U.S. patent application number 15/131600 was filed with the patent office on 2016-10-27 for image forming system and monitoring method in which an image forming apparatus is monitored via a server.
This patent application is currently assigned to KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.. Invention is credited to Ryuichi ISHIZU, Atsushi MATSUMOTO, Katsuhiro MINORU, Ryosuke MONDO, Takeshi NAKAMURA, Toyoaki OKU, Daisuke YOSHIDA.
Application Number | 20160316102 15/131600 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57147493 |
Filed Date | 2016-10-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160316102 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MATSUMOTO; Atsushi ; et
al. |
October 27, 2016 |
IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM AND MONITORING METHOD IN WHICH AN IMAGE
FORMING APPARATUS IS MONITORED VIA A SERVER
Abstract
A server, image forming apparatus, image forming system, or
monitoring method allows an administrator an intuitive, visual
grasp of the status of an image forming apparatus and helps reduce
the load on network communication. The server has a template
code/character data acquirer that acquires, from an image forming
apparatus having a display displaying a panel image, a template
code corresponding to a template image included in the panel image
and character data included in the panel image; and a panel image
generator that reads, from a storage storing a template image, the
template image corresponding to the template code and that
generates the panel image by combining together the template image
read and the character data acquired from the image forming
apparatus.
Inventors: |
MATSUMOTO; Atsushi; (Osaka,
JP) ; OKU; Toyoaki; (Osaka, JP) ; NAKAMURA;
Takeshi; (Osaka, JP) ; ISHIZU; Ryuichi;
(Osaka, JP) ; MINORU; Katsuhiro; (Osaka, JP)
; YOSHIDA; Daisuke; (Osaka, JP) ; MONDO;
Ryosuke; (Osaka, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc. |
Osaka |
|
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
KYOCERA Document Solutions
Inc.
Osaka
JP
|
Family ID: |
57147493 |
Appl. No.: |
15/131600 |
Filed: |
April 18, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/00344 20130101;
H04N 1/00079 20130101; H04N 1/32625 20130101; H04N 1/00042
20130101; H04N 2201/0094 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04N 1/32 20060101
H04N001/32; H04N 1/00 20060101 H04N001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 21, 2015 |
JP |
2015-086555 |
Claims
1. An image forming system comprising: an image forming apparatus
connected to a network; and a sever connected to the network, the
image forming apparatus including: a display configured to display
a panel image; and a template code/character data feeder configured
to feed a template code corresponding to a template image included
in the panel image and character data included in the panel image
to the server, the server including: a template code/character data
acquirer configured to acquire, from the image forming apparatus,
the template code corresponding to the template image included in
the panel image and the character data included in the panel image;
and a panel image generator configured to read, from a storage
configured to store a template image, the template image
corresponding to the template code and to generate the panel image
by combining together the template image read and the character
data acquired from the image forming apparatus.
2. A monitoring method in an image forming system including an
image forming apparatus and a server both connected to a network,
the monitoring method comprising: via the image forming apparatus,
displaying a panel image; and feeding a template code corresponding
to a template image included in the panel image and character data
included in the panel image to the server; and via the server,
acquiring, from the image forming apparatus, the template code
corresponding to the template image included in the panel image and
the character data included in the panel image; reading, from a
storage configured to store a template image, the template image
corresponding to the template code; and generating the panel image
by combining together the template image read and the character
data acquired from the image forming apparatus.
Description
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of
priority from the corresponding Japanese Patent Application No.
2015-086555 filed on Apr. 21, 2015, the entire contents of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present disclosure relates to an image forming system in
which an image forming apparatus is monitored via a server, and to
a monitoring method for such an image forming system.
[0003] A typical monitoring device is known that monitors the
status of an image forming apparatus and, on detecting a fault in
it, notifies its administrator of the fault. The typical monitoring
device generates a message by embedding a message template with a
character string such as a model name; it also transmits the
generated message to a terminal that the administrator uses. The
terminal then displays a message comprising the character string.
The administrator is thus notified of the fault.
[0004] Recently, the image forming apparatus including a
multifunction peripheral (MFP) has high functionality. As image
forming apparatuses become increasingly versatile, they suffer ever
more various faults. Thus, there is a limit to exactly notifying an
administrator of a fault in an image forming apparatus by sole use
of a message generated based on a message template.
