JP4305198B2 - Printing device support system, printing information collection device, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus support system, a printing information collection apparatus, and a computer program.

Conventionally, a company leases or purchases a printer and uses it. However, when it is necessary to manage the use status of a printer in each company, the print history is collected and analyzed in the company. In addition, when printer consumables are low or an error occurs in the printer, the person in charge of each company contacts an agent or service center to request an order or repair.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a technique for collecting information such as the number of output sheets from devices such as printers and copiers and calculating a charge amount.
JP 2003-58785 A

As mentioned above, in the past, management of printer usage has been done by a person in charge of management within the company analyzing the usage status based on the print history collected in the company network and creating a usage status report. It was. This requires human resources and requires knowledge about printers and networks. In addition, in-house managers contacted the printer users that there are fewer consumables and that there was an error in the printer, and ordered consumables and requested maintenance. This is not only a complicated task, but there may be a situation where the printer cannot be used for a long time due to a delay in the ordering of consumables and a request for maintenance. On the other hand, a support center that performs maintenance may have to go to the customer's company in response to a maintenance request, find out the cause of the error by checking the printer, and then visit it again with replacement parts for repair. It was.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228867 collects information related to printing from a printer and calculates a charge amount, but does not solve the above-described problem.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and its purpose is to report the usage status of the printer to the customer, and to replenish consumables for the printer used by the customer and the need for maintenance. It is an object to provide a printing apparatus support system, a printing information collection apparatus, and a computer program that can be detected.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. A printing apparatus used by a customer and a printing information management apparatus that manages information related to the printing apparatus used by each customer are connected via a network. A printing apparatus support system connected to the printing apparatus, wherein the printing apparatus includes print execution information including at least information of a print execution date and time and the number of prints, print size, page allocation, and color or black and white of the executed print. An information notifying unit for transmitting to the print information management device is provided, and the print information management device stores the print execution information and the type and data format of usage report information indicating the usage status of the printing device corresponding to each customer. to together, print size, color or monochrome or type, memory for storing charge calculation information indicating unit prices in accordance with any one or any combination of pagination And the information management means for writing the print execution information received from the printing device to the storage means, and the type of customer usage report information indicating the creation of an invoice, Management information generation means for calculating a charge based on print execution information and charge calculation information, and generating the customer's invoice including the calculated charge information in a data format requested by the customer, and the management information generation means A printing apparatus support system comprising: an output unit corresponding to each customer; and output means for outputting the bill to each manufacturer .
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus generates and outputs an invoice according to the data format requested by the customer based on the print execution information collected from the printer used by the customer.
Thus, a vendor that sells or leases a printer can provide a bill in a data format that can be used in an application used by a customer.

Further, the present invention is the above-described printing apparatus support system, wherein the management information generating unit uses a time when the each printing apparatus is used more than a predetermined condition based on the print execution information in the storage unit. The maintenance target information is generated, and the output unit outputs the generated maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to each printing apparatus.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus can notify a supplier who performs maintenance of the printing apparatus when the operating rate of the printer used by the customer is high.
This makes it possible to have the printer maintained in advance at a time when the printer operating rate is high and failure is likely to occur, and it is possible to prevent printer failure.

Further, the present invention is the above-described printing apparatus support system, wherein the information notification unit transmits status information indicating a type of an internally generated error and a detection time to the printing information management apparatus, and the storage unit further store status information, said information management means writes the status information received from the printing apparatus in the storage means, the management information generating means, error detection indicated by the status information in the storage means When the error occurrence frequency obtained from the time is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the maintenance target printing apparatus is specified, maintenance target information indicating the specified maintenance target printing apparatus is generated, and the output unit includes the maintenance target information. and you output to an output destination corresponding to the printing device, characterized in that.
According to the above-described invention, the print information management apparatus identifies the printing apparatus to be maintained based on the information on the error that has occurred in the printer used by the customer, and notifies the supplier performing the maintenance.
As a result, when an error occurs in the printer, the customer can save the trouble of requesting the maintenance by himself / herself and can receive the maintenance promptly. In addition, the printer manufacturer can grasp errors that are likely to occur in the printer.

The present invention is the above-described printing apparatus support system, wherein the management information generation unit generates management information further including information on a component that is determined to be replaced according to an error type. It is characterized by that.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus notifies the maintenance company of the parts that need to be replaced according to the type of error that has occurred in the printer.
Thereby, the contractor who performs maintenance can visit the customer with the parts necessary for the maintenance from the beginning. Therefore, the load on the maintenance company is reduced, and the customer can promptly repair the printer.

