JP2002373281A - System and method for discounting consumable component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a system for discounting consumable components to realize a mechanism to sell the consumable components of an image forming apparatus to a customer at a low cost while maintaining product quality. SOLUTION: An advertiser (sponsor) distributes advertisement data to the host computer of a user. When the user prints the advertisement data with a printer, the prices of the consumable components of the printer are discounted according to the number of times of printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a consumable parts discount system, a consumable parts discount method for discounting and selling consumable parts of an electrophotographic or ink jet type image forming apparatus, and a program for realizing the method. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type or an ink jet type such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, etc., consumables such as toner and ink for outputting an image, a photosensitive drum, a charging / transfer member, and a fixing device. For consumable parts such as members and transport members that are intended for durable replacement, supply consumable supply parts and replacement parts, purchase them appropriately according to the user's usage condition, and have them replenish and replace. The cost of the printer itself has been reduced while maintaining quality.

[0003] In particular, printers for personal use and office use, in order to achieve maintenance-free operation by service personnel, adopt a cartridge system in which a user can easily replace consumables such as toner and photosensitive drums. .

[0004]

By the way, in the above-described image forming apparatus, when the user replaces the cartridge or the consumable replacement part, the user has to pay the purchase cost. There is a strong market demand for reducing the cost of consumable replacement parts in order to reduce costs and printing costs.

However, there is a certain limit to reducing the manufacturing cost of the consumable replacement part while maintaining the quality. Therefore, it is desired to construct a new mechanism for providing the consumable replacement part to the user at a lower price. I have.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a consumable part for realizing a mechanism for selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus to a customer at a low price while maintaining quality. A component discount system and a consumable component discount method are provided.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a consumable part discount system according to the present invention sells a consumable part and a customer's computer connected to an image forming apparatus via a cable or a network. A computer of a seller and a computer of an advertiser providing advertisement data to the customer can communicate with each other online, and the computer of the advertiser distributes advertisement data to the computer of the customer. A computer for printing the advertisement data distributed from the computer of the advertiser to the image forming apparatus, and counting the number of advertisement prints in which the advertisement data is printed out by the image forming apparatus. Counting means, and transmission means for transmitting the number of times of advertisement printing to the computer of the seller The merchant computer, in accordance with the advertisement print number received from the customer's computer, characterized in that it comprises a discount rate calculation means for calculating the discount rate of the consumable parts sales price for the customer.

In the consumable parts discount system of the present invention, a computer of a customer connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network, a computer of a seller selling consumable parts, and the customer And a computer of an advertiser that provides advertisement data to the client computer, the advertiser computer includes a distribution unit that distributes advertisement data to the customer computer, and the customer computer is A printing unit that prints out the advertisement data distributed from the computer of the advertiser to at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, and a count that counts the number of times the advertisement data is printed out by the image forming apparatus. Means, and transmission means for transmitting the number of times of advertisement printing to the seller's computer, Serial seller of computer, depending on the advertising printing number of times received from the customer's computer,
It is characterized by including a discount rate calculating means for calculating a discount rate of a consumable part selling price to the customer.

In the consumable parts discount system according to the present invention, a computer of a customer connected to one or more image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network, and a computer of a seller who sells the consumable parts are provided. An advertiser computer that provides advertisement data to the customer, and an information processing server, which can communicate with each other online, wherein the advertiser computer distributes the advertisement data to the customer computer. Printing means for printing out advertisement data distributed from the advertiser's computer to at least one of the image forming apparatuses, and advertisement printing in which the image forming apparatus prints out the advertisement data. Counting means for counting the number of times, and Means, wherein the information processing server calculates, in accordance with the number of advertisement prints received from the customer's computer, a discount rate calculation means for calculating a discount rate of a consumable part selling price for each model for the customer; Storage means for managing the rate in association with the number of times of advertisement printing and customer information.

[0010] The counting means provided in the customer's computer receives from the image forming apparatus the status of the completion of the printing of the advertisement data and the unique ID pre-assigned to the image forming apparatus. The number of advertisement prints may be counted based on this.