[0005] As an alternative to a method of notifying a fault by use of
a message generated based on a message template, according to one
typical technique, the very panel image that is being displayed on
a display of an image forming apparatus is acquired from it, and
the acquired panel image is displayed before an administrator.
However, while this typical technique provides the advantage of
allowing the administrator an intuitive, visual grasp of a fault in
the image forming apparatus, it suffers from a disadvantage of
posing a load on network communication because of the large data
size of panel images.
SUMMARY
[0006] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an image
forming system includes an image forming apparatus and a sever,
both connected to a network. The image forming apparatus include: a
display configured to display a panel image; and a template
code/character data feeder configured to feed a template code
corresponding to a template image included in the panel image and
character data included in the panel image to the server. The
server includes: a template code/character data acquirer configured
to acquire, from the image forming apparatus, the template code
corresponding to the template image included in the panel image and
the character data included in the panel image; and a panel image
generator configured to read, from a storage configured to store a
template image, the template image corresponding to the template
code, and to generate the panel image by combining together the
template image read and the character data acquired from the image
forming apparatus.
[0007] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a
monitoring method includes steps of operation as gone through in
the image forming system described above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image
forming system according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a
server;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an
image forming apparatus;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an
image forming apparatus and a server;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram of operations of an image
forming system;
[0013] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of operations of a server; and
[0014] FIG. 7 is a flow chart of operations of an image forming
apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described
below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1. Image Forming System
[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming system
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The image
forming system 1 includes a server 10 and one or more image forming
apparatuses 20.
[0017] The server 10 communicates with the image forming
apparatuses 20 across a network N such as the Internet on a
bidirectional basis to exchange information with them. The server
10 typically is a personal computer, and is used by an
administrator of the image forming apparatuses 20. An
"administrator" typically is a serviceperson who undertakes
maintenance and administration work for the image forming
apparatuses 20, and will hereinafter be referred to simply as
"serviceperson".
[0018] The image forming apparatuses 20 typically are multifunction
peripherals. The image forming apparatuses 20 are used by end users
(hereinafter occasionally referred to simply as "users").
[0019] The image forming system 1 is typically used in the
following manner. Suppose that a fault occurs while an end user
(hereinafter also referred to simply as "user") is using one of the
image forming apparatuses 20. In this situation, the user seeks
instructions from the serviceperson, for example, on a telephone
(unillustrated). On a display connected to the server 10 that the
serviceperson uses, the very image (panel image) that is currently
being displayed on a display of the image forming apparatus 20 is
displayed remotely. In maintenance and administration work, a
serviceperson needs to understand on a real time basis the status
of the image forming apparatus 20 that is being used by a user.
Accordingly, each time the panel image on the image forming
apparatus 20 switches to another, the new panel image is displayed
on the display connected to the server 10 on a real time basis.
While viewing the image (panel image) displayed on the display
connected to the server 10, the serviceperson gives the user
instructions to recover the image forming apparatus 20 from the
fault.
2. Hardware Configuration of the Server
[0020] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of
the server. The server 10 includes a controller 11, a display 12
that is connected to the controller 11 via a bus 17, a
communication controller 13, an operation panel 15, and a storage
16.
[0021] The controller 11 includes a CPU (central processing unit),
etc. The controller 11 executes programs loaded in RAM
(random-access memory).
[0022] The storage 16 includes ROM (read-only memory), RAM, and a
large-capacity storage device such as a HDD (hard disk drive). The
ROM non-volatilely stores programs executed by the controller 11,
data, etc. The RAM is loaded with the programs stored in the ROM.
The large-capacity storage device stores a database.
[0023] The display 12 includes an LCD (liquid crystal display), an
organic EL (electroluminescence) display, or the like. The display
12 performs data processing based on information received from the
controller 11, and displays on a screen an image based on a
generated signal. The display 12 typically is an externally
provided display device.
[0024] The operation panel 15 includes a keyboard, a mouse, various
switches, etc. The operation panel 15 detects user operation and
conveys it to the controller 11.
[0025] The communication controller 13 is an interface for
connection with the network N.
3. Hardware Configuration of the Image Forming Apparatus
[0026] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of
the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 20
includes a controller 21. The controller 21 is composed of a CPU,
RAM, ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, etc., and controls the
operation of the image forming apparatus 20 in a comprehensive
fashion.
