JPH03252674A - Copying machine managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily sum-up the number of copied sheets of every category even from a stand-alone copying machine by providing a recording medium read device in a host computer and adding and summing data read from the recording medium read device and data read on-line. CONSTITUTION:A recording medium read device 12 for fetching information on the number of copied sheets from a specified recording medium is connected to a host computer 11. By setting the recording medium to the device 12 after fetching the information on the number of copied sheets stored in a copying machine managing device into the recording medium, the host computer 11 reads out the information on the number of copied sheets written in the recording medium and performs summing processing by adding it to the information on the number of copied sheets fetched from the copying machine managing devices 131-13N connected online. Thus, the number of copied sheets is easily summed up by each category even from the stand-alone copying machine managing device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a copying machine management system that manages copying machines for a plurality of users by dividing them into sections.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a copying machine management device is known that is attached to a copying machine and totals the number of copies for each paper size for each department.

According to this, when a card made of a magnetic card or the like with a department number written on it (hereinafter referred to as a copy card) is set in a copying machine management device and a copy is made, the internal memory of the copying machine management device contains the department number. The number of copies is recorded for each paper size and totaled. In the copy machine management device that is connected online to the host computer,
The collected data on the number of copies for each department is sent to the host computer via an online line and the total number of copies for each department is tallied. The data stored in the copier management device can be read out by setting a tally card made of a magnetic card or the like into the copier management device, and displayed on the display provided in the copier management device, so that the data can be divided by department. The total number of copies for each department was tallied by writing down the number of copies for each paper size and manually inputting the number of copies into the host computer using a keyboard.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Now, the number of copies is counted every predetermined period, for example, every -month, and the fee is calculated based on it.

Therefore, when the copying machine management device is connected online to the host computer, the number of copies information stored in the copying machine management device is sent to the host computer each time a copy is made or at a predetermined time. Therefore, aggregation can be done easily. However, to connect the copy machine management device online to the host computer, an extension telephone line within the premises is usually used, but not all copy machines are necessarily located in locations where extension telephone lines are installed. Therefore, there are so-called stand-alone copiers that are not connected online to a host computer. When trying to tally the number of copies for each department from such a standalone copier,
As mentioned above, it is necessary to set a tally card in the copier management device, write down the data displayed on the display, and input the written data into the host computer, which not only requires a great deal of effort, but also Problems have arisen in that errors may occur when writing down the department number or number of copies displayed on the display of the management device, or input errors may occur when inputting them into the host computer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a copying machine management system that allows the number of copies to be tallied for each department easily and without error.

[Means and operations for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, in the copying machine management system of the present invention, the copying machine management device uses a card-shaped recording medium such as an IC card or a memory card, or a floppy disk. (below,
It is possible to write all of the copy number information stored in a recording medium such as an FD (FD), and the host computer is equipped with a recording medium reading device.

Therefore, by recording the copy number information of a stand-alone copying machine management device on a predetermined recording medium, and setting the recording medium on which the copy information is recorded in the recording medium reading device of the host computer to input it to the host computer, Copy number information from an online-connected copying machine management device and copy number information from a stand-alone copying machine management device can be easily added up.

[Example code] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the copying machine management system according to the present invention, FIG. 1(a) is a diagram showing the configuration of the copying machine management device side, and FIG. It is a figure showing an example of composition on the computer side. In the figure, 1 is a control device, 2 is a display controller, 3 is a display device, 4 is a memory, 5 is a recording/reproducing device, 6 is a reading device, 11 is a host computer, 12 is a recording medium reading device, and 18 is a copying machine management device, 1
4 indicates a copying machine.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 1(a), the control device 1 is connected to a copying machine (not shown in FIG. 1(a)), and when a copy card is set in the reading device 6, the corresponding The department number written on the copy card is read, and if the copy card is correct, the copier becomes ready for copying, the number of copies made at that time is retrieved from the copier by paper size, and the number of copies made so far for the department is recorded. The total number of copies is stored in the built-in memory 4 for each paper size. This makes it possible to record the number of copies for each department by paper size.

Further, when a tally card is set in the reading device 6, the control device 1 reads out the data on the number of copies by department and by paper stored in the memory 4, and sends the data to the display 3 via the display controller 2. to be displayed. The display 3 is composed of, for example, a light emitting diode, and displays the number of copies for each department by paper size. Note that since a conventionally known display unit 3 can be used, the details thereof will be omitted.

Furthermore, when a card-shaped recording medium such as an IC card, a memory card, an optical card, or a predetermined recording medium such as an FD is set in the recording/reproducing device 5, the control device 1 reads all the information stored in the memory 4. The number of copies information is written to the recording medium.

