Maintenance Management System

Abstract

To prevent occurrences of disadvantages to a service provider, etc. due to ink consumption resulting from too much maintenance operation by a user.SOLUTION: A printing system 1 includes: an inkjet head 3 that performs printing on recording paper P with ink; a maintenance unit 7 that performs maintenance of the inkjet head 3, which involves ink consumption; a manual maintenance acceptance unit 570 that accepts an operation of a maintenance execution instruction by a user; an identification unit 610 that identifies whether the operation of the maintenance execution instruction by the user is proper or improper on the basis of printing execution information by the inkjet head 3 and manual maintenance execution information of manual maintenance executed by the maintenance unit 7; and a warning notification unit 620 that performs corresponding warning notification when the identification unit 610 identifies that the operation of the maintenance execution instruction by the user is improper.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a maintenance management system that manages maintenance processing of ejection heads, which involves the consumption of ink. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a technique is known in which, after manual maintenance of the ejection head, ejection detection is performed to check whether the ejection failure has been resolved, and while the ejection failure is not resolved, maintenance is repeated a predetermined number of times, and if the problem is still not resolved, the head is deemed to be abnormal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-012339 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above-mentioned conventional techniques do not take into consideration, for example, cases where a user intentionally and carefully performs manual maintenance frequently.

[0005] In recent years, a service model has become known in which a specific contract is concluded between a printing device user and a service provider, and the user is charged based on the contract according to the print content. Consider a new scenario in which, under this type of service model, the user frequently performs manual maintenance, as described above. In this case, the user is not charged for ink consumption, so the more frequently manual maintenance is performed, the more disadvantageous it becomes for the service provider.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a maintenance management system that can prevent disadvantages to service providers and the like caused by ink consumption due to excessive maintenance operations by users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a printing unit having an ejection head that ejects ink and prints using the ink on a print medium; a maintenance unit that performs maintenance of the ejection head, which involves consuming the ink; a manual maintenance reception unit that accepts a user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction; an identification unit that identifies whether the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction is appropriate or inappropriate based on print execution information by the printing unit and manual maintenance execution information for manual maintenance executed by the maintenance unit as a result of the manual maintenance reception unit accepting the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction; and a warning notification unit that issues a corresponding warning notification when the identification unit identifies that the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction is inappropriate.

[0008] In the maintenance management system of the present invention, management is performed based on print execution information by the printing unit and manual maintenance execution information for manual maintenance performed by the maintenance unit in response to a user operation received by the manual maintenance reception unit. Based on the print execution information and the manual maintenance execution information, the identification unit identifies whether an inappropriate user has performed a maintenance execution instruction.

[0009] For example, if the identification unit identifies an inappropriate maintenance instruction operation because the user has issued an excessively frequent maintenance instruction operation with a small number of printed sheets, the warning unit will issue a corresponding warning. The warning will let the user know that their past behavior has been recognized as an inappropriate maintenance instruction operation, and the user will be discouraged from similar behavior in the future, thereby reducing ink waste due to maintenance.

[0010] According to the present invention, a warning is issued when an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction is issued, thereby preventing ink waste caused by excessive maintenance execution instructions being issued more than necessary, thereby preventing disadvantages to service providers and others who provide services based on a contract. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent disadvantages to service providers and the like caused by ink consumption due to excessive maintenance operations by users. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an overall schematic configuration of a print processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multifunction peripheral provided in a print processing system. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a software block configuration diagram relating to various processes according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are explanatory diagrams illustrating an example of the transition of the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative number of printed sheets periodically transmitted from the multifunction peripheral to the information management server. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of a mobile terminal. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure executed by a processor of the multifunction peripheral. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure executed by a processor of the information management server. [Figure 8] 10A and 10B are explanatory diagrams showing an example of changes in the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative amount of consumables consumed in a modified example that takes into consideration resetting by a service person. [Figure 9] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a threshold value set by the determination unit and a variable value of a predetermined period until the manual maintenance restriction is lifted in a modified example in which the determination criteria are variable depending on the amount of charge by the user. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] A print processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1. This embodiment is an embodiment of a print processing system 1 that can provide a prepaid printing service (hereinafter referred to as "prepaid printing service") in which a customer user pays a fee in advance to use the printing function of a multifunction peripheral 200. The print processing system 1 is an example of a maintenance management system.

[0015] <Outline of the printing processing system> 1, the print processing system 1 includes an information management server 100, a multifunction peripheral 200, and a mobile terminal 300. The information management server 100, the multifunction peripheral 200, and the mobile terminal 300 are connected to a network NT and can communicate with each other. The multifunction peripheral 200 is an example of a printing device.

[0016] <Configuration of the multifunction device> The multifunction device 200 provided in the print processing system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the multifunction device 200 includes a carriage 2, an inkjet head 3, a platen 4, transport rollers 5 and 6, a flushing form 7A, a purging unit 7B, and the like. The side where the transport roller 6 is located is the front side of the multifunction device 200, and the side where the transport roller 5 is located is the rear side of the multifunction device 200. The left-right direction is the scanning direction, and the direction from the rear side to the front side is the transport direction. The carriage 2 and inkjet head 3 are an example of a printing unit, and the inkjet head 3 is an example of an ejection head.

[0017] The carriage 2 is connected to a carriage motor 56 (see FIG. 1) via a belt or the like (not shown), and is driven by the carriage motor 56 to move along the guide rails 11 and 12 in the main scanning direction.

[0018] The inkjet head 3 is mounted on the carriage 2. The inkjet head 3 includes a flow path unit 13 and an actuator .

[0019] The flow path unit 13 has an ink flow path formed on its lower surface, a nozzle surface 13a, which includes a plurality of nozzles 10. The plurality of nozzles 10 are arranged in a transport direction perpendicular to the scanning direction to form nozzle rows 9, and the nozzle surface 13a has four nozzle rows 9 aligned in the scanning direction. As an example, black, yellow, cyan, and magenta inks are ejected from the plurality of nozzles 10 in this order from right to left.

[0020] The actuator 14 includes, for example, a plurality of electrodes, and has the function of individually applying ejection energy to the ink in each nozzle 10 by applying a drive pulse signal to each electrode.

[0021] The inkjet head 3 is connected to four tubes 31. The four tubes 31 are respectively connected to four ink cartridges 32 arranged in the scanning direction at the right front end of the multifunction device 200. Black, yellow, cyan, and magenta inks stored in the four ink cartridges 32 are supplied to the inkjet head 3 via the tubes 31. The four ink cartridges 32 are each detachably attached to a cartridge holder 35.

[0022] The platen 4 is located below the inkjet head 3 and faces the nozzle surface 13a during printing. The platen 4 extends across the entire width of the recording paper P in the main scanning direction and supports the recording paper P from below. The recording paper P is an example of a print medium. The transport rollers 5 and 6 are located upstream and downstream of the platen 4 in the transport direction, respectively. The transport rollers 5 and 6 are connected to a transport motor 57 (see FIG. 1) via gears and the like (not shown), and rotate when driven by the transport motor 57 to transport the recording paper P in the transport direction.

