minutes of counting up. Therefore, when the second information, which is the operation information having a relatively low real-time property, is targeted, the printer 3 and the information processing device 5 perform processing different from the first information.

The second information is historical information about the operating state of the collection target device. The history information here is information in which a time stamp is associated with an event that has occurred in the collection target device. That is, the second information includes various information acquired with time with the operation of the printer 3, and in a narrow sense, all the information other than the first information among the operation information is included. This is the second information.

Further, the first information is assumed to be notified to the user in real time, and the importance of the past information (for example, the status information before the change) is low, and the need to retain the past history is low. .. However, the history of how the status has changed over time is useful for analyzing the long-term (daily, weekly, monthly, or higher) operating status of Printer 3. .. Therefore, the second information includes the history information of the information exemplified as the first information such as the history information of the status information.

When the device to be collected is the printer 3 (printing device), the second information includes at least one of parts replacement history information, nozzle check history information, flushing frequency information, and ink ejection frequency information. Is.

The parts replacement history information is information representing the replacement history of parts of the printer 3. The printer 3 has parts that are consumed by the execution of the printing operation and that it is desirable to replace them at a predetermined cycle. For example, among the printing engine 351 parts (rollers) used for transporting a printing medium, parts for moving an ink head in an inkjet printer (belts, etc.), parts for fixing ink in a laser printer, and the like are parts to be replaced. Is. A guideline for life (replacement guideline) is set for each part, such that it is desirable to replace these parts after printing on a printing medium for tens of thousands of meters.

Therefore, the history information of parts replacement is information related to the life count such as "used up to 8000 meters after parts replacement". Further, the component replacement history information includes information on the number of component replacements indicating how many times a given component has been replaced. Since various parts to be replaced can be considered as described above, the information in which the life count and the number of replacements and the component identification information (part ID) are associated with each other is used as the history information of the parts replacement. Further, although the parts to be regularly replaced are illustrated here, the history information of the parts replacement may include the history information of the parts replacement different from the regular replacement, for example, the replacement of the electric circuit and the sensors due to the failure.

The nozzle check history information is information representing the nozzle check execution history, and is information on the start date and time and end date and time of the nozzle check. The start date and time and the end date and time are, for example, information on the date (YYYY-MM-DD). The nozzle check is an operation of the printer 3 for checking whether or not a non-printed portion (nozzle omission) has occurred due to the nozzle being clogged, and is, for example, an operation for printing a check pattern. In this way, it becomes possible to monitor the state of the nozzle for a long period of time. The nozzle check history information can include information on the nozzle omission count result (total number of nozzle omissions) in addition to the start date and time and the end date and time.

Flushing is an operation of moving the head of the printer 3 to a position outside the printing area and ejecting a certain amount of ink from each nozzle at that position. For example, when the head reciprocates, an operation of wasting ink at the end may be performed to prevent nozzle clogging. The second information includes time information when flushing was performed. However, since flushing is performed with a certain frequency, even if the information that the flushing occurred at what time is presented, the information is too detailed to be useful to the user.

Therefore, the second information includes information in which processing has been performed on a plurality of time-series information collected by the collection target device. In the case of flushing, instead of using the timing of each flushing as it is, the total number of flushing within a predetermined period is totaled, and the flushing number information which is the total result is obtained. This is the second information.

In this way, instead of using a huge amount of information as it is, it is possible to process it into an easy-to-understand format and present it to the user. It is also possible to reduce the amount of information of the second information. The aggregation target period is, for example, the execution period of one job (printing operation for one file), but various modifications such as one-day unit are possible.

Further, the print data from the printer driver is information for controlling ink ejection from the head, or information in a format close to that. Therefore, the printer 3 can acquire information on ejection (dots) for each color of ink as operation information. However, as for the dot information, the information that the ink of which color was ejected at which timing is too detailed and is not useful for the user.

Therefore, in the printer 3, based on the print data, the number of ejections (how many dots are struck) in a predetermined period is totaled, and the ink ejection number information which is the aggregation result is used as the second information. The aggregation target period may be one job or another period such as one day as in the above example.

The ink ejection count information can be converted into ink consumption information (consumption volume). In addition, by using the information on the ink unit price together, it is possible to convert the information on the ink cost. Therefore, the second information includes information on the ink consumption volume and the ink cost.

Further, in the above, as the processing process, an example of performing the counting process of the number of times in a predetermined period is shown. This can be considered as a statistical process for counting the appearance of flushing and the like for a predetermined period. However, the machining process can be extended to other statistical processes for finding the mean, maximum value, minimum value, median value, variance, and the like. In this way, when operating information whose value changes in time series is targeted, it is possible to present the tendency of long-term changes to the user in an easy-to-understand format. Further, the processing process is not limited to statistical processing, and various modifications such as a process of thinning out a part of data and a process of extracting a part from a predetermined number of data can be performed.

