JPH11184325A - Remote centralized control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the labor and time of a center operator and a customer or the like at the time of restoring a fault of an image forming device. SOLUTION: When any fault is caused at the image forming device such as a copying machine 12 the image forming device automatically reports information on the fault to a centralized controlling device 1. The centralized controlling device 1 which receives the information recognizes the content of the fault from the information, and judges whether the fault is restored or not by resetting the image forming device, and automatically transmits a resetting command to the image forming device only in the case that it is possible to restore the fault. Though the image forming device that receives the resetting command checks the state of a machine itself, and sends back an in effective response to the centralized controlling device 1 when the fault is restored or while executing image forming operation, it sends back an effective response to the centralized controlling device 1 and also executes resetting operation when the fault is continued and it is not in the middle of the image forming operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to connecting a centralized management apparatus and an image forming apparatus via a public line network, a communication adapter, a wired or wireless interface, and the centralized management apparatus connects to the public line network, a communication adapter, a wired or wireless interface. The present invention relates to a remote central management system for centrally managing an image forming apparatus via a wireless interface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such a remote centralized management system,
The image forming apparatus and the central control device are as follows (1)
The control as shown in (2) is performed. (1) When any trouble occurs in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus automatically reports information on the trouble to the central management apparatus via a wired or wireless interface, a communication adapter, or a public line network by a self-generated call. (2) When receiving the information indicating the failure from the image forming apparatus, the central management apparatus displays the content of the failure on the display unit from the information.

According to such a remote centralized management system, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, the content of the failure is displayed on the display unit of the centralized management apparatus. Can determine from the displayed contents whether reset is valid (the failure can be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus (returning to the initial state)).

[0004] If the reset is valid, the customer who purchased the image forming apparatus is reset by telephone (turning off / on the power for returning the apparatus to the initial state).
Request and the result of the inquiry. Alternatively, a request is made to a service person for a reset operation for the image forming apparatus. In this case, a service person goes to the customer and performs a reset operation.

[0005]

However, the trouble and time required by a center operator, a customer, and the like when restoring a failure in the image forming apparatus as described above increase with an increase in the number of image forming apparatus services. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to reduce the trouble and time required by a center operator, a customer, and the like when restoring a failure in an image forming apparatus in a remote centralized management system.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a centralized management device having a computer, a communication adapter for connecting the centralized management device to the centralized management device via a public network, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a printing machine, and the like. , And a wired or wireless interface for connecting the communication adapter and the image forming apparatus, and the centralized management apparatus centrally manages the image forming apparatus via a public line network, a communication adapter, and a wired or wireless interface. In order to achieve the above object, the remote centralized management system is characterized as follows.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when information relating to a failure is received from the image forming apparatus, the central management apparatus recognizes the content of the failure from the information and resets the image forming apparatus to recover the failure. Recovery availability determination means for determining whether or not it is possible to perform the reset, and only when it is determined that the failure can be recovered by the means, the reset command is transmitted to the image via a public line network, a communication adapter, a wired or wireless interface. A reset command transmitting means for automatically transmitting the reset command to the forming apparatus;

Further, when a fault occurs in the image forming apparatus, information on the fault is automatically transmitted to a central management apparatus via a wired or wireless interface, a communication adapter, or a public line network by a self-originated call. A failure information reporting unit that reports to a central management unit, a state checking unit that checks the state of the image forming apparatus when a reset command is received, and a check result by the unit.
If it is confirmed that the fault has been recovered or that the image forming operation is being performed, an invalid response notifying that the reset command is invalidated is confirmed that the fault is continuing and the image forming operation is not being performed. In this case, a response returning means for returning a valid response notifying that the reset command is valid to the centralized management device via a wired or wireless interface, a communication adapter, and a public line network, and a check by the state checking means. If it is confirmed from the result that the failure is continuing and the image forming operation is not being performed,
Reset operation executing means for executing a reset operation for returning the image forming apparatus to an initial state.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the remote centralized management system according to the first aspect, the response returning means of the image forming apparatus includes:
When the status check unit confirms that the image forming operation is being performed based on the result of the check, the invalid response to be returned to the central management device is a busy response that indicates that the image forming operation is being performed. It is.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the remote centralized management system according to the second aspect, when a busy response is received from the image forming apparatus by the centralized management apparatus, a predetermined time elapses.
A reset command retransmitting means for automatically transmitting the reset command again to the image forming apparatus via a public line network, a communication adapter, a wired or wireless interface is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the remote centralized management system according to the first aspect, the reset operation executing means of the image forming apparatus recognizes that the image forming operation is being performed from the result of the check by the state checking means. Includes means for executing a reset operation for returning the image forming apparatus to an initial state after it is confirmed that the image forming operation has been completed.