The consumable part may include a toner, an ink, a photosensitive drum, a charging member, a transfer member, a fixing device, a paper supply member or a conveyance member, or a cartridge provided with at least one of them.

[0012] The counting means provided in the customer computer may collectively count the number of advertisement prints of the plurality of image forming apparatuses.

[0013] The counting means provided in the customer computer counts the number of advertisement prints of the plurality of image forming apparatuses for each model of the image forming apparatus, and the discount rate calculating means provided in the seller computer includes: The discount rate of the consumable part selling price to the customer may be calculated for each model of the image forming apparatus.

[0014] The information processing server may store the number of advertisement prints or the discount rate of the customer managed by the storage means.
It is preferable to have means for making the computer browseable from the customer computer, the seller computer, and the advertiser computer.

According to the consumable parts discount method of the present invention, a computer of a customer connected to the image forming apparatus via a cable or a network, a computer of a seller who sells the consumable parts, and The advertiser's computer that provides the advertisement data can communicate with each other online, the advertiser's computer distributes the advertisement data to the customer's computer, and the customer's computer A step of printing out the advertisement data delivered from the computer to the image forming apparatus, a step of counting the number of advertisement prints in which the advertisement data is printed out by the image forming apparatus, and transmitting the number of advertisement prints to the computer of the seller And the computer of the seller is the computer of the customer Depending on the advertisement print number of times et received, characterized in that it comprises a step of calculating a discount rate of the consumable parts sales price for the customer, the.

In the method for discounting consumable parts according to the present invention, a computer for a customer connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network, a computer for a seller selling the consumable parts, A computer of an advertiser providing advertisement data to a customer, which can communicate with each other online, wherein the computer of the advertiser distributes advertisement data to the computer of the customer; and the computer of the customer, Printing and outputting the advertisement data distributed from the advertiser's computer to at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses; and Counting for each model, and sending the number of advertisement prints to the seller's computer. And calculating the discount rate of the consumable parts sales price for each model of the image forming apparatus for the customer according to the number of times of advertisement printing received from the customer's computer by the seller's computer. It is characterized by the following.

Further, in the consumable parts discount method according to the present invention, there is provided a customer computer connected to one or more image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network.
A computer of a seller that sells consumable parts, a computer of an advertiser that provides advertisement data to the customer, and an information processing server can mutually communicate online, and the computer of the advertiser is Delivering the advertisement data to the computer, and the client computer printing out the advertisement data delivered from the advertiser computer to at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the image forming apparatus Counting the number of times the advertisement is printed out by printing the advertisement data for each model of each image forming apparatus, and transmitting the number of times the advertisement is printed to the information processing server; and Depending on the number of advertisement prints received from Characterized in that it comprises a step of calculating a discount rate of consumable parts sales price of each species, a.

Further, according to the program of the present invention, according to the number of times the advertisement data is printed out on the image forming apparatus,
A step of receiving advertisement data through a network on a computer of a customer provided online and communicable with a computer that calculates a discount rate of a consumable part selling price of the image forming apparatus; and transmitting the received advertisement data through a cable or a network. Printing the image data to the image forming apparatus connected to the computer, counting the number of times the advertisement data has been printed out by the image forming apparatus, and calculating the discount rate via a network based on the number of advertisement prints. And transmitting the data to the server.

[0019]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, an electrophotographic printer will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention can be suitably applied to general electrophotographic or inkjet image forming apparatuses such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile. You can do it.

(First Embodiment) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
A consumable parts discount system according to the embodiment will be described. The consumable parts discount method according to the first embodiment of the present invention is realized by the system.
Further, the program according to the first embodiment of the present invention is for realizing the same system.

First, the mechanism of the consumable parts discount service according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of the discount service.

Here, a service system as shown in FIG. 1 is constructed between a printer manufacturer, a printer user, and a sponsor, thereby providing printer consumable parts (hereinafter referred to as “consumables”) to the user at a low price. .

In FIG. 1, a "printer maker" is a maker (hereinafter, referred to as "maker") that sells a printer or its consumables, and a "printer user" is a customer who uses a printer of the above maker. A “user” (hereinafter referred to as “user”) and “sponsor” are advertisers who provide advertisements to users and pay advertisers to manufacturers according to the amount of advertisements.

