Device management system and device management program

Abstract

To provide a device management system and a device management program that enable a user to easily recognize a sign of a device failure. [Solution] The device management system has a device management unit that manages image forming devices as devices, and the device management unit issues a warning of signs of a malfunction in the image forming device, and when the device management unit issues a warning of signs of a malfunction in the image forming device, it sends a warning email as an e-mail to notify the warning of signs of a malfunction in the image forming device (S245).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a device management system and a device management program for managing devices. [Background technology]

[0002] A known conventional device management system predicts the occurrence of a failure in an image forming device based on information about a recording medium jam in the image forming device, and transmits the prediction result to a terminal device installed at a service center that has jurisdiction over the target image forming device (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-50156 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-321931 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in conventional device management systems, the results of a prediction of an image forming device's failure are sent to a terminal device installed at a service center that has jurisdiction over the image forming device in question, which means that it is not easy to make people other than those using the terminal device installed at the service center aware of the signs of an image forming device's failure.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device management system and a device management program that enable a user to easily recognize signs of device failure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The device management system of the present invention is characterized in that it includes a device management unit that manages devices, the device management unit executes a warning of signs of a failure of the device, and when the device management unit executes the warning, it sends a warning email as an email to notify the user of the warning.

[0007] With this configuration, when the device management system of the present invention issues a warning about signs of a device failure, it sends a warning email as an e-mail to notify the user of the warning about signs of a device failure, thereby making it easy for the user to recognize the signs of a device failure.

[0008] In the device management system of the present invention, even when the device management unit executes the warning, if the device management unit is set to not need to send the warning email, the device management unit does not have to send the warning email.

[0009] With this configuration, the device management system of the present invention does not send a warning email even when it issues a warning about a possible device failure if the system is set to not require such email, thereby improving convenience.

[0010] In the device management system of the present invention, even if the device management unit executes the warning, it is not necessary to send the warning email if the number of times the warning occurs within a specific period does not match a specific number.

[0011] With this configuration, even when the device management system of the present invention issues a warning of a potential device failure, if the number of warnings that occur within a specific period does not match a specific number, it will not send a warning email, thereby reducing the possibility of sending multiple warning emails with the same content.

[0012] In the device management system of the present invention, the device is an image forming device, and the device management unit may execute the warning when a first condition is met, including the existence of a day during a first period on which the number of jams occurring in the image forming device is a first number or more, and may execute the warning when a second condition is met, including the number of jams occurring during a second period longer than the first period is a second number or more.

[0013] With this configuration, the device management system of the present invention issues a warning of a possible malfunction in the image forming device when a first condition is met, which includes the existence of a day during a first period on which the number of jams occurring in the image forming device is equal to or greater than a first number, i.e., when a very large number of jams have occurred in a relatively short period of time, and when a second condition is met, which includes the number of jams occurring in a second period longer than the first period is equal to or greater than a second number of times, i.e., when a large number of jams have occurred over a relatively long period of time, thereby improving the accuracy of the warning of a possible malfunction in the image forming device.

[0014] The device management program of the present invention operates a computer as a device management unit that manages devices, and the device management unit executes a warning of signs of a device failure, and when the device management unit executes the warning, it sends a warning email as an email to notify the user of the warning.

[0015] With this configuration, when a computer executing the device management program of the present invention issues a warning about a device failure, it sends a warning email as an e-mail to notify the user of the warning about the device failure, thereby making it easy for the user to recognize the warning about the device failure. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The device management system and device management program of the present invention can allow a user to easily recognize a symptom of a device failure. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of an example of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 is a block diagram of an example of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when configured as an MFP. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the device management system shown in FIG. 1 when configured with one computer. [Figure 4] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of tenant management information illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user management information shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of device management information illustrated in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of jam management information shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a user terminal shown in FIG. [Figure 9] 2 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 when an image forming apparatus is registered in the device management system. [Figure 10] 1 when jam information of the image forming apparatus is stored in the device management system. FIG. [Figure 11] 4 is a flowchart of the operation of the device management system shown in FIG. 3 when processing related to a failure sign warning is executed. [Figure 12] 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a warning generation process shown in FIG. 11. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a short-term jam detection process shown in FIG. 12. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the long-term jam detection process shown in FIG. 12. [Figure 15] 13 is a flowchart of an example of a warning target portion identification process shown in FIG. 12. [Figure 16] 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a warning mail transmission process shown in FIG. 15. [Figure 17] 17 is a diagram showing an example of the text of a warning email sent in the warning email sending process shown in FIG. 16. FIG. [Figure 18] 1 when a user of the device management system checks a failure sign warning. FIG. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a device list page displayed in the operation shown in FIG. 18. [Figure 20] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a jam history page displayed in the operation shown in FIG. 18. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0019] First, the configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a system 10 according to the present embodiment.

