Information providing system and method

Abstract

To visualize the degree to which feedback to a system that manages a printer and the like is reflected in the system.SOLUTION: In a repair location notification system, an operation information receiving unit 311 of a repair location notification server receives error information and printer operation information from a printer 102. An error determination unit 312 has error determination means, and upon receiving the error information from the operation information receiving unit 311, acquires, from an error history management unit 313, an error history which is information on errors that occurred in the past on the printer in which the error occurred. The error determination unit 312 estimates, along with the received error information, one or more repair components to resolve the error and a level of its failure possibility. The error determination unit 312 transmits estimation results together with the error information to a priority determination unit 314, which will be described later. A repair procedure display unit 319 acquires the estimation results, generates a repair procedure display screen, and returns it to a browser 331.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing system and method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, systems have been constructed that manage information, status, and the like of devices such as printers. In such systems, when a failure occurs in a device, a server receives a failure notification sent from the device, and the system can manage the occurrence of the failure. In addition, as a technology similar to such a system, a technology for diagnosing a failure by analyzing the contents of the failure has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system that receives a failure diagnosis result sent from a device and displays replacement guidance for a failed part based on the past replacement work results. In addition, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a system that has a user of a failed device input and send information about the failure status of the device, and improves the accuracy of the failure diagnosis by utilizing the received detailed information, and updates the display order of measures for the device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-199704 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2007-62288 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A user such as a customer engineer (CE) can perform a remedial action by referring to the recommended action displayed as a fault diagnosis result. However, depending on the device condition, the remedial action that the user judges to be optimal based on his / her knowledge and experience may deviate from the action recommended based on the fault diagnosis result. Such a deviation may occur due to a discrepancy between the master information that manages the recommended action and the user's recognition, or the master information may not be sufficient for a new model. In such a case, the user can input the result of whether the action was performed according to the fault diagnosis result or based on his / her own judgment regardless of the fault diagnosis result as feedback and send it to the system. However, the user cannot recognize whether the feedback he / she sent has influenced the information of the action recommended based on the fault diagnosis result.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system and method that can visualize the degree to which feedback to a system that manages printers and the like is reflected in the system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the information provision system of the present invention is characterized by comprising a performance management means for managing performance data indicating performance data performed to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming device in the past and evaluation data indicating an evaluation of the performance data performed to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming device in the past; a performance identification means for identifying a performance data necessary to resolve an error that has occurred in the image forming device; a display means for displaying a priority indicating the degree to which each of the performance data identified by the performance identification means should be prioritized; and a feedback means for receiving evaluation data indicating the evaluation of each of the performance data identified by the performance identification means and having the performance management means manage the evaluation data as the performance data, and for controlling the display means to display different priorities for performance data that meet the condition of having received an evaluation above a predetermined level more than a predetermined number of times and performance data that does not meet the condition. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information providing system and method that can visualize the degree to which feedback to a system that manages printers and the like is reflected in the system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a repair location notification system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a repair location notifying server and a PC according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a printer according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a software configuration diagram of the repair location notification system according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for calculating Table 7 in the recommended action estimation process executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6]13 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for calculating Table 7 in the recommended action estimation process executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart illustrating a market performance tabulation process when calculating Table 4, which is executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating Table 6 based on market action records, which is executed by a priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of adjustment processing of treatment priority by feedback when calculating Table 7 in the recommended treatment estimation processing executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a repair procedure display screen displayed on a browser according to the first embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a repair procedure display screen in the case where a procedure that has been assigned a procedure priority level "A+" as a result of the feedback-based procedure priority adjustment process shown in FIG. 9 has been performed. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a software configuration diagram of a repair location notification system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a repair procedure display screen displayed on a browser according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] An information providing system according to an embodiment includes a record management means, a treatment specification means, a display means, and a feedback means. The record management means manages, as records, treatment data indicating treatments performed to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past, and evaluation data indicating evaluations of treatments performed to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past. The treatment specification means specifies treatments necessary to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus. The display means displays a priority indicating a degree to which each treatment specified by the treatment specification means should be performed with priority. The feedback means receives evaluation data indicating evaluations for each treatment specified by the treatment specification means, and has the record management means manage the evaluation data as records. In addition, the feedback means controls the display means to display different priorities for treatments that satisfy a condition of having received evaluations above a predetermined level more than a predetermined number of times, and treatments that do not satisfy the condition.

[0010] The feedback means may receive action data for at least one of the actions identified by the action identification means and cause the performance management means to manage the action data as a performance. The feedback means may also control the display means to display a predetermined icon for an action that satisfies a condition that the action has been performed more than a predetermined number of times.

[0011] When the feedback means receives action data indicating an action for which no priority is displayed, the feedback means may cause the result management means to manage the action data indicating the action as a result without processing the action data.

[0012] When the feedback means receives treatment data indicating a treatment for which a priority is not displayed, the feedback means may not change the evaluation of the treatment.

[0013] When the feedback means receives for the first time action data indicating an action for which no priority is indicated, the feedback means may cause the performance management means to manage the value indicated by the evaluation data of the action as zero.

[0014] When the feedback means receives treatment data indicating a treatment for which a priority is not displayed, the feedback means may control the display means not to change the manner in which the priority of the treatment is displayed.

[0015] When the feedback means receives action data indicating an action for which no priority is displayed, the feedback means may receive evaluation data of the action and cause the result management means to manage the evaluation data as the result.