[0023] With the above configuration, the multifunction device 200 prints on the recording paper P by ejecting ink from the multiple nozzles 10 of the inkjet head 3 while moving the carriage 2 in the main scanning direction each time the recording paper P is transported a predetermined distance by the transport rollers 5 and 6.

[0024] <Flushing foam> The flushing form 7A is made of a material capable of absorbing ink, such as a sponge, and is located to the left of the platen 4. Correspondingly, in the multifunction device 200, under the control of the control device 50 described below, the carriage 2 can be moved to a flushing position where the nozzle surface 13a faces the flushing form 7A. This enables the multifunction device 200 to perform the flushing operation described below.

[0025] <Purging unit> The purging unit 7B includes a cap 21, a switching unit 22, a suction pump 23, and a waste liquid tank 24.

[0026] The cap 21 is located to the right of the platen 4. Correspondingly, in the multifunction device 200, the carriage 2 can be moved to a maintenance position where the nozzle surface 13a faces the cap 21. The cap 21 has a cap portion 21a and a cap portion 21b arranged on the left side of the cap portion 21a. When the carriage 2 is positioned at the maintenance position, the multiple nozzles 10 forming the rightmost nozzle row 9 face the cap portion 21a, and the multiple nozzles 10 forming the three leftmost nozzle rows 9 face the cap portion 21b.

[0027] The cap 21 can be raised and lowered by a cap lifting device 58 (see FIG. 1), i.e., can be moved in a direction intersecting the nozzle surface 13a. When the cap 21 is raised while the carriage 2 is positioned at the maintenance position, the cap 21 comes into close contact with the nozzle surface 13a, covering the nozzles 10. More specifically, the nozzles 10 forming the rightmost nozzle row 9 are covered by cap portion 21a, and the nozzles 10 forming the three leftmost nozzle rows 9 are covered by cap portion 21b. Note that, hereinafter, this state may be referred to as the "capping state." In this way, the cap lifting device 58 can raise and lower the cap 21 between a capping position for achieving the capping state and an uncapping position below the capping position.

[0028] It should be noted that the cap 21 is not limited to a configuration in which it adheres closely to the nozzle surface 13a and covers the plurality of nozzles 10. For example, if the flow path unit 13 has a frame that is arranged to surround the nozzle surface 13a to protect the nozzles 10, the cap 21 may also be adapted to cover the nozzles 10 by adhering closely to this frame.

[0029] The switching unit 22 is connected to the cap portions 21a and 21b via tubes 29a and 29b. The switching unit 22 is also connected to the suction pump 23 via tube 29c. The switching unit 22 switches the connection between the cap portions 21a and 21b and the suction pump 23. The suction pump 23 is a tube pump or the like, and is connected to the waste liquid tank 24 via tube 29d on the side opposite to the switching unit 22.

[0030] The purging unit 7B and the flushing foam 7A are an example of a maintenance section, and will be collectively referred to simply as the "maintenance section 7" hereinafter.

[0031] <Electrical configuration of the print processing system> Returning to FIG. 1, the electrical configuration of the print processing system 1 will be described.

[0032] <Information management server> The information management server 100 is a server installed and managed by, for example, the manufacturer of the multifunction peripheral 200, and includes a processor 110, a storage device 115, and an interface 190. The processor 110, the storage device 115, and the interface 190 are connected to one another via a bus 105.

[0033] The storage device 115 includes a volatile storage device 120 and a non-volatile storage device 130 . The volatile storage device 120 is, for example, a DRAM, and has a user ID storage area 121, a device number storage area 122, and a service information storage area 123 that stores service information (described later). The non-volatile storage device 130 is, for example, a hard disk drive or a solid state drive, and has a program storage area 131 and a fee table storage area 132. The fee table storage area 132 stores, for example, predetermined correlations for calculating fees to be charged to the user in response to printing or delivery of the ink cartridge 32.

[0034] The processor 110 is a device that performs data processing, such as a CPU. The processor 110 executes programs stored in the program storage area 131 to perform various processes shown in Fig. 7 (described later) and the like, including data communication with the mobile terminal 300 and the multifunction peripheral 200 connected to the network NT.

[0035] The interface 190 is a wired LAN interface or a wireless interface for communicating with other devices, and is connected to the network NT.

[0036] <Mobile device> The mobile terminal 300 is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone owned by a user, and is connected to the network NT via wireless communication. The mobile terminal 300 has a processor, a storage device, an interface for connecting to the network NT, and an appropriate display unit 301 (see FIG. 5 described later). Various programs are stored in a program storage area provided in the storage device, and these various programs include various processing programs. Note that other information terminals, such as a personal computer or tablet computer, may be used instead of the mobile terminal 300. Hereinafter, these information terminals will be collectively referred to simply as "information terminal 300" as appropriate.

[0037] <Multifunction device> The multifunction device 200 is equipped with a control device 50 for controlling the operation of the multifunction device 200, and controls the carriage motor 56, actuator 14, transport motor 57, cap lifting device 58, switching unit 22, suction pump 23, etc.

[0038] The control device 50 has a processor 210, a storage device 215, a display unit 240, an operation unit 250, a scanner unit 280, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 55, a defective nozzle detection unit 84 that detects ink ejection conditions due to clogging of the nozzles 10 of the inkjet head 3, and an interface 90. The processor 210, storage device 215, display unit 240, operation unit 250, scanner unit 280, ASIC 55, defective nozzle detection unit 84, and interface 90 are connected to one another via a bus.

[0039] The storage device 215 includes a volatile storage device 220 and a non-volatile storage device 230 . The volatile storage device 220 is, for example, a DRAM, and includes a service information storage area 221 for storing management service information, which will be described later. The non-volatile storage device 230 is, for example, a flash memory, and includes a program storage area 232 and a contract information storage area 233 that stores the details of the contract concluded between the user and the contracting party. Various programs are stored in the program storage area 232. These various programs include various programs related to the provision of the printing service of this embodiment based on the software block diagram in FIG. 3, the flowchart in FIG. 6, etc., which will be described later. These programs are stored in advance in the program storage area 232 as, for example, firmware.

[0040] The processor 210 is a device that performs data processing, such as a CPU. The processor 210 executes various programs stored in the program storage area 232, and executes the processing method related to the print processing system 1 of this embodiment in cooperation with the processor 110 and the mobile terminal 300.

[0041] The display unit 240 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and is capable of displaying various types of information. The operation unit 250 is a device that accepts operations by the user. The user can input various instructions to the multifunction peripheral 200 by operating the operation unit 250. The interface 90 is a wired or wireless network interface for communicating with other devices, and is connected to the network NT.