Further, the present invention is the above-described printing apparatus support system, wherein the information notification unit transmits consumables information indicating a remaining amount of consumables provided therein to the print information management apparatus, and the storage unit includes: consumables information further store, the information management unit, write the consumable information received from the printing apparatus in the storage means, the management information generating means, based on the consumable information in said storage means consumables in each printing device to predict when equal to or less than a predetermined remaining amount, the apparatus, consumables, and generating supplemental subject information indicating the time that the prediction, and the output means, the replenishment target information, you output to an output destination corresponding to the printing device, characterized in that.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus notifies the consumables distributor of the time when the consumables are exhausted from the remaining amount of the consumables in the printing apparatus used by the customer.
This saves the customer from having to order printer consumables and prevents the printer from being unusable due to the absence of consumables. In addition, the consumables distributor can preferentially purchase the consumables by the customer.

The present invention is also used in a printing apparatus support system in which a printing apparatus used by a customer and a printing information management apparatus that manages information related to the printing apparatus used by each customer are connected via a network. Printing information management apparatus, printing execution date and number of prints executed by the printing apparatus, number of prints, print size, page allocation, color execution or at least information on the type of black and white , and corresponding to each customer. The usage status report information type indicating the usage status of the printing device and the data format are stored, and the price indicating the unit price according to the print size, color or monochrome type, page allocation, or any combination storage means for storing calculation information, and information management means for writing in said storage means a printing execution information received from the printing apparatus, customer usage report If type information indicates the creation of a bill, the said customer invoices containing該顧calculates the fee based on the print execution information and fee calculation information of customers, calculated charge information in the storage means Management information generation means for generating the data requested by the customer; and output means for outputting the bill of each customer generated by the management information generation means to an output destination and a manufacturer corresponding to each customer; And a print information management apparatus.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus generates and outputs an invoice according to the data format requested by the customer based on the print execution information collected from the printer used by the customer.
Thus, a vendor that sells or leases a printer can provide a bill in a data format that can be used in an application used by a customer.

Further, the present invention is the above-described print information management apparatus, wherein the management information generation unit detects a time when the use is more than a predetermined condition in each printing apparatus based on the print execution information in the storage unit. The maintenance target information is generated, and the output unit outputs the generated maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to each printing apparatus.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus can notify a supplier who performs maintenance of the printing apparatus when the operating rate of the printer used by the customer is high.
This makes it possible to have the printer maintained in advance at a time when the printer operating rate is high and failure is likely to occur, and it is possible to prevent printer failure.

Further, the present invention is a printing information managing apparatus described above, the storage means further stores status information indicating the type and the detection time of the error inside the printing apparatus, said information management means, wherein write the status information received from the printing apparatus in the storage means, the management information generating means, maintenance by an error occurrence frequency obtained from the error detection time indicated by the status information in the storage means is a predetermined or more with identifying a target printing device, and generates a maintenance target information indicating the specified maintenance target printing apparatus, and the output means, the maintenance target information, you output to an output destination corresponding to the printing device, and wherein a call.
According to the above-described invention, the print information management apparatus identifies the printing apparatus to be maintained based on the information on the error that has occurred in the printer used by the customer, and notifies the supplier performing the maintenance.
As a result, when an error occurs in the printer, the customer can save the trouble of requesting the maintenance by himself / herself and can receive the maintenance promptly. In addition, the printer manufacturer can grasp errors that are likely to occur in the printer.

The present invention is the above-described print information management apparatus, wherein the management information generation unit generates management information further including information on a component that is determined to be replaced according to an error type. It is characterized by that.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus notifies the maintenance company of the parts that need to be replaced according to the type of error that has occurred in the printer.
Thereby, the contractor who performs maintenance can visit the customer with the parts necessary for the maintenance from the beginning. Therefore, the load on the maintenance company is reduced, and the customer can promptly repair the printer.

Further, the present invention is a printing information managing apparatus described above, the storage means further stores the consumable information printing apparatus indicating the remaining amount of consumables provided therein, said information management means, said printing write the consumable information received from the device in the storage means, the management information generating means, based on the consumable information in said storage means, consumables in the printing devices becomes less than a predetermined remaining amount to predict when the device, consumables, and generating supplemental subject information indicating the time that the prediction, and the output means, the recruitment target information, you output to an output destination corresponding to the printing device, and wherein a call.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus notifies the consumables distributor of the time when the consumables are exhausted from the remaining amount of the consumables in the printing apparatus used by the customer.
This saves the customer from having to order printer consumables and prevents the printer from being unusable due to the absence of consumables. In addition, the consumables distributor can preferentially purchase the consumables by the customer.