The manufacturer enters into a "sponsorship contract" with the sponsor. The sponsor agreement is that the sponsor distributes advertisement data to the user's computer via the Internet, and when the user outputs the advertisement distributed by the sponsor with a printer, the sponsor sends the advertisement to the manufacturer according to the output amount. It is a contract to pay a sponsor fee.

The manufacturer enters into a "consumable goods discount sales contract" with the user. The consumable goods discount sales contract is a contract in which the manufacturer agrees to provide the following programs and services to the user.

<Program> A program that is installed on a user's computer. The advertisement data distributed via the Internet is output by its own printer, and advertisement print information such as the number of prints is transmitted to a printer manufacturer via the Internet. Advertising print management program for providing information.

<Service> Service for discounting the price of printer consumables at the time of next purchase according to the amount of advertisement output when the user accepts the advertisement output of the sponsor.

In FIG. 1, a broken line portion is a portion for transmitting and receiving information via the Internet. As described above, one of the features of the present embodiment is that necessary information is simultaneously distributed and collected in real time via the Internet.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the consumable parts discount system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a printer, which is connected to a host computer 2 in which an advertisement print management program is installed by a LAN cable or a wireless LAN.
They are connected via a network capable of two-way communication such as an AN. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a modified example of FIG. 2. In FIG.
One-to-one connection to the host computer 2 using an SB cable or the like
It is in the form of being directly connected to.

The host computer 2 is a computer in which printer driver software of the printer 1 and an advertisement print management program for managing advertisement print information of the printer 1 are installed, and are connected to the Internet directly or via a network. . Similarly,
The sponsor's computer 3 and the manufacturer's computer 4 are also connected to the Internet, and the host computer 2 can communicate with these computers 3 and 4 via the Internet.

The sponsor computer 3 has a function of distributing advertisement data that the sponsor wants to provide to the user to the host computer 2 of the user.

The maker's computer 4 receives the advertisement print information returned from the user's host computer 2 and stores the advertisement print information in one of the customer management information in a hard disk as a storage means or a dedicated server provided elsewhere. As stock.

As described above, in the consumable parts discount system of the present embodiment, the exchange of the advertisement data and the return of the advertisement print information are all performed via the Internet.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed configuration of the consumable parts discount system according to the present embodiment.

The printer 1 has an interface unit (I / O unit) 1 for exchanging information with a host computer 2 connected directly or via a network.
1, a controller unit 12 that expands data received from the host computer 2 and controls the engine unit 13 to perform printing, and an engine unit 13 that actually performs printing based on a control signal from the controller unit 12.

Here, when the advertisement data distributed from the sponsor is printed, the information that the advertisement is printed is transferred from the printer 1 to the host computer 2 via the interface unit 11.

Each printer 1 used in the present embodiment is assigned a unique ID at the time of shipment. The ID unique to the printer is stored in a memory (ROM, flash memory, or the like) in the controller unit 12 of the printer 1, and is transmitted to the host computer 2 together with the advertisement printing completion status when the advertisement printing is completed. .

The host computer 2 has installed therein printer driver software for the printer 1 and an advertisement print management program provided by a manufacturer for printing advertisements.

The host computer 2 is connected to the Internet via a network or directly to the Internet.
The advertisement print management program for performing the above-described advertisement print receives advertisement data from a sponsor company distributed via the Internet, and transfers the advertisement data to the printer 1 that is a contract target. It has a function to print a specified number of sheets. The advertisement print management program for performing the advertisement print described above receives a print completion status signal and the ID of the printer 1 transmitted from the printer 1 for each advertisement print, and transmits information to the manufacturer via the Internet. It has an advertising print management function.

Here, the advertisement print information sent to the maker includes data such as the number of prints. This information (data)
Is managed and stored in the storage means or the dedicated server for each contract printer based on the printer ID data,
The next time the contract user purchases consumables to be used with the contract printer, it will be reflected in the discount rate of the consumables selling price.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing and information (data) flow of the printer consumable parts discount system according to the present embodiment.

First, advertisement data is directly distributed from the sponsor company's computer to the user's host computer via the Internet (step S31).