[0042] The scanner unit 280 uses a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD or CMOS to optically read an original document, which is an object to be read, and generates scan data representing the read image.

[0043] The defective nozzle detection unit 84 is connected to the ejection detection unit 64, which is disposed at a position that allows it to face the inkjet head 3. The ejection detection unit 64 is configured to include, for example, a conductive material that is electrically conductive with the ink absorbent material, and an electrical signal that flows through the conductive material can be detected by the defective nozzle detection unit 84. The defective nozzle detection unit 84 ejects charged ink droplets from each nozzle 10 of the inkjet head 3, and detects a signal of a change in current that occurs when the charged ink droplets land on the absorbent material. If the value of this signal is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the defective nozzle detection unit 84 can detect that the ink ejection from that nozzle 10 does not reach a specified ejection amount or that no ink is being ejected, i.e., that the nozzle 10 has an ejection defect. Note that the detection of defective ejection of a nozzle 10 is not limited to the above-described method using the defective nozzle detection unit 84. That is, the carriage motor 56 and the transport rollers 5, 6 may be controlled to cause the inkjet head 3 to print an appropriate test pattern, and the test pattern may be scanned by a CCD or a photosensor or the like to detect which nozzle 10 is defective in ejection.

[0044] 1 illustrates only one processor 210, the control device 50 may include multiple processors 210, and the processing may be shared among the multiple processors 210. Also, while FIG. 1 illustrates only one ASIC 55, the control device 50 may include multiple ASICs 55, and the processing may be shared among the multiple ASICs 55.

[0045] <Flushing operation> Next, a flushing operation using the flushing foam 7A, which is performed as an example of the maintenance, will be described. That is, under the control of the control device 50, the multifunction device 200 performs flushing to discharge ink that has thickened inside the nozzles 10 by driving the actuators 14 and ejecting ink from the multiple nozzles 10 while the carriage 2 is positioned at the flushing position. Specifically, this is as follows.

[0046] That is, by being in the capping state while on standby, the multifunction device 200 suppresses an increase in the evaporation rate of the ink in the nozzles 10 due to evaporation of water in the ink in the nozzles 10. When printing is to be performed, the control device 50 first controls the cap lifting device 58 to lower the cap 21, and controls the carriage motor 56 to move the carriage 2 to the flushing position, and then controls the actuator 14 to perform pre-printing flushing. After the pre-printing flushing, the control device 50 controls the carriage motor 56 to move the carriage 2 in the scanning direction to a position where the nozzle surface 13a faces the recording paper P, while controlling the actuator to eject ink from the nozzles 10 to perform printing. After printing is completed, the control device 50 controls the carriage motor 56 to move the carriage to the maintenance position, and controls the cap lifting device 58 to lift the cap 21, thereby returning the capping state.

[0047] <Purging behavior> Next, a purging operation by the purging unit 7B, which is performed as another example of the above-mentioned maintenance, will be described. That is, in the above-described capping state, the multifunction device 200, under the control of the control device 50, connects the cap section 21a to the suction pump 23 using the switching unit 22 and drives the suction pump 23. As a result, a suction purge of the black ink is performed, which discharges the black ink in the flow path unit 13 from the multiple nozzles 10 forming the rightmost nozzle row 9. Similarly, in the capping state, the multifunction device 200, under the control of the control device 50, connects the cap section 21b to the suction pump 23 using the switching unit 22 and drives the suction pump 23. This executes a suction purge of the color inks, discharging the yellow ink, cyan ink, and magenta ink from the flow path unit 13 through the multiple nozzles 10 that form the three nozzle rows 9 on the left side. The ink discharged by the suction purge is stored in the waste liquid tank 24.

[0048] In this embodiment, as described above, purging and flushing are performed as examples of maintenance that involves the consumption of ink. However, other maintenance may also be performed as long as it involves the consumption of ink.

[0049] <Maintenance mode> In this embodiment, the control device 50 of the multifunction peripheral 200 has two control modes related to the maintenance: a manual maintenance mode and an automatic maintenance mode.

[0050] In the manual maintenance mode, when the user performs an appropriate maintenance execution instruction operation via the operation unit 250, a maintenance instruction signal based on the operation is acquired by the control device 50, and maintenance is performed by the maintenance unit 7. Hereinafter, the maintenance performed in the manual maintenance mode by the user's operation will be referred to simply as "manual maintenance".

[0051] In the automatic maintenance mode, maintenance is automatically performed by the maintenance unit 7 when predetermined maintenance execution conditions are met. In this example, the degree of viscosity increase of the ink in the nozzles 10 is determined by an appropriate method, or poor ejection is detected by the ejection detection unit 64, at predetermined intervals, for example, every two weeks, and when it is determined that maintenance is necessary, the maintenance is performed. Hereinafter, maintenance that is performed in the automatic maintenance mode when the maintenance execution conditions are met will be referred to simply as "automatic maintenance."

[0052] <Background of this embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, a predetermined contract is concluded between the user of the multifunction peripheral 200 and the service provider, etc., and the user is charged based on the contract according to the print content. In the example described above, the printing service is provided on a prepaid basis. In such a service format in which charges are made according to the print content, for example, if the user intentionally and frequently performs manual maintenance, the user is not charged for ink consumption, and the more frequently the manual maintenance is performed, the more disadvantageous it becomes for the service provider, etc. Therefore, in this embodiment, if it is determined that the user has performed excessive manual maintenance, the user is warned of this fact, and further, by imposing certain restrictions on manual maintenance depending on the situation, it is possible to prevent service providers and the like from suffering disadvantages due to ink consumption.

[0053] <Software block configuration> FIG. 3 shows a software block configuration relating to the processing executed in this embodiment from the viewpoint of preventing disadvantages to the service provider.

[0054] <Service processing section of the management server> 3, the information management server 100 includes a service processing unit 530. As an example, the service processing unit 530 is configured by the above-mentioned processor 110 and a corresponding part of the program stored in the program storage area 131.

[0055] <Functional parts of the multifunction device> The multifunction device 200 includes a print control unit 540, a manual maintenance processing unit 550, an automatic maintenance processing unit 560, and a manual maintenance reception unit 570. As an example, the print control unit 540, the manual maintenance processing unit 550, the automatic maintenance processing unit 560, and the manual maintenance reception unit 570 are configured by the processor 210 of the control device 50 described above and corresponding parts of the programs stored in the program storage area 232.

[0056] The service processing unit 530 of the information management server 100 accepts applications for the above-mentioned printing services and the like from users via the information terminal 300, and executes appropriate processing required to provide each service while referring to the latest service information. The service information is information stored in the service information storage area 123 in the volatile storage device 120 of the information management server 100 shown in Fig. 1. In this example, the service information includes the cumulative number of printed pages and cumulative amount of consumables consumed by printing performed in the multifunction device 200, and the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative number of automatic maintenance operations, which represent the cumulative values ​​of the number of times maintenance has been performed in the manual maintenance mode and the automatic maintenance mode, respectively, in the multifunction device 200. Note that the service information is appropriately backed up in a rewritable nonvolatile storage device (not shown) so that it will not be lost when the multifunction device 200 is powered off.

