JP2002064671A - Order receiving system and equipment for using consumables - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a consumables use device that can be easily operated in a state where consumables do not run out. SOLUTION: A printer 110 (consumables utilization device)
An EEPROM that stores the stock number of each consumable used by the printing unit 113, the stock maintenance number associated with each stock number, and the like.
And an EEPROM 121 in the control unit 111 in accordance with the operation contents of the user on the operation unit 112.
The function of rewriting the stock number on the 121, the function of reducing the stock number on the EEPROM 121 by "1" when the consumable is replaced, and the remaining amount of the consumable whose stock number is less than the stock keeping number has become a predetermined amount or less. When this is detected, the order receiving device 150 is provided with a function of issuing a purchase order for the consumable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a consumables utilizing device which operates using consumables, and an order receiving system including such a consumables utilizing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, printers, facsimile machines, and copiers use consumables such as toner cartridges and paper.
It is a device necessary for the original operation. In order to be able to arrange consumables before they are completely exhausted, a printer or the like has a function of monitoring the remaining amount of consumables and notifying the user that the remaining amount is equal to or less than a specified amount (hereinafter, referred to as a function). Warning function).

[0003]

A person who is notified by a warning function that the amount of consumables is low is usually checking whether or not the consumables are in stock.
If the printer is used in an office, etc., this confirmation work involves inquiring the person in charge of the ordering business about the status of the consumables (whether there is stock or ordered). Or, the user checks the location where the consumables are stored to check whether the consumable is in stock. Then, when it is found that there is no stock (or low), the order is placed.

[0004] Therefore, even if the warning function notifies that the remaining amount of consumables is running low, if any of the persons receiving the notification does not check the stock because it is troublesome, the consumables may be depleted. When the goods are completely exhausted, it may happen that consumables to be replaced or replenished are not at hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a consumables utilizing device which can be easily operated without running out of stock of consumables.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an order receiving system including a plurality of consumables-using devices, and to operate the consumable-using devices in a state where the stock of consumables does not run out. An object of the present invention is to provide a reliable order receiving system.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a consumables utilizing device which operates by using consumables is provided with a stock number storing means for storing a stock number of the consumables. A stock quantity output means for outputting the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means, and a stock quantity changing means for changing the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means according to the input information. Shall be.

That is, the consumables utilization device of the present invention comprises: a stock quantity storage means and a stock quantity changing means for storing the actual stock quantity in the consumables utilization equipment; Inventory output means for outputting to a product utilization device.

As described above, the present consumables utilization device is a device that allows the user to easily check the stock quantity of the consumables. Work will be performed reliably. Accordingly, the present consumables utilization device operates as a device that can be easily operated in a state where the consumables are not out of stock. When realizing the consumables utilization device of the present invention, a means for displaying the number of stocks or a means for printing the number of stocks may be used as the stock number output means. Further, as the stock quantity output means, means for outputting the stock quantity by sound may be used.

When realizing the consumables utilizing device of the present invention, the consumables are consumed by a surveying means for examining the degree of consumption of the consumables as a stock number output means. When a is found, means for outputting the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means together with information indicating the fact can be used.

Further, when realizing the consumable goods utilizing device of the present invention, a communication means for communicating with an order receiving device for accepting an order for consumable goods online and a degree of consumption of the consumable goods are investigated. Survey means to be added,
When the investigating means finds that the consumables whose stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storing means is equal to or less than the specified number has been consumed by a predetermined degree or more, the order receiving apparatus is utilized by using the communication means. And a consumables ordering means for ordering the consumables.

In other words, a consumables utilizing device may be realized in a form provided with a consumables online ordering function. Since the consumables utilizing device adopting such a configuration facilitates the ordering operation itself, it functions as a device which is easier to operate in a state where the stock of consumables does not run out. The consumables ordering means used in the consumables utilizing device of the present invention is capable of immediately ordering the consumables when the investigating means finds that the consumables have been consumed to a predetermined degree or more. Or a means for ordering a consumable after obtaining the confirmation of the user.