The present invention is also used in a printing apparatus support system in which a printing apparatus used by a customer and a printing information management apparatus that manages information related to the printing apparatus used by each customer are connected via a network. Print information management apparatus, a print execution information including at least information on the print execution date and time of printing executed by the printing apparatus, the number of prints, the print size, page allocation, and color or black and white , and each customer The usage status report information type and data format that indicate the usage status of the printing device are stored in correspondence with the printer unit, and the unit price according to the print size, color or monochrome type, page allocation, or any combination the storage means for storing the charge calculation information indicating a step of writing the print execution information received from the printing apparatus, use of customer If the type of the status report information indicates the creation of a bill, the該顧print execution information and fee calculation information of customers in the storage means to calculate the fee based on, claims the customer, including information of the calculated rates Generating a document in a data format required by the customer, and outputting the generated invoice of each customer to an output destination and a manufacturer corresponding to each customer. Is a computer program characterized by
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus generates and outputs an invoice according to the data format requested by the customer based on the print execution information collected from the printer used by the customer.
Thus, a vendor that sells or leases a printer can provide a bill in a data format that can be used in an application used by a customer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided the above-described computer program, the step of generating maintenance target information indicating a time when the usage is more than a predetermined condition in each printing device based on the print execution information in the storage unit; And causing the computer to execute a step of outputting the generated maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to each printing apparatus.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus can notify a supplier who performs maintenance of the printing apparatus when the operating rate of the printer used by the customer is high.
This makes it possible to have the printer maintained in advance at a time when the printer operating rate is high and failure is likely to occur, and it is possible to prevent printer failure.

Further, the present invention is a computer program that described above, to the storage means further stores status information indicating the type and the detection time of the error inside the printing apparatus, writes the status information received from the printing apparatus A maintenance device that identifies the maintenance-target printing device by identifying an error occurrence frequency obtained from the error detection time indicated by the step and the status information in the storage means, and a maintenance that indicates the identified maintenance-target printing device A step of generating target information and a step of outputting the maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus are further executed by a computer .
According to the above-described invention, the print information management apparatus identifies the printing apparatus to be maintained based on the information on the error that has occurred in the printer used by the customer, and notifies the supplier performing the maintenance.
As a result, when an error occurs in the printer, the customer can save the trouble of requesting the maintenance by himself / herself and can receive the maintenance promptly. In addition, the printer manufacturer can grasp errors that are likely to occur in the printer.

Further, the present invention is the above-described computer program, wherein the step of generating the management information generates management information further including information on a part that is determined to be replaced according to an error type It is characterized by.
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus notifies the maintenance company of the parts that need to be replaced according to the type of error that has occurred in the printer.
Thereby, the contractor who performs maintenance can visit the customer with the parts necessary for the maintenance from the beginning. Therefore, the load on the maintenance company is reduced, and the customer can promptly repair the printer.

Further, the present invention is a computer program that described above, into the storage means the printing apparatus further stores consumable information indicating the remaining amount of consumables provided therein, writes consumable information received from the printing apparatus Based on the consumable information in the storage unit and the storage means, predict the time when the consumables in each printing apparatus are below a predetermined remaining amount, and replenishment indicating the apparatus, the consumables, and the predicted time A step of generating target information and a step of outputting the replenishment target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus are further executed by a computer .
According to the above invention, the print information management apparatus notifies the consumables distributor of the time when the consumables are exhausted from the remaining amount of the consumables in the printing apparatus used by the customer.
This saves the customer from having to order printer consumables and prevents the printer from being unusable due to the absence of consumables. In addition, the consumables distributor can preferentially purchase the consumables by the customer.

<First Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, it is assumed that a printer manufacturer directly sells or leases a printer to a customer such as a company, and further sells and maintains consumables.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing apparatus support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the printing apparatus support system includes a printing information management apparatus 100 owned by a printer manufacturer, a printing apparatus 200 such as a printer installed in each company, and a terminal apparatus 300 in a network N that is a public network such as the Internet. Connected through. The printing apparatus 200 and the terminal apparatus 300 are connected by a network M that is a private network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and is connected to the network N via the network M.

  The terminal device 300 is a computer terminal such as a personal computer, for example, and transmits / receives data to / from the printing apparatus 200 via the network M and the printing information management apparatus 100 via the network M and the network N. The printer 200 has a function of instructing the printing apparatus 200 to print data. In addition, a browser and a mailer are provided for displaying screen information received from the print information management apparatus 100 on a display and transmitting data input to the screen information by a mouse or a keyboard to the print information management apparatus 100.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printing apparatus 200, and only functional blocks related to the present invention are extracted and shown. The printing apparatus 200 includes a control unit 210, a communication unit 220, a status monitoring unit 230, a consumable monitoring unit 240, a printing unit 250, and an information notification unit 260.
The control unit 210 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and various memories, and controls each unit, temporarily stores data, transfers data, and the like.
The communication means 220 is connected to the network M and further to the network N via the network M, and transmits and receives data.
The status monitoring unit 230 monitors the internal status and detects status changes, errors, and the like.
The consumable monitoring means 240 detects the remaining amount of each consumable provided inside.
The printing unit 250 performs printing by executing a print job in accordance with an instruction to print data received from the terminal device 300.