[0057] The print control unit 540 of the multifunction device 200 controls the printing operation of the inkjet head 3. The manual maintenance reception unit 570 receives a maintenance execution instruction from the user via the operation unit 250, and the manual maintenance processing unit 550 executes the manual maintenance in the maintenance unit 7 in response to the reception. The automatic maintenance processing unit 560 executes automatic maintenance in the maintenance unit 7 when the maintenance execution conditions are met. The management service information is information stored in the service information storage area 221 in the volatile storage device 220 of the multifunction peripheral 200 shown in Fig. 1, and includes the above-mentioned cumulative number of printed sheets, cumulative amount of consumables consumed, cumulative number of manual maintenances, and cumulative number of automatic maintenances. The print control unit 540 also has a function to transmit the service status, including the content of the management service information at that time, to the information terminal 300 and present it to the user.

[0058] The cumulative number of printed sheets is a value obtained by accumulating the count values ​​of the number of sheets of recording paper P actually printed on in the multifunction device 200, and the cumulative amount of consumable material consumed is a value obtained by accumulating the dot count values ​​indicating the amount of consumable material, in this example, ink, actually consumed by printing in the multifunction device 200. The cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative amount of consumable material consumed are examples of cumulative printing information and are also examples of print execution information. The cumulative number of manual maintenance operations is a value obtained by accumulating the number of times manual maintenance operations are actually performed by the user as described above, and the cumulative number of automatic maintenance operations is a value obtained by accumulating the number of times automatic maintenance operations are actually performed when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The cumulative number of manual maintenance operations is an example of cumulative maintenance information and is also an example of manual maintenance execution information.

[0059] The data for the cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative amount of consumables consumed is generated and corrected by the print control unit 540. When printing is actually performed by the inkjet head 3, the print control unit 540 updates the count values ​​for the cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative amount of consumables consumed in the management service information by the number of printed sheets.

[0060] The data for the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative number of automatic maintenance operations are generated and corrected by the manual maintenance processing unit 550 and the automatic maintenance processing unit 560, respectively. When manual maintenance or automatic maintenance is actually performed, the manual maintenance processing unit 550 and the automatic maintenance processing unit 560 update the count value of the corresponding cumulative number of manual maintenance operations or cumulative number of automatic maintenance operations so that it is counted up.

[0061] The multifunction device 200 periodically transmits the counted-up cumulative number of printed pages, cumulative amount of consumables consumed, cumulative number of manual maintenances, cumulative number of automatic maintenances, and identification information such as the device number of the multifunction device 200 to the information management server 100, for example, at an appropriate predetermined interval. Based on the reception result, the information management server 100 updates the contents of the cumulative number of printed pages, cumulative amount of consumables consumed, cumulative number of manual maintenances, and cumulative number of automatic maintenances included in the service information. The information management server 100 associates the device number of the multifunction peripheral 200 that transmitted the cumulative number of printed pages, cumulative amount of consumables consumed, cumulative number of manual maintenances, and cumulative number of automatic maintenances with the cumulative number of printed pages, cumulative amount of consumables consumed, cumulative number of manual maintenances, and cumulative number of automatic maintenances in the device number storage area 122.

[0062] <Other functional parts of the information management server> The information management server 100 further includes a determination unit 600, an identification unit 610, a warning notification unit 620, a restriction control unit 630, and a restriction removal unit 640. As an example, the determination unit 600, the identification unit 610, the warning notification unit 620, the restriction control unit 630, and the restriction removal unit 640 are configured by the processor 110 and corresponding parts of the program stored in the program storage area 131.

[0063] The determining unit 600 acquires at least the cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations from the service information storage area 123 described above. The identification unit 610 identifies whether the user's manual operation to issue the maintenance instruction is appropriate or inappropriate, based on the determination result of the determination unit 600 based on the cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations.

[0064] Specifically, the judgment unit 600 judges whether the value of the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations is an abnormal value by comparing it with a predetermined threshold value, and the identification unit 610 identifies whether or not an inappropriate user has performed an operation to instruct maintenance to be performed based on the judgment result.

[0065] An example of the detection of an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction operation will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows an example of the transition of the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative number of printed sheets periodically transmitted from the multifunction device 200 as described above.

[0066] In Figure 4, on January 1, 2021, the cumulative number of manual maintenances is 1, and the cumulative number of printed sheets is 10. On January 2, the cumulative number of manual maintenances is 3, and the cumulative number of printed sheets is 20. In this example, the threshold value in the determination unit 600 is set to 0.2, where ΔN is the (increase in the cumulative number of manual maintenances) / (increase in the cumulative number of printed sheets) after one day has passed, and a value exceeding 0.2 is determined to be an abnormal value. Note that, as shown in Modification Example (1) described below, the determination unit 600 may also determine that a value is abnormal if, for example, the cumulative number of manual maintenances is lower than the previous day, without using a threshold value. Looking at the above trend from January 1st to January 2nd, the increase in the cumulative number of printed pages is 10, while the increase in the cumulative number of manual maintenances is 2, so ΔN = 2 / 10 = 0.2, which is below the threshold and is therefore not judged to be an abnormal value but a normal value. After that, looking at the transition from January 2nd to January 3rd, ΔN=(4-3) / (30-20)=0.1, which is determined to be a normal value as above.

[0067] In contrast, looking at the transition from January 3rd to January 4th, ΔN = (10-4) / (40-30) = 0.6, which exceeds the threshold. That is, while the increase in the cumulative number of printed sheets is 10, the increase in the cumulative number of manual maintenances is 6, so the determination unit 600 determines that these are abnormal values. As a result, the recognition unit 610 detects that an inappropriate user issued a maintenance execution instruction on January 4th.

[0068] The determination unit 600 acquires the cumulative number of printed pages, cumulative amount of consumables consumed, cumulative number of manual maintenances, and cumulative number of automatic maintenances in accordance with the fact that the latest values ​​for these are periodically acquired from the multifunction device 200 at predetermined intervals, as described above, and is executed at these predetermined intervals, for example, every few minutes.

[0069] When the identification unit 610 identifies the operation to instruct maintenance execution by an inappropriate user as described above, the warning notification unit 620 issues a corresponding warning. Specifically, a warning notification signal is output to the mobile terminal 300, and a corresponding warning display is displayed on the display unit 301 of the mobile terminal 300. An example of the warning display will be described with reference to Figs. 5(a) and 5(b).