In realizing the consumables utilizing device of the present invention, when it is detected that the consumables have been replaced,
A replacement stock quantity changing means for reducing the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means by "1" can be added.

If the means for changing the stock quantity at the time of replacement is added,
A consumable device that requires a smaller amount of work by the user to adjust the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means to the actual stock quantity can be obtained.

[0015] The order receiving system of the present invention comprises a plurality of consumables using devices that operate using consumables, an order receiving device for receiving an order for consumables online, an order receiving device and a plurality of consumables using devices. And a communication medium for connecting each of the devices. Each of the consumables utilizing devices has a stock number storing means for storing the stock number of the consumables, and a stock number storing device for storing the stock number according to the input information. Means for changing the number of stocks stored in the means, checking means for checking the degree of consumption of consumables, and consumables whose stocks stored in the stock number storage are equal to or less than a predetermined number are predetermined. A consumables ordering means for ordering the consumables from the order receiving device when it is found by the surveying means that the consumables have been consumed by a certain degree or more.

According to this order receiving system, each consumable-use device is managed in a state in which the number of consumable-use devices is equal to or greater than a specified number, so that each consumable-use device does not run out of consumables. Will be more reliably performed.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an order receiving system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, an order receiving system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an order receiving device 150, a plurality of printers 110 (consumables utilization devices), and an order receiving device 150 and each printer 110. A communication medium (in this embodiment, the LAN cable 35, the gateway 40, and the Internet 45) that enables communication is included.

First, the configuration and operation of the order receiving device 150 will be described.

The order receiving device 150 is a Web server (computer) operated by a person who sells various types of printers 110 and various consumables used in the printers 110. Each printer 110 is attached with a CD-ROM in which a printer driver and a utility program (details will be described later) to be installed in the computer 30 using the printer 110 are attached.
Sold.

The order receiving device 150 has a function of accepting a purchase order of various commodities (one consumable or a pack of several consumables) online. In addition, the order receiving device 15
0 includes a customer information database 151, a product information database 152, and an order information database 153 prepared for the function.

As shown schematically in FIG. 2, the customer information database 151 includes a customer ID, attribute information (name, address, e-mail address, etc.) relating to the customer, and several printers purchased by the customer. This is a database that stores a plurality of records (for the number of customers) consisting of 10 product serial numbers. The product serial number stored in the customer information database 51 is unique information for identifying each printer 110. Each printer 110 has an EEPROM 121 (FIG. 1) storing a product serial number assigned to itself. Reference). The customer ID is unique information for identifying each customer (individual or corporation).

The contents of the customer information database 151 are updated as follows when the printer 110 is sold.

The person who has purchased the printer 110 has the customer ID
(For example, a person who purchased the printer 110 for the first time), attribute information (name, address, etc.) is collected from the person. And the customer ID given to that person
Is determined, and a record including the customer ID, the collected attribute information, and the product serial number of the printer 110 purchased by the customer is added to the customer information database 151. On the other hand, the person who purchased the printer 110 has already
D, the printer 11
0 product serial number is stored in the customer information database 151
Is added to the record containing the customer ID.

As shown in FIG. 3, the product information database 152 is a database in which the price of the product is stored in association with the product code of each product for which the order receiving device 150 accepts a purchase order online.

As shown in FIG. 4, the order information database 153 is a database for storing records including an order ID, a product code, the number of orders, and customer attribute information. On the order receiving device 150 side, the purchased products, the number thereof, and the delivery destination thereof are specified based on the information (mainly, the product code, the name, and the address) in each record stored in the order information database 153. The delivered product is delivered to the orderer.

The addition of the record to the order information database 153 is based on the order receiving apparatus 1 that has detected the reception of the order request.
50. The order request is an HTTP request transmitted by the printer 110 that finds a consumable item whose replacement (replenishment) time is approaching. A product serial number, a product code, and the number of orders are added to the order request as URL parameters.

FIG. 5 shows an operation procedure of the order receiving device 150 when an order request is received. As illustrated, the order receiving device 150 that has received the order request first searches the customer information database 151 for a customer ID and attribute information associated with the product serial number included in the order request (step S101). . That is, the order receiving device 150 grasps the name and address of the customer who purchased the printer 110 identified by the product serial number.