[0016] The method according to the embodiment includes a record management step, a treatment specification step, a display step, and a feedback step. In the record management step, treatment data indicating treatments performed to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past and evaluation data indicating evaluations of treatments performed to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past are managed by the record management means as records. In the treatment specification step, a treatment required to resolve an error that has occurred in the image forming apparatus is specified by the treatment specification means. In the display step, a priority indicating a degree to which each treatment specified by the treatment specification means should be performed with priority is displayed by the display means. In the feedback step, evaluation data indicating evaluations of each treatment specified by the treatment specification means is received by the feedback means and managed by the record management means as records. In the feedback step, the display means is controlled by the feedback means so that a manner of displaying the priority is different between a treatment that satisfies a condition that the treatment has been evaluated more than a predetermined number of times and a treatment that does not satisfy the condition.

[0017] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] First Embodiment 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a repair location notification system according to a first embodiment. The device management system is configured so that a repair location notification server 101, a printer 102, and a PC (Personal Computer) 103 can communicate with each other via a network 100. The repair location notification server 101 is located on the Internet.

[0019] Network 100 is, for example, a communication network realized by a LAN (Local Area Network) such as the Internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a telephone line, etc., and it is sufficient that data can be sent and received. Also, as shown in Fig. 1, a repair location notification server is connected to network 100 via network 100-1, and printer 102 and PC 103 are connected to network 100 via network 100-2. Networks 100-1 and 100-2 are communication networks like network 100, and it is sufficient that data can be sent and received.

[0020] The repair location notification server 101 receives error information indicating an error that has occurred in the printer 102 from the printer 102, and estimates information on one or more repair parts to resolve the error. Furthermore, the repair location notification server 101 manages the track record of part replacements carried out in the market in the past in response to similar errors as market track record, and determines the priority of repair parts to be treated based on this market track record.

[0021] The repair location notification server 101 uses cloud computing technology on the Internet. The processes executed by the repair location notification server 101 in the embodiment may be realized by multiple servers or multiple functions implemented by multiple virtual machines. As an example of a method of realizing this, in the management system, a server that executes the receiving service and a server that executes processing based on error information received by the receiving service may be separately implemented. However, an on-premise system configuration using a physical server may also be used.

[0022] The printer 102 is an example of an image forming device such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral (MFP), and has functions such as printing, facsimile, copying, and scanning. When the printer 102 detects an error occurring in itself, it transmits error information including device information to the repair location notification server 101. Note that there may be multiple printers 102.

[0023] The PC 103 is an example of an information processing device, and has a specific OS (Operating System) (not shown) installed. A browser 331 (described later) is installed in the PC 103. The PC 103 transmits a request to acquire repair part information for the printer 102 to the repair part notification server 101 via the browser 331. The PC 103 also receives repair part information from the repair part notification server 101, and displays the repair part information in a graphical user interface (GUI).

[0024] <Hardware configuration> Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a repair location notification server and a PC according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the repair location notification server 101 and the PC 103 include a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 204. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, the repair location notification server 101 and the PC 103 include an input device 206, an output device 206, and an input / output interface (I / F: Interface) 207.

[0025] The CPU 201 directly or indirectly controls each device such as the ROM 202 and the RAM 203 to execute the processing according to the embodiment. The devices are connected to each other via an internal bus. The ROM 202 is a storage device in which a BIOS (Basic Input Output System) and the like are stored. The RAM 203 is a direct storage device that is used as a work area for the CPU 201 and as temporary storage for loading software modules for realizing the processing according to the embodiment. The HDD 204 is a joint storage device in which an OS, software modules, and the like are stored. The input device 205 is, for example, a keyboard or a pointing device. The output device 206 is, for example, a display. The I / F 207 connects the repair location notification server 101 or the PC 103 to the network 100.

[0026] After starting up, the repair location notification server 101 and the PC 103 have the BIOS executed by the CPU 201 and the OS loaded executable from the HDD 204 to the RAM 203. The CPU 201 loads various software modules, described below, from the HDD 204 to the RAM 203 as needed in an executable manner in accordance with the operation of the OS. The various software modules are executed and operated by the CPU 201 in cooperation with the above-mentioned devices. The I / F 207 is connected to the Internet 100 or the local network 101, and is controlled by the CPU 201 in accordance with the operation of the OS to realize communication by the above-mentioned communication means.

[0027] Fig. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a printer according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the printer 102 includes a CPU 231, a ROM 232, a RAM 233, a network controller 234, a disk controller 235, and an external memory 236. Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the printer 102 includes a raster controller 237, a print engine 238, an operation panel 239, a storage device 240, and a device I / F 241. These elements constituting the printer 102 are connected to a system bus 230. Also, all elements constituting the printer 102 except for the print engine 238 are sometimes called a controller that manages the control system of the printer 102.

[0028] The CPU 231 controls the entire printer 102 and centrally controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 230. This control is based on a control program stored in a ROM 232 or a control program and resource data (resource information) stored in an external memory 236 connected via a disk controller 235. The RAM 233 functions as the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 231, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown).

[0029] The storage device 240 is an external storage means that functions as a large-capacity memory. The operation panel 239 displays a screen and accepts user operation instructions via the screen. This screen also has buttons and a display unit such as a liquid crystal panel for performing operations such as setting the operation mode of the printer 102, displaying the operation status of the printer 102, and specifying content data to be printed.

[0030] The network controller 234 is, for example, a network interface card (NIC), and exchanges data with an external device via the network controller 234. The raster controller 237 is, for example, a controller that converts print data described in a page description language (PDL) into image data. The print engine 238 forms an image on a sheet based on image data input from the raster controller 237 using a known printing technique. Examples of such printing techniques include electrophotographic (laser beam) type, inkjet type, and dye sublimation (thermal transfer) type print engines. The device I / F 241 is a connection I / F with an external device that can be connected via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or the like.