Upon receiving the advertisement print data (step S21), the host computer on the user side checks the status of the printer to be printed with the advertisement (step S2).
2). Specifically, a status confirmation signal is transmitted from the host computer to the printer, and the printer returns a status signal indicating the status of the printer to the host computer in response to the signal (step S1).
1). This status signal includes, for example, information such as the presence or absence of paper, the presence or absence of toner or ink, and the state of other troubles if any.

Upon receiving the status signal from the printer, the host computer determines whether or not the advertisement data can be printed (step S23). At this time, if there is no response from the printer after a certain period of time, it is determined that the power of the printer is turned off or that the printer is in an offline state.

If the host computer determines in step S23 that the printer is not in a normal state, the host computer stores the advertisement data in a storage device such as a hard disk (step S25). The host computer periodically checks the status of the printer, and when the printer is ready for printing, performs printing processing of the advertisement data that has been saved anew. If the next new advertisement data is received before printing the stored advertisement data, the stored advertisement data is discarded.

On the other hand, the host computer executes step S
If it is determined at 23 that the printer is in a normal state (printable state), the advertisement data is transferred to the printer (step S24).

The printer prints the advertisement data sent from the host computer (step S12). When the printing is completed, the printer transmits the advertisement printing completion status and the printer-specific ID to the host computer (step S1).
3).

The host computer receives the print completion status and the printer ID sent from the printer, and counts the number of times of advertisement printing based on the received status (step S26). The number of prints for one advertisement data can be freely set by the user on the advertisement print management software. When printing a plurality of sheets, whether to count the number of times the advertisement is printed or only one for the number of prints depends on the design of the software.

Thereafter, the host computer transmits information (data) on the number of times of advertisement printing to the maker's computer via the Internet (step S27). The advertisement print count information may include identification information such as a printer ID and a user ID in addition to the advertisement print count counted in step S26. In the flowchart of FIG. 5, the advertisement print count information is transmitted to the maker's computer immediately after the advertisement print count is counted. However, the processing of step S27 does not necessarily need to be performed after step S26. . For example, the advertisement print number information is transmitted at the timing when the advertisement print number becomes a predetermined number or more, or is transmitted periodically such as once a week, once a month, or the like. You may.

When the maker's computer receives the advertisement print information transmitted from the user's host computer (step S41), the customer management DB (database) in the heart disk or a separately prepared server is received.
, Etc., the number of past advertisement prints of the user is referred to. Then, the total number of advertisement prints (print amount) is obtained by adding the number of advertisement prints included in the advertisement print information received this time to the number of past advertisement prints, and the discount rate (discount rate) of the consumables selling price is calculated based on the total. Yes (Step S4
2). The calculated total number of advertisement prints and the discount rate of the consumable are updated and registered in the customer management DB (step S43).

The advertisement print information accumulated in the computer of the maker in this manner is presented to the sponsor company at regular intervals or at a constant print amount. Will be paid.

In the maker, when a contract user requests the purchase of consumables, the customer management D of the computer is performed.
The advertisement print information stored in B is browsed, and the price of the consumable is determined according to the print amount and the discount rate.

Table 1 shows an example of the relationship between the amount of printed advertisements and the discount rate of consumables.

[0054]

[Table 1]

The number of printed advertisements and the discount rate of consumables are determined in consideration of the list price of the corresponding consumables. For example, a photosensitive drum integrated type toner cartridge (nominal life,
In the case of 00 sheets / retail price 25,000 yen), advertising prints are counted in a set of 10 sheets, and the fixed price per 10 sheets is 3
It is set to be offered at a price obtained by subtracting% as a discount. Fixing unit (nominal life / 200,000 sheets / retail price /
In the case of 27,000 yen, 2.8% of the list price per 10 printed advertisements is transferred to the transfer unit (nominal life: 200,000
In the case of (sheets / retail price / 5,000 yen), the discount rate was set at 4% of the list price per 10 advertisement prints.

According to this example, when ten advertisements are printed, the cartridge costs 750 yen (= 25,000 yen × 0.0).
3) is discounted. When printing 100 sheets, 7,
The discount is 500 yen (= 25,000 yen x 0.03 x 10), and the cartridge selling price in that case is 17,5
00 yen (= 25,000 yen-7,500 yen).