Next, the order receiving device 150 searches the product information database 152 for a price or the like associated with the product code included in the order request (step S1).
02).

Thereafter, the order receiving device 150 determines an order ID to be assigned to the order request being processed (that is, a purchase order for a product) (step S103), and determines the order ID,
A record including the product code, the number of orders (= the number of orders), and various information retrieved from the customer information database 151 and the product information database 152 is stored in the order information database 1.
53 (step S104). Then, the order receiving device 150 returns predetermined information indicating that the order has been received (hereinafter, referred to as an acknowledgment) to the transmission source of the order request (step S105), and ends the processing for the received order request.

Although not explicitly shown in the flowchart, the order receiving device 150 sends an order receiving request to the order source when the attribute information of the customer cannot be retrieved or the price cannot be retrieved. Information indicating that the order was not successfully received (hereinafter, referred to as a negative response) is returned, and the process for the received order request is terminated.

Next, the configuration and operation of the printer 110 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, each printer 11
0 is an operation unit 1 which is an interface with a user
12, a printing unit 113 for printing on paper, and a control unit 111 including a CPU and peripheral devices for controlling the operation unit 112 and the printing unit 113.

The specific hardware configuration of each printer 110 differs depending on the model.
U, ROM, RAM, some interface circuits,
It is composed of an EEPROM 121 and the like. The EEPROM 121 in the control unit 111 stores the order destination UR.
L, a product serial number, and some order environment information are stored (a storage area for each piece of information is prepared, and significant data is stored in each storage area).

The order destination URL is a URL for designating a predetermined file held by the order receiving device 150 (a URL for causing the order receiving device 150 to execute the processing shown in FIG. 5). The product serial number is, as already explained,
This is identification information given to the printer 110 to which the ROM 121 is attached.

Some order environment information stored in the EEPROM 121 is associated with consumables used in the printer 110. Each order environment information includes a product code, an online order acceptance / rejection flag, an ordered flag, the number of stocks, the number of orders, and the number of stocks to be maintained.

The product code included in the ordering environment information associated with a consumable item is a product code of a product to be purchased for replenishment of the consumable item. The online order acceptance / rejection flag is a flag (on / off data) for managing whether or not the corresponding consumable is designated as an object of an online order by the user. The order completion flag is a flag for managing whether or not online ordering of the corresponding consumable has already been performed. The number of stocks is information displayed on the operation unit 112 as the number of consumables already purchased and stored. The order quantity is
This information is included in the order request. The stock keeping number is numerical information that defines a condition for causing the printer 110 (the control unit 111) to perform a process of confirming whether to place an online order.

Each printer 110 has its own EEPROM 1
21 stores the ordering destination URL and the product serial number, includes the product code of the product to be purchased for replenishment of the consumables for each consumable, sets the online order acceptance / rejection flag to "OFF", and places the order. The product is shipped with order environment information in which the flag is “off”, the stock quantity is “0”, the order quantity is “1”, and the stock quantity is “0”.

Hereinafter, the operation of the printer 110 constituting the order receiving system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, taking the printer 110 having the operation unit 112 having the configuration shown in FIG. 6 as an example. explain. The control unit 111
Is configured to be able to perform processing for a print request in parallel with the processing shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 7, after the power is turned on, the control unit 111 takes a state of waiting (monitoring) for the occurrence of various events (step S201). This step S2
In step 01, the control unit 111 inputs an instruction to start an operation environment change process, replaces consumables, and detects consumables whose remaining amount is less than a specified value (hereinafter, referred to as preparatory consumables). Monitor the occurrence of Note that the control unit 111 is configured not to treat consumables that are once determined to be preparation-required consumables after power-on (consumables subjected to a warning process described later) as preparation-required consumables. (Programmed).

When the generated event is an input of an instruction to execute an operation environment change process (step S201: step S202; change instruction), the control unit 111 executes an operation environment change process (step S203).

