JP2008172604A - Network system, network equipment and control program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly find network equipment specified on an application in office environment where many pieces of network equipment are connected on a network. <P>SOLUTION: In a printing system 100 constituted by connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B... to a client PC 10 via the network 30, the respective image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B... are respectively provided with position information acquisition parts 270A, 270B... for acquiring information about installed positions and the client PC 10 finds an installed position of an image forming apparatus where a predetermined event is generated on the network 30 on the application and displays the installed position on a picture display part 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network system in which a plurality of network devices such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction device are connected to a client PC via a network, a network device, and a control program therefor.

  In recent years, computer networks have become widespread, and many offices have constructed LANs connecting a plurality of information devices such as computers and printers. Peripheral devices such as computers and printers, scanners, digital cameras and the like have become widespread, and networks such as LANs have also become widespread, and by sharing printers, modems, and image reading devices on the network, any network on the network It has become an environment where devices can be used.

  Conventionally, in a network composed of a plurality of information devices, the status of the image forming apparatus on the network is monitored using the communication technology of the network, and when there is a problem such as running out of paper or toner in the image forming apparatus, The information is received on the application side and displayed on the user interface.

  Conventionally, GPS (Global Positioning System) has been put to practical use as a means for acquiring position information. For example, a network wiring diagram creation system (for example, patent literature) that detects a position by GPS and creates a network wiring diagram. 1), a system for detecting the position information of the image forming apparatus by GPS (for example, see Patent Documents 2 and 3), or the positions of a plurality of golf carts are detected by GPS and displayed on a map. Golf cart position management devices (see, for example, Patent Document 4) have been proposed.

JP 2003-244155 A JP-A-2005-33297 Japanese Patent No. 3624799 Utility Model Registration No. 3018577

  By the way, in a printing system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multi-function machine are connected to a client PC via a network, if a problem such as running out of paper or running out of toner occurs, the network communication By using technology and receiving that information on the application side and displaying it on the user interface, the administrator can easily determine which printing device has the problem on the application, but in fact the printing The location of the device on the floor must be traced from the model name or IP address.

  Therefore, in view of the conventional problems as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a network system capable of quickly specifying a network device designated on an application in an office environment in which a large number of network devices are connected on a network. To provide network equipment.

  Other objects of the present invention and specific advantages obtained by the present invention will become more apparent from the description of embodiments described below.

  The present invention is a printing system in which a plurality of network devices are connected to a client PC via a network, and each network device includes position information acquisition means for acquiring information on an installation position, and the client PC includes Further, the present invention is characterized by comprising display control means for specifying and displaying the installation position of the network device designated on the application when a predetermined event occurs based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means of each network device.

  In the network system according to the present invention, the position information acquisition means is composed of, for example, a GPS unit.

  Further, the present invention is a network device in a network system in which a plurality of network devices are connected to a client PC via a network, and includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information for acquiring information on an installation position, According to an instruction from the client PC, the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means is sent to the client PC when a predetermined event occurs.

  Furthermore, the present invention is a network device control program in a printing system in which a plurality of network devices are connected to a client PC via a network, and acquires position information indicating an installation position by a position information acquisition unit, When the event occurs, the network device computer is controlled to send the location information acquired by the location information acquisition means to the client PC.

  According to the present invention, by attaching a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit to a network device connected to the network, where the network device that sent the print job is, and where there is a problem such as a paper jam You can check the location on the application. Further, even when the IP address is changed by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) or the like, the position of the network device can be easily specified.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the following examples, and can be arbitrarily changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 (20A, 20B...) Such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine are connected to a client PC 10 via a network 30. This is applied to the printing system 100.

  In this printing system 100, the client PC 10 is formed of, for example, a so-called personal computer. As shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 11 controls the entire apparatus and performs various arithmetic processes, a ROM for storing programs and data, and a work area. RAM for temporarily storing programs and data, a storage unit 12 including a hard disk as an external storage device for storing various programs and data, and a screen display unit such as a liquid crystal display for displaying various types of information 13, an operation unit 14 including a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various instructions, a print data generation unit 15 for generating data to be printed, a communication unit 16 including a LAN card for connecting to the network 30, and the communication The information acquired by the unit 16 is analyzed and the screen display unit 1 Such as data analysis unit 17 for transmission to which are connected to each other via a bus 18.