[0031] <Software configuration> Below, the operation of each server and printer is explained using a configuration diagram of the repair location notification system. These operations are realized by the CPU executing the programs stored in the memory of each device. These operations are realized by the CPU executing the programs stored in the memory of each device. Note that the table schema and data described below are merely examples, and the table schema and various data formats are not limited to these.

[0032] 4 is a software configuration diagram of the repair location notification system according to the first embodiment. The repair location notification server 101 includes an operation information receiving unit 311, an error determination unit 312, an error history management unit 313, a priority determination unit 314, and a market performance management unit 315. The repair location notification server 101 also includes a compilation filter unit 316, a correct answer master management unit 317, an estimation result management unit 318, a repair procedure display unit 319, and a feedback management unit 320.

[0033] The operation information receiving unit 311 receives error information and printer operation information from the printer 102. The error determination unit 312 has an error determination means, and upon receiving error information from the operation information receiving unit 311, acquires an error history, which is information on errors that have occurred in the past on the printer in which the error occurred, from the error history management unit 313. Furthermore, the error determination unit 312 estimates one or more repair parts for eliminating the error along with the received error information, and the level of the likelihood of the part breaking down. The error determination unit 312 transmits the estimation result together with the error information to the priority determination unit 314, which will be described later. Furthermore, the error determination unit 312 saves the error information received from the operation information receiving unit 311 as error history in the error history management unit 313. Table 1 shows an example of the determination result output by the error determination unit 312.

[0034] [Table 1]

[0035] The result of the judgment by error judgment unit 312 is the part causing the error, and consists of a part number that uniquely identifies the part and the possibility of failure for that part. Error history management unit 313 saves and manages the error information received from error judgment unit 312 as an error history. Table 2 shows an example of part of the error history managed by error history management unit 313.

[0036] [Table 2]

[0037] The error history consists of an error ID that uniquely identifies the error, a device ID that uniquely identifies the printer in which the error occurred, a model number that indicates the type of printer, an error code that indicates the type of error that occurred, a counter value that indicates the number of prints when the error occurred, and the date and time the error occurred.

[0038] Upon receiving the determination result from the error determination unit 312, the priority determination unit 314 acquires and ranks the market performance and feedback information. This market performance is the market performance in which the model number and error code in the error information included in the determination result from the market performance management unit 315 match. The feedback information is information regarding the result of the determination by the feedback management unit 320. The priority determination unit 314 stores the ranked repair procedures in the estimation result management unit 318 as estimation results.

[0039] Market performance management unit 315 holds and manages two types of tally results for all work carried out to resolve errors that have occurred in the past. One of these tally results is a tally on the number of replaced parts, which is a tally of the number of part replacements for each model number, error code, and part number. Another of these tally results is a tally on measures taken, which is a tally of measures taken for each model number and error code. Table 3 shows an example of part of the market replacement performance, which is a tally of the number of replaced parts in the market performance managed by market performance management unit 315. The tally on measures is shown in Tables 5 and 6, which will be described later.

[0040] [Table 3]

[0041] The market performance regarding the number of replaced parts consists of a model number indicating the type of machine, an error code indicating the type of error that occurred, the part number of the part replaced due to the error, and the number of replacements indicating the number of parts replaced. The priority determination unit 314 determines the priority order of repair parts based on the counted number of replaced parts and the determination result of the error determination unit 312. Table 4 shows an example of the estimation result of repair parts estimated by the priority determination unit 314.

[0042] [Table 4]

[0043] The estimation result by the priority determination unit 314 includes the device ID, the error code, the part number of the part to be repaired for the error, and the probability of the cause of failure and a priority indicating the order of the parts to be repaired. Table 5 shows an example of a part of the market treatment results, which is a compilation of the treatments of the market results managed by the market performance management unit 315.

[0044] [Table 5]

[0045] The market performance of the treatment includes a model number indicating the model type, an error code indicating the type of error that occurred, and the treatment taken for the error. In addition, the market performance of the treatment includes a part number if the treatment taken was replacement. Table 6 shows an example of the estimated result of the treatment determined by the priority determination unit 314.

[0046] [Table 6]

[0047] The estimated result of the action includes the device ID, the error code, the action, and the priority of each action. The feedback management unit 320 collects feedback on the actions taken by the user in response to errors that have occurred in the past, and stores and manages the feedback for each error. The action score corresponding to the judgment result received from the error judgment unit 312 is transmitted to the priority judgment unit 314.

[0048] The estimation for the repair parts and the estimation for the treatment are managed as one estimation result. The correct answer master management unit 317 has a correct answer master that defines the combination of the theoretically correct parts and treatment. The aggregation filter unit 316 excludes combinations that are not defined as theoretically correct from the combinations of the repair parts and treatment obtained from Tables 5 and 6 according to the definition of the correct answer master management unit 317. The estimation result management unit 318 manages the combination of the priority of the repair parts and the treatment determined by the priority determination unit 314. Table 7 shows an example of managing the combination of the priority of the repair parts and the treatment determined by the priority determination unit 314. In addition, Table 7 shows an example of managing the priority of the parts from the viewpoints of the priority, device ID, error code, part number, failure cause probability, replacement, cleaning, and adjustment.

[0049] [Table 7]

[0050] When the repair procedure display unit 319 receives a repair procedure acquisition request including a device ID and an error ID from the browser 331 of the PC 103, it acquires an error history in which the device ID and error ID match from the error history management unit 313. The repair procedure display unit 319 also acquires an inference result in which the device ID and error code match from the inference result management unit 318, generates a repair procedure display screen, and returns it to the browser 331. In addition, the repair procedure display unit 319 generates a screen for inputting the execution result after the user has performed the action, and sends it to the browser 331. When feedback information on the action taken that was input by the user is returned from the browser 331, it transmits the feedback information to the feedback management unit 320.