The operation environment changing process is performed by the user's operation unit 11.
2 according to the contents of the operation on the on-line order acceptance / rejection flag, the number of stocks,
This is a process for changing the order quantity and the stock maintenance quantity.

Hereinafter, the control unit 111 at the time of the operation environment change processing will be described.
Will be described in relation to the operation procedure of the operation unit 112 by the user.

Button 201 provided on operation unit 112
When (see FIG. 6) is pressed, the control unit 111 causes the liquid crystal display 200 of the operation unit 112 to display a message indicating that the operation environment change process has started. When the button 202 is pressed in this state, the control unit 111
Displays the item name of the item whose value is to be set on the liquid crystal display 200, and changes the item name displayed on the liquid crystal display 200 to the next item when the button 202 is pressed again.

The item names displayed by the operation of the button 202 include “consumables stock quantity”, “order quantity”, “online order”, and “stock maintenance quantity”.
When changing the stock quantity of a certain consumable (when the ordered product arrives), the user presses the button 202 several times to display “consumable stock” on the liquid crystal display 200. . Then, the user presses the button 20
Press 3.

If the user presses the button 203 while the “consumables stock quantity” is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200, the control unit 111 reads out the stock quantity relating to the first consumable from the EEPROM 121, and The liquid crystal display 200
To be displayed. When the button 203 is pressed again, the control unit 111
Next, the name of the next consumable item and the stock quantity are displayed.

The information displayed on the liquid crystal display 200 by pressing the button 203 when the “consumables inventory quantity” is selected includes “toner (cyan) inventory quantity: 3”, “toner (magenta) inventory quantity: 3”, and “paper”. A4 inventory number: 4 "" paper A5 inventory number: 3 ". Note that the unit of the stock quantity (stock quantity) for paper is
“Book” (minimum unit at the time of paper purchase; for example, 250 sheets).

The user presses the button 20 until the name of the target consumable (consumable whose stock quantity is to be changed) is displayed.
Repeat pressing 3. Then, when the name of the target consumable item (and the number of stocks) is displayed, the user performs the same number of times as the value obtained by subtracting the display value of the stock number from the actual stock number.
A button 204 is pressed. When the button 204 is pressed, the control unit 111 increases the stock quantity being displayed by “1”.
The actual stock quantity is displayed. To reduce the stock quantity, the user presses the button 201 and the button 204 at the same time.

After the actual stock quantity is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200 by operating the button 204 (or the buttons 204 and 201), the user presses the button 205. The control unit 111 that has detected the pressing of the button 205
Is the display value of the stock quantity at that time,
The inventory number corresponding to the displayed consumable name on 121 is rewritten. When the stock quantity is rewritten to a larger value, the control unit 111 changes the order-completed flag for the consumable item to off.

When the user wants to change the order quantity, the user presses the button 202 to display "consumable order quantity" on the liquid crystal display 200, and press the button 20.
Press 3. When the button 203 is pressed while the “consumables ordered quantity” is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200, the control unit 111 performs the above-described operation on the ordered quantity instead of the stock quantity. That is, the control unit 1
Reference numeral 11 displays on the liquid crystal display 200 information such as “number of ordered toner (cyan): 1” and “number of ordered paper A4: 1”. Then, when the button 204 is pressed, the control unit 111 increases the display value of the order quantity by “1”, and when the buttons 201 and 204 are simultaneously pressed, the display value of the order quantity is increased. “1” is reduced. Then, when the button 205 is pressed, the order number of the selected consumable on the EEPROM 121 is rewritten with the display value at that time.

The operation procedure of the user when changing the stock keeping number, the online order acceptance / rejection flag, and the operation procedure of the control unit 111 are the same. However, since the online order acceptance / rejection flag is data that takes on or off, if the button 204 is pressed, the control unit 111
The value of the online order acceptance / rejection flag displayed on the liquid crystal display 200 is changed to a value different from the value before the button 204 is pressed.