  The information notifying unit 260 is status information that is information on a change in internal status detected by the status monitoring unit 230 and an error that has occurred, consumable information that is information on the remaining amount of each consumable detected by the consumable monitoring unit 240, The print information management apparatus 100 is notified of print job information (print execution information) that is information related to the print job executed by the printing unit 250. These pieces of information are described in a general-purpose data format such as an XML (extensible markup language) format and transmitted using encrypted communication such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer).

The status information includes printing device identification information, detection time, and detection content information. The printing apparatus identification information is information for identifying the printing apparatus 200, and includes a code, a name, an address, and the like of the printing apparatus 200. The detected contents include, for example, information such as a code indicating the change in the state that has occurred and the type of error, and a character string that is output to the display upon the occurrence thereof.
The consumable information includes printing device identification information, notification time, consumable type and remaining amount information. The types of consumables include, for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toners, photoconductors, paper cassettes, and set paper sizes.
Print job information includes printing device identification information, user identification information, terminal identification information, print job generation time, number of printed sheets, print size, color / monochrome printing type, page assignment (double-sided printing, bag binding printing, etc.), printed document It consists of information such as names. The user identification information is a user code or a user name of the user who has instructed printing, and the terminal identification information is information for identifying the terminal device 300 that has output the printing instruction, such as the name or address of the terminal device 300. .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the print information management apparatus 100, and only functional blocks related to the present invention are extracted and shown. The print information management apparatus 100 can be composed of, for example, a server, and includes a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, a storage unit 130, an information management unit 140, a management information generation unit 150, and an output unit 160.
The control unit 110 includes a CPU and various memories, and controls each unit, temporarily stores data, transfers data, and the like.
The communication unit 120 transmits and receives data via the network N.

The storage unit 130 stores customer information, notification destination information, fee calculation information, status information received from the printing apparatus 200, consumable information, and print job information.
The customer information includes customer identification information, ID and password, customer contact information such as customer name, address and telephone number, printing device identification information of the printing device 200 being used, and conditions of usage report information requested by the customer. Request usage status report information indicating the usage status report information, address information of the usage status report information. The requested usage status report information includes, for example, a usage status report information type indicating the usage status of the printing apparatus 200, such as an invoice, a print log, and an operating status report, and a data format of the usage status report information (text format, CSV format, web Format, a format corresponding to specific software, etc.), and usage status report information output frequency (once a day, once a week, etc.). The address information is an e-mail address or an IP address.

The notification destination information is information indicating a notification destination of information related to the customer and the printing apparatus 200. The notification destination information includes an ID and a password, a name or name of the notification destination, address information of the information notification destination, customer identification information or printing device identification information that permits information notification, or a combination thereof, and a type of information that permits notification. The notification permission information type indicating the. The ID is a code of a person in charge in the printer manufacturer. The notification permission information type includes usage status report information such as invoices, print logs, operation status reports, replenishment target information indicating the timing of replenishment of consumables, maintenance target information indicating information of the printing apparatus 200 requiring maintenance, and status. Information, consumable information, print job information, and the like.
The charge calculation information corresponds to any or any combination of customer identification information, printing device identification information, and user identification information, and any or any combination of print size, color / monochrome printing type, page allocation, etc. Indicates the unit price.

The information management unit 140 includes a status information management unit 141, a consumable information management unit 142, and a print job information management unit 143. The status information management unit 141 writes and reads status information in the storage unit 130. The consumable information management means 142 writes and reads consumable information in the storage means 130. The print job information management unit 143 writes and reads the print job management information in the storage unit 130.
The management information generating unit 150 generates management information such as usage status report information, replenishment target information, and maintenance target information based on information in the storage unit 130 at predetermined time intervals or when requested.
The output unit 160 notifies the management information generated by the management information generation unit 150 by e-mail, outputs the management information to a screen or printing paper, or outputs the management information to the terminal device that has accessed via the web.

Next, the operation in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
First, when a printer manufacturer leases or sells the printing apparatus 200 to a customer, the customer information of the customer and notification destination information corresponding to the customer and the printing apparatus 200 are registered in the storage unit 130 of the printing information management apparatus 100. To do. When the printing apparatus 200 is activated after the printing apparatus 200 is installed, the information notification unit 260 includes status information in which a code indicating activation is set, and consumable information indicating the remaining amount of each currently installed consumable. Is transmitted to the print information management apparatus 100. The status information management unit 141 of the printing information management apparatus 100 writes the status information received from the printing apparatus 200, and the consumable information management unit 142 writes the consumables information to the storage unit 130.