[0051] The printer 102 includes an operation information transmission unit 321, a job execution unit 322, and a control unit 323. The operation information transmission unit 321 transmits error information that occurs in the printer 102, which is collected by the control unit 323 (described below), to the repair point notification server 101. The job execution unit 322 executes jobs submitted to the printer 102. For example, when a print job is submitted, the job execution unit 322 executes printing processing based on the print job. The control unit 323 detects errors that occur in the printer 102, collects error information, and transmits the error information to the repair point notification server 101 via the operation information transmission unit 321.

[0052] <Recommended action estimation process> 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing an example of a method for calculating Table 7 in the recommended action estimation process executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 and the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 are connected by a connector A.

[0053] In step S401, the control unit 323 determines whether an error has occurred in the printer 102.

[0054] In step S402, the operation information transmission unit 321 transmits error information to the repair point notification server 101. Furthermore, upon completion of the processing in step S402, processing of a service (repair point notification service) provided by a management system including the repair point notification server 101 is started.

[0055] In step S403, the operation information receiving unit of the repair location notification server 101 receives the error information. This error information includes the error ID, device ID, model number, error code, counter value, and error occurrence date and time, as shown in the error history in Table 1. In this embodiment, an example is described in which the counter value is included in the error information, but, for example, a method may be used in which the counter value is received from the printer 102 as counter information separate from the error information, and linked to the error information.

[0056] In step S404, the error determination unit 312 registers the received error information in the error history management unit 313 as an error history.

[0057] In step S405, the error determination unit 312 obtains an error history that matches the device ID included in the received error information. For example, if the device ID included in the error information is "DEV0000001", the error determination unit 312 obtains the records in the first and third rows of Table 2.

[0058] In step S406, the error determination unit 312 uses the error information received from the printer 102 and the error history acquired from the error history management unit 313 to output a list of part numbers of parts to be repaired to eliminate the error and their possible failures based on a rule base. In this embodiment, the error determination unit 312 uses a rule base based on the received error information and the history of errors that have occurred in the device in the past, but the method for identifying parts to be repaired is not limited to this. For example, estimation may be performed using supervised machine learning including deep learning.

[0059] In step S407, the priority determination unit 314 acquires market exchange records and market treatment records that match the model number and error code of the error information from the market performance management unit 315. For example, if the model number and error code included in the error information are "Model-001" and "E001-0001", respectively, the priority determination unit 314 can acquire the records in the first to sixth rows of Table 3 as market exchange records. Also, for example, in such a case, the priority determination unit 314 can acquire all rows of Table 6 as market treatment records.

[0060] In step S408, the priority determination unit 314 checks the determination status of the repair parts output by the error determination unit 312. Specifically, in step S408, if the output list of part numbers and failure probabilities contains a mixture of parts with high and low failure probabilities, it is determined that there is a difference in the failure probabilities between the output repair parts, and the process proceeds to step S409. On the other hand, in step S408, if the failure probabilities of all parts are low, it is determined that there is no difference in the failure probabilities between the identified parts, and the process proceeds to step S410.

[0061] In step S409, the priority determination unit 314 ranks the priority of repair parts based on the level of failure possibility and the number of replacements in the market performance. For example, the priority determination unit 314 obtains the number of replacements that match the part numbers included in the list of failure possibilities. Next, the priority determination unit 314 associates the failure cause probability with the part numbers as "(number of replacements of repair parts / total number of replacements of all parts replaced for errors) x 100". In other words, the priority determination unit 314 calculates the failure cause probability for each part so that the sum of the failure cause probabilities of all replaced parts for an error code that occurs in a certain model is 100%.

[0062] In this embodiment, the failure cause probability is calculated as the ratio of the number of replacements of the repair parts to the total number of replacements of all the repair parts to be treated, but the calculation method of the failure cause probability is not limited to the method of this embodiment, and any method may be used. For example, when the market performance acquired in step S407 is the first to sixth rows of Table 3, the total number of replacements of all the replaced parts is 1000, which is the sum of the replacement numbers of the market performance. In this case, the failure cause probability of the part number "Part1-111" is "(510 / 1000) x 100 = 51.0". Similarly, the failure cause probabilities of the other part numbers "Part2-222", "Part3-333", "Part4-444", and "Part5-555" are "21.8", "9.2", "2.0", and "14.0", respectively.

[0063] Here, the priority determination unit 314 performs priority ranking based not only on the failure cause probability but also on the failure probability list output by the error determination unit 312 in step S406, taking into account the level of the failure probability of each component.

[0064] For example, the failure cause probability of "Part1-111" is "(510 / 1000)×100=51.0". Similarly, the failure cause probabilities of other part numbers "Part2-222", "Part3-333", "Part4-444", and "Part5-555" are "21.8", "9.2", "2.0", and "14.0", respectively. Also, if the failure probabilities of part numbers "Part2-222", "Part3-333", "Part4-444", and "Part5-555" are "high possibility", "high possibility", "high possibility", "low possibility", and "low possibility", respectively, the priority determination unit 314 performs the following process. That is, in such a case, the priority determination unit 314 sorts the "high possibility" repair parts and the "low possibility" repair parts in descending order of failure cause probability. At this time, the priorities are "1" to "5" in the order of "Part1-111", "Part2-222", "Part3-333", "Part5-555", and "Part4-444". Furthermore, the priority determination unit 314 sets the failure cause probability of "Part4-444" and "Part5-555", which have a low failure probability, to "low probability".