The second information described above has a lower real-time property than the first information, and the need for event-driven transmission to the server system 7 is also low. Therefore, the second information is transmitted on a given schedule. Here, the given schedule means that the transmission process is performed at a predetermined timing, for example, at a frequency of several times to a dozen times a day. The second information transmission interval may be equal or different. For example, the second information may be transmitted more frequently in the time zone when the operating rate of the printer 3 is high (for example, in the daytime) than in the time zone when the operating rate is low (for example, midnight).

4.1.3 Communication between the printer side and the server system FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing communication modes of the printer 3 side (printer 3 or information processing device 5), the server system 7, and the terminal device 9. be. As described above in FIG. 4, the server system 7 of the present embodiment is a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device (printer 3) via a network, and communicates with the communication unit 731. A processing unit 71 that controls communication of the unit 731 and a storage unit 75 are included.

As shown in FIG. 9, the communication unit 731 performs the first communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the establishment of the communication connection, and the communication connection is established when the information is received after the establishment of the communication connection. The second communication process to be disconnected is performed. FIG. 9 shows an example in which the first communication process is a communication process corresponding to MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport), and the second communication process is a communication process corresponding to HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). However, MQTT can be extended to other communication processes that maintain the established state of the communication connection, and HTTP is extended to other communication processes that disconnect the communication connection when information is received after the communication connection is established. It is possible. Further, the communication unit 731 (and the communication unit 531 and the communication unit 931) may realize the first communication processing and the second communication processing by a secure connection using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or the like.

Then, the communication unit 731 receives the first information of the operation information by the first communication process as shown in A1 of FIG. 9, and the second information of the operation information is sent to A2. As shown, it is received by the second communication process.

For the second communication process, HTTP can be used as described above. HTTP can be used in a variety of devices, and has the advantage of being able to realize highly available communication processing. However, the load of HTTP becomes very large as the number of devices to be communicated increases. For example, in HTTP, it may be implemented by a method of assigning one process to the connection with one device. Since one process occupies a storage area of a predetermined size, when connecting to a large number of devices by HTTP, it is necessary to secure a storage area of a huge size, which is difficult to realize. A method of sharing one process by communication with a plurality of devices is also conceivable. In this case, if an error occurs in a given communication in the process, the communication in the same process is stopped until the error does not occur. Resulting in.

As described above, the communication load becomes large in the situation where HTTP may be connected to a large number of devices at the same time. For example, in the server system 7 of the present embodiment, there is a possibility of collecting operation information of a large number of printers 3, and the first information is transmitted event-driven. Therefore, depending on the situation, the server system 7 may be connected to a large number of printers 3 at the same time, and it is not desirable to use the second communication process (HTTP) for the communication of the first information.

In that respect, MQTT is a communication process that is expected to be applied to IoT (Internet of Things), and is suitable for simultaneous connection with a large number of devices. In MQTT, the data format is lightweight and simple, and it is possible to perform enormous communication such as tens of thousands of nodes. In addition, MQTT can further reduce the communication load by using a relay server.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an MQTT network. In the example of FIG. 10, a plurality of relay servers 82 are connected to the MQTT server 81, and a node (printer 3 in the present embodiment) is connected to each relay server 82. The relay server 82 is also an MQTT server (broker).

In the example of FIG. 10, the MQTT server 81 manages the connection with the plurality of relay servers 82, and the relay server 82 manages the connection with the plurality of nodes (printers 3) connected to itself. When there are 10 relay servers 82 and 10,000 nodes are connected to each relay server 82, the MQTT server 81 in FIG. 10 can collect operation information from 100,000 nodes. Then, the MQTT server 81 of FIG. 10 only needs to manage 10 communications with the relay server 82, and can reduce the communication load as compared with the case where all the nodes are directly connected.

The server system 7 of the present embodiment includes only the MQTT server 81 of FIG. 10, and the relay server 82 is a server owned by an external MQTT service provider. Alternatively, the server system 7 of the present embodiment may include the MQTT server 81 and the relay server 82 of FIG.

By using the first communication process (MQTT) for the communication of the first information in this way, the server system 7 can receive highly real-time information with high frequency while reducing the communication load. become. On the other hand, the second information is performed on a predetermined schedule as described above, and the communication frequency is low. In the communication of the second information, it is easy to control the communication so that a large number of connections are not made at the same time. Therefore, the communication unit 731 uses the second communication process (HTTP) for the communication of the second information. As described above, the server system 7 of the present embodiment can appropriately use a plurality of communication processes according to the characteristics of the operation information.