[0012] In the remote centralized management system according to the first aspect of the present invention, if any failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus transmits information on the occurred failure by a self-call to a wired or wireless interface, a communication adapter, a public line. A notification is automatically sent to the central control device via the network. When receiving the information regarding the failure from the image forming apparatus, the central management apparatus recognizes the content of the failure from the information, determines whether the failure can be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus, and determines whether the failure can be recovered. The reset command is automatically transmitted to the image forming apparatus via a public line network, a communication adapter, a wired or wireless interface only when it can be restored.

When the image forming apparatus receives the reset command from the central control device, it checks the status of the image forming apparatus. If the result of the check indicates that the failure has been recovered or the image forming operation is being performed, Sends an invalid response notifying that the reset command is invalid to the centralized management device via a wired or wireless interface, a communication adapter, or a public line network, but confirms that the failure is ongoing and the image forming operation is not being performed. If confirmed, return a valid response notifying that the reset command is valid to the central control device via a wired or wireless interface, a communication adapter, or a public line network, and perform a reset operation for returning the device to its initial state. Execute.

As described above, according to this remote centralized management system, when any trouble occurs in the image forming apparatus, if the trouble can be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus, the reset operation is automatically performed. Is performed and the trouble is recovered, so that the trouble and time required by the center operator, the customer, and the like when recovering the trouble of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. Further, when the failure cannot be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus, the reset operation is not performed, so that the occurrence of trouble due to the reset can be prevented. Further, it is possible to economically cope with an increase in the number of image forming apparatuses connected to the central management apparatus.

When the image forming apparatus confirms that the image forming operation is being performed based on the result of the check, the invalid response returned to the central control device is replaced with a busy response indicating that the image forming operation is being performed. For example, the centralized management device that has received the information can determine that the reset operation is not performed in the image forming apparatus because at least the image forming operation is being performed.

In this case, if the central management apparatus automatically transmits a reset command again to the image forming apparatus via the public line network, the communication adapter, a wired or wireless interface after a lapse of a predetermined time. If the failure in the image forming apparatus is ongoing and not during the image forming operation, the reset operation can be performed, so that the trouble and time required by the center operator and the customer when restoring the failure in the image forming apparatus can be reduced. Can be reduced.

Alternatively, if the image forming apparatus recognizes that the image forming operation is being performed based on the result of the check, the image forming apparatus may execute the reset operation after confirming that the image forming operation is completed. Since it is not necessary to return a busy response to the central management device, the processing load on the central management device can be reduced.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a remote central management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This remote centralized management system comprises a centralized management apparatus (center system) 1 and image forming apparatus groups 10 and 20 at each customer. The exchanges at each customer are not shown.

The image forming apparatus group 10 includes a communication adapter 11 connected to the centralized management apparatus 1 via the public line network 4, and a plurality of copying machines 12, a facsimile (FAX) apparatus 13, a printer 14, a printing machine 15, and the like. It is composed of image forming apparatuses and dedicated interface (hereinafter, “interface” is referred to as “I / F”) lines 16 a and 16 b for connecting each image forming apparatus to the communication adapter 11.