  Thereafter, each time the status monitoring unit 230 detects a change in state such as opening and closing of the cover, and an error such as a paper jam, the information notification unit 260 generates status information to notify that and print information management Notify device 100. Further, the information notification unit 260 generates consumable information based on the state of each consumable acquired by the consumable monitoring unit 240 every predetermined time, such as once per hour, and notifies the print information management apparatus 100 of the consumable information. . The print information management apparatus 100 writes the status information and consumable information received from the printing apparatus 200 in the storage unit 130.

  Then, after the printing apparatus 200 is activated, it is assumed that a user logs in to the terminal apparatus 300 using his / her user code and performs a print execution operation at a customer company. The printing apparatus 200 receives information such as user identification information, terminal identification information, number of printed sheets, print size, color / monochrome print type, page allocation, print document name, print data, and the like from the terminal apparatus 300 and receives a print instruction. Then, the printing unit 250 executes a print job to perform printing. When printing is completed, the information notification unit 260 generates print job information based on the information received from the terminal apparatus 300 and transmits the print job information to the print information management apparatus 100. In this way, the printing apparatus 200 transmits print job information to the print information management apparatus 100 every time printing is executed. The print job information management unit 143 of the print information management apparatus 100 writes the print job information received from the printing apparatus 200 into the storage unit 130.

On the other hand, the print information management apparatus 100 generates management information for each customer based on the information in the storage means 130 at every predetermined time and gives notification.
First, generation and notification of replenishment target information will be described.
The management information generation unit 150 of the print information management apparatus 100 reads the consumable information for a predetermined period in the past, such as three months, from the storage unit 130 via the consumable information management unit 142 for the printing apparatus 200 of each customer. Then, for each of the consumables of each printing apparatus 200, a time when the remaining amount of consumables is assumed to be less than a predetermined value or 0 is calculated from the change in the remaining amount. The management information generating unit 150 provides information such as customer identification information, customer name, printing device identification information, the type and remaining amount of each consumable, when it is assumed to be below a predetermined value or 0 for each printing device 200 of each customer. Is generated and written into the storage means 130.

  Subsequently, the output unit 160 refers to the notification destination information in the storage unit 130 and, for each notification destination, out of the generated replenishment target information, the target customer or the printing apparatus 200 that is allowed to notify the replenishment target information. The replenishment target information corresponding to is extracted. Then, the extracted replenishment target information is transmitted by e-mail or the like using the address information in the notification destination information. Upon receipt of the notification, the consumables sales representative delivers the consumables to the customer before the time when the remaining amount of the consumables is assumed to be below a predetermined value or zero. Note that it is also possible to notify only replenishment target information for which the remaining amount of consumables is assumed to be below a predetermined value or zero within a predetermined period from the present time.

Next, generation of maintenance target information will be described.
The management information generation unit 150 of the print information management apparatus 100 reads status information for a predetermined period such as the past three months for the printing apparatus 200 of each customer from the storage unit 130 via the status information management unit 141. Then, error detection information is extracted from the status information of each customer, and the printing apparatus 200 in which errors occur at a predetermined frequency or more is identified as the printing apparatus 200 requiring maintenance. At this time, further, in response to the detected error, a location considered as the cause of the error and a part that needs replacement or repair corresponding to the location are specified. For example, if paper jams occur frequently, it is possible that the toner is contaminated, and it is specified that the toner needs to be replaced. Then, the printing device identification information of the printing device 200 requiring maintenance, the customer identification information of the customer who owns this printing device 200, the customer name, the contact information, the assumed cause of the error, and the parts that need replacement or repair Maintenance target information including the above information is generated and written in the storage unit 130. Further, the output unit 160 reads out the address information of the notification destination of the maintenance target information from the notification destination information in the storage unit 130 corresponding to the customer or the printing apparatus 200. Then, the maintenance target information is notified by e-mail or the like using this address information. The maintenance person who has received the notification goes to the customer with the designated parts and performs maintenance of the target printing apparatus 200.

  Further, the management information generation unit 150 of the print information management apparatus 100 reads out print job information for a period such as the past three years for each printing apparatus 200 via the print job information management unit 143. Then, the time when printing is often performed in one year is specified. This is determined, for example, based on whether the number of printed pages for each month of January, February,... Occupies a predetermined ratio or more of the number of printed pages in one year. When the month or the next month is a month in which printing is often performed, the printing device identification information of the printing device 200, the customer identification information of the customer who owns the printing device 200, the customer Maintenance target information including information such as a name, a contact address, and a time when printing is often performed is generated and written in the storage unit 130. Furthermore, the output unit 160 notifies the maintenance target information to the permitted notification destination by the same procedure as described above. Thus, the maintenance staff performs maintenance in accordance with the time when the operating rate of the printing apparatus 200 becomes high. Thereby, the occurrence of a failure of the printing apparatus 200 can be suppressed.