[0021] 1, system 10 includes image forming apparatus 20 that forms an image. System 10 may also include at least one other image forming apparatus that has a similar configuration to image forming apparatus 20. The image forming apparatus may be configured as a dedicated printer or an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), for example.

[0022] The system 10 includes a device management system 30 that manages the image forming apparatus. The device management system 30 may be configured with a single computer such as a PC (Personal Computer), or may be configured with multiple computers. The device management system 30 may be configured on the same LAN (Local Area Network) as the image forming apparatus, or may be configured on the cloud.

[0023] The system 10 includes a user terminal 40 that is used by a user of the device management system 30. The system 10 may also include at least one other user terminal that has a similar configuration to the user terminal 40. The user terminal may be configured, for example, by a computer such as a PC.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the image forming apparatus 20 when configured as an MFP.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the image forming apparatus 20 is a computer that includes an operation unit 21, which is an operation device such as a button through which various operations are input; a display unit 22, which is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information; a printer 23, which is a printing device that prints images on a recording medium such as paper; a scanner 24, which is a reading device that reads images from a document; a communication unit 25, which is a communication device that communicates with an external device via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly via a wired or wireless connection without using a network; a fax communication unit 26, which is a fax device that communicates with an external facsimile machine (not shown) via a communication line such as a public telephone line; a memory unit 27, which is a non-volatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores various information; and a control unit 28 that controls the entire image forming apparatus 20.

[0026] The storage unit 27 can store a jam information transmission program 27a for transmitting information relating to a jam of a recording medium in the image forming apparatus 20 (hereinafter referred to as "jam information") to the device management system 30 (see FIG. 1). The jam information transmission program 27a may be installed in the image forming apparatus 20 during the manufacturing stage of the image forming apparatus 20, or may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 20 from an external storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 20 from a network.

[0027] Control unit 28 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and various data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that serves as a memory used as a work area for the CPU of control unit 28. The CPU of control unit 28 executes programs stored in storage unit 27 or the ROM of control unit 28.

[0028] The control unit 28 executes the jam information transmission program 27a to realize a jam information transmission unit 28a that transmits jam information to the device management system 30.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of a device management system 30 configured by one computer.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, the device management system 30 includes an operation unit 31, which is an operation device such as a keyboard or mouse through which various operations are input; a display unit 32, which is a display device such as an LCD that displays various information; a communication unit 33, which is a communication device that communicates with external devices via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly via a wired or wireless connection without using a network; a memory unit 34, which is a non-volatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or HDD that stores various information; and a control unit 35 that controls the entire device management system 30.

[0031] The storage unit 34 can store a device management program 34a for managing the image forming apparatus. The device management program 34a may be installed in the device management system 30 during the manufacturing stage of the device management system 30, or may be additionally installed in the device management system 30 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or may be additionally installed in the device management system 30 from a network.

[0032] The storage unit 34 can store tenant management information 34b for managing tenants of the device management system 30.

[0033] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tenant management information 34b.

[0034] As shown in Fig. 4, the tenant management information 34b includes a tenant ID as identification information for each tenant. The tenant management information 34b shown in Fig. 4 is illustrated with some information omitted.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 3, the storage unit 34 can store user management information 34c for managing users of the device management system 30.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the user management information 34c.

[0037] As shown in Fig. 5, the user management information 34c includes, for each user, a user ID as identification information for the user, the user's password, the tenant ID of the tenant managed by the user, the user's email address, information indicating whether or not it is necessary to send an email (hereinafter referred to as a "warning email") to notify a warning of a sign of a failure in the image forming device (hereinafter referred to as a "failure warning") (hereinafter referred to as "warning email necessity information"), and the number of occurrences of the failure warning when a warning email is to be sent (hereinafter referred to as the "number of email warnings"). The user management information 34c shown in Fig. 5 is drawn with some information omitted.

[0038] The user's email address, warning email necessity information, and number of email warnings in the user management information 34c can be set, for example, according to instructions input via the operation unit 31 or communication unit 33 of the device management system 30.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 3, the storage unit 34 can store device management information 34d that manages information about the image forming device.