Similarly, when 100 advertisements are printed, the price of the fixing unit is reduced by 7,560 yen, and the price after the discount is 1 unit.
9,440 yen, 2,000 for transfer unit
Yen discount and price after discount is 3,000 yen. However, for each consumable item, an upper limit was set for the discount by advertising printing. For example, in the case of the cartridges shown in Table 1, the upper limit is set to 160 sheets of advertisement print / 12,000 yen.

In any case, in the case of the first nine prints, a consumables shipping fee is provided as a privilege contracted for this service. The fraction obtained at this time can be continuously accumulated.

Here, the toner cartridge, the fixing device, and the transfer unit have been described as examples. However, in addition to the printer body, consumable parts such as a paper feed roller (paper feed member) and a transport roller (transport member) having different lifespans are provided. Yes, a discount ratio for each fixed number of printed sheets is determined for each consumable part.

The advertising fee paid by the sponsor to the manufacturer is obtained by averaging the discount rate calculated from the discount rate and the fixed price for each fixed number of consumable parts of each model, and the like.
Determine the amount.

In this embodiment, the advertisement data is distributed from the sponsor company via the Internet at any time.
At any time, users can get the latest advertising data tailored to the needs of the sponsor. This can be realized by collecting advertisement print data printed by the user via the Internet in almost real time.

Also, by counting the number of times the user actually prints the advertisement data provided by the sponsor with a printer and collecting the information via the Internet, the advertisement is actually printed when the personal computer or the printer is turned off. The case where the advertisement is not out can be excluded from the number of times of advertisement printing. This allows the sponsor company to pay a legitimate sponsor fee for the advertising effect.

Also, in this system, the advertisement print information collected via the Internet can be easily converted into a database in the customer management DB and easily referred to, so that the maker can refer to the advertisement print information almost in real time.
Consumables can also be provided quickly at an accurate price for consumables to the user.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an advertisement is attached to a consumable item, and from distribution of the advertisement data to management and browsing of an advertisement print amount and determination of a discount supply price of the consumable item via the network and the Internet. By doing so, it is possible to provide a user with inexpensive consumables at an appropriate discount price according to the advertisement print, and to construct a consumables discount providing system with a high advertising effect. In addition, since this system uses a network to send and receive advertising information, there is no time loss, the cost of managing and maintaining the system itself is minimized, and further data sharing is achieved. Because of its superiority, it is possible to construct a system with less time loss until the price of the consumable is determined.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described first embodiment, a configuration in which one contract printer is provided for the host computer on the user side has been described. However, in the present embodiment, a configuration in which a plurality of contract printers exist on the network on the user side is described. Has become.

Since other structures and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the consumable parts discount system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the use environment of the printer is a plurality of printers 1,
1 ′, 1 ″ and a plurality of computers are connected in a network. In such a configuration, instead of setting one host computer for one printer and managing advertisement printing, one printer is set. It is preferable to provide a system in which one host computer can manage advertisement printing to a plurality of printers.

In the present embodiment, the advertisement print management program is installed in one host computer on the network, and the one computer centrally manages the advertisement print of a plurality of printers.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the processing and information (data) flow of the printer consumable parts discount system of the present embodiment. In FIG.
The same processes as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers, and the following description focuses on processes that are different from the first embodiment.

When the host computer receives the advertisement data from the computer of the sponsor company via the Internet (step S21), the printer connected to the network and targeted for advertisement printing (in FIG. 7, printers A, B and C in FIG. 7). (Step S22).

The printers (the printers A and B in FIG. 7) which are powered on and in an online state are:
A status signal indicating the status of the printer is returned to the host computer in response to the status confirmation signal received from the host computer (step S11). on the other hand,
The status signal is not returned from the printer (the printer C in FIG. 7) whose power is off or in the offline state.

When the host computer receives the status signal from the printer, the host computer determines whether the advertisement data can be printed (step S23), and transfers the advertisement data to the printer in a normal state (step S24).