The image forming apparatus group 20 includes a communication adapter 21 connected to the centralized management apparatus 1 via the public line network 4, a plurality of image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine 22, a facsimile apparatus 23, and the like. And a dedicated I / F line 24a, 24b connecting the communication adapter 21 with the communication adapter 21. Note that the dedicated I / F line can have a wired or wireless configuration, but FIG. 1 shows the dedicated I / F lines 16a and 16 having a wired configuration.
b, 24a and 24b are shown.

The central management device 1 includes a plurality of computers 2
are connected by a network 3 such as a LAN (local area network), a public line network 4, a communication adapter 11, and a dedicated I / F line 16a, 1.
6b, the image forming apparatuses such as the copier 12, the facsimile machine 13, the printer 14, and the printer 15 are connected to the copier 22, the facsimile via the public network 4, the communication adapter 21, and the dedicated I / F lines 24a, 24b. The image forming apparatuses such as the apparatus 23 can be centrally managed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the centralized management device 1. Computer 2a of central management device 1
Are the CPU 31, the real-time clock circuit 32, the RO
M33, RAM 34, communication control units 35a, 35
b,..., external memory control unit 36, display control unit 37, keyboard I / F circuit unit 38, network I / F unit 39, hard disk drive (HDD) 4
0, a CRT display 41, a keyboard 42 and the like. The computer 2b of the centralized management device 1 has the same configuration as that of FIG.
Illustration of each part other than the unit 39 'is omitted.

The CPU 31 is a central processing unit that controls the entire computer 2a in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 33. Real time clock circuit 32
Generates time information, and the CPU 31 can read the time information to know the current time. The ROM 33 is a read-only memory that stores various fixed data including a control program used by the CPU 31.

The RAM 34 is a readable / writable memory used as a work memory or the like used when the CPU 31 performs data processing. Communication control unit 35a, 3
Control communication with external devices via the public line network 4 respectively. The external memory control unit 36
The interface control with the hard disk device 40 is performed.

The display control unit 37 controls the interface with the CRT display 41. The keyboard I / F circuit unit 38 controls the interface with the keyboard 42. The network I / F unit 39
It performs interface control with another computer such as the computer 2b connected to the network 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control unit of the copying machines 12 and 22. The control units of the copying machines 12 and 22 are a CPU 51 and a real-time clock circuit 5, respectively.
2, ROM 53, RAM 54, nonvolatile RAM 55, input / output port 56, and serial communication control unit 57
a, 57b, 57c, a personal I / F 58, and a system bus 59.

The CPU 51 is a central processing unit that controls the entire apparatus in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 53. The real-time clock circuit 52 generates time information, and the CPU 51 can read the information to know the current time. ROM53
Is a read-only memory that stores various fixed data including a control program used by the CPU 51.

The RAM 54 is a readable / writable memory used as a work memory or the like used when the CPU 51 performs data processing. The non-volatile RAM 55 is a memory for storing the contents of mode instructions from an operation display unit (not shown) and the like, and is backed up by a battery. The input / output port 56 is connected to output loads such as a motor, a solenoid, and a clutch in the apparatus and sensors and switches.

The serial communication control unit 57a exchanges signals with an operation display unit (not shown).
The serial communication control unit 57b exchanges signals with a document feed unit (not shown). The serial communication control unit 57c exchanges signals with a transfer paper post-processing unit (not shown).

The personal I / F 58 is a communication adapter 1
A circuit unit for performing communication control with the CPU 1 or 21;
It is provided to reduce the load for controlling communication with the 51 communication adapters 11 or 21. Of course, CP
If the processing capacity of U51 is sufficient, this personal I /
The function of F58 may be incorporated in the CPU 51. Note that other image forming apparatuses such as the printer 14 are also used in FIG.
Although a control unit such as a CPU shown in FIG. 1 is provided, its illustration and description are omitted.

Here, a failure (serviceman call: SC) in each image forming apparatus will be described. Although it differs slightly depending on the type of image forming apparatus, in general, a fixing system,
Failures in the AC system (high-voltage power supply unit)
(1) As shown in (2), the device cannot be recovered by resetting (returning to the initial state).