[0040] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the device management information 34d.

[0041] As shown in Figure 6, the device management information 34d includes, for each image forming device, the serial number as identification information for the image forming device, the model name of the image forming device, the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the image forming device, the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the image forming device, the location of the jam that is the subject of the failure warning (hereinafter, the location of the jam will be simply referred to as the "jam location"), the number of failure warnings for each jam location, and the tenant ID of the tenant to which the image forming device belongs. Examples of jam locations include a feeder for feeding recording media, a conveyor for transporting recording media, a fuser for fixing toner transferred to the recording media, an output for discharging the recording media, and a separator for sorting the recording media to one of multiple outputs. The device management information 34d shown in Figure 6 is partially omitted.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 3, the storage unit 34 can store jam management information 34e that manages jam information.

[0043] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the jam management information 34e.

[0044] 7, the jam management information 34e includes, for each piece of jam information, the serial number of the image forming device that is the target of the jam information, the date and time when the jam occurred, and the location of the jam in the image forming device that is the target of the jam information. The jam management information 34e shown in FIG. 7 is drawn with some information omitted.

[0045] 3 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM that stores programs and various data, and a RAM that serves as a memory used as a work area for the CPU of the control unit 35. The CPU of the control unit 35 executes programs stored in the storage unit 34 or the ROM of the control unit 35.

[0046] The control unit 35 executes the device management program 34a to implement a device management unit 35a that manages the image forming apparatus.

[0047] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example of the user terminal 40. As shown in FIG.

[0048] As shown in Figure 8, the user terminal 40 includes an operation unit 41, which is an operation device such as a keyboard or mouse through which various operations are input; a display unit 42, which is a display device such as an LCD that displays various information; a communication unit 43, which is a communication device that communicates with external devices via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly via a wired or wireless connection without going through a network; a memory unit 44, which is a non-volatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or HDD that stores various information; and a control unit 45 that controls the entire user terminal 40.

[0049] The storage unit 44 can store a web browser program 44a as a program for a web browser. The web browser program 44a may be installed on the user terminal 40 during the manufacturing stage of the user terminal 40, or may be additionally installed on the user terminal 40 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or may be additionally installed on the user terminal 40 from a network.

[0050] The control unit 45 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM that stores programs and various data, and a RAM as a memory used as a work area for the CPU of the control unit 45. The CPU of the control unit 45 executes the programs stored in the storage unit 44 or the ROM of the control unit 45.

[0051] The control unit 45 executes the web browser program 44a to implement a web browser 45a.

[0052] The operation of the system 10 will now be described.

[0053] In the following, the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as a representative of the image forming apparatuses, and the user terminal 40 will be described as a representative of the user terminals.

[0054] First, the operation of the system 10 when the image forming apparatus 20 is registered in the device management system 30 will be described.

[0055] FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the system 10 when the image forming apparatus 20 is registered in the device management system 30. In FIG.

[0056] A user of the device management system 30 can instruct the image forming apparatus 20 to log in to the device management system 30 via the operation unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20. When the image forming apparatus 20 is instructed to log in to the device management system 30, the jam information transmission unit 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 transmits an instruction to log in to the device management system 30 (hereinafter referred to as a "login instruction") to the device management system 30, as shown in Fig. 9 (S101). The jam information transmission unit 28a includes the user ID and password of the user input via the operation unit 21 in the login instruction in S101.

[0057] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the login instruction transmitted by the image forming apparatus 20 in S101, it authenticates the user based on the combination of the user ID and password included in the received login instruction (S102). If the combination of the user ID and password included in the login instruction is included in the user management information 34c, the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication of the user has been successful. On the other hand, if the combination of the user ID and password included in the login instruction is not included in the user management information 34c, the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication of the user has failed.

[0058] If the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication executed in S102 has failed, it notifies the image forming apparatus 20 that the user's login is not permitted (S103).

[0059] When the jam information transmission unit 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 is notified in S103 by the device management system 30 that the user's login is not permitted, the jam information transmission unit 28a displays the user's login not permitted on the display unit 22 (S104).

[0060] If the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 determines that the authentication executed in S102 is successful, it notifies the image forming apparatus 20 that the user is permitted to log in (S105).

[0061] When the jam information transmission unit 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 is notified in S105 by the device management system 30 that the user's login is permitted, the jam information transmission unit 28a displays the user's login permission on the display unit 22 (S106).