  Each of the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,... Is a so-called multi-function machine having a copy, print, scan, facsimile transmission and facsimile reception function, and as shown in FIG. The control unit 200 includes an image forming unit 210, a document reading unit 220, a paper feeding unit 230, an operation display unit 240, an image storage unit 250, an image processing unit 260, a position information acquisition unit 270, and the like. A communication unit 280 including a LAN card for connecting to the network 30 is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 200 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 201 that stores a control program for the image forming apparatus 20, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 202 that temporarily stores data, and various settings that can be updated. An EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) 203 that stores data and the like, a microcomputer 204 that reads out and executes a control program from the ROM 201, and the like. The entire apparatus is controlled in accordance with detection signals from various sensors provided at various places.

  The image forming unit 210 performs predetermined image formation (printing) on the paper conveyed by the paper supply unit 230, and includes a printer controller, a laser scanning unit, a fixing roller, and the like (not shown).

  The original reading unit 220 reads an original and generates image data corresponding to the original, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor that generates image data from an optically acquired original image and an exposure. The image data obtained by scanning a manuscript placed on the contact glass is output to the control unit 200.

  The paper feeding unit 230 feeds paper to the image forming unit 210.

  The operation display unit 240 inputs a predetermined instruction in response to a user operation. The operation display unit 240 is not illustrated, and includes a key for a user to input a print execution instruction, a key for inputting the number of copies, and various copies. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is provided on which various operation buttons for displaying operation guide information for inputting operation settings and the like are displayed.

  The image storage unit 250 is a memory that temporarily stores image data of a document read by the document reading unit 220 and image data transmitted from an external device via the communication unit 280.

  The image processing unit 260 performs various types of image processing on the print data. For example, the image processing unit 260 converts the print data into RGB data or CMYK data, and performs image processing for consolidating a plurality of document images on one sheet, that is, Enlargement / reduction processing for enlarging or reducing the image size of the document image, layout processing for arranging a plurality of document images on one sheet, and the like are performed.

  The position information acquisition unit 270 is for acquiring information on the installation position of the image forming apparatus 20, and is composed of, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit.

  Then, the control unit 200 of the image forming apparatus 20 follows the instruction from the client PC 10 when a predetermined event occurs, for example, when selected on the application, or when a problem such as out of paper / toner occurs. When the print job is completely discharged, the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 270 is sent to the client PC 10.

  That is, the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,... In the printing system 100 send the position information acquired by the position information acquisition units 270A, 270B,... To the client PC 10 when a predetermined event occurs. It has become.

  In this printing system 100, the client PC 10 controls the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B... On the network according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. Based on the position information acquired by 270A, 270B,..., The installation position of the image forming apparatus designated on the application is specified and displayed on the screen display unit 13 when a predetermined event occurs.

  That is, in the printing system 100, the administrator operates the operation unit 14 to register the office map in the client PC 10 (step S1).

  The CPU 11 of the client PC 10 searches the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,... On the network (step S2), and the searched image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,. Is determined (step S3).

  For the image forming apparatus in which the determination result in step S3 is “NO”, that is, the image forming apparatus does not include the position information acquisition unit, the administrator manually operates the operation unit 14 to display the image on the map displayed on the screen display unit 13. In step S4, the searched image forming apparatuses are arranged.

  For the image forming apparatus 20 having the determination result in step S3 of “YES”, that is, including the position information acquisition unit 270, the CPU 11 of the client PC 10 determines the position of each of the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B. Based on the position information acquired by the information acquisition units 270A, 270B,..., The searched image forming apparatus 20 is arranged on the map displayed on the screen display unit 13 (step S5).

  The CPU 11 of the client PC 10 determines whether or not a predetermined event such as a paper out problem has occurred in the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,... (Step S6). When a predetermined event occurs, the installation location of the image forming apparatus in which the predetermined event has occurred is specified on a map displayed on the screen display unit 13.

  As a result, paper is replenished to the image forming apparatus 20 in which a predetermined event, for example, out of paper has occurred (step S7).

  In the printing system 100, the client PC 10 controls the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,... On the network according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. Based on the position information acquired by the acquisition units 270A, 270B,..., The installation position of the image forming apparatus 20 designated on the application may be specified and displayed on the screen display unit 13 when a predetermined event occurs. .