[0065] In step S410, the priority determination unit 314 assigns priorities to the repair parts based on the number of replacements in the market.

[0066] In step S411, the priority determination unit 314 determines whether or not there is a problem with the combination of the repair part and the treatment identified in the repair part estimation process in step S406. If the priority determination unit 314 determines that there is a problem with the combination of the repair part and the treatment identified in the repair part estimation process in step S406, the priority determination unit 314 proceeds to step S412. For example, depending on the part, there may be cases where none of the treatments "replacement", "cleaning", and "adjustment" exists. In such a case, the priority determination unit 314 determines that there is a problem with the combination of the repair part and the treatment identified in the repair part estimation process in step S406. On the other hand, if the priority determination unit 314 determines that there is no problem with the combination of the repair part and the treatment identified in the repair part estimation process in step S406, the priority determination unit 314 proceeds to step S413.

[0067] In step S412, the priority determination unit 314 deletes any combination of parts and treatments that does not exist in the correct answer master. For this purpose, the priority determination unit 314 defines a correct answer master that defines theoretically correct treatments, filters out treatments that cannot exist, and sets the priority of treatments that are determined to not exist to "-". The priority determination unit 314 also sets "-" for all treatments for repair parts that are determined to be unlikely by the error determination unit 312. Note that the priority determination unit 314 sets "-" even when a treatment for a repair part exists, but distinguishes this from a case where a treatment for a repair part does not exist by the method shown in the description of UI display described later.

[0068] In step S413, the priority determination unit 314 determines whether or not verification of all combinations of repair parts and treatments has been completed. If the priority determination unit 314 determines that verification of all combinations of repair parts and treatments has been completed, the process proceeds to step S414. On the other hand, if the priority determination unit 314 determines that verification of all combinations of repair parts and treatments has not been completed, the process returns to step S411.

[0069] In step S414, the priority determination unit 314 acquires each treatment score based on the feedback information from the feedback management unit 320, and recalculates and adjusts the treatment priority according to the treatment score.

[0070] In step S415, the priority determination unit 314 registers the priority of each action calculated in the processes up to this point, together with the device ID and error code of the error information, as an estimation result in the estimation result management unit 318. For example, an example of an estimation result of a recommended action calculated from the examples of Tables 4 and 6 is shown in Table 7. In this way, the priority determination unit 314 can estimate a recommended action for an error that has occurred in the printer 102.

[0071] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a market performance tabulation process for calculating Table 4, which is executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment.

[0072] In step S501, the priority determination unit 314 acquires the market performance managed by the market performance management unit 315. The market performance acquired here includes at least the model number, the error code, and information on replacement parts.

[0073] In step S502, the priority determination unit 314 tally up the replacement parts and the number of replacements for each model number and error code. As a result of the tallying, the priority determination unit 314 obtains a tally of market replacement performance, with Table 3 being an example.

[0074] In step S503, the priority determination unit 314 deletes invalid combinations from the combinations of model numbers, error codes, and replacement parts. For example, the priority determination unit 314 places a correct answer master that defines theoretically correct processing for failures in the correct answer master management unit 317, and causes the aggregation filter unit 316 to filter the market replacement records held in the market record management unit 315.

[0075] In step S504, the priority determination unit 314 registers the aggregated results of the market exchange performance calculated in the processes up to step S503 in the market performance management unit 315. In this manner, the market performance management unit 315 holds the aggregated results of the market exchange performance.

[0076] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating Table 6 based on market action records, which is executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment.

[0077] In step S505, the priority determination unit 314 acquires the market performance managed by the market performance management unit 315. The market performance acquired here includes at least the model number, the error code, and information on the action taken. Table 5 is an example of the information acquired here.

[0078] In step S506, the priority determination unit 314 counts the number of actions taken for each model number and error code.

[0079] In step S507, the priority determination unit 314 ranks the priorities based on the number of procedures. For example, the priority determination unit 314 determines the priority of each procedure from the track record of procedures in the market acquired in step S506. Here, the priority determination unit 314 classifies and tallys up the procedures that can be acquired as market track record into three types: "replacement," "adjustment," and "cleaning." The priority determination unit 314 calculates the number of procedures for each model number and error code, and calculates the proportion of each as a percentage.

[0080] The priority determination unit 314 sets the priority of the action having the highest calculated ratio to "A". Furthermore, the priority determination unit 314 sets the priority to "A" if the difference from the action having the highest ratio is within 5%, sets the priority to "B" if the difference is greater than 5% and within 20%, and sets the priority to "C" if the difference is greater than 20%. For example, if the ratio of "replacement" is 50%, the ratio of "cleaning" is 35%, and the ratio of "adjustment" is 15%, the priority of "replacement" is "A", the priority of "cleaning" is "B", and the priority of "adjustment" is "C". Table 6 shows the estimated results of the recommended actions in the example shown in Table 5.

[0081] In step S508, the priority determination unit 314 registers the results of the compilation up to step S507 as market action results in the compilation result management unit 315. In this manner, the market action results management unit 315 holds the compilation results of the market action results.

[0082] <Adjustment of priority of treatment based on feedback> Fig. 9 is a flowchart for explaining details of the adjustment process of treatment priority by feedback when calculating Table 7 in the recommended treatment estimation process executed by the priority determination unit according to the first embodiment. That is, Fig. 9 is a flowchart for explaining details of the above-mentioned step S414. The process shown in Fig. 9 is executed after the priority determination unit 314 confirms in step S413 whether verification of all combinations of repair parts and treatments has been completed, and before registering the estimation results in the estimation result management unit 318 in step S415.