[0070] FIG. 5A shows an example of the display on the display unit 301 of the mobile terminal 300 before the warning message is displayed. In FIG. 5A, the display unit 301 displays a plan selection screen 301A for the prepaid printing service, displaying multiple plans in the form of selection buttons for each guaranteed print quantity guaranteed by the printing authorization purchased for a fee. Specifically, the plans displayed include a ¥500 plan, which allows 100 prints for a ¥500 charge, a ¥1000 plan, which allows 220 prints for a ¥1000 charge, and a ¥2000 plan, which allows 450 prints for a ¥2000 charge. The charge amounts for the ¥500, ¥1000, and ¥2000 plans are examples of printing authorization information, and the corresponding so-called charge quantities, such as 100, 220, and 450, are examples of the predetermined print volume guaranteed by the printing authorization.

[0071] 5(b) shows a state in which the display on the display unit 301 has shifted from the plan selection screen 301A to a warning display screen 301A' upon receipt of a warning notification signal from the warning notification unit 620 of the information management server 100. In this example, on the warning display screen 301A', a new warning message M is displayed intrusively on the display contents of the plan selection screen 301A. Specifically, above the "Guaranteed print count 100 sheets 500 yen plan" button, a warning message M stating "Notice: An operator may have an inquiry about the product usage status." is displayed. If a predetermined restriction condition is met, such as if the user who has seen the warning message M continues to perform an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction that exceeds the aforementioned threshold, the user's usage behavior is deemed not to have improved, and the maintenance restriction process described below is performed by the restriction control unit 630. If the predetermined restriction condition is not met, for example, because the inappropriate maintenance execution instruction has not been performed since the warning message M was displayed, the user's usage behavior is deemed to have improved, and the maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit 630 is not performed.

[0072] After issuing a warning using the warning message M as described above, when the predetermined restriction condition is met, the restriction control unit 630 imposes a maintenance restriction on the maintenance unit 7. In this example, the restriction control unit 630 outputs a restriction control signal to the manual maintenance processing unit 550, and prohibits the execution of manual maintenance while allowing the execution of the automatic maintenance in the maintenance unit 7 (see S140 in FIG. 7 and S70 in FIG. 6, which will be described later). Furthermore, in this embodiment, even when this maintenance restriction is being implemented, printing by the inkjet head 3 is permitted, and printing on recording paper P is possible.

[0073] The restriction removal unit 640 removes the maintenance restriction on the maintenance unit 7 when a predetermined removal condition is met after the restriction control unit 630 has imposed a maintenance restriction on the maintenance unit 7 as described above. In this example, the removal condition is that a predetermined number of days, for example, three days, have passed since the maintenance restriction was imposed. Specifically, in this example, the restriction removal unit 640 outputs a restriction removal signal to the manual maintenance processing unit 550, lifts the prohibition on the above-mentioned manual maintenance in the maintenance unit 7, and allows subsequent manual maintenance to be performed (see S150 and S155 in Figure 7 and S70 in Figure 6 described below).

[0074] <Multifunction printer control procedure> Next, with the aim of realizing the above-described technique, the control procedure executed by the processor 210 of the multifunction device 200 to perform the functions of the manual maintenance processing unit 550, the automatic maintenance processing unit 560, and the manual maintenance reception unit 570 in the multifunction device 200 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 6. This control procedure is executed by a maintenance processing program included in the plurality of programs stored in the program storage area 232.

[0075] First, in S10, it is determined whether or not a predetermined maintenance check timing has arrived. If the maintenance check timing has arrived, the determination is Yes, and the process proceeds to S20. In S20, the defective nozzle detection unit 84 detects whether or not there is a defective discharge from the nozzle 10 via the discharge detection unit 64 using the method described above.

[0076] In S30, it is determined whether the above-mentioned maintenance operation is necessary, in other words, whether or not a discharge defect has occurred in any of the nozzles 10. Note that, as determined in S10, the timing for a maintenance check has arrived, and as determined in S30, a discharge defect has occurred, are examples of maintenance execution conditions. If a maintenance operation is necessary, a Yes determination is made, and the process proceeds to S40. In S40, the maintenance such as the purging operation by the purging unit 7B or the flushing operation by the flushing form 7A is carried out, and then the process proceeds to S50, which will be described later.

[0077] On the other hand, if no maintenance operation is required in S30, that is, if no ejection failure occurs in any of the nozzles 10, a No determination is made and the process moves to S50.

[0078] In S50, the current time is added with a predetermined maintenance check interval to determine the new maintenance check timing, and the flow ends. The maintenance check interval is the previously mentioned predetermined cycle, for example, half a month.

[0079] The control of executing S20 to S50 when the determination in S10 is Yes corresponds to an example of the automatic maintenance mode.

[0080] On the other hand, if the maintenance check timing has not arrived in S10, the determination is No and the process proceeds to S60.

[0081] In S60, it is determined whether the user has performed the aforementioned maintenance execution instruction operation via the operation unit 250, specifically, whether a maintenance instruction signal based on the manual operation has been input. If there has been no manual operation, the determination is No and the process returns to S10. If there has been a manual operation, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to S70.

[0082] In S70, it is determined whether a maintenance restriction flag F, which indicates whether or not maintenance restriction control, described later, is being executed, is 0. If maintenance restriction control is being executed at this point and F=1 (see S140 in FIG. 7, described later), the determination is No and the process returns to S10. If maintenance restriction control is not being executed at this point and F=0 remains, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to S80.

[0083] In S80, similar to S40, maintenance such as the purging operation by the purging unit 7B or the flushing operation by the flushing form 7A is carried out, and then this flow is terminated. The control of executing S80 when the determinations in S60 and S70 are Yes corresponds to an example of the manual maintenance mode.

[0084] <Information management server control procedure> Next, with the aim of realizing the above-mentioned technique, the control procedure executed by the processor 110 of the information management server 100 to perform the functions of the judgment unit 600, the identification unit 610, the warning notification unit 620, the restriction control unit 630, and the restriction removal unit 640 in the information management server 100 will be explained using the flowchart shown in Figure 7.

[0085] In FIG. 7, first, in S105, the maintenance restriction flag F is initialized to 0. In S110, the latest cumulative number of printed sheets is acquired by the determination unit 600 in response to acquisition from the multifunction device 200 described above. In S115, the latest cumulative number of manual maintenance operations is acquired by the determination unit 600 in response to acquisition from the multifunction device 200 described above.

[0086] In S120, based on the results obtained in S110 and S115, the determination unit 600 determines whether an improper maintenance execution instruction operation has been performed, in other words, whether the value of the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations is an abnormal value. In the example of the method described above, it is determined whether ΔN = (increase in the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations) / (increase in the cumulative number of printed sheets) exceeds the threshold value described above. If it is equal to or less than the threshold value, the determination unit 600 determines No, and this flow ends. If it is less than the threshold value, the determination unit 600 determines Yes, the recognition unit 610 recognizes that an improper maintenance execution instruction operation has been performed, and the process proceeds to S125.

[0087] In S125, the warning notification unit 620 outputs a warning notification signal to the mobile terminal 300. Upon receiving the warning notification signal, the mobile terminal 300 displays a warning as shown in FIG. 5(b).