Note that the storage unit 130 stores the target customer or the model of the printing apparatus 200 to be notified of replenishment target information and maintenance target information, and generates or notifies such information only for the matching customer or the printing apparatus 200. It may be done.
In addition, when the printing apparatus 200 determined to require maintenance is out of the support target, replenishment target information or maintenance target information that prompts the user to replace the printing apparatus 200 with another type of printing apparatus is generated. Then, it may be notified.

Next, generation of usage status report information will be described.
The management information generation unit 150 of the print information management apparatus 100 reads customer information of each customer. Then, it detects that the usage status report information must be created from the output frequency information of the usage status report information indicated by the customer information. Then, the print job information of the customer's printing apparatus 200 in the target period corresponding to the output frequency of the usage status report information is read via the print job information management unit 143. At this time, depending on the type of usage status report information to be created, the status information or the consumable information is read out via the status information management means 141 or the consumable information management means 142. Then, based on the read print job information, status information, and consumable information, the specified usage status report information is generated in the specified data format and written in the storage unit 130. And the output means 160 notifies the produced | generated utilization status report information with an email etc. using the address information shown by customer information. An example of generation of specific management information is shown below.

  When invoice creation is specified, the management information generating unit 150 determines, for each customer printing apparatus 200, user identification information, print size, color / monochrome print type, based on the read print job information, In addition, the number of printed sheets for each page allocation type is totaled. Further, the printing unit identification information, the user identification information, the printing size, the color / monochrome printing type, and the printing unit price corresponding to the page allocation type are read from the charge calculation information in the storage unit 130 corresponding to the customer, Calculate each charge. Then, an invoice including information such as print size, color / monochrome printing type, number of printed pages, unit price and fee for each page allocation type, customer identification information, customer name, total fee, target period, etc. create. The bill is also output to the person in charge of the printer manufacturer. That is, the output unit 160 reads out the address information as the notification destination of the customer's invoice from the notification destination information in the storage unit 130, and notifies it by e-mail or the like.

  When creation of a print log is designated, the management information generation unit 150 determines, for each printing apparatus 200, user identification information, terminal identification information, a print instruction time, the number of prints, a print size, and the like from the read print job information. A record in which the type of color / monochrome printing is extracted is generated, and a record extracted from the detection time and the detection content when an error occurs from the read status information is generated. These records are arranged in order of time for each printing apparatus 200.

When the operation status report is designated, the management information generation unit 150 creates a graph showing a time-series change in the operation rate for each printing apparatus 200 held by the customer from the read print job information. Furthermore, the time-series changes in the remaining amount of consumables used by the printing apparatus 200 are graphed. The management information generating unit 150 generates an operation status report including these graphs.
The items constituting each management information described above may be specified for each customer.

In the embodiment described above, the management information is notified from the print information management apparatus 100 to each person in charge in the customer or printer manufacturer by e-mail, but each person in charge in the terminal apparatus 300 of the customer or each printer manufacturer. It is also possible to receive access from the terminal device and output via a web screen.
For example, the customer ID and password are received from the customer terminal device 300. When the output unit 160 of the print information management apparatus 100 authenticates the customer with reference to the customer information in the storage unit 130, the output unit 160 browses management information, status information, consumable information, and print job information regarding the customer's printing apparatus 200. Allow. The output unit 160 reads the information permitted from the terminal device 300 from the storage unit 130, generates screen information for displaying this information, and returns the screen information to the terminal device 300. The terminal device 300 outputs the received screen information to the browser.

When there is an access from the terminal device of the person in charge within the printer manufacturer, the print information management apparatus 100 receives the ID and password. When the output unit 160 of the print information management apparatus 100 authenticates the customer with reference to the notification destination information in the storage unit 130, the notification permission information in the customer identification information or the printer identification information or the combination indicated by the notification destination information Permit viewing only the information indicated by type. When the information designated for browsing from the terminal device of the person in charge is permitted information, the information is read from the storage unit 130. Then, screen information for outputting the read information is generated and returned to the terminal device of the person in charge. The terminal device of the person in charge outputs the received screen information to the browser.
The management information to be output may be generated after receiving a browsing request from the terminal device 300 or the terminal device of the person in charge within the printer manufacturer.