[0062] When a user of the device management system 30 has already logged in to the device management system 30, the user can instruct the image forming apparatus 20 to register the image forming apparatus 20 in the device management system 30 via the operation unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20. When the user is instructed to register the image forming apparatus 20 in the device management system 30, the jam information transmission unit 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 transmits an instruction to register the image forming apparatus 20 (hereinafter referred to as a "device registration instruction") to the device management system 30, as shown in Fig. 9 (S107). The jam information transmission unit 28a includes the serial number, model name, MAC address, and IP address of the image forming apparatus 20 in the device registration instruction in S107.

[0063] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the device registration instruction sent by the image forming device 20 in S107, it registers the combination of the serial number, model name, MAC address, and IP address included in the received device registration instruction in the device management information 34d by associating it with the tenant ID associated in the user management information 34c with the user ID of the user currently logged in via the image forming device 20 (S108).

[0064] The above has described a case where the image forming device 20 is registered in the device management system 30 by the user of the device management system 30 operating the image forming device 20 via the operation unit 21 of the image forming device 20. Here, the image forming device 20 can provide a web page (hereinafter referred to as a "device operation page") that allows the image forming device 20 to be operated. When the image forming device 20 provides the device operation page, the user of the device management system 30 can register the image forming device 20 in the device management system 30 by, for example, accessing the device operation page via the user terminal 40 and then operating the image forming device 20 via the device operation page, similar to the operation shown in FIG. 9 .

[0065] Next, the operation of the system 10 when jam information of the image forming apparatus 20 is stored in the device management system 30 will be described.

[0066] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the system 10 when jam information of the image forming apparatus 20 is stored in the device management system 30. In FIG.

[0067] 10, the jam information transmitting unit 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 transmits jam information relating to the jam to the device management system 30 (S121). The jam information transmitting unit 28a includes, in the jam information in S121, the serial number of the image forming apparatus 20, the date and time of the occurrence of the jam that is the subject of the jam information in S121, and the jammed location in the image forming apparatus 20 of the jam that is the subject of the jam information in S121.

[0068] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the jam information transmitted by the image forming apparatus 20 in S121, the device management unit 35a includes the received jam information in the jam management information 34e (S122).

[0069] Next, the operation of the device management system 30 when executing processing related to a failure sign warning will be described.

[0070] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device management system 30 when processing related to a failure sign warning is executed.

[0071] 11, the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 determines whether the present is a specific timing or not (S141) until it determines that the present is a specific timing. For example, the specific timing may be a specific time every day, such as 9:00 AM every day.

[0072] If the device management unit 35a determines in S141 that the current time is a specific time, it determines whether the current time is the first day of the current month (S142).

[0073] If the device management unit 35a determines in S142 that the current day is the first day of the month, it sets all of the occurrences of failure warnings for each jam location associated with the serial number of the image forming device 20 in the device management information 34d to 0 (S143).

[0074] If the device management unit 35a determines in S142 that the current day is not the first day of the month, or if the process of S143 ends, the device management unit 35a collects jam information of the image forming apparatus 20 up to the previous day from the jam management information 34e (S144).

[0075] When the process of S144 ends, the device management unit 35a executes a warning generation process (see FIG. 12) as a process for generating a failure sign warning (S145).

[0076] FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the warning generation process shown in FIG.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 12, the device management unit 35a executes a short-term jam determination process (see FIG. 13) as a process for determining whether to issue a failure sign warning based on the state of jam occurrence in a short period of time (S161).

[0078] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the short-term jam detection process shown in FIG.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 13, the device management unit 35a targets only one jam location that has not yet been targeted in the current short-term jam detection process among the specific jam locations (S181).

[0080] The device management unit 35a determines whether a jam has occurred Na times or more at the current jam location on any day between Da days ago and Db days ago, based on the jam information collected in S144 (S182). For example, Da, Db, and Na may be 28, 7, and 5, respectively.

[0081] If the device management unit 35a determines in S182 that jams have not occurred Na times or more at the current target jam location on any day within the period from Da days ago onwards or before Db days ago, the device management unit 35a determines whether jams have occurred Na times or more at the current target jam location on any day within the period from Db days ago onwards or one day ago, i.e., before the previous day, based on the jam information collected in S144 (S183).