[0088] In S130, the restriction control unit 630 determines whether the user's usage behavior has improved since the warning was displayed in S125. For example, if the user who has seen warning message M no longer performs inappropriate maintenance execution instructions and the predetermined restriction situation is no longer met, it is assumed that the user's usage behavior has improved, a Yes determination is made, and this flow ends. For example, if the user who has seen warning message M continues to perform inappropriate maintenance execution instructions and the predetermined restriction situation is met, it is assumed that the user's usage behavior has not improved, a No determination is made, and the flow proceeds to S140.

[0089] In S140, the restriction control unit 630 outputs a restriction control signal to the manual maintenance processing unit 550, and a predetermined restriction on manual maintenance is imposed. In this example, specifically, an instruction signal is output to set the maintenance restriction flag F to 1 in the flow of Fig. 6 on the multifunction device 200 side described above. As a result, the maintenance restriction flag F in the control of the multifunction device 200 becomes F = 1, and while F = 1, the determination in S70 in Fig. 6 is always No, and the execution of manual maintenance by the maintenance unit 7 in S80 is prohibited.

[0090] In S145, the restriction removal unit 640 determines whether a predetermined restriction removal condition has been met after the restriction on manual maintenance was initiated in S140. In this example, as described above, the removal condition is that a predetermined number of days have passed since the implementation of the maintenance restriction. If the removal condition is not met, a No determination is made and the process returns to S140, and if the removal condition is met, a Yes determination is made and the process proceeds to S150.

[0091] In S150, the restriction removal unit 640 outputs a restriction removal signal to the manual maintenance processing unit 550, and the aforementioned predetermined restriction on manual maintenance is removed. In this example, specifically, an instruction signal is output to reset the maintenance restriction flag F in the flow of Fig. 6 on the multifunction device 200 side to 0. As a result, the maintenance flag in the control of the multifunction device 200 is returned to F = 0, and while F = 0, S70 in Fig. 6 always returns Yes, which means that manual maintenance by the maintenance unit 7 is permitted in S80. After S150 is completed, this flow ends.

[0092] <Effects of the embodiment> In the print processing system 1 of this embodiment, management is performed based on print execution information by the inkjet head 3, such as the cumulative number of printed sheets, and manual maintenance execution information related to manual maintenance performed by the maintenance unit 7 in response to user operations, such as the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations. The identification unit 610 identifies whether an inappropriate user operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction has been performed, based on the cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations. For example, if the identification unit 610 identifies an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction operation because the user has been issuing maintenance execution instructions excessively frequently with a small number of printed sheets, the warning notification unit 620 will issue a corresponding warning on the mobile terminal 300. The warning notification lets the user know that their past action has been identified as an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction operation, which will serve as a self-discipline to refrain from similar actions in the future, thereby reducing ink waste due to maintenance. According to this embodiment, a warning is issued when an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction is issued, thereby preventing ink waste caused by excessive maintenance execution instructions, thereby preventing disadvantages to service providers and others who provide services based on a contract.

[0093] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, if a predetermined restriction condition is met after the warning is issued, the restriction control unit 630 executes a maintenance restriction process on the maintenance unit 7 (see S140 in FIG. 7). By imposing certain restrictions on the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 7, ink waste due to maintenance is suppressed. According to this embodiment, when an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction is issued, maintenance restrictions are further implemented, thereby preventing ink waste caused by excessive maintenance execution instructions that are more than necessary, thereby further preventing disadvantages to service providers and the like who provide services based on a contract.

[0094] When the identification unit 610 identifies an operation as an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction, rather than issuing a warning and then performing the maintenance restriction process as described above, if it is clear that the operation is an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction, the restriction control unit 630 may perform the maintenance restriction process without issuing a warning. In this case, S125 and S130 in Fig. 7 are omitted, and S140 is executed if the determination in S120 is Yes. Alternatively, whether to issue a warning and then perform the maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit 630 without issuing a warning may be applied appropriately depending on the region, country, or service company providing the service.

[0095] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, even while the maintenance restriction process is being executed by the restriction control unit 630, printing is permitted without any particular restrictions being placed on the inkjet head 3. According to this embodiment, while the maintenance restriction process is being executed, some restrictions are placed on maintenance, but printing can be executed in accordance with the user's intentions, so there is no decrease in convenience for the user with regard to printing.

[0096] In this embodiment, in particular, a determination unit 600 is provided to identify whether or not an inappropriate user has operated a maintenance execution instruction. The determination unit 600 compares the value of the manual maintenance execution information, in the above example, the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations with a predetermined threshold value, to determine whether or not the value of the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations is an abnormal value. According to this embodiment, the identification unit 610 can accurately and reliably identify whether or not an inappropriate user has performed an operation to issue a maintenance instruction, based on the determination result of the determination unit 600.

[0097] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, the restriction control unit 630 performs maintenance restriction processing to prohibit maintenance resulting from the reception of a user operation by the manual maintenance reception unit 570. According to this embodiment, ink waste caused by excessive user operations issuing maintenance execution instructions beyond what is necessary is reliably suppressed, thereby reliably suppressing disadvantages to service providers and the like.

[0098] Furthermore, because the manual maintenance process is executed based on the user's manual operation, there is a possibility that it may be executed excessively at the user's discretion, as described above, whereas the automatic maintenance process is executed when predetermined maintenance execution conditions are met, so it will not be executed excessively more than necessary. In particular, in this embodiment, the maintenance restriction process does not prohibit automatic maintenance processes, but only manual maintenance processes, so that unnecessary ink consumption that is not necessarily required can be reliably suppressed while ensuring automatic maintenance processes that are actually necessary. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a distinction is made between the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative number of automatic maintenance operations. By separating information related to manual maintenance processing from information related to automatic maintenance processing, it is possible to appropriately handle the information in accordance with the difference between the two maintenance operations, as described above.

[0099] In particular, in this embodiment, a restriction removal unit 640 is provided, and the maintenance restriction process can be removed when a predetermined removal condition is satisfied after the maintenance restriction process is executed by the restriction control unit 630. According to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the maintenance restriction process from continuing indefinitely, and to suppress a decrease in user convenience.

[0100] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, when a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the maintenance restriction process was executed by the restriction control unit 630, the maintenance restriction process is automatically released by the restriction release unit 640. According to this embodiment, by limiting the maintenance restriction to a certain period of time, it is possible to prevent a decrease in user convenience.

[0101] <Modification> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following modifications are also included within the technical scope.