That is, when the button 204 is pressed while “toner (cyan) online ordering: to be performed” is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200, the control unit 111
Changes the display content of the liquid crystal display 200 to “〜: not performed”. When the button 204 is pressed in a state where “〜: No” is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200, the control unit 111
The display content of 00 is changed to “〜: yes”. Then, when the button 205 is pressed, the control unit 111
The value of the online order acceptance / rejection flag for the selected consumable item on the PROM 121 is rewritten according to the display content (yes / no).

When the button 210 is pressed, the control unit 1
In step S201, the operation environment change process ends.
Return to (FIG. 7).

When finding a consumable item requiring preparation (step S201: step S202; detecting a consumable item requiring preparation), the control unit 111 issues a warning process (step S204).
Execute

As shown in FIG. 8, at the time of the warning process, the control unit 111 first determines that the stock quantity of the necessary consumables is equal to or less than the stock maintenance quantity and the online order acceptance / rejection flag is ON. It is determined whether the condition is satisfied (step S301).

If such a condition is satisfied (step S301; YES), that is, the consumables requiring preparation are consumables having only stocks equal to or less than the stock maintenance number (stock number ≦ stock maintenance number), and If the consumable is designated to place an online order (online order acceptance / rejection flag = on), the control unit 111 determines whether the ordered flag related to the consumable requiring preparation is on or off. Is determined (step S311).

If the order completion flag for the consumables requiring preparation is off (step S311; off), the control unit 11
1 displays, on the liquid crystal display 200, a message for notifying the user that there is a consumable item to be prepared, the number of the consumable item, and the necessity of inputting an instruction whether or not to place an online order. (Step S312). Specifically, the control unit 111 displays a message (“n” is the number of stocks) such as “Toner (cyan) is low. The stock is n. Do you order online?” Since this message is a message (the number of characters) that cannot be displayed on the liquid crystal display 200 at one time, the control unit 111 performs control for scrolling the message horizontally in step S312.

After that, the control unit 111 waits for an instruction as to whether or not to place an online order (step S313). In the present printer 110, pressing of the button 205 of the operation unit 112 is treated as an instruction input for online ordering, and pressing of the button 211 is treated as an instruction input for not performing online ordering.

When it is instructed to place an online order (step S316: order), ie, button 2
05 is pressed, the control unit 111
From 121, the ordering URL, the product serial number, the product code relating to the consumables requiring preparation, and the number of orders are read out (step S317). Next, the control unit 111 creates an order request to be received by the order receiving device 150 using the read information, and
The data is transmitted upward (step S318). Then, the control unit 1
11 waits for a confirmation response to be transmitted from the order receiving device 150 that has received the order request (step S3).
19). When the control unit 1 receives the confirmation response,
In step S320, the order completion flag for the consumables requiring preparation is changed to ON. Next, the control unit 111
Returns the display content of the liquid crystal display 200 to a normal display (step S321), and terminates the warning process.

If no acknowledgment is obtained or a negative acknowledgment is obtained after the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 111 executes an error process (not shown to the user, indicating that a problem has occurred). Notification processing).

On the other hand, if it is instructed not to place an online order (step S316; no order is placed), that is, if button 211 is pressed, control unit 111
Executes the process of returning the display content of the liquid crystal display 200 to a normal one without transmitting the order request (step S321), and then ends the warning process.

If the order completion flag for the consumables requiring preparation is on (step S311; on), the control unit 11 informs the user that the consumables required have been found but the order has been placed online. A message for notification is displayed on liquid crystal display 200 (step S
314). The message displayed in this step also includes the stock quantity. Then, the control unit 11 waits for a predetermined operation (depression of the button 211) to be performed (step S315). When the predetermined operation is performed, the control unit 11 executes step S321 and ends the warning process.

If the stock quantity of the consumables requiring preparation exceeds the stock maintenance quantity, or if the online order acceptance / rejection flag is OFF (step S301; NO), the control unit 11 determines whether the replacement (supplement) time is reached. Check that there are imminent consumables (= consumables that need to be prepared) and how many consumables are in stock.
A message for notifying the user is displayed on liquid crystal display 200 (step S302). Specifically, a message such as “Toner (cyan) is low. There are n units in stock.” (“Toner (cyan)” is the name of the consumable item that needs to be prepared, and n is the name of the consumable item that needs to be prepared. Display). Then, the control unit 111
Waiting for the button 211 to be pressed (step S30)
3) Then, when the button 211 is pressed, step S
321 is executed, and the warning process ends.