[0082] If the device management unit 35a determines in S183 that a jam has occurred Na times or more at the current target jam location on any day within the period from Db days ago to the day before that, the device management unit 35a determines whether a jam has occurred one or more times at the current target jam location on the previous day based on the jam information collected in S144 (S184).

[0083] If the device management unit 35a determines in S184 that a jam occurred at least once the previous day at the current jam location, it identifies the current jam location as a candidate for a jam location for which a failure sign warning is to be issued (S185).

[0084] The device management unit 35a determines in S182 that jams have occurred Na times or more at the currently targeted jam location on any day within the period from Da days ago to before Db days ago, or determines in S183 that jams have not occurred Na times or more at the currently targeted jam location on any day within the period from Db days ago to before the day before, or determines in S184 that jams have not occurred one or more times on the previous day at the currently targeted jam location, or, upon completion of the processing of S185, determines whether or not there are any specific jam locations that have not yet been targeted in this short-term jam detection processing (S186).

[0085] If the device management unit 35a determines in S186 that there is a jammed location among the specific jammed locations that has not yet been targeted in the current short-term jam detection process, the device management unit 35a executes the process of S181.

[0086] If the device management unit 35a determines in S186 that there are no specific jam locations that have not yet been targeted in this short-term jam detection process, it determines whether or not a candidate jam location that is the target of a failure sign warning has been identified in this short-term jam detection process (S187).

[0087] When the device management unit 35a determines in S187 that it has identified a candidate jam location that is the target of a failure warning in this short-term jam detection process, it identifies the jam location that has had the most jams occurring in the period from Db days ago until the day before that as the jam location that is the target of a failure warning (S188).

[0088] When the device management unit 35a determines in S187 that the current short-term jam detection process has not identified a candidate jam location that is the target of a failure sign warning, or when the processing of S188 is completed, the device management unit 35a terminates the short-term jam detection process shown in FIG. 13 .

[0089] As shown in FIG. 12, when the short-term jam detection process of S161 ends, the device management unit 35a determines whether or not the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning has been identified in the short-term jam detection process of S161 (S162).

[0090] If the device management unit 35a determines in S162 that the jammed location that is the target of the failure warning has not been identified in the short-term jam determination process of S161, it executes a long-term jam determination process (see FIG. 14) as a process for determining whether or not to issue a failure warning based on the status of jam occurrence over a long period of time (S163).

[0091] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the long-term jam detection process shown in FIG.

[0092] As shown in FIG. 14, the device management unit 35a targets only one jammed location that has not yet been targeted in the current long-term jam detection process among the specific jammed locations (S201).

[0093] When the process of S201 is completed, the device management unit 35a determines whether jams have occurred Nb times or more in the period from Da days ago to the day before that at the current jam location, based on the jam information collected in S144 (S202). For example, Nb may be 45.

[0094] If the device management unit 35a determines in S202 that jams have occurred Nb times or more at the current target jam location in the period from Da days ago to the day before that, it identifies the current target jam location as the jam location for which a failure warning is to be issued (S203).

[0095] When the device management unit 35a determines in S202 that jams have not occurred Nb times or more in the period from Da days ago to the day before that at the currently targeted jam location, or when the processing of S203 is completed, it determines whether or not there is a jam location among the specific jam locations that has not yet been targeted in this long-term jam detection processing (S204).

[0096] If the device management unit 35a determines in S204 that there is a jammed location among the specific jammed locations that has not yet been targeted in the current long-term jam detection process, the device management unit 35a executes the process of S201.

[0097] If the device management unit 35a determines in S204 that there is no jammed location that has not yet been targeted in the current long-term jam detection process among the specific jammed locations, the device management unit 35a ends the long-term jam detection process shown in FIG.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 12, when the long-term jam detection process of S163 ends, the device management unit 35a determines whether or not the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning has been identified in the long-term jam detection process of S163 (S164).

[0099] If the device management unit 35a determines in S164 that the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning has not been identified in the long-term jam detection process of S163, it updates the device management information 34d so that the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning of the image forming device 20 is not any of the jammed locations (S165).

[0100] When the device management unit 35a determines in S162 that the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning has been identified in the short-term jam determination process of S161, or when it determines in S164 that the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning has been identified in the long-term jam determination process of S163, it executes a warning target location identification process (see Figure 15) as a process to be performed when the jammed location that is the target of the failure sign warning has been identified (S166).