<Second Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, it is assumed that a dealer agent sells a printer, leases, or supplies consumables to a customer, and a service center performs maintenance.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the same parts as those of the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. In the figure, a terminal apparatus 400 owned by a sales agent or a service center is added to the printing apparatus support system.

  The terminal device 400 is a computer terminal such as a personal computer, for example, and transmits / receives data to / from the print information management device 100 via the network N. A browser and a mailer are provided for displaying the screen information received from the print information management apparatus 100 on a display, and for transmitting data input to the screen information using a mouse or a keyboard to the print information management apparatus 100.

In the notification destination information stored in the storage unit 130 of the print information management apparatus 100, the code of the dealer or service center is set as the notification destination identification information instead of the person in charge code of the person in charge at the printer manufacturer. In the address information, the address of the terminal device 400 held by the dealer agent or the service center is set.
Accordingly, information corresponding to the customer and the printing apparatus 200 can be provided to the terminal device 400 held by the dealer agency or the service center by the same operation as in the first embodiment.

According to the embodiment described above, the printer manufacturer can provide customer usage report information such as invoices, print logs, and operation information in a data format that can be used in an application used by the customer. This eliminates the need for the customer to manage the print history. In addition, by generating an invoice as usage report information, the printer manufacturer or sales representative who leases the printer, visits the customer, checks the number of printed sheets, and creates an invoice. Is no longer necessary.
In addition, the customer can have the printer maintained in advance at a time when the printer operation rate is high and a failure is likely to occur, so that the printer can be prevented from being damaged.
In addition, when an error occurs in the printer, the customer can save the trouble of requesting the maintenance by himself and can receive the maintenance quickly. In addition, the printer manufacturer can grasp errors that are likely to occur in the printer. Furthermore, since it is possible to notify a part that needs to be replaced in accordance with an error, the load on the printer manufacturer or the support center is reduced.
In addition, the customer can save the trouble of ordering consumables for the printer himself and prevent the printer from being unusable due to the absence of consumables. In addition, printer manufacturers and sales agents can preferentially purchase consumables from customers.

  Note that the print information management apparatus 100, the printing apparatus 200, and the terminal apparatuses 300 and 400 described above have a computer system therein. The above-described operation process is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the computer system reads and executes this program to perform the above processing. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  In addition to ROM, “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. That means. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system serving as a system or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus support system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the printing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an internal configuration of a print information management apparatus. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus support system according to a second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Print information management apparatus, 200 ... Printing apparatus, 300, 400 ... Terminal device, 110, 210 ... Control means, 120, 220 ... Communication means, 130 ... Storage means, 140 ... Information management means, 141 ... Status information management means 142 ... Consumables information management means 143 ... Print job information management means 150 ... Management information generation means 160 ... Output means 230 ... Status monitoring means 240 ... Consumables monitoring means 250 ... Printing means 260 ... Information Notification means

Claims (15)