(1) Since the fixing system handles high temperatures,
This leads directly to smoking and ignition. In the first place, the origin of the concept of a failure that cannot be recovered is a failure (SC) in the fixing system, and “failure occurrence” → “power off / on (fixing system) in a state where the customer does not remove the cause of the failure. By repeating “power off / on”) → “failure” → “power off / on” →... As a result, the fixing temperature becomes the fuming / ignition temperature as shown in FIG. I do. Detection of high fixing temperature,
There are fixing temperature low temperature detection, fixing thermistor disconnection, continuous lighting of the fixing heater after reloading, fixing fan motor lock, and the like.

(2) Since the AC system handles a high voltage, there is a danger to the customer and, of course, smoke and ignition are caused. Failures in the AC system include charging leak (charging voltage adjustment error), transfer leak (transfer voltage adjustment error), separation leak (separation voltage adjustment error), and the like.

On the other hand, faults other than those in the fixing system and the AC system can be recovered by a reset operation. The faults include reading system (lamp control, scanner control, scaling, and filter) errors, writing system errors, paper feed / transport system errors (jam), double-sided system errors, and communication systems (body internal communication, optional Error, peripheral device system (automatic document feeder, sorter, finisher), counter system, etc.

The control units of the computers 2a, 2b,... Constituting the centralized management device 1 function as the restoration possibility determination means, reset command transmission means, and reset command retransmission means according to claims 1 to 3. In addition, copying machines 12 and 22
The control unit of each image forming apparatus functions as a fault information reporting unit, a status checking unit, a response returning unit, and a reset operation execution unit.

Hereinafter, the processing according to the present invention in the remote central management system will be specifically described with reference to FIG. Each of the image forming apparatuses such as the copying machines 12 and 22 has some trouble (serviceman call: S
When C) occurs, information on the failure (failure information)
To the dedicated I / F line (16a, 16b, 24
a or 24b), the communication adapter (11 or 21), and the central management device 1 are automatically notified via the public line network 4.

When the centralized management device 1 receives information on a failure from the failed image forming apparatus, it performs the processing shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing when the centralized management device 1 receives failure information. When the centralized management device 1 receives the information on the failure from the failed image forming apparatus, it can recognize the content of the information and reset the image forming apparatus (RESET) to recover the failure. Determine whether or not.

Here, the SC number table (see FIG. 6) for judging whether or not the failure can be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus is stored in advance in FIG.
Is stored in the hard disk device 40 via the external memory control unit 36. CPU 31 of central management device 1
Receives information about a failure from the failed image forming apparatus via the communication control units 35a, 35b,...
34.

The SC number in the SC number field in the format is stored in the SC
It is compared with each SC number of the number table (see FIG. 6) sequentially,
If there is a number in the SC number table that matches the SC number in the SC number field, that is, if a failure occurs in a location other than the fixing system and the AC system, the failure is recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus. Judge that it is possible.

If the failure cannot be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus, the information on the failure is transferred to another management device (not shown) for serviceman arrangement, and the process is terminated. The management device is
When the information indicating the failure is received, the content of the failure is displayed on the display unit from the information. Therefore, the operator who sees the displayed content can request a service person for repair.

If the failure can be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus, a reset command is issued to the public network 4, the communication adapter (11 or 2).
1), dedicated I / F line (16a, 16b, 24a, or 2)
4b) to the image forming apparatus. afterwards,
If an invalid response (excluding a busy response) is received from the image forming apparatus, the process is terminated as it is. If a busy (BUSY) response is received, a predetermined time t1 has elapsed since the reset command was transmitted. After that, a reset command is transmitted to the image forming apparatus again, and thereafter, the same processing as described above is performed.