[0102] (1) When considering resetting by a service technician In this modified example, manual maintenance execution information, in this example, the cumulative number of manual maintenances, can be reset to accommodate cases where a service technician needs to perform maintenance on the multifunction peripheral 200, such as a waste liquid form. When a service technician resets the information, the value of the cumulative number of manual maintenances appears to decrease compared to the value before the reset, which may be determined by the determination unit 600 to be an abnormal value. In this modified example, even if the determination unit 600 determines that the cumulative number of manual maintenances is an abnormal value, if the determination unit 600 determines that the abnormal value is due to a reset by a predetermined specific operator, such as a service technician, the identification unit 610 does not identify the abnormal value as a maintenance execution instruction by an inappropriate user. Specifically, the identification is performed by referring to the cumulative amount of consumables consumed, obtained as described above.

[0103] For example, in the example shown in Figure 8(a), on January 1, 2021, the cumulative number of manual maintenances was 1, on January 2, 2, and on January 3, 3, increasing by 1 each day, whereas on January 4, it was 1, a decrease of 2 from the previous day, January 3. In this case, the determination unit 600 determines that the value of the cumulative number of manual maintenances on January 4 is an abnormal value because the cumulative value, which should not normally decrease, has decreased. However, looking at the cumulative consumable goods consumption value, on January 1, 2021, the cumulative consumable goods consumption value was 100 (however, a relative value; the same applies below), on January 2 it was 200, on January 3 it was 300, and so on, increasing by 100 each day, and on the following day, January 4 it was 400, an increase from the previous day, January 3. In such a case, in this modified example, the identification unit 610 considers that only the cumulative manual maintenance count was reset by work by a serviceman or the like on January 4, 2021, and does not identify this as an operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction by an inappropriate user.

[0104] On the other hand, in the example shown in Figure 8(b), similar to Figure 8(a) above, the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations on January 1, 2, 3, and 4, 2021, progresses as follows: 1, 2, 3, and 1, and the judgment unit 600 judges that the value of the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations on January 4 is an abnormal value. Furthermore, when looking at the cumulative consumable goods consumption value, it was 100 on January 1, 2021, 200 on January 2, and 300 on January 3, increasing by 100 each day, but the following day, January 4, it was 100, a decrease from the previous day, January 3. Therefore, in such a case, the identification unit 610 determines that the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations and the cumulative amount of consumable goods consumed were not performed by a service technician or the like on January 4, 2021, but were tampered with by unauthorized manipulation by a malicious party, and identifies this as an operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction by an inappropriate user.

[0105] In this modified example, the above-described identification that takes into account the cumulative consumption amount of consumables is performed in S120 of Fig. 7. According to this embodiment, it is possible to avoid processing problems caused by work by a service person or the like.

[0106] (2) When the criteria are variable depending on the user's charge amount In the example described above, the threshold ΔN used by the determination unit 600 to determine whether a maintenance execution instruction is inappropriate is set to a fixed value of 0.2. However, since a user with a large number of sheets charged is a user who has purchased paid printing privileges at a relatively high price and is a kind of regular customer, it is preferable to avoid maintenance restrictions as much as possible. In this modified example, in response to the above, the threshold value ΔN applied in the determination unit 600 is set to be variable depending on the amount of the recharge amount purchased in advance by the user for a fee.

[0107] In the example described above, after the maintenance restriction processing limit is imposed on manual maintenance as described above, the release condition for the restriction release unit 640 to release the maintenance restriction is set as a fixed value, i.e., a predetermined period of time after the execution of the maintenance restriction, for example, three days. However, as mentioned above, since users who charge a large number of sheets are a kind of regular customers, it is preferable to remove the maintenance restriction as soon as possible. In this modified example, in response to the above, the predetermined period applied by the restriction removal unit 640 is set to be variable depending on the amount of recharges that the user has purchased in advance for a fee.

[0108] A specific example of the above-mentioned method of this modified example will be described with reference to Fig. 9. In the example of Fig. 9, the cumulative number of charged sheets, which is the cumulative value thereof, is used as a specific index relating to the number of charged sheets. As shown in FIG. 9, in this example, for a user whose cumulative recharge count is 0, the threshold ΔN used by the determination unit 600 is set to 0.1, and the predetermined period until the maintenance limit is lifted is set to 4 days. For a user whose cumulative recharge count is 1 to 999, the threshold ΔN is increased to 0.2, and the predetermined period until the maintenance limit is lifted is shortened to 3 days. For a user whose cumulative recharge count is 1000 to 1999, the threshold ΔN is further increased to 0.3, and the predetermined period until the maintenance limit is lifted is further shortened to 2 days. For a user whose cumulative recharge count is 2000 or more, the threshold ΔN is further increased to 0.4, and the predetermined period until the maintenance limit is lifted is further shortened to 1 day.

[0109] As described above, according to this modification, for example, preferential treatment can be provided to users who have paid a high price to use the service, such as by increasing the value of the threshold ΔN, making it less likely that the value will be determined to be an abnormal value by the determination unit 600, and thereby making it easier to avoid maintenance restrictions. According to this modification, preferential treatment can be provided to users who have paid a high price, such as by shortening the predetermined period, so that maintenance restrictions can be lifted in a relatively short time.

[0110] (3) When the printer has the functions of the information management server That is, in the print processing system 1 shown in FIG. 3 described above, the functions of each functional unit in the information management server 100 do not necessarily have to be provided by the information management server 100, and may all be provided on the multifunction peripheral 200 side, for example. That is, in this modification, the multifunction device 200 includes functional units such as a determination unit, an identification unit, a warning notification unit, a restriction control unit, and a restriction removal unit, which have the same functions as the determination unit 600, the identification unit 610, the warning notification unit 620, the restriction control unit 630, and the restriction removal unit 640 shown in Fig. 3. In this case, as an example, each functional unit is configured by the above-mentioned processor 210 and a corresponding part of the program stored in the program storage area 232.

[0111] In the multifunction device 200 of this modified example, the identification unit provided in the multifunction device 200 identifies whether or not an inappropriate user has performed an operation to instruct maintenance to be performed, based on the cumulative number of printed sheets and the cumulative number of manual maintenance operations. For example, if the identification unit identifies an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction operation because the user has issued an operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction excessively frequently with a small number of printed sheets, the warning notification unit provided in the multifunction device 200 will issue a corresponding warning on the mobile terminal 300. The warning notification may also be issued on the display unit 240 of the multifunction device 200. The warning notification lets the user know that their past action has been determined to be an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction operation, which will serve as a self-discipline to refrain from similar actions in the future, thereby reducing ink waste due to maintenance. In this modified example, as in the above embodiment, a warning is issued when an inappropriate maintenance execution instruction is issued, thereby preventing ink waste caused by excessive maintenance execution instructions being issued more than necessary, thereby preventing disadvantages to service providers and the like who provide services based on a contract.

[0112] (4) Other In the above description, ink has been used as an example of a printing consumable material, but this is not limiting. For example, if a laser-type multifunction peripheral 200 is used instead of an inkjet-type, toner would be an example of a printing consumable material.

[0113] In the above description, the arrows shown in FIG. 3 are merely examples of signal flow, and do not limit the direction of signal flow.