After the completion of such a warning process, the control unit 11
Stores in the RAM that the warning regarding the consumables requiring preparation has been issued (FIG. 7: step S205), and
Return to Based on the information stored in the RAM in step S205, it is determined whether or not each consumable is to be subjected to a warning process (whether or not the consumable is determined to be a consumable requiring preparation after power-on). A decision is made.

If the control unit 111 detects that the consumable has been replaced (step S201: step S202; replace the consumable), the control unit 111 decrements the stock quantity of the consumable by "1" (step S206). ). Note that the control unit 111 determines that the paper
When the number of sheets and the remaining amount increase, it is determined that the consumable has been replaced, and the stock quantity is decremented by "1".

When it is detected that a certain consumable has been exhausted (step S201: step S202; detection of a consumable requiring replacement), the control unit 111 sends a message corresponding to the stock number of the consumable to the liquid crystal display 200. It is displayed (step S207). Specifically, if the number of consumables that need to be replaced is n (≧ 1),
In the control unit 111, "~ (consumable name) has disappeared.
There are n stocks. Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200. The control unit 111
Indicates that if the stock quantity is "0" and the order-completed flag is "on", the message "No longer exists.
If the order completion flag is “off”, a message such as “No more. No stock” is displayed on the liquid crystal display 200.

Then, the control unit 111 proceeds to step S20.
Return to step 1 and wait for replacement and replenishment of consumables.

As described above, the printer 110 constituting the order receiving system according to the present embodiment has a function of storing the stock quantity of consumables, a function of displaying the stored stock quantity, and a function of The ability to order products online
Have. Therefore, according to the present order receiving system, inventory management of consumables of the printer 110 and ordering work can be performed more easily than before. In addition, the printer 110 can be operated in a state where a predetermined number of consumables (= the number of stocks to be maintained for the consumables) are constantly provided.

The CD-ROM attached to the printer 110
The utility program recorded in the ROM together with the printer driver is associated with each consumable item.
This is a program for changing the product code stored in the EPROM 121 to a code corresponding to an instruction from a user.

That is, when the remaining amount of a consumable becomes low, the printer 110 sets an EEP for the consumable.
It has a function of transmitting an order request including the product code stored in the ROM 121. On the other hand, on the order receiving device 150 side, for a certain kind of consumables, a plurality of commodities having different numbers of consumables are prepared. Also,
There may be several types of consumables that can be replaced (consumables with different specifications exist). Since which product to purchase for a certain consumable item depends on the usage environment of the printer 110, a utility program is attached to the printer 110 so that the user can change the product ordered online.

<Modification> The order receiving system according to the embodiment can perform various modifications. For example, the order receiving system may be realized by an in-house LAN. That is, the order receiving device 150 is connected to each of the printers 110 used in the company.
(A device used by the purchasing department or the like) for collecting the contents of the order request issued from the company. In order to operate the order receiving device 150 in this manner, no hardware change is necessary, and the department (or room) is treated as a customer and a record is added to the customer information database 151 (customer information database 151). It is only necessary to operate the order receiving device 150 so that the database 151 stores a product serial number of the printer 110 installed in each department (for example, 151).

Further, an area for storing information on a place where each consumable item is stored is provided in the EEPROM 121, and when the consumable item needs to be replaced, the storage location is displayed together with the fact. As in the printer 110
(Control unit 111) may be configured. Also, the ordering URL and the product serial number are stored in the RO of the printer 110.
M may be stored in the memory, and instead of the product serial number, the MAC address (the LAN provided in the control unit 111) may be used.
The order receiving system may be configured so as to use the information provided to the interface circuit for use.

Further, when ordering the printer 110 online, the order number can be specified (EEPROM 1
21 so that an order with an order number different from the order number stored in the storage unit 21 can be performed.