Further, the processing unit 71 of the server system 7 writes the first information received by the first communication processing and the second information received by the second communication processing to the storage unit 75. The storage unit 75 is, for example, a database (database server).

At this time, the processing unit 71 overwrites the first information received by the first communication process on the storage unit 75, and additionally writes the second information received by the second communication process to the storage unit 75.

As described above, the first information is information that assumes that the operating state of the printer 3 is presented to the user in real time. Therefore, when newer information is acquired, the usefulness of the old information becomes low. For example, when the status information changes from "printing" to "waiting", it is important to notify the user that it is currently "waiting", and it is bothered that it was "printing" in the past. It is not necessary to notify. Therefore, the processing unit 71 overwrites the first information on the storage unit 75. By doing so, the storage area for storing the first information can be suppressed, and the first information can be efficiently stored.

The storage unit 75 of the server system 7 stores the first information for each collection target device (printer 3) and for each information type. In the example of FIG. 8, status information, remaining time information, consumable material information, and job name information are stored for the first printer, and status information, remaining time information, and consumable material information for the second printer. Store job name information. The same applies to the case where three or more printers 3 are targeted. Here, "overwrite" means that in a state where the first information of a given type of a given printer is stored in the storage unit 75, the first information of the same type of the same printer is stored in the communication unit 731. Represents a process of replacing (updating) the information stored in the storage unit 75 with the newly received information when the information is received. When the first information of the printer and the type that has not been stored up to that point is received, the processing unit 71 simply writes the received information to the storage unit 75 because there is no information to be overwritten. It is assumed that the ink remaining amount information is stored for each color and overwrite processing is performed for each color, but the ink remaining amount of a plurality of colors is stored as one information and the ink remaining amount of the plurality of colors is stored. Overwriting processing may be performed using the information in the above as a processing unit. In this way, various modifications can be made to how the first information is stored in the storage unit 75 and how the overwrite process is executed.

On the other hand, the second information is history information, which is information that is supposed to be used for presenting long-term operation information to the user or for maintenance of the printer 3. The second information should not be deleted, even if new information is obtained. Therefore, the processing unit 71 additionally writes the second information to the storage unit 75.

The processing unit 71 switches the writing process to the storage unit 75 depending on whether the acquired information is acquired in the first communication process or the second communication process in. In the above example, the information via MQTT is overwritten, and the information via HTTP is added. The storage unit 75 may be divided into an area for overwriting and an area for writing, or one area may be used and the content of the writing process (field setting) may be different.

Further, a plurality of routes can be considered for communication between the server system 7 and the terminal device 9. As shown in B1 of FIG. 9, the communication unit 731 of the server system 7 gives a push notification to the terminal device 9, and the terminal device 9 receives the push notification by the communication unit 931 and notifies (rings) by the notification unit 934. )I do. In other words, the push notification is a communication process in which the server system 7 side plays a central role in transmitting operation information.

As shown in B2 of FIG. 9, the communication unit 931 of the terminal device 9 transmits a request to the server system 7 (Web application server), and the server system 7 returns operation information as a response to the request. .. This communication is performed by, for example, a second communication process (HTTP), and is executed when the application software (so-called smartphone application) is started on the terminal device 9 or when the update operation is performed by the user. In other words, the request / response communication shown in B2 is a communication process in which the terminal device 9 side (user side) plays a central role in acquiring operation information. Since both A2 and B2 are communication using HTTP in FIG. 9, the communication unit 731 of the server system 7 can be executed as a common communication process without clearly distinguishing A2 and B2. be.

As described above, since the second communication process (HTTP) is a highly available communication process, it is highly probable that it can be used regardless of the model of the terminal device 9 or the OS (Operating System). Therefore, by performing the communication shown in B2, the operation information collected by the server system 7 can be appropriately received and displayed by the terminal device 9. As shown in A1 of FIG. 9, the server system 7 collects highly real-time information at a high frequency. Therefore, when the B2 communication is performed, the terminal device 9 is in the current operation of the printer 3. Information with a sufficiently small deviation from the state can be acquired.

However, as described above, it is assumed that the B2 communication starts from the terminal device 9 side. Therefore, in the communication of B2 alone, there may be a time lag between the time when the first information is collected in the server system 7 and the time when the first information is transmitted to the terminal device 9. For example, when an error occurrence event (change of status information to "error") is detected, in order to restart the printing operation of the printer 3, it is desirable to notify the user of the error occurrence as soon as possible and prompt the user to take action. .. However, if the request from the terminal device 9 is awaited, it is difficult to promptly notify the user of the error grasped by the server system 7.