A printing apparatus support system in which a printing apparatus used by a customer and a printing information management apparatus that manages information about the printing apparatus used by each customer are connected via a network,
The printing apparatus includes:
An information notifying means for transmitting to the print information management apparatus print execution information including at least print execution date / time and number of prints, print size, page allocation, color or black and white information;
The print information management apparatus includes:
Stores the print execution information and the type and data format of usage report information indicating the usage status of the printing device corresponding to each customer, and any of print size, color or monochrome type, page allocation, or any Storage means for storing charge calculation information indicating the charge unit price according to the combination of
Information management means for writing the print execution information received from the printing device into the storage means;
When the type of customer usage report information indicates creation of an invoice, a charge is calculated based on the customer's print execution information and charge calculation information in the storage means, and the calculated charge information includes the calculated charge information. Management information generating means for generating a customer invoice in a data format requested by the customer;
An output means for outputting the bill of each customer generated by the management information generating means to an output destination and a manufacturer corresponding to each customer;
A printer support system characterized by that. The management information generating unit generates maintenance target information indicating a time when the usage is more than a predetermined condition in each printing apparatus based on the print execution information in the storage unit,
The output means outputs the generated maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to each printing apparatus;
The printing apparatus support system according to claim 1. The information notification means transmits status information indicating the type and detection time of an internally generated error to the print information management apparatus,
The storage means further stores status information,
The information management means writes the status information received from the printing device to the storage means,
The management information generating means specifies a maintenance target printing device when the error occurrence frequency obtained from the error detection time indicated by the status information in the storage means is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the specified maintenance target printing Generate maintenance target information indicating the device,
The output means outputs the maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus;
The printing apparatus support system according to claim 1. The management information generating means generates management information further including information of parts that are determined to be replaced according to the type of error.
The printing apparatus support system according to claim 3. The information notifying means transmits consumable information indicating the remaining amount of consumables provided therein to the print information management apparatus,
The storage means further stores consumable information,
The information management means writes the consumable information received from the printing device into the storage means;
The management information generation unit predicts a time when the consumables in each printing apparatus are less than a predetermined remaining amount based on the consumables information in the storage unit, and the apparatus, the consumables, and the predicted Generate replenishment target information indicating the time,
The output means outputs the replenishment target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus;
The printing apparatus support system according to claim 1. A printing information management apparatus used in a printing apparatus support system in which a printing apparatus used by a customer and a printing information management apparatus that manages information related to the printing apparatus used by each customer are connected via a network. There,
Print execution date and number of prints executed by the printing device, number of prints, print size, page allocation, print execution information including at least information on the type of color or monochrome , and usage indicating the usage status of the printing device corresponding to each customer A storage unit that stores the type of the status report information and the data format, and stores charge calculation information indicating the unit price of the print size, the type of color or black and white, page allocation, or any combination, and
Information management means for writing the print execution information received from the printing device into the storage means;
When the type of customer usage report information indicates creation of an invoice, a charge is calculated based on the customer's print execution information and charge calculation information in the storage means, and the calculated charge information includes the calculated charge information. Management information generating means for generating a customer invoice in a data format requested by the customer;
An output means for outputting the bill of each customer generated by the management information generating means to an output destination and a manufacturer corresponding to each customer;
A print information management apparatus comprising: The management information generating unit generates maintenance target information indicating a time when the usage is more than a predetermined condition in each printing apparatus based on the print execution information in the storage unit,
The output means outputs the generated maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to each printing apparatus;
The print information management apparatus according to claim 6. The storage means further stores status information indicating the type and detection time of an error that has occurred inside the printing apparatus,
The information management means writes the status information received from the printing device to the storage means,
The management information generating means specifies a maintenance target printing device when the error occurrence frequency obtained from the error detection time indicated by the status information in the storage means is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the specified maintenance target printing Generate maintenance target information indicating the device,
The output means outputs the maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus;
The print information management apparatus according to claim 6. The management information generating means generates management information further including information of parts that are determined to be replaced according to the type of error.
The print information management apparatus according to claim 8. The storage means further stores consumable information indicating the remaining amount of consumables provided in the printing apparatus,
The information management means writes the consumable information received from the printing device into the storage means;
The management information generation unit predicts a time when the consumables in each printing apparatus are less than a predetermined remaining amount based on the consumables information in the storage unit, and the apparatus, the consumables, and the predicted Generate replenishment target information indicating the time,
The output means outputs the replenishment target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus;
The print information management apparatus according to claim 6. A printing information management apparatus used in a printing apparatus support system in which a printing apparatus used by a customer and a printing information management apparatus that manages information related to the printing apparatus used by each customer are connected via a network. A computer program,
Print execution date and number of prints executed by the printing device, number of prints, print size, page allocation, print execution information including at least information on the type of color or monochrome , and usage indicating the usage status of the printing device corresponding to each customer Stores the type and data format of the status report information, and storage means for storing fee calculation information indicating the unit price of print size, color or monochrome type, page allocation, or any combination , Writing print execution information received from the printing device;
When the type of customer usage report information indicates creation of an invoice, a charge is calculated based on the customer's print execution information and charge calculation information in the storage means, and the calculated charge information includes the calculated charge information. Generating a customer invoice in the data format required by the customer;
Outputting the generated bill for each customer to an output destination and a manufacturer corresponding to each customer;
A computer program for causing a computer to execute. Generating maintenance target information indicating a time when the usage is greater than a predetermined condition in each printing device based on the print execution information in the storage unit;
Outputting the generated maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to each printing device;
The computer program according to claim 11, wherein the computer is executed. Writing the status information received from the printing device to the storage means for further storing status information indicating the type of error that has occurred inside the printing device and the detection time;
When the error occurrence frequency obtained from the error detection time indicated by the status information in the storage means is not less than a predetermined value, the maintenance target printing device is specified, and maintenance target information indicating the specified maintenance target printing device is Generating step;
Outputting the maintenance target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus;
The computer program according to claim 11, further causing the computer to execute. The step of generating the management information generates management information further including information of a part that is determined to be replaced according to an error type.
The computer program according to claim 13. Writing the consumable information received from the printing device into the storage means for further storing consumable information indicating the remaining amount of consumables provided in the printing device;
Based on the consumable information in the storage means, predict the time when the consumables in each printing apparatus will be below a predetermined remaining amount, and supply the replenishment target information indicating the apparatus, consumables, and the predicted time. Generating step;
Outputting the replenishment target information to an output destination corresponding to the printing apparatus;
The computer program according to claim 11, further causing the computer to execute.

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