[0083] In step S601, the priority determination unit 314 obtains the action scores managed by the feedback management unit 320, and obtains the maximum score addition count. The action scores are values ​​assigned to each of "replacement," "adjustment," and "cleaning." The initial value of the action score is calculated from the proportion of actions taken in the market performance for each error code. For example, if the proportion of "replacement" is 50%, the proportion of "cleaning" is 35, and the proportion of "adjustment" is 15%, the initial score for "replacement" will be 50, the initial score for "cleaning" will be 35, and the initial score for "adjustment" will be 15.

[0084] The priority determination unit 314 reflects the contents of the feedback information held in the feedback management unit 320 in these initial scores. This causes the action scores to fluctuate. For example, the priority determination unit 314 adds 2 to the score for an action that was actually performed based on the feedback information, and subtracts 1 for other actions. For example, in the initial scores in the above example, if there are two pieces of feedback information in which "replacement" was performed, the score for "replacement" is updated to 54, the score for "cleaning" is updated to 33, and the score for "adjustment" is updated to 13.

[0085] Furthermore, when an action score is incremented, the priority determination unit 314 counts the number of times that a score is continuously incremented to an action that already has the highest action score. For example, when the priority determination unit 314 receives feedback indicating that an exchange action has been performed when "exchange" has the highest score, the priority determination unit 314 increments the count by 1, and when the priority determination unit 314 receives feedback indicating that another action has been performed, the priority determination unit 314 decrements the count by 1. The count will not become smaller than 0. Furthermore, the priority determination unit 314 processes the feedback in the order in which it was received.

[0086] In step S602, the priority determination unit 314 updates the treatment priority based on the treatment score acquired in step S601. The priority determination unit 314 recalculates the priority by taking the treatment score as the ratio of each treatment according to the method of the market performance aggregation processing described above.

[0087] In step S603, the priority determination unit 314 determines whether the count is 10 or greater. Note that this value of "10" is just an example, and any value may be used. If the priority determination unit 314 determines that the count is 10 or greater, the process proceeds to step S604. On the other hand, if the priority determination unit 314 determines that the count is less than 10, the process proceeds to step S605.

[0088] In step S604, the priority determination unit 314 assigns a special priority "A+" to the process that has the highest process priority level "A", and ends the process.

[0089] In step S605, the priority determination unit 314 assigns a normal priority and ends the process. Note that, for example, the priority determination unit 314 may end the process as it is. Alternatively, the priority determination unit 314 may return the priority "A" or "B" or "C" to the action that has already been assigned the priority "A+", and end the process.

[0090] <GUI for repair part display screen> 10 is a diagram showing an example of a repair procedure display screen displayed on a browser according to the first embodiment. The repair procedure display unit 319 of the repair part notification server 101, which has accepted a repair procedure acquisition request including a device ID and an error code from the browser 331 of the PC 103, returns the request to the browser 331, whereby the screen is displayed on the browser 331. A method for generating a repair part display screen by the repair procedure display unit 319 has already been explained, and will not be described here.

[0091] The repair location notification system according to this embodiment is a system that displays a repair procedure for solving each error that has occurred. The repair procedure display screen 700 includes a repair procedure for the error specified from the browser 331.

[0092] Repair procedure display screen 700 displays the error history and estimation results managed by repair location notification server 101. Device ID 701 displays the device ID of an error history whose error code matches the error ID specified in the repair procedure acquisition request and the error history managed by error history management unit 313. Error code 702 displays the error code of an error history whose error code matches the error ID specified in the repair procedure acquisition request and the error history managed by error history management unit 313.

[0093] The date and time of occurrence 703 displays the date and time of occurrence of an error history whose error code matches the error code specified in the repair procedure acquisition request among the error histories managed by the error history management unit 313 .

[0094] Repair parts 704 displays the inference result where the error ID of the repair procedure acquisition request is located, among the inference results managed by the inference result management unit 318. The repair procedure display unit 319 displays the inference results on repair parts 704 in the order of decreasing priority of the inference results for replacement parts, making it possible to present to the user which part they should start with for repair.

[0095] In the present embodiment, the case where the estimation results are only displayed in order of priority has been described as an example. However, for example, when there are multiple estimation results, an icon or a message may be further displayed on the repair procedure display screen 700 to indicate that the part is a part that needs to be treated, for an estimation result whose priority exceeds a certain threshold.

[0096] Part number 705 displays the part number of the estimation result managed by estimation result management unit 318. In the case of a part that has been determined by error determination unit 312 to have a low probability of failure, the part is displayed lower in accordance with the priority managed by determination result management unit 318, and the display itself is grayed out.

[0097] The failure cause probability 706 displays the failure cause probability of the repair part managed by the judgment result management unit 318. The failure cause probability 706 indicates the market performance of the part among parts of the same model that have been replaced due to the same error. Furthermore, for parts that have been judged by the error judgment unit 312 to have a low probability of failure, the failure cause probability column will be marked "low probability."

[0098] The recommended action 707 displays the priorities of "replacement", "cleaning" and "adjustment" as "A", "B" or "C" based on the recommended action estimation result managed by the judgment result management unit 318. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a repair procedure display screen in the case where there is a action to which the action priority "A+" has been assigned as a result of the action priority adjustment process by feedback shown in Fig. 9. In the example shown in Fig. 11, the recommended action 712 displays the priorities of "replacement", "cleaning" and "adjustment" to which the priority "A+" has been assigned as "A+".

[0099] For some parts, there may be cases where no specific action exists and therefore no recommended action can be displayed. In such cases, for example, "-" is displayed as in recommended action 708, as managed by the estimation result management unit 318. Part number 709, failure cause probability 710, and recommended action 711 show examples of displays related to parts that have been determined to be "low probability" by the error determination unit 312. In this case, they are displayed lower in accordance with the priority managed by the determination result management unit 318, and the display itself is grayed out. Furthermore, "-" is displayed for the action, but the background color is used to distinguish it from the "-" that is displayed when no action exists (it is not a theoretically correct action).