The printer 110 may be configured to transmit an order request without obtaining the user's confirmation. When the consumables have been ordered or the consumables are in stock, Printer 11 so that the process of notifying the user that the remaining amount is low is not performed.
0 may be configured. Further, when notifying the user that the remaining amount is low, the printer 11 is configured to always receive an instruction from the user whether or not to place an online order.
0 may be configured.

Further, the printer 110 may be configured in such a manner that only the function of storing and displaying the stock quantity is provided without providing the function of ordering online. Since the printer 110 configured as described above can easily check the stock number of the consumables, the ordering operation of the consumables can be reliably performed.
As a result, the device operates as a device that can be easily operated without running out of stock of consumables.

Further, it is needless to say that the present technology may be applied to consumable goods utilization equipment (FAX, copy, etc.) other than the printer 110.

[0078]

According to the consumables utilizing device of the present invention, it is possible to provide the user of the consumables utilizing device with an environment in which the management of the consumables can be easily performed. In addition, according to the order receiving system of the present invention, the user of each consumables utilizing device is provided with a consumables inventory,
An environment in which order management can be performed more easily can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an order receiving system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a customer information database included in an order receiving device included in the order receiving system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a product information database included in an order receiving device included in the order receiving system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an order information database included in an order receiving device included in the order receiving system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the order receiving device constituting the order receiving system according to the embodiment when receiving an order request.

FIG. 6 is an external view of an operation unit provided in a printer included in the order receiving system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a printer constituting the order receiving system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a warning process executed by a printer included in the order receiving system according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 computer 40 gateway 110 printer 111 control unit 112 operation unit 113 printing mechanism 121 EEPROM 150 order receiving device 151 customer information database 152 product information database 153 order information database 200 liquid crystal display

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G06F 17/60 318 G06F 17/60 318H 318G H04N 1/32 H04N 1/32 Z // G07F 17/40 G07F 17/40 F-term (Reference) 2H027 EE10 EJ08 EJ15 GA23 GB01 GB03 HB02 HB05 HB11 HB13 ZA07 ZA09 5B021 AA01 EE04 KK00 NN00 5B049 AA01 BB11 CC05 CC28 EE02 GG04 5C062 AB22 AB42 AC22 AC35 AC00 BA00 AC03

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A consumables use device that operates using consumables, comprising: a stock number storage unit for storing a stock number of the consumables; and a stock number stored in the stock number storage unit. A consumable goods utilization device comprising: a stock quantity output means for outputting; and a stock quantity changing means for changing the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means according to the input information. 2. An expenditure unit for investigating a degree of consumption of the consumable item, wherein the stock quantity output unit has consumed the consumable item by a predetermined amount or more by the inspection unit. 2. The consumable goods utilization device according to claim 1, wherein when a is found, the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means is output together with information indicating the fact. 3. A communication means for communicating with an order receiving device for accepting an order for consumables online, a surveying means for examining a degree of consumption of the consumables, and the inventory quantity by the surveying means. When it is found that the consumables whose stock quantity stored in the storage means is equal to or less than the prescribed number has been consumed to a predetermined degree or more, the communication unit is used to supply the consumables to the order receiving device. 2. The consumables utilization device according to claim 1, further comprising: a consumables ordering unit for ordering a product. 4. When the replacement of the consumables is detected, the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means is set to “1”.
The consumables utilization device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a replacement stock number changing means for reducing the number of replacement stocks. 5. A plurality of consumables using devices that operate using consumables, an order receiving device that receives an order for consumables online, and each of the order receiving device and the plurality of consumables using devices are connected. An order receiving system including a communication medium, wherein each of the plurality of consumables utilization devices includes: a stock number storage unit for storing a stock number of the consumable; and A stock quantity changing means for changing the stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means, a surveying means for examining the degree of consumption of the consumables, and a stock quantity stored in the stock quantity storage means being a specified number or less. Consumables ordering means for ordering the consumables from the order receiving device when the consumables are consumed by a predetermined degree or more by the surveying means. Order system