Therefore, the communication unit 731 of the server system 7 performs a push notification (B1 in FIG. 9) to the terminal device 9 when the received first information is of a given type. Since the push notification starts from the server system 7, it is possible to quickly transmit information to the terminal device 9 regardless of whether or not there is a request from the terminal device 9.

However, if information that is not necessary for the user is targeted for push notification, it is not preferable because it makes the user feel annoyed. Therefore, here, push notification is performed only for a given type of information among the first information.

The information for which push notification is performed is information having a particularly high real-time property among the first information. Specifically, among the above-mentioned information, the change of the status information is transmitted to the terminal device 9 by the push notification. In the push notification, only the information indicating that the status information has changed (for example, "error occurred") is transmitted, and the specific status information is transmitted by the communication shown in B2. Alternatively, the changed status information itself may be transmitted by push notification. That is, the communication unit 731 push-notifies the first information of a given type or the information (information indicating the occurrence of an event) of the first information of a given type stored in the storage unit 75.

11 and 12 are diagrams for explaining the communication sequence of the present embodiment. The “printer side” in FIGS. 11 and 12 may be the printer 3 or the information processing device 5. Further, the server system 7 and the like of the present embodiment can perform other processes (not shown in FIGS. 11 and 12).

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence of the first information. With the operation of the printer 3, operation information is acquired on the printer side. Then, when the occurrence of an event related to the first information is detected on the printer side (S101), the first information is sent to the server system 7 by the first communication process (MQTT) with the event as a trigger. Is transmitted (S102).

Since the server system 7 has received the information by the first communication process, the server system 7 overwrites the received information on a predetermined area of the storage unit 75 (database) (S103). Further, the server system 7 determines the type of the received first information, and when it is determined that the information is the predetermined type, the server system 7 gives a push notification to the terminal device 9 (S104). If the first information is not of a predetermined type, the process of S104 is not executed. Note that S103 and S104 are not limited to those performed in the order shown in FIG. 11, and S104 may be executed first or processes may be executed in parallel. The terminal device 9 performs a notification corresponding to the push notification (S105). The notification on the terminal device 9 is realized by the display on the display unit 933, the generation of sound by the speaker, the generation of vibration by the vibration motor, and the like.

Further, the terminal device 9 transmits a request to the server system 7 by the second communication process (S106), and the server system 7 returns a response to the request by the second communication process (S107). For example, the process of S106 is executed when the user activates the application software of the terminal device 9 in response to the notification (ringing) of S105. However, the processing of S106 and S107 is not limited to the one triggered by the push notification, and can be executed at an arbitrary timing based on the operation of the application software.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence of the second information. Similar to FIG. 11, the operation information is acquired on the printer side as the printer 3 operates. On the printer side, information is transmitted based on a preset schedule. Specifically, when the printer determines that the current timing is the periodic transmission timing (S201), the second information is transmitted to the server system 7 by the second communication process (HTTP). (S202).

Since the server system 7 has received the information by the second communication process, the received information is added to the storage unit 75 (database) (S203). When the second information is received, the push notification shown in S104 of FIG. 11 is not executed.

Further, the second information is used for maintenance and management of the printer 3, and is not expected to be transmitted to the terminal device 9. However, as shown in FIG. 12, it is not prevented that the second information is returned (S205) as a response from the server system 7 based on the request (S204) from the terminal device 9. The point that the processes of S204 and S205 can be executed at arbitrary timings is the same as in FIG.

4.1.4 Notification setting As shown in S105 of FIG. 11, when a push notification from the server system 7 is received, the terminal device 9 performs notification control such as ringing. However, since the notification by ringing attracts the user's attention, it is not preferable to perform the notification in an unnecessary situation.

For example, when a given company owns a large number of printers 3, from a security point of view, a push notification regarding the printer 3 owned by the company is transmitted to the terminal device 9 of an employee of the company. There is no problem with. However, it is conceivable that a given user is in charge of some of the printers 3 owned by the company and is not in charge of the other printers 3. In this case, it is not useful to push-notify the terminal device 9 of the given user that an error has occurred in the printer 3 that is not in charge, and the user feels annoyed.

In addition, when shift work is performed, the person in charge of the given printer 3 is user A from Monday to Friday, but since user A is a rest day on Saturday and Sunday, the given printer. It is conceivable that the person in charge of 3 becomes user B. When an error occurs in the printer 3 on Saturday or Sunday, it is the terminal device 9 of the user B that should give priority to the push notification, and the priority of the push notification to the terminal device 9 of the user A is not high. Rather, the push notification is given on the rest day, which may cause the user A to feel annoyed.