When a valid response is received from the image forming apparatus, the signal S-SENSE (Status-Sense) is transmitted after a predetermined time t2 has elapsed since the reset command was transmitted.
e: status sense) to public line network 4, communication adapter (11
Or 21), dedicated I / F lines (16a, 16b, 24a,
Or 24b) to the image forming apparatus, and upon receiving a busy response thereto, the signal S-SENS
After a predetermined time t2 has elapsed from the transmission of E, the signal S-SENSE is transmitted again, and the process ends when an acknowledgment (ACK) response is received.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a process when each image forming apparatus such as the copying machines 12 and 22 receives a reset command. Each of the image forming apparatuses performs the processing illustrated in FIG. 8 when the information regarding the failure is reported to the central management apparatus 1. That is, first, it is determined whether or not a reset command has been received from the central management device 1, and when the reset command has been received, the state of the own device is checked. This check is performed by, for example, a CPU for communication control (for example, a CPU in the personal I / F in FIG. 3).

If it is confirmed from the result of the check that the failure has already been recovered or the image forming operation is being performed by resetting the apparatus itself by turning off / on the power supply, the received reset command is invalidated. To the dedicated I / F line (16a, 16b, 24a,
Or 24b), the communication adapter (11 or 21) and the public network 4 to return to the central management device 1 and terminate the process. However, when it is confirmed that the image forming operation is being performed, a busy response is returned as an invalid response.

If it is confirmed from the above check result that the failure is continuing and the image forming operation is not being performed, a valid signal notifying that the received reset command is valid is transmitted to the dedicated I / F line (16a). , 16b, 24a, or 24b), the communication adapter (11 or 21), the central control unit 1 via the public line network 4, and after starting the reset operation, the signal SS from the central control unit 1
Wait for ENSE to be received.

The reset operation of the image forming apparatus is performed by a hot start. That is, while the power-on state is maintained, the fault (SC) is released and the standby state is forcibly set (returned to the initial state).

When the reset operation has been completed when the signal S-SENSE is received, an acknowledgment response is sent to the dedicated I / F line (16a, 16b, 24a, or 2).
4b), communication adapter (11 or 21), public network 4
Is returned to the central management device 1 via the
If the reset operation has not been completed, a busy response is returned to the central control device 1 and the reception of the signal S-SENSE is waited again, and thereafter, the same processing as described above is performed.

Here, the processing operation after the reset command is received by the image forming apparatus in the remote central management system will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. After receiving the reset command in any one of the image forming apparatuses, the image forming apparatus and the centralized management apparatus 1 communicate with each other in the following (1), (2), and (3).
Is performed.

(1) Reset command (RESET CM
When the failure has already been recovered by the reset operation (power off / on operation), the image forming apparatus that has received D) returns an invalid response to the central management apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. No reset operation is performed.

(2) When the image forming apparatus receives the reset command, the failure is continuing, but during the image forming operation, as shown in FIG.
Return to. Upon receiving the busy response, the central management device 1
After a predetermined time t1 has elapsed since the transmission of the reset command, the reset command is transmitted to the image forming apparatus again.
When the image forming apparatus receives the reset command again after the image forming operation is completed, the image forming apparatus sends a valid response to the central management apparatus 1.
And a reset operation is performed.

After receiving the valid response, the central management device 1 transmits a reset command, and after a predetermined time t2 has elapsed,
A signal S-SENSE is transmitted to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus that has received the signal S-SENSE returns a busy response if the reset operation is still ongoing.

Upon receiving the busy response, the central management device 1
After a predetermined time t2 has elapsed since the transmission of the signal S-SENSE, the signal S-SENSE is transmitted again to the image forming apparatus. After receiving the signal S-SENSE again after the end of the reset operation, the image forming apparatus returns an acknowledgment response to the central management apparatus 1.

(3) The image forming apparatus that has received the reset command returns a valid response to the centralized management apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 11 when the failure is continuing and the image forming operation is not being performed. At the same time, a reset operation is performed. After receiving the valid response, the central control device 1 transmits the signal S-SENSE after a predetermined time t2 has elapsed since the transmission of the reset command.
Is transmitted to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus that has received the signal S-SENSE returns a busy response if the reset operation is still ongoing.

Upon receiving the busy response, the centralized management device 1
After a predetermined time t2 has elapsed since the transmission of the signal S-SENSE, the signal S-SENSE is transmitted again to the image forming apparatus. After receiving the signal S-SENSE again after the end of the reset operation, the image forming apparatus returns an acknowledgment response to the central management apparatus 1.