The host computer executes step S
If it is determined at step 23 that the printer is not in a normal state,
The advertisement data is stored in a storage means such as a hard disk (step S25), the status of the printers is checked at regular time intervals, and the advertisement data is printed again when the printer becomes printable. At this time, control is performed so that the advertisement data is not transmitted to the printer that has once performed the printing process.

The printer prints the advertisement data sent from the host computer (step S12). When the printing is completed successfully, the printer returns a status of advertisement printing completion and a printer-specific ID to the host computer (step S13).

The host computer receives the status of printing completion and the printer ID sent from each printer, and counts the number of times of advertisement printing based on the status (step S26). The count of the number of advertisement prints is totaled for each printer or each printer model (step S28), and is stored on the hard disk as advertisement print information (step S29).

As shown in FIG. 8, the advertisement print information collected by the host computer is transferred to the manufacturer's computer at regular intervals (step S51) and stored as backup data. The data transfer to the maker may be performed, for example, on a monthly basis or at the timing when the next advertisement data arrives.

When the maker's computer receives the advertisement print information (step S41), the maker's computer refers to the user's past advertisement print count from storage means such as a customer management DB (database) in a heart disk or a separately prepared server. I do. Then, the total number of advertisement prints (print amount) is obtained by adding the number of advertisement prints included in the advertisement print information received this time to the number of past advertisement prints, and the discount rate (discount rate) of the consumables selling price is calculated based on the total. (Step S44). The calculated total number of times of advertisement printing and the discount rate of consumables are updated and registered in the customer management DB (step S4).
5). Here, the total number of advertisement prints and the calculation of the consumable goods discount rate are performed for each printer model.

When purchasing consumables, the user orders desired consumables online using the advertisement information management software of the host computer. At this time, the order print data transmitted from the user's host computer to the maker computer is automatically or manually attached with the advertisement print information of the printer corresponding to the consumable to be purchased. Based on the advertisement print information attached to the order data, the manufacturer determines the discount price of the consumable and presents the consumable price to the user.

According to the present embodiment, various models are mixed in a plurality of printers connected to the network,
When the life and price of each consumable are different, the advertising print information is totaled for each model by the host computer based on the ID transmitted by the printer, and the amount of consumables corresponding to which model is discounted according to the ratio of the advertising print amount. Can be performed.

As described above, in an environment in which a plurality of printers and a plurality of types of printers are connected, the prices of consumables corresponding to the respective printers are different. Precise consumable discount pricing can be set.

Further, by managing the advertisement print information of a plurality of printers in the network by a single host computer, the advertisement print information for each printer model can be tabulated by the user's host computer. It is possible to reduce the load of information management.

Also, if the user's host computer totals the advertisement print information for each printer model and accumulates this data in the host computer, the user himself can obtain the current discount price of the consumables corresponding to each printer on the Internet. It can also be easily withdrawn from the host computer without a connection to.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the first and second embodiments, the configuration in which the advertisement print information is managed by the maker's computer or the user's host computer has been described. In the present embodiment, the maker, the user, and the sponsor company are used. An information processing server, which is independent of each computer, is installed on the Internet, and the information processing server processes and stores the advertisement print information of the user.

Since other structures and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the entire configuration of the consumable parts discount system according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 5 denotes an information processing server, which is a computer for processing and storing the advertisement print information of the user. The information processing server 5 is provided on the Internet, and the user / maker / sponsor can browse information stored in the information processing server 5 online using his / her own computer.

As in the present embodiment, when the print information of the advertisement print performed by the user is processed and stored on the information processing server 5 independently installed on the Internet, the user, manufacturer, and sponsor are relatively free. This data can be used for

For example, when the manufacturer has revised the consumables price, the ratio of the consumables discount price for the advertisement printing contract user after the price revision is immediately reflected in the information processing server 5. By immediately reflecting the price revision information on the information processing server 5, the user can always obtain the latest price information online.

The sponsor company also distributes advertising data of a different genre to the user, and the information such as which advertising data is printed is returned from the user side, and the information is totaled and viewed on the information processing server 5. This makes it possible to collect market marketing information in real time.