Next, the postcomputer side shown in FIG. 1(b) will be explained.

A copy machine management device 13 is attached to each copy machine 14, and a predetermined number of copy machine management devices 131 to 13N (N in FIG. 1(b)) are connected to the host computer 1.
1 is connected online.

It goes without saying that a communication relay device may be used as necessary when establishing an online connection.

Further, a recording medium reading device 12 is connected to the host computer 11 to read copy number information from a predetermined recording medium.

Next, the operator's operations when counting the number of copies and the operation of the copier management system will be described. First, the operator sets a recording medium in the recording/reproducing device 5 of the stand-alone copying machine management device. As a result, the control device 1 transfers all the copy number information stored in the memory 4 to the recording medium along with the terminal number assigned to the copier management device and the password indicating that the data is copy number information. write to. As a result, the number of copies for each department is recorded on the recording medium for each paper size.

Note that various formats for writing data to a recording medium are known and can be arbitrarily adopted depending on the recording medium used, so the details thereof will be omitted. In short, at a minimum, the terminal number of the copying machine management device, a password indicating that the written data is information on the number of copies, and the number of copies by paper size for each department are written on the recording medium. It would be good if it was done.

In order to import data on the number of copies by paper size from the copying machine to the copying machine management device, for example, if the control device of the copying machine does not have a communication function, the second
As shown in the figure, there is a signal line 22 between the copying machine 21 and the copying machine management device 20 that transmits a count-up signal that generates a pulse for each number of copies, and a 4-bit reset signal that indicates the paper size. A signal line 23 is laid to transmit a paper size signal consisting of a 1-bit signal, a total of 5 bits,
The number of copies can be acquired from the count-up signal, and the paper size can be acquired from the paper size signal. In addition, in FIG. 2, 24 indicates a power supply line.

In addition, in the case of a copying machine that has been developed in recent years and is equipped with a control device that centrally controls the entire copying machine and also has a communication function, the user interface (hereinafter referred to as UI)
Various data can be imported by importing the copy mode set in the copying machine from the control device of the copying machine via serial communication. An example of its configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the copy mode of the copier 25 is
27, is taken into the control device 28, and predetermined copying is performed. Then, the copying machine management device 260 control device 11 uses the communication function of the control device 28 of the copying machine 25 to import various copy modes set by the UI 27. According to this, it is not limited to the number of copies by paper size as in the past, but also whether full color copies or black and white copies are made, whether an ADF (automatic document feeder) is used, whether a sorter is used, etc. Since various data such as whether the manual feed tray is used or not can be collected, detailed services can be provided. Therefore, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the memory 4 stores not only the number of copies for each paper size but also various copy modes such as color copying and black and white copying. Based on such information, more detailed price settings can be made.

After importing all the copy number information stored in the copying machine management device into the recording medium as described above, when the recording medium is set in the recording medium reading device 12, the host computer 11 reads the information written to the recording medium. The information on the number of copies is read out and added to the information on the number of copies taken in from the online-connected copying machine management devices 131 to 13N to perform a totaling process to be described later.

The operation when the host computer 11 reads the copy number information from the recording medium is as follows.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a recording medium is set, the host computer 11 sends a predetermined command, as shown at 31, to all the data recorded on the set recording medium. Give instructions to read data. As a result, the recording medium reading device 12 reads all data written on the recording medium and notifies the host computer 11 as shown at 32.

Upon receiving data from the recording medium reading device 12, the host computer 11 checks whether the received data is copy number information by detecting whether a predetermined password and terminal number are written. do. As a result of this check, if it is determined that the PIN is a predetermined value and the terminal number is a number registered in the host computer 11, the received data is returned to normal copy number information. 1- Data clear instruction is given to the recording medium reading device 12 by notifying a predetermined command as shown at 33. As a result, the recording medium reading device 12 clears all data written on the recording medium.

However, if it is determined that the received data is not copy number information as a result of the check, or if the PIN is correct but the terminal number is
1, the host computer 11 ignores and discards the received data, displays a warning message on a display device (not shown), and ends the data reception operation. . Therefore, in this case, the data on the recording medium is not cleared. This is because the data written on the recording medium is not copy number information, but may be other important data. Also,
The PIN is correct and the terminal number is registered, but
The copier management device with the terminal number is host computer 1.
1, that is, this occurs when the operator records the copy number information of the copying machine management device 13 connected online to the host computer 11 on the recording medium 12. In this case, for example"
Display the warning message "Are you sure you want to aggregate the data from the online terminal? (Y/N)J" on the display device, and if "Y" (yes) is selected, the received data will be considered valid and will be aggregated. At the same time, the data written on the recording medium is cleared, but rN
If J (No) is selected, the received data is ignored and the data on the recording medium is not cleared.