[0101] FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the warning target portion identification process shown in FIG.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 15, the device management unit 35a updates the device management information 34d so that only the jam locations that are the target of the failure sign warning identified in the short-term jam determination process of S161 or the long-term jam determination process of S163 become the jam locations that are the target of the failure sign warning of the image forming device 20 (S221).

[0103] When the processing of S221 is completed, the device management unit 35a targets only one jammed location that has not yet been targeted in the current warning target location identification processing among the jammed locations that are the target of a failure sign warning identified in the short-term jam determination processing of S161 or the long-term jam determination processing of S163 (S222).

[0104] When the process of S222 is completed, the device management unit 35a increments by one the number of occurrences of a failure sign warning for the current target jam location, which is associated with the serial number of the image forming device 20 in the device management information 34d (S223).

[0105] When the process of S223 ends, the device management unit 35a executes a warning mail transmission process (see FIG. 16) as a process for transmitting a warning mail (S224).

[0106] FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the warning mail transmission process shown in FIG.

[0107] As shown in FIG. 16, the device management unit 35a targets only one user ID that has not yet been targeted in this warning email sending process out of all user IDs that are associated in the user management information 34c with the tenant ID that is associated in the device management information 34d with the serial number of the image forming device 20 (S241).

[0108] When the processing of S241 is completed, the device management unit 35a determines whether or not it is necessary to send a warning email based on the warning email necessity information associated with the current target user ID in the user management information 34c (S242).

[0109] When the device management unit 35a determines in S242 that it is necessary to send a warning email, it determines whether a specific number has been set as the number of email warnings based on the number of email warnings associated with the current target user ID in the user management information 34c (S243).

[0110] When the device management unit 35a determines in S243 that a specific number has been set as the number of email warnings, it determines whether the number of occurrences of a failure warning sign for the currently targeted jam location, which is associated with the serial number of the image forming device 20 in the device management information 34d, matches the number of email warnings which is associated with the currently targeted user ID in the user management information 34c (S244).

[0111] If the device management unit 35a determines in S243 that no specific number has been set as the number of email warnings, or if it determines in S244 that the number of occurrences of a failure sign warning for the currently targeted jammed location, which is associated with the serial number of the image forming device 20 in the device management information 34d, matches the number of email warnings associated with the currently targeted user ID in the user management information 34c, it sends a warning email for a failure sign warning for the currently targeted jammed location to the email address associated with the currently targeted user ID in the user management information 34c (S245).

[0112] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the text of the warning email sent in S245.

[0113] 17, the text of the warning email includes the jammed location that is the subject of the warning email and the date and time of the most recent jam that occurred in the jammed location that is the subject of the warning email in the image forming device 20. The device management unit 35a identifies the date and time of the most recent jam that occurred in the jammed location that is the subject of the warning email in the image forming device 20, based on the jam management information 34e.

[0114] The body of the warning email includes the model name, serial number, MAC address, and IP address of the image forming device 20. The device management unit 35a identifies the model name, serial number, MAC address, and IP address of the image forming device 20 based on the device management information 34d.

[0115] As shown in FIG. 16, the device management unit 35a determines in S242 that it is not necessary to send a warning email, or determines in S244 that the number of occurrences of a failure sign warning for the currently targeted jam location, which is associated with the serial number of the image forming device 20 in the device management information 34d, does not match the number of email warnings associated with the currently targeted user ID in the user management information 34c, or, after executing the processing of S245, determines whether there is a user ID that has not yet been targeted in this warning email sending process among all user IDs associated in the user management information 34c with the tenant ID associated with the serial number of the image forming device 20 in the device management information 34d (S246).

[0116] If the device management unit 35a determines in S246 that there is a user ID that has not yet been targeted in this warning email sending process among all the user IDs that are associated in the user management information 34c with the tenant ID that is associated in the device management information 34d with the serial number of the image forming device 20, the device management unit 35a executes the process of S241.

[0117] If the device management unit 35a determines in S246 that there are no user IDs that have not yet been targeted in this warning email sending process among all user IDs that are associated in the user management information 34c with the tenant ID that is associated in the device management information 34d with the serial number of the image forming device 20, the device management unit 35a terminates the execution of the warning email sending process shown in Figure 16.

[0118] As shown in FIG. 15, when the warning email sending process of S224 is completed, the device management unit 35a determines whether or not there are any jammed locations that have not yet been targeted in the current warning target location identification process among the jammed locations that are the targets of the failure sign warning identified in the short-term jam determination process of S161 or the long-term jam determination process of S163 (S225).