Therefore, when the server system 7 receives the first information of a predetermined type, the server system 7 does not always give a push notification to the terminal device 9, but gives a push notification based on a given notification setting. The notification setting is at least one of the setting of the notification time zone and the setting of which of at least one printer for which the operation information is collected is to be notified. The notification time zone here is the information that determines the day of the week, and the time zone of the day (for example, 24 hours from 0:00 to 23:59). Contains at least one of the information that determines (some time zones).

Alternatively, the notification setting includes the setting of the event type in the printer 3. For example, a push triggered by one of the following events: error occurrence (status change to "error"), warning occurrence (status change to "warning"), or print end (status change to "waiting"). In the example where notification is possible, whether or not to notify each event is set as the notification setting.

In this way, the push notification from the server system 7 to the terminal device 9 is limited to the predetermined printer 3, the predetermined notification time zone, and the predetermined event type. However, as can be seen from the above example, the appropriate notification setting in each terminal device 9 differs depending on the user who uses the terminal device 9, and the setting is automatically made on the server system 7 side. Is not easy.

Therefore, the communication unit 731 receives the notification setting information (notification setting information) from the terminal device 9, and performs push notification based on the received notification setting information. The notification setting information here is information for performing the above notification setting, and is information for specifying the time zone in which push notification is permitted, the printer 3, and the event type. In this way, it becomes possible for the terminal device 9 side to make an appropriate notification setting. Here, it is assumed that when the push notification from the server system 7 is received, the terminal device 9 is always notified by the notification unit 734. Therefore, the notification setting information, which is information for setting whether or not to perform notification, can be rephrased as notification setting information, which is information for setting whether or not to perform push notification from the server system 7. be. Further, when the push notification from the server system 7 is received, it may be determined whether or not the terminal device 9 side performs the notification. In this case, the notification setting information and the notification setting information may not match, and the communication unit 731 of the server system 7 receives the notification setting information.

FIG. 13 is an example of a display screen that accepts input of information that identifies the printer 3 to be notified by the terminal device 9 as notification setting information. As shown in FIG. 13, the processing unit 91 of the terminal device 9 displays information (serial, name, etc.) of the printer 3 that is a candidate for the notification target in the terminal device 9 and a check box for the number of candidate printers. Performs the process of displaying side by side. The user checks the check box of the printer 3 to be set as the notification target and presses the OK button.

Based on the above operation, the communication unit 731 of the server system 7 uses the information that identifies the printer 3 selected as the notification target in the terminal device 9 among the notification candidate printers as the notification setting information of the terminal device 9 (communication unit 931). ). The communication unit 731 receives the notification setting from the terminal device 9 by the second communication process. For example, the communication unit 931 of the terminal device 9 transmits the notification setting information by using the PUT method of HTTP or the like in the communication path shown in B2 of FIG.

4.2 Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, an example in which both the first communication process and the second communication process are used for collecting the operation information from the printer 3 side has been described. However, in view of the recent development of IoT, it is considered that each device such as a printer 3 is directly connected to a network and often transmits its own information. In this case, the communication process between each device and the server system 7 is performed by the first communication process (MQTT) described above.

The server system 7 of the present embodiment is a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network, and is subjected to communication processing in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the establishment of the communication connection. This can be applied to a server system including a communication unit 731 for receiving operation information, a processing unit 71, and a storage unit 75. The processing unit 71 overwrites the first information of the operation information on the storage unit 75, additionally writes the second information of the operation information to the storage unit 75, and the communication unit 731 receives the first first information. When the information is of a given type, push notification is given to the terminal device 9.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing a communication mode of the printer 3 side (printer 3 or information processing device 5), the server system 7, and the terminal device 9 of the second embodiment. Compared with FIG. 9, the first information and the second information are both transmitted to the server system 7 by the first communication process (MQTT). Further, in the server system 7, the first information is overwritten in the storage unit 75 and the second information is added to the storage unit 75. However, in the present embodiment, the information cannot be identified by the content of the communication process, so that the processing unit The 71 determines whether the received information is the first information or the second information, and changes the writing process to the storage unit 75 according to the determination result.

According to the method of this embodiment, a server system suitable for an environment in which operation information can be collected by the first communication process (MQTT) and a huge number of collection target devices (printers 3) are directly connected to the network. 7 can be realized.

However, in the first communication process, it is assumed that information is transmitted at a high frequency and in small units. Therefore, in the above-mentioned example, one flushing or one (or very small number of times) ink ejection is transmitted to the server system 7 as operation information. Since such detailed information is not useful for grasping the operating state of the printer 3 and presenting it to the user, it is necessary to execute the above-mentioned processing process (statistical process) in the server system 7. That is, when the second information is simply received by the first communication process, the communication load of the server system 7 is large and the load related to the processing process also increases.