If the advertisement print information is performed by a computer in the maker, the data cannot be easily used by sponsors and users. However, as described in the present embodiment, the above-described advertisement print information is stored on the information processing server 5 which exists independently on the Internet,
By managing, it becomes possible for the user / maker / sponsor to access the information relatively easily with a simple security system such as a user ID and a password.

Further, the printer consumables sales agent contracted by the manufacturer is accessed to the information processing server 5 so that the printer consumables agent can view the user's consumables purchase price online. Therefore, it is easy to construct a system in which a user can purchase a consumable at an appropriate price regardless of where the user purchases the consumable.

Further, if the information processing server 5 is connected to a consumable goods ordering center, it is easy to construct an ordering system in which a user can order consumable goods from a destination using an information terminal such as a mobile phone. become.

As described above, by managing the advertisement print information on the information processing server independently installed on the Internet, the degree of freedom in utilizing the advertisement print information is increased, and by attaching the advertisement, the consumables can be used. It can be easily applied to systems other than the system of discounting.

[0094]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Advertisers can easily and reliably distribute advertisements to customers online, and customers can automatically obtain the latest advertisements and reduce the cost of consumable parts of image forming apparatuses. Can be purchased,
In addition, it is possible for a seller of the consumable parts to sell the consumable parts of the image forming apparatus to the customer at a low price while maintaining the quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a consumable parts discount service.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an entire configuration of a consumable parts discount system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a modified configuration example of the consumable parts discount system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a detailed configuration of a consumable parts discount system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing and information (data) of the consumable parts discount system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall configuration of a consumable parts discount system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing and information (data) of the consumable parts discount system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing and information (data) of the consumable parts discount system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing an entire configuration of a consumable parts discount system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1 ', 1 "printer (image forming apparatus) 2 host computer of user (customer) 3 computer of sponsor (advertiser) 4 computer of manufacturer (seller) 5 information processing server 11 interface section 12 controller section 13 engine section

