Instruction manual preparation device and program

Abstract

To propose an instruction manual preparation device which can easily perform creation and preparation of instruction manuals of various products while a business operator receives assistance by a computer.SOLUTION: An instruction manual preparation device acquires input data from a user terminal used by a user, and prepares instruction manuals of products. The instruction manual preparation device comprises a control unit which executes: a common item data input instruction step which instructs the user terminal to input common item data which are content data common to various products published on the instruction manual, common to elements constituting the various products, and common to attributes of the various products; an additional item data input instruction step which instructs the user terminal to input additional item data which are content data inherent to the various products published on the instruction manual; and an instruction manual data generation step which generates instruction manual data in which the inputted common item data and the additional item data are arranged in a predetermined instruction manual form.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 17

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an instruction manual creation device and a program that support the creation of instruction manuals for various products. [Background technology]

[0002] Businesses that manufacture and sell various products typically prepare instruction manuals when selling their products. In such cases, the creation and preparation of the instruction manuals is typically outsourced to external designers. This means that these businesses incur costs, such as outsourcing the creation and preparation of the instruction manuals to external designers, as well as the time and workload involved in exchanging data.

[0003] Various proposals have been made to address these problems. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an instruction manual creation support device that can efficiently perform the work of creating manuals. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-247916 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When businesses that manufacture and sell various products prepare instruction manuals for their products, it is common for them to incur costs such as outsourcing design, time required to prepare the instruction manuals, and complicated work.

[0006] Therefore, it is desirable for businesses that manufacture and sell various products to reduce the costs incurred when preparing the above-mentioned instruction manuals, shorten the time required to prepare the instruction manuals, and reduce the complicated work that occurs when preparing the instruction manuals.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to propose an instruction manual creation device that enables the business operator to easily create and prepare the instruction manual with computer support. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] [1] An instruction manual creation device that acquires input data from a user terminal used by a user and creates an instruction manual for a product, The instruction manual creation device includes a control unit, The control unit a common item data input instruction step of instructing the user terminal to input common item data, which is content data to be included in the instruction manual and is common to various products, common to elements constituting various products, and common to attributes of various products; an additional item data input instruction step of instructing the user terminal to input additional item data which is content data specific to various products included in the instruction manual; and generating instruction manual data in which the input common item data and additional item data are arranged in a predetermined instruction manual form. An instruction manual creation device characterized by: [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to this invention, businesses that manufacture and sell various products can easily create and prepare instruction manuals to prepare for the sale of their products with the assistance of a computer.

[0010] This will enable businesses that manufacture and sell various products to reduce the costs incurred when preparing the instruction manuals, shorten the time required to prepare the instruction manuals, and reduce the complicated work involved in preparing the instruction manuals. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of an instruction manual creation system including an instruction manual creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the software configuration of an instruction manual creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a flowchart showing an example of information processing according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] (a) and (b) are examples of common item data. [Figure 5] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 6] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 7] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 8] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 9] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 10] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 11] (a), (b), and (c) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 12] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 13] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 14] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of common item data. [Figure 15] FIG. 1A is a diagram showing another example of common item data; FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of additional item data; [Figure 16] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of additional item data. [Figure 17] (a) and (b) are examples of instruction manuals to be created. [Figure 18] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of instruction manuals to be created. [Figure 19] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of instruction manuals to be created. [Figure 20] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of instruction manuals to be created. [Figure 21] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of instruction manuals to be created. [Figure 22] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing other examples of instruction manuals to be created. [Figure 23] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of an instruction manual to be created. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The instruction manual creation system, which is one aspect of this embodiment, is comprised of one or more computers and is used by businesses that manufacture and sell various products when they create and prepare instruction manuals to prepare for the sale of their products with the assistance of a computer.

[0013] In one embodiment, a service provider that provides an instruction manual creation service according to this embodiment provides the business operator with application software that enables the creation of instruction manuals on the Web.

[0014] Such an instruction manual creation system is a system that is constructed and managed by the service provider using one or more computers.

[0015] In one embodiment, the instruction manual creation system of this embodiment can be constructed by connecting user terminals used by the above-mentioned businesses, factories outsourced to manufacture products, printing companies outsourced to print instruction manuals, etc. (hereinafter, these parties may be referred to as "users") to an instruction manual creation device managed by the above-mentioned service provider so that they can communicate with each other, and the instruction manuals can be created on the web.

[0016] In the form shown in Figure 1, the instruction manual creation system 1 is constructed by connecting user terminals 3, 3, 3, ... used by multiple users respectively to an instruction manual creation device 2 managed by the service provider so that they can communicate with each other via a communication network 4 including the Internet communication network and a wireless communication network defined by wireless communication standards.

[0017] This embodiment includes a computer program for causing a computer to function as the instruction manual creation system 1 described in this embodiment.

[0018] Application software related to the instruction manual creation service provided by the instruction manual creation system 1 of this embodiment is installed on the user terminal 3, and by executing this application software, the user can easily create and prepare product instruction manuals by operating the user terminal 3.