[0027] The controller 21 is connected to an image reader 22, an
image processor 24, an image memory 25, an image former 26, an
operation panel 27, a communication controller 29, a storage 28,
etc. The controller 21 controls the operation of the
just-enumerated blocks to which it is connected, and exchanges
signals and/or data with those blocks.
[0028] According to an instruction to execute a job that is entered
by a user via the operation panel 27 or that is fed in from a
network-connected PC or the like, the controller 21 drives those
mechanisms and controls those processes which are necessary to
control the operation of various functions, including a scanning
function, a printing function, a copying function, and a facsimile
transmission/reception function.
[0029] The image reader 22 reads an image from a document.
[0030] The image processor 24 processes, as necessary, the image
data of the image read by the image reader 22. For example, the
image processor 24 performs image processing such as shading
correction so that the image read by the image reader 22 has
improved quality after image formation.
[0031] The image memory 25 provides a storage area for temporary
storage of the data of the document image read by the image reader
22, and for temporary storage of the data to be printed by the
image former 26.
[0032] The image former 26 forms an image based on the image data
or the like read by the image reader 22.
[0033] The operation panel 27 includes a touch screen and an
operation keypad for accepting instructions from a user for various
operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming
apparatus 20. The touch screen includes a display 27a, such as an
LCD (liquid crystal display), that is fitted with a touch
panel.
[0034] The communication controller 29 is an interface for
connection with the network N.
[0035] The storage 28 is a large-capacity storage device, such as a
HDD, that stores the document image read by the image reader 22,
etc.
4. Functional Configuration of the Server
[0036] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of
the server and the image forming apparatus. The server 10 includes
an image forming apparatus list feeder 101, a template
code/character data acquirer 102, and a panel image generator
103.
[0037] When the image forming apparatus list feeder 101 detects, as
an image forming apparatus list request, a predetermined operation
on the operation panel 15 by a serviceperson, it reads an image
forming apparatus list 161 stored in the storage 16 and displays it
on the display 12.
[0038] When the template code/character data acquirer 102 detects,
as a panel-image acquisition request, a predetermined operation on
the operation panel 15 by a serviceperson, based on this operation,
it selects one of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20
included in the image forming apparatus list 161. The template
code/character data acquirer 102 then transmits a template
code/character data acquisition request to the one selected image
forming apparatus 20. The template code/character data acquirer 102
receives a template code and character data from the image forming
apparatus 20. The template code/character data acquirer 102 feeds
the received template code and character data to the panel image
generator 103.
[0039] The panel image generator 103 recognizes the template code
acquired from the template code/character data acquirer 102, and
searches a template image database (DB) 162 in the storage 16 with
that template code as a key. The panel image generator 103 reads a
template image corresponding to the template code from the template
image database 162. The panel image generator 103 generates a panel
image by combining together the template image read from the
template image database 162 and the character data acquired from
the template code/character data acquirer 102. The generated panel
image is identical with the panel image being displayed on the
display 27a of the image forming apparatus 20. The panel image
generator 103 displays the generated panel image on the display
12.
5. Functional Configuration of the Image Forming Apparatus
[0040] The image forming apparatus 20 includes a template
code/character data feeder 201
[0041] The template code/character data feeder 201 receives a
template code/character data acquisition request from the server
10. In response to the request, the template code/character data
feeder 201 reads from the storage 28 a template code corresponding
to the template image included in the panel image that is currently
being displayed on the display 27a. The template code/character
data feeder 201 further reads from the storage 28 the character
data included in the panel image that is being displayed on the
display 27a. The template code/character data feeder 201 transmits
the read template code and character data to the server 10.
6. Operation of the Image Forming System
[0042] FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram of operation of the image
forming system. FIG. 6 is a flow chart of operation of the server.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of operation of the image forming apparatus.
When the image forming apparatus list feeder 101 in the server 10
detects, as an image forming apparatus list request, a
predetermined operation on the operation panel 15 by a
serviceperson (Step S101), it reads an image forming apparatus list
161 stored in the storage 16 (Step S102). The image forming
apparatus list feeder 101 displays the image forming apparatus list
161 on the display 12 (Step S103).