When the copy number information of the standalone copy machine management device, that is, the offline copy number information is imported as described above, the host computer 11 imports the copy number information of the stand-alone copy machine management device 13. A totaling process is performed by adding up the copy number information imported online from 13N to 13N. Next, the totaling process will be explained.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the aggregation process performed by the host computer 11, where 41 is a communication area, 42 is a monthly data processing section, 43 is a monthly aggregation file, 44 is a daily data processing section, and 45 is a daily data processing section. Aggregation file, 46 is a period aggregation processing section, 47 is a period aggregation file, 48 is an offline input processing section, 49 is a key human power section, 50 is a correction input processing section, 5
1 is a charge calculation table, 52 is a monthly data processing unit, 53
Reference numeral 54 indicates an invoice issue processing section, 54 indicates a monthly total file, and 55 indicates an annual total processing section.

The communication area 41 is an area in which copy number data collected by communicating with an online relay device is written.As explained earlier, the host computer stores copy number data accumulated from the beginning of the month to a predetermined value. Since the data is collected online hourly, for example, daily, the copy number data is written in the communication area 41.

The monthly data processing unit 42 performs a process of rewriting the monthly total file 43 with the copy number data written in the communication area 41, and the daily data processing unit 44
The daily total file 45 is created by subtracting the previous copy number data from the copy number data written in
This is what you get. Therefore, the monthly summary file 43 is
It is updated with the copy number data of the communication area 41 every day until the end of the month, and the daily total file 45 accumulates daily total data for each month from the first day to the last day, that is, for 31 days. Then, the period aggregation processing unit 46 calculates, for example, from X days to y.
When a period is specified, such as one week of days, the period aggregation file 47 is obtained by reading out the interval aggregation file 45 for the period from day X to y and performing aggregation processing. The monthly data processing section 52 processes the month's data at the end of the month, calculates charges and creates a monthly total file 54, and the bill issuance processing section 53 processes the calculation results of the monthly data processing section 52. Invoices are created and issued for each department according to the following. Since charges may vary depending on each item of copy number data or depending on the model of copying machine, the unit price for each copy machine and each copy number data item is set in the charge calculation table 51, and the unit price for each copy number data item is also set. If it is desired to reflect a proportionate rate or other rate coefficient, that rate coefficient is set. The monthly total file 54 stores the total data for each month by terminal number and department number for 24 months, and the annual total processing unit 5155 calculates the number of copies of each ten thousand bones from the monthly total file 54. Read the data and aggregate the number of copies per year, number of copies per month, monthly comparison with the previous year, amount, etc. by terminal and department.
It is something to calculate.

The offline input processing unit 48 inputs the copy number data of the copying machine management device that is not connected online to the host computer 11 in a double series, and such copy number data is normally processed on a monthly basis. Therefore, the data is inputted to the monthly data processing unit 52 and is aggregated together with the monthly aggregation file 43 collected online. In addition, the key input section 49 and correction input processing section 50 input and process data that needs to be corrected in the monthly data processing section 52. For example, in a copying machine management device, copy number data is automatically input and processed. In the case of maintenance, trouble, special use, etc., it is recorded in a ledger, etc., and used to correct the monthly totals.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and that various modifications can be made without changing the gist of the present invention. it is obvious. For example, in the above embodiment, a recording/reproducing device for writing data to a card-shaped recording medium and a reading device for reading a copy card are provided separately, but even if the card for recording data and the copy card are of the same type. Of course, it is only necessary to provide one. Further, data may be transferred from the recording medium reading device to the host computer via a suitable modem.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the copying machine management system according to the present invention, data can be easily collected from copying machine management devices that are difficult to connect online and must be used stand-alone, and data can be easily collected from copying machine management devices that are difficult to connect online and must be used stand-alone. The data can be added up with the copy number data collected by the copier management device. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of writing down the data displayed on the display one by one as in the conventional method, and it is also possible to eliminate input errors into the host computer.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a copying machine management system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example configuration for collecting the number of copies by paper size, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a copying machine management system according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration for collecting data; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating data exchange between a host computer and a recording medium reading device; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating aggregation processing performed by a host computer. It is. 1...Control device, 2...Display controller, 3...
・Display device, 4... Memory, 5... Recording and reproducing device, 6
...Reading device, 11...Host computer,
12... Recording medium reading device, 13... Copying machine management device, 14... Copying machine.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a copying machine management system comprising a host computer, a recording medium reading device connected to the host computer, and a copying machine management device connected online to the host computer, the host computer reads the recording medium. A copying machine management system characterized in that data read from the device and data read online from the copying machine management device are totaled.