[0019] [User device] The user terminal 3 is a terminal such as a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet that is used by a user who uses the instruction manual creation service to create and prepare instruction manuals for various products.

[0020] Although not shown in the figure, the user terminal 3 is equipped with a central processing unit composed of a CPU or the like that processes and performs calculations on various data, a main storage device such as a main memory that stores various data, an auxiliary storage device such as an internal storage, input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, and touch panel, an output device such as a display, a communication I / F (Interface) that communicates with the instruction manual creation device 2, and a web browser for using the instruction manual creation service provided by the service provider.

[0021] [Instruction manual creation device] The instruction manual creation device 2 is composed of one or more computers, and is a device that creates instruction manuals for various products by acquiring input data from the user terminal 3. In this embodiment, the instruction manual creation device 2 is composed of a server and a database (hereinafter, in this specification and drawings, the database will be referred to as "DB") managed by the service provider.

[0022] Although not shown, the hardware configuration of the server includes a central processing unit configured with a CPU or the like for processing and calculating various types of data, a main storage device such as a main memory for storing various types of data, an auxiliary storage device such as an internal storage, and a communication I / F (Interface) for communicating with the user terminal 3. The server may be configured with one or more devices, or may be a server realized on the cloud.

[0023] The instruction manual creating device 2 includes a control unit 5 and a storage unit 6 as a software configuration, as shown in FIG.

[0024] The storage unit 6 performs the following process to construct a DB.

[0025] User DB The user DB6a stores user data that is configured by associating a user account created when a user uses the instruction manual creation service of this embodiment with instruction manual data for the product generated using the service.

[0026] ·Legal DB The legal database 6b stores data on various laws and regulations that apply to the manufacture and sale of various products. For example, data on the Product Liability Act, Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act, Household Goods Quality Labeling Act, Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, Act on Ensuring Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, etc. (PMD Act), Recycling Act, Measurement Act, and Fluorocarbons Emission Control Act are stored. Storing this data prevents the loss of information on legal descriptions that comply with laws and regulations when manufacturing and selling a product, when generating data for the product's instruction manual (described later).

[0027] ·Common item DB The common item DB 6c stores common item data, which is content data common to various products listed in instruction manuals. In this embodiment, common content data generated in advance for each of the following hierarchical product categories shown in Figure 3 is stored.

[0028] (Category C1) In this embodiment, electrical appliances are classified as an example in category C1, and common item data based on the above-mentioned legal data that is common to all electrical appliances is stored in category C1. For example, content data that warns and calls attention common to all electrical appliances as shown in Fig. 4, content data that calls attention to the names of common components (names of each part) common to all electrical appliances, usage methods (how to use), cleaning methods (how to care for), and storage methods (how to store), as well as specification input fields (specifications) common to all electrical appliances are stored as common item data 7a.

[0029] (Category C2) In this embodiment, as an example, category C2 classifies power supply types, which are elements that make up electrical appliances, and stores common item data that is common to each power supply type and is based on the above-mentioned legal data. For example, as shown in Figures 6 to 11, content data that warns and calls attention to the names of components (names of each part) of each power supply type, content data that calls attention to how to use them, and how to clean them, as well as specification input fields (specifications) for each power supply type are stored as common item data 7b.

[0030] (Category C3) In this embodiment, category C3 classifies the attributes of electrical appliances, such as use and power source, as an example, and stores common item data based on the above-mentioned legal data, which is common to each use and power source. For example, content data that warns and calls attention to common electrical appliances belonging to the use and power source category as shown in Fig. 12, and content data that calls attention to how to use and clean the electrical appliance, etc., are stored as common item data 7c.

[0031] (Category C4) In this embodiment, as an example, category C4 classifies names, which are attributes of electrical appliances, and stores common item data based on the above-mentioned legal data, which is common to each name. For example, content data common to electrical appliances with some names and a specification input field for the electrical appliance (contents to be displayed on the main body, standard specification conditions) as shown in Fig. 13, content data for warnings and cautions common to electrical appliances with each name as shown in Fig. 14-Fig. 15(a), content data for cautions regarding how to use (how to use), how to clean (how to maintain), etc. of the electrical appliance, and a specification input field (specifications) for the electrical appliance are stored as common item data 7d.

[0032] Additional item DB The additional item DB 6d stores additional item data, which is content data specific to various products that are included in instruction manuals. In this embodiment, the additional item DB 6d stores unique content data that has been generated in advance for each of the following hierarchical product categories shown in FIG.

[0033] (Category C5) In this embodiment, as an example, category C5 classifies specific electrical appliances among those classified in category C4, and stores additional item data specific to the specific electrical appliances and based on the above-mentioned legal data. For example, content data for warnings and cautions specific to an oven-type toaster as shown in Fig. 15(b), how to use the toaster (how to use) and a specification input field (specifications), and content data for warnings and cautions about the names (names of each part) and specification input field (specifications) of accessories and auxiliary devices / equipment of a specific electrical appliance as shown in Fig. 16 are stored as additional item data 8.