[0043] Referring to the displayed image forming apparatus list 161,
the serviceperson selects one image forming apparatus 20 by
operating the operation panel 15. When the template code/character
data acquirer 102 detects, as a panel-image acquisition request, a
predetermined operation on the operation panel 15 by the
serviceperson (Step S104), based on that operation, it selects one
of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 included in the
image forming apparatus list 161. The template code/character data
acquirer 102 transmits a template-code/character data acquisition
request to the selected one image forming apparatus 20 (Step
S105).
[0044] The template code/character data feeder 201 in the image
forming apparatus 20 receives the template-code/character data
acquisition request from the server 10 (Step S201). In response to
the request, the template code/character data feeder 201 reads from
the storage 28 a template code corresponding to the template image
included in the panel image that is currently being displayed on
the display 27a (Step S202). The template code/character data
feeder 201 further reads from the storage 28 the character data
included in the panel image that is being displayed on the display
27a (Step S203). The template code/character data feeder 201
transmits the read template code and character data to the server
10 (Step S204).
[0045] The template code/character data acquirer 102 in the server
10 receives the template code and the character data from the image
forming apparatus 20 (Step S106). The template code/character data
acquirer 102 feeds the received template code and character data to
the panel image generator 103.
[0046] The panel image generator 103 recognizes the template code
acquired from the template code/character data acquirer 102 (Step
S107), and searches a template image database 162 in the storage 16
with that template code as a key (Step S108). The panel image
generator 103 reads a template image corresponding to the template
code from the template image database 162 (Step S109). The panel
image generator 103 generates a panel image by combining together
the template image read from the template image database 162 and
the character data acquired from the template code/character data
acquirer 102 (Step S110). The generated panel image is identical
with the panel image that is being displayed on the display 27a of
the image forming apparatus 20. The panel image generator 103
displays the generated panel image on the display 12 (Step
S111).
9. Synopsis
[0047] According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus 20
transmits a template code and character data to a server 10. The
server 10 reads a template image corresponding to the received
template code from a template image database 162 set in a
large-capacity storage 16, generates a panel image by combining
together the read template image and the received character data,
and displays the panel image on a display 12.
[0048] In this way, first, the server 10 displays on the display 12
the very panel image that is displayed on a display 27a of the
image forming apparatus 20. This allows a serviceperson a more
intuitive, visual grasp of the status of the image forming
apparatus 20 compared with a method that displays a message
generated based on a message template.
[0049] Second, the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a template
code and character data (with a small data size). This allows a
significant reduction in the load on network communication compared
with a method that requires the image forming apparatus to transmit
a panel image itself (with a large data size). In particular, in
maintenance and administration work that requires a serviceperson
to understand on a real time basis the status of the image forming
apparatus 20 that an end user is using, the server 10 needs to
acquire a panel image each time the panel image on the image
forming apparatus 20 changes to another. Inconveniently, with a
method that involves the transmission of the panel image itself,
each time the panel image changes to another, a panel image with a
large data size needs to be transmitted, further increasing the
load on network communication. By contrast, according to the
embodiment under discussion, each time the panel image is changed
to another, the image forming apparatus 20 has only to transmit a
template code and character data. It is thus possible to reduce the
size of the transmitted data to as small as when a message is
transmitted.
[0050] Third, a template image is stored in the template image
database 162 set in the large-capacity storage 16. With a method
that requires the image forming apparatus to transmit a panel image
itself to the server, the panel image (or template image) needs to
be stored in the image forming apparatus itself. However, the
capacity of the storage in the image forming apparatus is limited.
By contrast, according to the embodiment under discussion, a
template image with a large data size is stored in the template
image database 162 set in the large-capacity storage 16. Thus,
storage capacity no longer matters.
[0051] Fourth, the server 10 generates a panel image by combining
together a template image and character data. The image forming
apparatus 20 can be used in a variety of language environments all
over the world. According to the embodiment under discussion, no
matter what language environment in the world the image forming
apparatus 20 may be used, the image forming apparatus 20 can
generate a linguistically proper panel image by embedding a uniform
template image with character data in the national language there.
By contrast, with a method that requires the image forming
apparatus to transmit a panel image itself, separate panel images
with indications in a variety of languages need to be stored in the
image forming apparatus itself, inconveniently further increasing
the amount of data stored in the image forming apparatus. It is
also necessary to store panel images in a particular language at
the time of shipment, necessitating an extra working step at the
time of shipment.