[0100] As a result of the above, repair parts for solving an error that has occurred in the printer can be ranked in order of the likelihood that they will solve the error, and recommended measures can also be displayed.

[0101] Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, it is assumed that in step S406, the error determination unit 312 outputs one or more pieces of information related to parts with a high probability of failure. However, there are cases where the error determination unit 312 does not output information related to parts with a high probability of failure, and only outputs information related to parts with a low probability of failure. In this case, if the processing of the first embodiment is followed, all parts will be displayed in a grayed-out state, the failure cause probability will be displayed as "low probability," and none of the priority levels for measures "A," "B," or "C" will be displayed, making it impossible to provide sufficient information to the user.

[0102] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which even when the error determination unit 312 outputs only information related to parts with a low probability of failure, appropriate information is displayed on the repair part 704. Note that in the second embodiment, the same content as in the first embodiment will not be described.

[0103] The software configuration of the second embodiment is similar to the configuration shown in Fig. 3. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the error determination unit 312 outputs information about one or more parts that are likely to fail, and the process of step S409 is performed after the determination of step S408. However, in the second embodiment, the process of step S410 is performed to consider a case where the information about all of the output parts is unlikely to fail.

[0104] In the case of Table 3 in the second embodiment, the processing to the priority and the failure cause probability, which was performed in the first embodiment by utilizing the difference in the failure possibility between the parts output by the error determination unit 312, is not performed. The estimation result in the second embodiment, which corresponds to Table 7 in the first embodiment 1, is shown in Table 8.

[0105] [Table 8]

[0106] Table 8 shows the priority of parts, device ID, error code, part number, failure cause probability, and priority of each action of replacement, cleaning, and adjustment. The calculation method of Table 8 is the same as that of the first embodiment, except for editing due to the difference between parts for which a high failure probability is output by the error determination unit 312 and parts for which a low failure probability is output. Note that part number 709, failure cause probability 710, and recommended action 711 are not displayed. In addition, all repair parts are displayed in color, and the failure cause probability and action priority are also displayed.

[0107] <Third embodiment> In the second embodiment, a proposal was made regarding the display when the error determination unit 312 has determined that the probability of failure is low for all components. In the specifications of this second embodiment, the same display is made when all components have a high probability of failure and when all components have a low probability of failure. However, the accuracy of estimation differs between the cases where the error determination unit 312 has determined that all components have a high probability of failure and the cases where the probability of failure is low for all components, because the information used differs. However, in the second embodiment, because the display is the same, the user cannot distinguish the difference in the accuracy of estimation.

[0108] Fig. 12 is a software configuration diagram of a repair location notification system according to the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 12, the repair location notification server 101 includes a reliability determination unit 801. The reliability determination unit 801 displays an icon indicating the reliability, which is the accuracy of the estimated information. The reliability level is increased or decreased by one level depending on whether or not the failure possibility of each part in the list of failed parts output by the error determination unit 312 includes "high possibility."

[0109] The reliability is also used to determine the state of market performance managed by the market performance management unit 315. Specifically, the reliability decreases when the market performance does not reach a reliable parameter. Therefore, the reliability determination unit 801 increases or decreases the reliability by one level depending on whether it is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Table 9 shows an example of reliability determined by the reliability determination unit 801.

[0110] [Table 9]

[0111] The reliability determination unit 801 determines the reliability from the viewpoint of whether or not the output of the error determination means included in the error determination unit 312 includes a "high possibility" part, and from the viewpoint of whether or not the parameter of the market performance is equal to or greater than a threshold. As shown in Table 9, the more information is available, the more stars, which are an example of an icon representing the reliability, are displayed.

[0112] 13 is a diagram showing an example of a repair procedure display screen displayed on a browser according to the second embodiment. The reliability determined by the reliability determination unit 801 is held by the repair procedure display unit 319 and displayed by the reliability display unit 912.

[0113] Other elements shown in Fig. 10 are displayed through the same process as in the first embodiment, like the screen shown in Fig. 10 or 11. Recommended action 907 displays the priorities of "replacement", "cleaning" and "adjustment" as "A", "B" or "C" based on the recommended action estimation result managed by the judgment result management unit 318. However, when there is a action to which the action priority "A+" has been assigned as a result of the action priority adjustment process based on feedback shown in Fig. 9, the recommended action 907 displays the priority of the corresponding action as "A+".

[0114] <Fourth embodiment> In the first embodiment, a "-" is displayed for actions that are defined as not existing in the correct answer master that defines theoretically correct actions. However, even if a "-" is displayed, if a user performs an action with a "-" displayed and provides feedback, the action score for the action that is not actually existing will fluctuate and the priority will be adjusted, which will weaken the definition of the correct answer master.

[0115] Therefore, in the third embodiment, the handling of feedback information when a procedure defined as not existing in the correct answer master is actually executed will be described. Note that the software configuration in the third embodiment is the same as that shown in Fig. 4, and the description of the same contents as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0116] In the third embodiment, feedback information for actions defined as not existing in the correct answer master (hereinafter, referred to as "-" actions) is accumulated in the feedback management unit 320 as in the first embodiment. However, the action priority adjustment process by feedback in the priority determination unit 314, which is performed using the feedback information, is not performed. Also, the process of varying the action score of the "-" action is not executed. Furthermore, the contents of the action score of the "-" action are not reflected at all on the GUI.