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 3/12 G03G 21/00 392

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A consumable parts discount system for selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus at a discount, wherein a computer of a customer connected to the image forming apparatus via a cable or a network, and a computer of a seller selling the consumable parts. And an advertiser computer that provides advertisement data to the customer, and can communicate with each other online. The advertiser computer includes a distribution unit that distributes advertisement data to the customer computer. A printing unit that prints out the advertisement data distributed from the advertiser's computer to the image forming apparatus; a counting unit that counts the number of times the advertisement data is printed out by printing the advertisement data in the image forming apparatus; Transmitting means for transmitting the number of times of advertisement printing to the seller's computer, The consumable parts discount system, wherein the seller's computer includes a discount rate calculating unit that calculates a discount rate of a consumable parts sales price for the customer according to the number of times of advertisement printing received from the customer's computer. 2. A consumable parts discount system for discounting and selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus, wherein a computer of a customer connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network, and sales for selling the consumable parts. Computer of an advertiser and a computer of an advertiser that provides advertisement data to the customer can be mutually communicated online, and the computer of the advertiser includes a distribution unit that distributes advertisement data to the computer of the customer. A computer for printing the advertisement data distributed from the computer of the advertiser to at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses; and a printout of the advertisement data by the image forming apparatus. Counting means for counting the number of advertisement prints, and a computer of the seller The seller's computer includes a discount rate calculating means for calculating a discount rate of a consumable part selling price for the customer according to the number of advertisement prints received from the customer's computer. A consumable parts discount system characterized by the following. 3. A consumable parts discount system for discounting and selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a customer computer connected to one or more image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network; The computer of the seller that sells, the computer of the advertiser that provides the advertising data to the customer, and the information processing server can communicate with each other online, and the computer of the advertiser is connected to the computer of the customer. A distribution unit for distributing advertisement data, wherein the computer of the customer prints out the advertisement data distributed from the computer of the advertiser to at least one of the image forming apparatuses; Counting means for counting the number of times the advertisement has been printed out, and Transmitting means for transmitting to the information processing server, wherein the information processing server calculates a discount rate of a consumable part selling price for each model to the customer according to the number of advertisement prints received from the customer's computer. A consumable parts discount system comprising: a discount rate calculating means; and a storage means for managing the discount rate in association with the number of times of advertisement printing and customer information. 4. A counting means provided in the customer's computer, wherein the status of the completion of the printing of the advertisement data from the image forming apparatus and a unique ID previously allocated to the image forming apparatus.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving D and counting the number of times of advertisement printing based on the status and the ID.
The consumable parts discount system according to 2 or 3. 5. The consumable part includes a toner, an ink, a photosensitive drum, a charging member, a transfer member, a fixing device, a paper supply member or a conveyance member, or a cartridge provided with at least one of these. The consumable parts discount system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The consumable parts discount system according to claim 2, wherein the counting means included in the computer of the customer collectively counts the number of times of advertisement printing of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. 7. A counting means provided in the customer computer counts the number of advertisement prints of the plurality of image forming apparatuses for each model of the image forming apparatus, and a discount rate calculating means provided in the seller computer. Is
4. A discount rate of a consumable part selling price to a customer is calculated for each model of the image forming apparatus.
Consumables discount system described in. 8. The information processing server according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement printing frequency or the discount rate of the customer managed by said storage means is
4. The consumable parts discount system according to claim 3, further comprising means for enabling browsing from a computer of the customer, a computer of the seller, and a computer of the advertiser. 9. A consumable parts discount method for discounting and selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a computer of a customer connected to the image forming apparatus via a cable or a network; and a computer of a seller selling the consumable parts. And an advertiser's computer that provides advertisement data to the customer. The advertiser's computer distributes advertisement data to the customer's computer. A computer that prints out the advertisement data distributed from the advertiser's computer to the image forming apparatus; a step that counts the number of advertisement prints in which the image forming apparatus prints out the advertisement data; and the number of advertisement prints. Transmitting to the seller's computer; Over others, depending on the advertisement print number received from the customer's computer, consumable parts discount method which comprises a step of calculating a discount rate of the consumable parts sales price for the customer, the. 10. A consumable parts discount method for discounting and selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a customer computer connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network; A computer of an advertiser and a computer of an advertiser providing advertisement data to the customer online mutually, wherein the computer of the advertiser distributes advertisement data to the computer of the customer; A step in which the customer's computer prints out the advertisement data distributed from the advertiser's computer to at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses; the number of advertisement prints in which the image forming apparatus prints out the advertisement data; Counting for each model of each image forming apparatus, and the number of times of advertisement printing Transmitting to the seller's computer, the seller's computer calculates a discount rate of a consumable part selling price for each model of the image forming apparatus for the customer according to the number of advertisement prints received from the customer's computer. Calculating a consumable part discount method. 11. A consumable parts discount method for discounting and selling consumable parts of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a customer computer connected to one or more image forming apparatuses via a cable or a network; The computer of the seller that sells, the computer of the advertiser that provides the advertising data to the customer, and the information processing server can communicate with each other online, and the computer of the advertiser is connected to the computer of the customer. Delivering advertisement data, the client computer printing out the advertisement data delivered from the advertiser computer to at least one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, That counts the number of times the advertisement has been printed out for each model of each image forming apparatus. And transmitting the advertisement print count to the information processing server; and the information processing server according to the advertisement print count received from the customer's computer. Calculating a discount rate of the parts sales price. 12. A computer of a customer provided online so as to be able to communicate with a computer for calculating a discount rate of a consumable part selling price of the image forming apparatus according to the number of times the advertisement data is printed out on the image forming apparatus. Receiving advertisement data through a network, printing out the received advertisement data to an image forming apparatus connected via a cable or a network, and counting the number of advertisement prints in which the advertisement data is printed out by the image forming apparatus. And a step of transmitting the advertisement print count to a computer that calculates the discount rate via a network. 13. A computer of a customer provided online so as to be able to communicate with a computer for calculating a discount rate of a consumable part selling price of the image forming apparatus according to the number of times the advertisement data is printed out on the image forming apparatus. Receiving advertisement data through a network, printing out the received advertisement data to an image forming apparatus connected via a cable or a network, and counting the number of advertisement prints in which the advertisement data is printed out by the image forming apparatus. And a step of transmitting the advertisement print count to a computer that calculates the discount rate via a network. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing the program.