10. Modified Examples
[0052] Suppose that, at Step S109, the panel image generator 103 in
the server 10 cannot read a template image from the template image
database 162. In that case, the panel image generator 103 may feed
a template image acquisition request to the image forming apparatus
20 to acquire from the image forming apparatus 20 a template image
corresponding to the template code included in the template image
acquisition request.
[0053] A personal computer (unillustrated) may be connected to the
server 10 so that a serviceperson operates the personal computer to
control the server 10.
[0054] The template image database 162 may be stored in an
externally provided large-capacity storage device (unillustrated)
connected to the server 10.
11. Variations
[0055] The technology disclosed herein can be implemented also in
the following configurations.
(1) A monitoring method, comprising: via a server,
[0056] acquiring, from an image forming apparatus having a display
configured to display a panel image, a template code corresponding
to a template image included in the panel image and character data
included in the panel image;
[0057] reading, from a storage configured to store a template
image, the template image corresponding to the template code;
and
[0058] generating the panel image by combining together the
template image read and the character data acquired from the image
forming apparatus.
(2) A program for making a server as
[0059] a template code/character data acquirer configured to
acquiring, from an image forming apparatus having a display
configured to display a panel image, a template code corresponding
to a template image included in the panel image and character data
included in the panel image, and
[0060] a panel image generator configured [0061] to read, from a
storage configured to store a template image, the template image
corresponding to the template code and [0062] to generate the panel
image by combining together the template image read and the
character data acquired from the image forming apparatus. (3) A
non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a
program for making a server as
[0063] a template code/character data acquirer configured to
acquiring, from an image forming apparatus having a display
configured to display a panel image, a template code corresponding
to a template image included in the panel image and character data
included in the panel image, and
[0064] a panel image generator configured [0065] to read, from a
storage configured to store a template image, the template image
corresponding to the template code and [0066] to generate the panel
image by combining together the template image read and the
character data acquired from the image forming apparatus. (4) A
monitoring method, comprising: via an image forming apparatus
having a display configured to display a panel image,
[0067] feeding a template code corresponding to a template image
included in the panel image and character data included in the
panel image to a server.
(5) A program for making an image forming apparatus function as
[0068] a template code/character data feeder configured to feed a
template code corresponding to a template image included in a panel
image displayed on a display and character data included in the
panel image to a server.
(6) A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon
a program for making an image forming apparatus function as
[0069] a template code/character data feeder configured to feed a
template code corresponding to a template image included in a panel
image displayed on a display and character data included in the
panel image to a server.
[0070] (7) A monitoring method, comprising:
[0071] via an image forming apparatus having a display configured
to display a panel image, [0072] feeding a template code
corresponding to a template image included in the panel image and
character data included in the panel image to a server; and
[0073] via a server, [0074] acquiring, from the image forming
apparatus, the template code corresponding to the template image
included in the panel image and the character data included in the
panel image; [0075] reading, from a storage configured to store a
template image, the template image corresponding to the template
code; and [0076] generating the panel image by combining together
the template image read and the character data acquired from the
image forming apparatus.
[0077] As described above, according to the present disclosure,
first, a server 10 generates the very panel image displayed on a
display of an image forming apparatus 20. This allows an
administrator a more intuitive, visual grasp of the status of the
image forming apparatus 20 compared with a method that gives a
notification by a message.
[0078] Second, the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a template
code and character data (with a small data size). This allows a
significant reduction in the load on network communication. In
particular, even in a case where, each time the panel image on the
image forming apparatus 20 changes to another, the server 10 needs
to acquire a panel image, each time the panel image is changed to
another, the image forming apparatus 20 has only to transmit a
template code and character data. This helps reduce the size of the
transmitted data.
[0079] Third, while the capacity of the storage in the image
forming apparatus 20 is limited, the server 10 stores template
images with a large data size. Thus, the storage capacity of the
image forming apparatus 20 no longer matters.
[0080] Fourth, the server 10 generates a panel image by combining
together a template image and character data. In no matter what
language environment in the world the image forming apparatus 20
may be used, it is possible to generate a linguistically proper
panel image by embedding a uniform template image with character
data in the national language there.
[0081] Thus, the technology disclosed herein provides an image
forming system and a monitoring method that allow an administrator
an intuitive, visual grasp of the status of an image forming
apparatus and that help reduce the load on network communication.
The benefits of the present technology are not limited to those
mentioned here; it provides any of the benefits mentioned
herein.
* * * * *