[0114] Furthermore, the flowcharts shown in Figures 6 and 7 do not limit the present invention to the procedures shown in the above flows, and steps may be added or deleted or the order may be changed within the scope that does not deviate from the spirit and technical idea of ​​the invention.

[0115] The components illustrated in the above embodiments and drawings can be arbitrarily modified and improved within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention in terms of shape, numerical value, or the structure or chronological relationship of multiple components.

[0116] In addition to the above, the methods according to the above embodiments and modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

[0117] The problems to be solved by the invention and the effects of the invention are not limited to those described above. That is, the present invention may solve problems or achieve effects not described above, or may solve only some of the problems or achieve only some of the effects described above.

[0118] Although not specifically illustrated, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0119] 1. Printing processing system (an example of a maintenance management system) 2 carriages 3 Inkjet head (an example of an ejection head) 7 Maintenance Department 7A Purging Unit 7B Flushing Foam 100 Information Management Server 200 Multifunction printer (example of printing device) 300 mobile devices 301 Display section 600 Judgment section 610 Identification unit 620 Warning Notification Unit 630 Restriction control section 640 Restriction Release Department P Recording paper (an example of a printing medium)

Claims

1. a printing unit that includes an ejection head that ejects ink and prints on a print medium using the ink; a maintenance unit that performs maintenance of the ejection head, which involves consumption of the ink; a manual maintenance receiving unit that receives a user's operation to instruct the execution of maintenance; an identification unit that identifies whether the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction is appropriate or inappropriate based on print execution information by the printing unit and manual maintenance execution information of manual maintenance that the maintenance unit executes as a result of the manual maintenance receiving unit accepting the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction; a restriction control unit that executes a maintenance restriction process on the maintenance unit when the identification unit identifies that the operation to issue the maintenance instruction is from an inappropriate user; a determination unit that determines whether the value of the manual maintenance execution information is an abnormal value by comparing it with a predetermined threshold value; and The identification unit Based on the determination result by the determination unit, it is determined whether or not the inappropriate user has performed an operation to instruct maintenance execution; The threshold value is The printing authority information, which has been given to the printing unit in advance, is set to be variable depending on the size of the predetermined printing amount guaranteed by the printing authority information. Maintenance management system.

2. The maintenance management system according to claim 1 , wherein printing by the printing unit is permitted even while the maintenance restriction process is being executed by the restriction control unit.

3. The maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit includes: a process of prohibiting the maintenance caused by the manual maintenance receiving unit receiving a user operation, The maintenance management system according to claim 1 .

4. The maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit includes: a process of prohibiting the maintenance caused by the manual maintenance receiving unit receiving a user operation, The maintenance management system according to claim 2.

5. The maintenance unit a manual maintenance process in which the maintenance unit executes the maintenance when the manual maintenance reception unit receives the maintenance execution instruction from the user; an automatic maintenance process in which the maintenance unit automatically performs the maintenance when a predetermined maintenance execution condition is satisfied; Both are possible, The maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit includes: prohibiting the manual maintenance process without prohibiting the automatic maintenance process; The maintenance management system according to claim 3.

6. The maintenance unit a manual maintenance process in which the maintenance unit executes the maintenance when the manual maintenance reception unit receives the maintenance execution instruction from the user; an automatic maintenance process in which the maintenance unit automatically performs the maintenance when a predetermined maintenance execution condition is satisfied; Both are possible, The maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit includes: prohibiting the manual maintenance process without prohibiting the automatic maintenance process; The maintenance management system according to claim 4.

7. A printing unit that has an ejection head that ejects ink and prints on a print medium using the ink; a maintenance unit that performs maintenance of the ejection head, which involves consumption of the ink; a manual maintenance receiving unit that receives a user's operation to instruct the execution of maintenance; an identification unit that identifies whether the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction is appropriate or inappropriate based on print execution information by the printing unit and manual maintenance execution information of manual maintenance that the maintenance unit executes as a result of the manual maintenance receiving unit accepting the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction; a restriction control unit that executes a maintenance restriction process on the maintenance unit when the identification unit identifies that the operation to issue the maintenance instruction is from an inappropriate user; a determination unit that determines whether the value of the manual maintenance execution information is an abnormal value by comparing it with a predetermined threshold value; and The identification unit Based on the determination result by the determination unit, it is determined whether or not the inappropriate user has performed an operation to instruct maintenance execution; The maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit includes: a process of prohibiting the maintenance caused by the manual maintenance receiving unit receiving a user operation, The maintenance unit a manual maintenance process in which the maintenance unit executes the maintenance when the manual maintenance reception unit receives the maintenance execution instruction from the user; an automatic maintenance process in which the maintenance unit automatically performs the maintenance when a predetermined maintenance execution condition is satisfied; Both are possible, The maintenance restriction process by the restriction control unit includes: inhibiting the manual maintenance process without inhibiting the automatic maintenance process; The manual maintenance execution information includes: It can be reset by a specific operator, The identification unit Even if the determination unit determines that the value of the manual maintenance execution information is an abnormal value, if the manual maintenance execution information is reset by the specified operator, the operation of the maintenance execution instruction is not identified as being that of the inappropriate user. Maintenance management system.

8. The maintenance control device further includes a restriction release unit that releases the maintenance restriction process on the maintenance unit when a predetermined release condition is satisfied after the maintenance restriction process is executed by the restriction control unit. The maintenance management system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The cancellation conditions are: A predetermined period of time has elapsed since the execution of the maintenance restriction process. The maintenance management system according to claim 8.

10. A printing unit that has an ejection head that ejects ink and prints on a print medium using the ink; a maintenance unit that performs maintenance of the ejection head, which involves consumption of the ink; a manual maintenance receiving unit that receives a user's operation to instruct the execution of maintenance; an identification unit that identifies whether the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction is appropriate or inappropriate based on print execution information by the printing unit and manual maintenance execution information of manual maintenance that the maintenance unit executes as a result of the manual maintenance receiving unit accepting the user's operation to issue a maintenance execution instruction; a warning notification unit that issues a corresponding warning when the identification unit identifies that the operation to issue a maintenance instruction has been made by an inappropriate user; a restriction control unit that executes a maintenance restriction process for the maintenance unit when a predetermined restriction condition is satisfied after the warning notification unit issues a warning; a restriction release unit that releases the maintenance restriction process on the maintenance unit when a predetermined release condition is satisfied after the maintenance restriction process is executed by the restriction control unit; and The cancellation conditions are: a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the execution of the maintenance restriction process, The predetermined period is The printing authority information, which has been given to the printing unit in advance, is set to be variable depending on the size of the predetermined printing amount guaranteed by the printing authority information. Maintenance management system.

11. The print execution information is Cumulative printing information, The manual maintenance execution information includes: Cumulative maintenance information, The maintenance management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

Images