  That is, in the printing system 100, the administrator operates the operation unit 14 to register the office map in the client PC 10 (step S11).

  The CPU 11 of the client PC 10 determines whether or not a predetermined event, for example, a problem such as running out of paper, has occurred in the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B... On the network (step S12). Is YES, that is, when a predetermined event occurs, the image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,... On the network are searched (step S13), and the searched image forming apparatuses 20A, 20B,. , 270B,... (Step S14).

  If the determination result in step S14 is “NO”, that is, if the image forming apparatus 20 does not include the position information acquisition unit 270, the device information of the searched image forming apparatus 20 is acquired via the communication unit 16 and acquired. The information is analyzed by the data analysis unit 17 and displayed on the screen display unit 13 (step S15).

  When the determination result in step S14 is “YES”, that is, when the image forming apparatus 20 in which the predetermined event has occurred includes the position information acquisition unit 270, the CPU 11 of the client PC 10 determines the image forming apparatus 20 Based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 270, the installation location of the image forming apparatus 20 where the predetermined event has occurred is identified on the map displayed on the screen display unit 13 (step S16), and the predetermined The image forming apparatus in which the event has occurred is placed on the map (step S17).

  Next, a predetermined event, for example, paper is replenished to the image forming apparatus 20 in which the paper has run out (step S18).

  Then, the image forming apparatus on the map is erased (step S18).

  As described above, in the printing system 100, a print job is sent to a large number of image forming apparatuses 20 existing in an office environment on an application (map), or a problem (such as a paper jam) occurs in the image forming apparatus 20. In this case, the location of the image forming apparatus 20 can be immediately identified and displayed on the application (map).

  That is, when there are a large number of image forming apparatuses 20 on the network, the image forming apparatus 20 in which a problem has occurred can be confirmed on the application and at the same time it can be determined where the image forming apparatus 20 is located in the office. It becomes possible to treat the image forming apparatus 20 in which a problem has occurred.

  The image forming apparatus 20 in which the predetermined event has occurred specifies where the print job is output, and where the print job is transferred, and the image forming apparatus 20 is jammed, out of paper, out of toner, The status may be specified from the status such as OFF, or may be specified from the counter information of the image forming apparatus 20, printing speed, device information such as a color machine or a monochrome machine.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system to which the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of client PC in the said printing system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus in the printing system. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the control part in the said image forming apparatus. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for specifying an image forming apparatus in which a specific event has occurred on the network by the client PC. 10 is a flowchart showing another procedure of processing for specifying an image forming apparatus in which a specific event has occurred on the network by the client PC.

Explanation of symbols

10 Client PC,
11 CPU,
12 storage unit,
13 screen display,
14 operation unit,
15 print data generation unit,
16 communication department,
17 Data analysis department,
18 Bus,
20, 20A, 20B ... Image forming apparatus,
30 network,
100 printing system,
200 control unit,
201 ROM,
202 RAM,
203 EEPROM,
204 microcomputer,
210 Image forming unit,
220 Document reading unit,
230 paper feeder,
240 operation display section,
250 image storage unit,
260 image processing unit,
270, 270A, 270B ... position information acquisition unit,
280 communication unit

Claims (4)

A printing system in which a plurality of network devices are connected to a client PC via a network,
Each network device includes a position information acquisition unit that acquires information on an installation position,
The client PC includes display control means for specifying and displaying the installation position of the network device designated on the application when a predetermined event occurs based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means of each network device. A characteristic network system.   2. The network system according to claim 1, wherein said position information acquisition means comprises a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit. A network device in a network system in which a plurality of network devices are connected to a client PC via a network,
A position information acquisition means for acquiring position information for acquiring information on the installation position;
A network device characterized in that, in accordance with an instruction from the client PC, the location information acquired by the location information acquisition means is sent to the client PC when a predetermined event occurs. A network device control program in a printing system in which a plurality of network devices are connected to a client PC via a network,
Acquire position information indicating the installation position by the position information acquisition means,
A control program for a network device, which causes a computer of the network device to perform control to send the location information acquired by the location information acquisition means to the client PC when a predetermined event occurs.

Images