[0119] If the device management unit 35a determines in S225 that there is a jammed location that has not yet been targeted in the current warning target location identification process among the jammed locations that are the target of a failure sign warning identified in the short-term jam detection process of S161 or the long-term jam detection process of S163, it executes the process of S222.

[0120] When the device management unit 35a determines in S225 that there are no jammed locations that have not yet been targeted in the current warning target location identification process among the jammed locations that are targets of a failure sign warning identified in the short-term jam determination process of S161 or the long-term jam determination process of S163, the device management unit 35a terminates the warning target location identification process shown in Figure 15.

[0121] As shown in FIG. 12, the device management unit 35a ends the execution of the warning generation process shown in FIG. 12 when the process of S165 ends or the process of identifying a location to be warned in S166 ends.

[0122] As shown in FIG. 11, after the warning generation process of S145 is completed, the device management unit 35a executes the process of S141.

[0123] Next, the operation of the system 10 when a user of the device management system 30 checks a failure sign warning will be described.

[0124] FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the system 10 when a user of the device management system 30 checks a failure sign warning.

[0125] A user of the device management system 30 can instruct the user terminal 40 to access a web page for logging in to the device management system 30 (hereinafter referred to as a "login page") provided by the device management system 30 via the operation unit 41 of the user terminal 40. When instructed to access the login page, the web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 accesses the login page (S261), as shown in FIG.

[0126] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the access in S261, it transmits the data of the login page to the Web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 (S262).

[0127] When the web browser 45a receives the data transmitted by the device management system 30 in S262, it displays a login page on the display unit 42 based on the received data (S263).

[0128] The user of the device management system 30 can input their own user ID and password into the login page displayed in S263 via the operation unit 41 of the user terminal 40, and then issue an instruction on the login page via the operation unit 41 to log in to the device management system 30. When the instruction to log in to the device management system 30 is issued on the login page, the web browser 45a transmits a login instruction to the device management system 30, including the combination of the user ID and password input on the login page (S264).

[0129] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the login instruction transmitted by the user terminal 40 in S264, it authenticates the user based on the combination of the user ID and password included in the received login instruction (S265). If the combination of the user ID and password included in the login instruction is included in the user management information 34c, the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication of the user has been successful. On the other hand, if the combination of the user ID and password included in the login instruction is not included in the user management information 34c, the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication of the user has failed.

[0130] If the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication performed in S265 failed, it sends data of a web page (hereinafter referred to as the "login denial page") notifying the user that their login has been denied to the web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 (S266).

[0131] When the web browser 45a receives the data transmitted by the device management system 30 in S266, it displays a login denial page on the display unit 42 based on the received data (S267).

[0132] If the device management unit 35a determines that the authentication performed in S265 was successful, it sends data of a web page (hereinafter referred to as the "login permission page") notifying the user that login has been permitted to the web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 (S268).

[0133] When the web browser 45a receives the data transmitted by the device management system 30 in S268, it displays a login permission page on the display unit 42 based on the received data (S269).

[0134] When a user of the device management system 30 has already logged in to the device management system 30, the user can instruct the user terminal 40 via the operation unit 41 of the user terminal 40 to access a web page (hereinafter referred to as a "device list page") that shows a list of image forming devices that belong to the tenant to which the image forming device 20 belongs. When instructed to access the device list page, the web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 accesses the device list page (S270).

[0135] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the access in S270, it transmits data of the device list page to the Web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 (S271).

[0136] When the Web browser 45a receives the data transmitted by the device management system 30 in S271, it displays the device list page 310 (see, for example, FIG. 19) on the display unit 42 based on the received data (S272).

[0137] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the device list page 310 displayed in S272.

[0138] 19 includes, for each image forming device, the serial number of the image forming device, the model name of the image forming device, and whether or not a failure warning has been issued. In the device list page 310 shown in FIG. 19, the character string 311a "Warning" and the mark 311b to the left of the character string 311a indicate that a failure warning has been issued. On the other hand, the character string 312a "None" and the mark 312b to the left of the character string 312a indicate that no failure warning has been issued.

[0139] A user of the device management system 30 can press at least one of the character string 311a "Warning" and the mark 311b to the left of the character string 311a on the device list page 310 via the operation unit 41 of the user terminal 40. When at least one of the character string 311a "Warning" and the mark 311b to the left of the character string 311a is pressed on the device list page 310, the web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 accesses a web page (hereinafter referred to as a "jam history page") that shows the history of jams occurring in the image forming apparatuses that are the targets of at least one of the character string 311a "Warning" and the mark 311b to the left of the character string 311a that was pressed on the device list page 310 (S273), as shown in FIG. 18 .