Therefore, the communication unit 731 receives the information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device as the second information. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the first information is transmitted event-driven, and the second information is periodically transmitted according to a schedule.

Here, the information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device is, for example, information that simply accumulates a plurality of operation information. By doing so, since a plurality of operation information (for example, information on flushing for a plurality of times) can be collectively received, the number of communications can be suppressed and the load on the communication unit 731 can be reduced. Alternatively, the information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device is information obtained by compressing a plurality of operation information. By doing so, not only the number of communications can be reduced but also the amount of data can be reduced, so that the load on the communication unit 731 can be further reduced. Alternatively, the information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device may be information (for example, summary information) that has been processed with respect to the time-series operation information. In this way, the server system 7 can receive the second information in the same format as the first embodiment, and the load can be further reduced.

5. Modification Examples Some modifications will be described below.

Although the communication method between the printer 3, the server system 7, the terminal device 9, and the like has been described above, the terminal device 9 receives the received information (particularly, the first information received by the route shown in B2 of FIG. 9). How it is displayed is arbitrary.

FIG. 15 is an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 933 of the terminal device 9. The communication unit 931 of the terminal device 9 receives the print time information and the like of the plurality of printers 3 via the network, and the processing unit 91 arranges the print time information and the like of the plurality of printers 3 in one screen. The process of displaying the display screen on the display unit 933 is performed.

In the example of FIG. 15, the display unit 933 displays information about the three printers. For example, in the area shown in C1, along with "Printer-0001" (C11), which is the name of the printer 3, status information (C12), job progress information (C13), job name (C14), and printing completion are used as operation information. The time information (C15) is displayed. Specifically, the printer named "Printer-0001" is currently in the status of "printing" and is executing the job named "Sample_image.pdf". Here, the job name is the name of the file to be printed. Then, when the entire job is set to 100%, the progress is "1%" and the print completion time is "14:20".

Further, in the display unit 933, in the area shown in C2, the printer named "Printer-0002" is currently in the status of "printing", and the job with the job name "Sample_image_Xmas.pdf" (file name to be printed). Is being executed, the progress of the job is "60%", and the printing completion time is "13:20".

Further, the display unit 933 indicates that the printer named "Printer-0003" is currently in the status of "waiting" (idle state) in the area shown in C3. Since Printer-0003 is in the idle state, the job name, progress information, and print completion time information are not displayed.

By using the display screen of FIG. 15, it is possible to present the operating states of the plurality of printers 3 to the user in a highly listable manner. In particular, since the print completion time information is displayed, it is easy to grasp the print completion time even when a plurality of printers 3 are to be displayed. For example, on the display screen of FIG. 15, since it is easy to grasp the earliest printing completion time, it is determined that at that time, it is necessary to return to the printer 3 and prepare to submit the next job. It is possible to let the user execute it.

The display screen of FIG. 15 can display information of a plurality of printers 3 in a highly listable manner, but the amount of information about one printer 3 is limited. For example, in FIG. 15, among the first information, the ink remaining amount information is not displayed. Therefore, when any of the plurality of printers 3 on which the print time information is displayed is selected, the processing unit 91 expands the display area of the printer for which the selection operation is performed and displays the detailed information. Perform the processing to be performed.

FIG. 16 is an example of a display screen for displaying detailed information. FIG. 16 corresponds to a display screen when the user performs an operation of selecting “Printer-0001” in a state where the display of FIG. 15 is being performed, for example. In addition to displaying information (H11 to H15) corresponding to C11 to C15 in FIG. 15, the processing unit 91 displays the remaining amount information (H16) and job history information (H17) of ink and media (paper, cloth, etc.). it's shown. In H15, the remaining time information until the printing is completed is displayed as the printing time information, but the printing completion time information may be used as in C15 of FIG.

By doing so, it is possible to present appropriate information to the user by appropriately switching between the display having high listability (FIG. 15) and the detailed display (FIG. 16). The information to be displayed as detailed information is not limited to FIG. 16, and various modifications can be performed. Further, although FIG. 16 shows an example in which detailed information is displayed as a screen separate from FIG. 15 (“Printer-0002” and “Printer-0003” are hidden), different modifications can be performed. For example, it is also possible to add detailed information to the screen for displaying the information of the plurality of printers 3 side by side as shown in FIG. Specifically, when "Printer-0001" is selected, a display corresponding to H16 or H17 may be inserted between C1 and C2 in FIG. In this case, it is possible to browse the information of another printer such as "Printer-0002" by performing the scroll operation even while the detailed information is being displayed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 16, the terminal device 9 may display job history information. However, since the first information is overwritten in the present embodiment, if only the latest job name is stored, the job history information cannot be displayed based on the first information. Since the second information includes the name of the job executed in the past, it is possible to display the job history information based on the second information. However, since the second information is periodically transmitted according to a given schedule, the second information held by the server system 7 at the time of the request from the terminal device 9 may be old information. ..