[0034] ·Instruction manual form DB The instruction manual form DB 6e stores various instruction manual forms, such as the size, font, table of contents, and pages of items corresponding to the table of contents (e.g., recipes, warranty cards, etc.) of the instruction manual, associated with various products.

[0035] The control unit 5 causes the instruction manual creation device 2 to function as an item data management means 5a, an instruction manual creation means 5b, and an instruction manual editing means 5c.

[0036] When the instruction manual creation device 2 is made to function as item data management means 5a, the control unit 5 executes screen display and screen transition steps such as displaying the top screen of the instruction manual creation service, input screens for various information, and displaying output screens in response to access from the user terminal 3 and operation of the user terminal 3 by the user.

[0037] For example, the control unit 5 executes a common item data input instruction step that instructs input of common item data 7, which is content data common to the above-mentioned various products, common to the elements that make up the various products, and common to the attributes of the various products.

[0038] The selection screen for the above-mentioned categories C1-C4 is displayed on the user terminal 3, and the user operates the user terminal 3 to select the necessary content data from the various content data provided by the common item DB6c for each selected category, enters the data in the specification input field, and, if necessary, uploads product image data etc. that the user owns.

[0039] Furthermore, the control unit 5 executes an additional item data input instruction step of instructing the user terminal 3 to input the additional item data 8, which is content data unique to each of the above-mentioned various products.

[0040] The selection screen for category C5 described above is displayed on the user terminal 3, and the user operates the user terminal 3 to select the necessary content data from the various content data provided by the additional item DB6d in the selected category, enters the data in the specification input field, and uploads product image data etc. that the user owns, if necessary.

[0041] When the instruction manual creation device 2 is made to function as the instruction manual creation means 5b, the control unit 5 executes an instruction manual data generation step of calling up the instruction manual form associated with the selected product from the instruction manual form DB 6e, arranging the common item data 7 and additional item data 8 entered in the form into a predetermined instruction manual form, and generating instruction manual data. When this step is executed, instruction manual data for the product as shown in Figures 17 to 23 is generated and displayed on the user terminal 3.

[0042] When the instruction manual creation device 2 is made to function as the instruction manual editing means 5c, the control unit 5 executes an editing step that provides the user terminal 3 with an editing function for the instruction manual data. For example, editable portions are displayed with a border, a change in color, etc., and tools for inputting text and inserting images are displayed, causing the user terminal 3 to edit the instruction manual data. The user can operate the user terminal 3 to reselect, change, or delete content data related to the common item data 7 and content data related to the additional item data 8, and can input the necessary data into each form called up from the instruction manual form DB 6e as shown in Figures 21(a), 22, and 23.

[0043] As described above, the instruction manual creation system 1 of this embodiment has the function of designing various product instruction manuals on the Web or through application software, so businesses that manufacture and sell various products can reduce the design outsourcing costs, the time costs associated with outsourcing design, and the complicated work involved in exchanging data when designing and preparing instruction manuals for their products.

[0044] Furthermore, instruction manuals must include information based on the laws and regulations applicable to each product, and the instruction manual creation system 1 of this embodiment allows the business operator to appropriately reflect information based on the laws and regulations in the instruction manual.

[0045] This allows businesses that manufacture and sell various products to easily create and prepare the content to be included in the instruction manuals when they create and prepare instruction manuals for their products, with the assistance of computers.

[0046] In addition, factories that outsource product manufacturing and printing companies that outsource printing of instruction manuals can proofread instruction manual data online and can also perform tasks such as handing over the data online, which reduces the process of handing over paper instruction manuals when creating and preparing product instruction manuals. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1. Instruction manual creation system 4. Communication Network 7 Common item data 8 Additional data

Claims

1. An instruction manual creation device that acquires input data from a user terminal used by a user and creates an instruction manual for a product, The instruction manual creation device includes a control unit, The control unit a common item data input instruction step of instructing the user terminal to input common item data, which is content data to be included in the instruction manual and is common to various products, common to elements constituting various products, and common to attributes of various products; an additional item data input instruction step of instructing the user terminal to input additional item data which is content data specific to various products included in the instruction manual; and generating instruction manual data in which the input common item data and additional item data are arranged in a predetermined instruction manual form. An instruction manual creation device characterized by:

2. The common item data includes at least one of one or more of the common content data set in advance for each hierarchical product category, or text data or image data relating to various products acquired from the user terminal.

2. The instruction manual creation device according to claim 1.

3. The additional item data includes at least one of one or more of the unique content data set in advance for each hierarchical product category, or text data or image data relating to various products acquired from the user terminal.

3. The instruction manual creating device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. a common item data input instruction step of instructing a user terminal used by a user to input common item data, which is content data common to various products and common to elements constituting various products and is described in product instruction manuals; an additional item data input instruction step of instructing the user terminal to input additional item data which is content data specific to various products included in the instruction manual; an instruction manual data generation step for generating instruction manual data in which the input common item data and additional item data are arranged in a predetermined instruction manual form; A program that causes a computer to function as a control means for executing the following:

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