When each of the image forming apparatuses recognizes that the image forming operation is being performed from the above check result,
After confirming that the image forming operation has been completed, the reset operation may be executed (processing according to the invention of claim 4).

[0057]

As described above, according to the remote centralized management system of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the labor and time required by a center operator, a customer, and the like when restoring a failure in an image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a remote central management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a centralized management device 1 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit of the copiers 12 and 22;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a fixing temperature and time when power is repeatedly turned off and on when a failure occurs in a fixing system of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process at the time of receiving failure information in a control unit of the central management device 1 shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of S stored in the hard disk device 40 of FIG. 2;
It is a figure showing an example of a C number table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a format of information related to a failure stored in the RAM 34;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process at the time of receiving a reset command in each of the image forming apparatuses such as the copying machines 12 and 22 illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a first example of a processing operation after a reset command is received by the image forming apparatus in the remote central management system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a second example.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a third example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Central management device 2a, 2b: Computer 3: Network 4: Public line network 10, 20: Image forming device group 11, 21: Communication adapter 12, 22: Copy machine 13, 23: Facsimile device 14: Printer 15: Printing Machines 16a, 16b, 24a, 24b: Dedicated I / F lines 31, 51: CPU (Central Processing Unit) 32, 52: Real-time clock circuits 33, 53: ROM 34, 54: RAM 35a, 35b: Communication control unit 36: External memory control unit 39, 39 ': Network I / F unit 40: Hard disk device 55: Non-volatile RAM 58: Personal I / F

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI H04L 12/24 H04N 1/00 107A 12/26 B41J 29/00 C H04M 11/00 301 H04L 11/08 H04N 1/00 107

Claims (4)

[Claims] A centralized management device having a computer;
A communication adapter for connecting to the centralized management device via a public line network; an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a printing machine, etc .; and a wired or wireless interface for connecting the communication adapter to the image forming apparatus Wherein the centralized management apparatus centrally manages the image forming apparatus via the public line network, the communication adapter, and the wired or wireless interface. When information about a fault is received from the device,
Recovery possibility determining means for recognizing the content of the failure from the information and determining whether the failure can be recovered by resetting the image forming apparatus; and recovering the failure by the means. Only when determined, a reset command transmitting means for automatically transmitting a reset command to the image forming apparatus via the public line network, the communication adapter, the wired or wireless interface is provided, and the image forming apparatus includes: When any failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, a failure information report for automatically reporting information relating to the failure to the central management apparatus via the wired or wireless interface, the communication adapter, and the public network by self-calling. Means for checking the status of the image forming apparatus when a reset command is received from the central management apparatus. If it is confirmed from the check means and the check result by the means that the failure has been recovered or the image forming operation is being performed,
An invalid response notifying that the reset command is invalidated, and when it is confirmed that the fault is continuing and the image forming operation is not being performed, a valid response notifying that the reset command is valid is respectively transmitted. A response returning means for returning to the centralized management device via the wired or wireless interface, the communication adapter, and the public line network; and a failure is continuing from the result of the status check by the status check means and an image forming operation is not being performed. A reset operation executing means for executing a reset operation for resetting the image forming apparatus to an initial state when the confirmation is made. 2. When the response returning means of the image forming apparatus confirms that an image forming operation is being performed from the result of the check by the state checking means, the response returning means returns an invalid response to the central management apparatus. 2. The remote centralized management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for providing a busy response indicating that a forming operation is being performed. 3. When a busy response is received from the image forming apparatus by the central management apparatus, a reset command is issued again after a predetermined time has passed through the public network, the communication adapter, the wired or wireless interface. 3. The remote centralized management system according to claim 2, further comprising a reset command retransmitting unit that automatically transmits the reset command to the image forming apparatus. 4. When the reset operation executing means of the image forming apparatus recognizes that the image forming operation is being performed from the result of the check by the state checking means, it is confirmed that the image forming operation has been completed. 2. The remote centralized management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for executing a reset operation for returning the image forming apparatus to an initial state after the operation.