For example, consider a case where the printer 3 completes a plurality of jobs in a period after the periodic transmission of the second information and before the next periodic transmission. In this case, since the server system 7 does not receive the information on the plurality of jobs as the second information, the information on the plurality of jobs cannot be provided to the terminal device 9 even if the second information is referred to. Further, although the server system 7 receives the information of the plurality of jobs as the first information, if only the latest job name is stored as described above, the information of the job names other than the latest one can be obtained. It is lost from the storage unit 75.

In view of the above points, the server system 7 holds information on a plurality of job names as the first information. For example, the storage unit 75 stores the job name information in the ring buffer. The ring buffer is, for example, a buffer that stores 50 job names, and when new job name information is received, any one (in a narrow sense, the oldest one) is overwritten by the new job name. do. By doing so, since a plurality of job names can be retained as the first information, the job history information can be appropriately displayed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the method of the present embodiment can be applied to the operation information collection system 1 including the server system 7 and the terminal device 9.

Further, the server system 7 and the terminal device 9 of the present embodiment may realize a part or most of the processing by a program. In this case, the server system 7 and the terminal device 9 of the present embodiment are realized by executing the program by a processor such as a CPU. Specifically, a program stored in a non-temporary information storage medium is read, and a processor such as a CPU executes the read program. Here, the information storage medium (medium that can be read by a computer) stores programs, data, and the like, and its function is an optical disk (DVD, CD, etc.), an HDD (hard disk drive), or a memory (card type). It can be realized by memory, ROM, etc.). Then, a processor such as a CPU performs various processes of the present embodiment based on a program (data) stored in the information storage medium. That is, the information storage medium is a program for operating a computer (a device including an operation unit, a processing unit, a storage unit, and an output unit) as each part of the present embodiment (a program for causing the computer to execute the processing of each part). Is memorized.

Further, the server system 7 and the terminal device 9 of the present embodiment may include a processor and a memory. In the processor here, for example, the functions of each part may be realized by individual hardware, or the functions of each part may be realized by integrated hardware. For example, a processor includes hardware, which hardware can include at least one of a circuit that processes a digital signal and a circuit that processes an analog signal. For example, a processor can consist of one or more circuit devices (eg, ICs, etc.) mounted on a circuit board, or one or more circuit elements (eg, resistors, capacitors, etc.). The processor may be, for example, a CPU. However, the processor is not limited to the CPU, and various processors such as GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and DSP (Digital Signal Processor) can be used. Further, the processor may be a hardware circuit by ASIC. Further, the processor may include an amplifier circuit, a filter circuit, and the like for processing an analog signal. The memory may be a semiconductor memory such as SRAM or DRAM, a register, a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk device, or an optical storage device such as an optical disk device. You may. For example, the memory stores instructions that can be read by a computer, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the functions of each part (communication part, processing part) such as the server system 7 and the terminal device 9 are realized. It will be. The instruction here may be an instruction of an instruction set constituting a program, or an instruction instructing an operation to a hardware circuit of a processor.

Further, the method of the present embodiment is an operation method of the server system 7 that collects the operation information of at least one collection target device via the network, and the first information of the operation information is a communication connection. After the establishment, the communication connection is received by the first communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained, and the second information in the operation information is disconnected when the information is received after the communication connection is established. The first information received by the second communication process and received by the first communication process and the second information received by the second communication process are written in the storage unit 75, and the received first information is stored. When it is a given type, it can be applied to the operation method of the server system 7 that gives a push notification to the terminal device 9.

Alternatively, the method of the present embodiment is an operation method of the server system 7 that collects the operation information of at least one collection target device via the network, and the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the communication connection is established. By the communication process, the operation information is received, the first information of the operation information is overwritten on the storage unit 75, the second information of the operation information is additionally written to the storage unit 75, and the first received information is written. It can be applied to the operation method of the server system 7 that gives a push notification to the terminal device 9 when the information is of a given type.

Although the embodiments to which the present invention is applied and the modified examples thereof have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the respective embodiments and the modified examples as they are, and the present invention is within a range that does not deviate from the gist of the invention at the embodiment. The components can be transformed and embodied with. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiments and modifications. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components described in each embodiment or modification. Further, the components described in different embodiments and modifications may be combined as appropriate. In addition, a term described at least once in the specification or drawing together with a different term having a broader meaning or a synonym may be replaced with the different term at any part of the specification or drawing. In this way, various modifications and applications are possible within a range that does not deviate from the gist of the invention.