[0117] The feedback management unit 320 visualizes and transmits the accumulated feedback information indicating that the "-" action has been taken to the correct master management unit 317. This allows the person in charge of developing and adjusting the correct master to utilize the information to reduce the discrepancy between the user and the correct master.

[0118] The present invention includes the following inventions that appropriately combine the above-mentioned features.

[0119] (Configuration 1) an information provision system comprising: a performance management means for managing performance data indicating performance data taken to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming device in the past and evaluation data indicating an evaluation of the performance data taken to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming device in the past; a performance identification means for identifying a performance data necessary to resolve an error that has occurred in the image forming device; a display means for displaying a priority indicating the degree to which each of the performance data identified by the performance identification means should be prioritized; and a feedback means for receiving evaluation data indicating the evaluation of each of the performance data identified by the performance identification means and having the performance management means manage the evaluation data as the performance data, and for controlling the display means to display different priorities for performance data that meet a condition of having received an evaluation above a predetermined level more than a predetermined number of times and performance data that does not meet the condition.

[0120] (Configuration 2) The information providing system according to configuration 1, wherein the feedback means receives action data for at least one of the actions identified by the action identification means, causes the results management means to manage the action as the results, and controls the display means to display a predetermined icon for an action that meets the condition of having been performed more than a predetermined number of times.

[0121] (Configuration 3) The information providing system according to the first or second configuration, wherein when the feedback means receives action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed, the feedback means causes the result management means to manage the action data indicating the action as the result without processing the action data.

[0122] (Configuration 4) The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 3, characterized in that when the feedback means receives treatment data indicating a treatment for which the priority is not displayed, the feedback means does not change the evaluation of the treatment.

[0123] (Configuration 5) The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 4, characterized in that when the feedback means receives for the first time action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed, the feedback means causes the performance management means to manage the value indicated by the evaluation data of the action as zero.

[0124] (Configuration 6) The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 5, wherein when the feedback means receives treatment data indicating a treatment for which the priority is not displayed, the feedback means controls the display means not to change the manner in which the priority of the treatment is displayed.

[0125] (Configuration 7) The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, wherein when the feedback means receives action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed, the feedback means receives evaluation data of the action and has the result management means manage the evaluation data as the result.

[0126] (Method 1) a performance management means for managing performance data indicating performance data taken to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past and evaluation data indicating an evaluation of the performance data taken to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past as performance data; a performance identification means for identifying performance data required to resolve errors that have occurred in the image forming apparatus; a display means for displaying a priority indicating the degree to which each of the performance data identified by the performance identification means should be prioritized; a feedback means for receiving evaluation data indicating the evaluation of each of the performance data identified by the performance identification means and having the performance management means manage the evaluation data as the performance data; and a feedback means for controlling the display means so that the manner in which the priority is displayed is different for a performance data that satisfies a condition of having received an evaluation above a predetermined level more than a predetermined number of times and a performance data that does not satisfy the condition.

[0127] <Other embodiments> The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a recording medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit for implementing one or more of the functions, such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0128] The above describes preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. In other words, the present invention includes embodiments in which various modifications have been made based on the gist of the present invention, and these embodiments are not excluded from the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0129] 101 Repair notification server 102 Printer 312 Error detection unit 314 Priority judgment unit 315 Market Performance Management Department 316 Estimation Results Management Department 319 Repair procedure display unit 320 Feedback Management Department

Claims

1. An information provision system comprising storage means, A management means that manages, using the storage means, treatment data indicating measures taken to resolve errors that occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past, and evaluation data indicating the evaluation of measures taken to resolve errors that occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past, as actual results. A means for identifying the measures necessary to resolve an error that occurred in an image forming apparatus, Each of the aforementioned identified measures has a control means for controlling the display of priority indicating the degree to which it should be implemented with priority, The management means further manages evaluation data indicating the evaluation of each of the identified measures as actual results using the storage means, In the aforementioned priority display, control is performed to differentiate the display manner between actions that satisfy the first condition, which is receiving an evaluation exceeding a predetermined level more than a predetermined number of times, and actions that do not satisfy the first condition. An information provision system characterized by the following features.

2. Treatment data for at least one of the specified treatments is further managed as the performance data, In the aforementioned priority display, control is performed such that a predetermined icon is displayed for actions that satisfy the second condition, which is that they have been performed more than a predetermined number of times. The information provision system according to feature 1.

3. The treatment data indicating a treatment for which the priority is not displayed is managed as the actual results without any processing. The information provision system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the features described above.

4. When action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed is received, the evaluation of the action is not changed. The information provision system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the features described herein.

5. When action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed is received for the first time, the value indicated by the evaluation data for that action is managed as zero. The information provision system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the features described above.

6. When action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed is received, the display mode of the priority for that action is not changed. The information provision system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the features described herein.

7. When action data indicating an action for which the priority is not displayed is received, the evaluation data of the action is further managed as the performance data. The information provision system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the features described herein.

8. A method to be performed by an information provision system equipped with storage means, A process of managing, using the storage means, treatment data indicating measures taken to resolve errors that occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past, and evaluation data indicating the evaluation of measures taken to resolve errors that occurred in the image forming apparatus in the past, as actual results. A process to identify the measures necessary to resolve an error that occurred in the image forming apparatus, A step of controlling the display of priority indicating the degree to which each of the identified measures should be implemented with priority, The process includes further managing evaluation data, which indicates the evaluation of each of the specified measures, as actual results using the storage means, In the aforementioned priority display, control is performed to differentiate the display manner between actions that satisfy the first condition, which is receiving an evaluation exceeding a predetermined level more than a predetermined number of times, and actions that do not satisfy the first condition. A method characterized by the following:

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