[0140] When the device management unit 35a of the device management system 30 receives the access in S273, it transmits data of the jam history page to the Web browser 45a of the user terminal 40 (S274).

[0141] When the web browser 45a receives the data transmitted by the device management system 30 in S274, it displays the jam history page 320 (see FIG. 20) on the display unit 42 based on the received data (S275).

[0142] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the jam history page 320 displayed in S275.

[0143] The jam history page 320 shown in Fig. 20 shows the number of jams that have occurred on a daily basis in the image forming apparatus that is the subject of this jam history page 320. On the jam history page 320 shown in Fig. 20, the number of jams on a daily basis is shown for the period from 30 days ago to the day before. On the jam history page 320 shown in Fig. 20, the number of jams on a daily basis is shown broken down by jam location. On the jam history page 320 shown in Fig. 20, a mark 321 indicating a failure sign warning is shown at a jam location that is the subject of a failure sign warning.

[0144] As described above, when the device management system 30 issues a warning about a possible malfunction of the image forming device (S221), it also sends a warning email (S245) as an email to notify the user of the possible malfunction of the image forming device, thereby enabling the user to easily recognize the possible malfunction of the image forming device. The recipient of the warning email can recognize the possible malfunction of the image forming device from the warning email, and can determine whether or not it is necessary to dispatch a repair technician to repair the image forming device based on information obtained by accessing at least one of the device list page and jam history page described above, for example.

[0145] Even when issuing a warning of a possible malfunction in an image forming device, the device management system 30 does not send a warning email if it is set to not require such sending (NO in S242), thereby improving convenience.

[0146] Even when issuing a warning of a possible malfunction in an image forming device, the device management system 30 does not send a warning email if the number of warnings occurring within a specific period does not match the specific number (NO in S244), thereby reducing the possibility of sending multiple warning emails with the same content.

[0147] The device management system 30 issues a warning (S221) of a possible malfunction of the image forming device when a first condition (S182-S184) is satisfied, which includes that the day on which jams occur in the image forming device a first number of times, i.e., Na times or more, occurs during a first period, i.e., a period from Db days ago until the day before (YES in S183), i.e., when a very large number of jams occur in a relatively short period of time, and when a second condition (S202) is satisfied, which includes that the number of jams occurring during a second period longer than the first period, i.e., a period from Da days ago until the day before (YES in S202), is a second number of times, i.e., Nb times or more, i.e., when a large number of jams occur in a relatively long period of time, thereby improving the accuracy of the warning of a possible malfunction of the image forming device.

[0148] In this embodiment, the device management system 30 issues a warning of a possible malfunction of the image forming device based on information about a jam in the image forming device. However, the device management system of the present invention may also issue a warning of a possible malfunction of the device based on information other than a jam.

[0149] In this embodiment, the device management system 30 manages image forming apparatuses as devices. However, the device management system of the present invention may also manage electronic devices other than image forming apparatuses as devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0150] 20 Image forming equipment (device) 30 Device Management System (Computer) 34a Device Management Program 35a Device Management Unit

Claims

1. a device management unit for managing devices; the device management unit issues a warning of a sign of a failure of the device; The device management system is characterized in that, when the device management unit issues the warning, it sends a warning email as an email to notify the user of the warning.

2. 2. The device management system according to claim 1, wherein the device management unit does not send the warning email even when the warning is executed if the sending of the warning email is set to be unnecessary.

3. 2. The device management system according to claim 1, wherein the device management unit does not send the warning email even if the warning is executed if the number of occurrences of the warning within a specific period does not match a specific number.

4. the device is an image forming apparatus, 2. The device management system according to claim 1, wherein the device management unit issues the warning when a first condition is satisfied, including the existence of a day during a first period on which the number of jams occurring in the image forming device is equal to or greater than a first number, and when a second condition is satisfied, including the number of jams occurring during a second period longer than the first period is equal to or greater than a second number.

5. The computer acts as a device manager that manages devices. the device management unit issues a warning of a sign of a failure of the device; The device management program is characterized in that, when the device management unit executes the warning, it sends a warning mail as an electronic mail for notifying the warning.

Images