NE1, NE2 ... network, 1 ... operation information collection system, 3 ... printer,
31 ... Processing unit, 33 ... Interface unit, 35 ... Printing unit, 37 ... Storage unit,
331 ... Communication unit, 332 ... Operation unit, 333 ... Display unit, 351 ... Printing engine,
352 ... sensor, 353 ... counter, 5 ... information processing device, 51 ... processing unit,
53 ... Interface unit, 55 ... Storage unit, 513 ... Communication unit, 532 ... Operation unit,
533 ... Display unit, 7 ... Server system, 71 ... Processing unit, 75 ... Storage unit,
731 ... Communication unit, 81 ... MQTT server, 82 ... Relay server, 9 ... Terminal device,
91 ... Processing unit, 93 ... Interface unit, 95 ... Storage unit, 931 ... Communication unit,
932 ... Operation unit, 933 ... Display unit, 934 ... Notification unit, 10 ... System

Claims (16)

A server system that collects the operation information of at least one collection target device via a network.
After the establishment of the communication connection, the first communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained, and the second communication process in which the communication connection is disconnected when information is received after the establishment of the communication connection. With the communication department to do
Processing unit and
Memory and
Including
The communication unit
The first information of the operation information is received by the first communication process, and the second information of the operation information is received by the second communication process.
The processing unit
The first information received by the first communication process and the second information received by the second communication process are written in the storage unit.
The communication unit
A server system characterized in that push notification is performed to a terminal device when the received first information is of a given type. In claim 1,
The processing unit
A server characterized in that the first information received by the first communication process is overwritten in the storage unit, and the second information received by the second communication process is additionally written to the storage unit. system. In claim 2,
The communication unit
A server system characterized in that it receives notification setting information from the terminal device and performs the push notification based on the received notification setting information. In claim 3,
The communication unit
A server system characterized in that the notification setting information is received from the terminal device by the second communication process. In any of claims 1 to 4,
The first information is information transmitted with an event generated in the collection target device as a trigger.
The server system, wherein the second information is information transmitted on a given schedule. In any of claims 1 to 5,
The first information includes at least one of the status change information of the collection target device, the job start / end information, the information about the consumable material, the job time information, and the job progress information. system. In any of claims 1 to 5,
The collection target device is a printing device.
The first information is
Status change information including at least one of an error state, a warning state, a normal operating state, and an idle state of the printing device, information on ink or toner, information on a printing medium, printing completion time information, and remaining time until printing is completed. Information, progress information of printing operation,
A server system characterized by containing at least one of. In any of claims 1 to 7,
The server system, wherein the second information is historical information about an operating state of the collection target device. In claim 8.
The server system is characterized in that the history information is information in which a time stamp is associated with an event generated in the collection target device. In any of claims 1 to 9,
The second information is a server system including information in which a plurality of time-series information collected by the collection target device is processed. In any of claims 1 to 10,
The collection target device is a printing device.
The second information is
A server system including at least one of parts replacement history information, nozzle check history information, flushing frequency information, and ink ejection frequency information. In any of claims 1 to 11,
The first communication process is a communication process corresponding to MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport).
The second communication process is a server system characterized in that it is a communication process corresponding to HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). A server system that collects the operation information of at least one collection target device via a network.
After the communication connection is established, the communication unit that receives the operation information by the communication process that maintains the established state of the communication connection.
Processing unit and
Memory and
Including
The processing unit
The first information of the operation information is overwritten in the storage unit, and the second information of the operation information is additionally written in the storage unit.
The communication unit
If the received first information is a given type, have rows push notifications to the terminal device,
The communication unit
As the second information, a server system characterized by receiving information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device. The server system according to any one of claims 1 to 13.
With the terminal device
An operation information collection system characterized by including. A method of operating a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network.
The first information among the operation information is received by the first communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained after the communication connection is established.
The second information in the operation information is received by the second communication process in which the communication connection is disconnected when the information is received after the communication connection is established.
The first information received by the first communication process and the second information received by the second communication process are written in the storage unit.
When the received first information is of a given type, a push notification is given to the terminal device.
A method of operating a server system, which is characterized by the fact that. A method of operating a server system that collects operation information of at least one collection target device via a network.
After the communication connection is established, the operation information is received by the communication process in which the established state of the communication connection is maintained.
The first information of the operation information is overwritten in the storage unit, and the second information of the operation information is additionally written in the storage unit.
If the received first information is a given type, have rows push notifications to the terminal device,
A method of operating a server system, which comprises receiving information based on the operation information buffered by the collection target device as the second information.

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