Information delivery and print system, and printing device

Abstract

The present invention prevents or reduces situations in which an advertisement cannot be printed even though a successful bid has been made in response to a bid invitation. An information delivery and print system 1 comprises a printer 200, an advertisement providing server 100 that receives delivery information managed by an advertisement management server 500 and delivers the delivery information to the printer 200, and a terminal device 300, and the information delivery and print system: in step S5, transmits a bid request for the delivery information to the advertisement management server 500; in step S8, determines specific delivery information that will be the successful bid, from among the delivery information received from the advertisement management server 500 in response to the bid request transmitted in S5; in step S20, acquires the specific delivery information determined in step S8 from the advertisement management server 500; in step S35, prints a printing delivery image based on the specific delivery information; and in steps S23 and S28, issues a predetermined notification related to cause of printing failure relating to the printing of the printing delivery image in step S35 in a manner different from that during normal printing execution instructed from the terminal device 300.

Description

Information distribution printing system and printing apparatus 【0001】 The present invention relates to an information distribution printing system and a printing apparatus that distribute distribution information to a printing apparatus at a distribution destination and perform printing. 【0002】 Conventionally, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a bid for an advertisement attached to an image of a printed matter printed by a printing apparatus is solicited, a target advertisement is determined based on bid results from a plurality of advertisers, and charging corresponding to the bid amount of the advertisement is executed. Technology is known. 【0003】 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-140250 【0004】 In the technology disclosed in the above-cited Document 1, for example, when attempting to print an advertisement that has been successfully bid according to the bid amount, there may be cases where printing fails due to some inconvenience or the like in the printing apparatus, or cases where printing cannot be started to prevent printing failure. Since the user of the printing apparatus is not always near the printing apparatus, in such a case, there is a problem that the advertiser of the advertisement may miss the opportunity to obtain the effect of the advertisement, or charging as it is may cause disadvantage to the advertiser. 【0005】 An object of the present invention is to provide an information distribution printing system that can prevent or reduce a situation where an advertisement cannot be printed despite winning a bid in response to a bid solicitation. 【0006】To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides an information distribution printing system comprising: a printing device; a distribution information provision server that receives distribution information managed by a distribution information management server and distributes it to the printing device; and a terminal device, the system comprising: a request transmission unit that transmits a request for bidding on distribution information to the distribution information management server; an information determination unit that determines specific distribution information to be awarded among the distribution information received by the distribution information management server in response to the request for bidding transmitted by the request transmission unit; a specific distribution information acquisition unit that acquires the specific distribution information determined by the information determination unit from the distribution information management server; a printing unit that prints a distribution image for printing based on the specific distribution information; and a failure factor notification unit that provides predetermined notification regarding the printing of the distribution image for printing in the printing unit in a manner different from that of normal printing execution instructed by the terminal device. 【0007】 In the information distribution and printing system of the present invention, bids are solicited when a bid request is sent from the request transmission unit, and the information determination unit determines the specific distribution information that will be awarded the bid from among the distribution information received in response to the bid request. The specific distribution information acquisition unit acquires the specific distribution information, and the printing unit executes printing of the distribution image for printing based on the acquired specific distribution information. If there is any situation that may cause printing failure when the printing unit attempts to execute printing, the failure factor notification unit provides a predetermined notification related to the failure factor. When printing a distribution image, the user may not be near the printing unit. Therefore, when printing a distribution image, a predetermined notification is given in a manner different from when the user instructs normal printing from a terminal device, so that the user is aware of the failure factor and can resolve it. According to the present invention, since the user is notified that there is a possibility of printing failure, the user can resolve the failure factor themselves. As a result, the probability of successful printing can be improved, so that situations in which the advertisement cannot be printed despite winning the bid can be prevented or reduced. 【0008】 According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent or reduce situations in which an advertisement cannot be printed despite having won a bid in response to a tender request. 【0009】This is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information distribution and printing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. This is a sequence flow showing an example of the processing flow executed by the cooperation of an advertising server, an advertising management server, a terminal device, and a printer. This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a warning display for restoring settings on the display unit of the terminal device. This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an error warning display on the display unit of the terminal device. 【0010】 Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to an information distribution and printing system that distributes information from a server to a printer for printing. 【0011】 <Overall Configuration of Information Distribution Printing System> Figure 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the information distribution printing system 1 according to the embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the information distribution printing system 1 includes an advertising server (SSP: Supply Side Platform) 100, a printer 200, a terminal device 300, a user management server (DMP: Data Management Platform) 400, and an advertising management server (DSP: Demand Side Platform) 500. Servers 100, 400, 500, printer 200, and terminal device 300 are each equipped with a communication unit and can communicate with each other via the network NT. The network NT includes at least one of the following: the Internet, LAN (Local Area Network), and WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication unit may be configured to include multiple types of communication circuits for connecting to the network NT. In this case, devices connected to the network NT may communicate with multiple other devices using different communication circuits. In this embodiment, the collective term for multiple types of communication circuits is referred to as the communication unit. 【0012】<Terminal Device> The terminal device 300 is, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone owned by the user, and in this example is connected to the network NT via wireless communication. The terminal device 300 can be any suitable terminal other than the printer 200, and may be a tablet PC, notebook PC, desktop PC, etc., in addition to a smartphone. Alternatively, the terminal device 300 may be a portable terminal or a stationary terminal installed in karaoke boxes or various stores for song selection, menu selection, product browsing, etc. The terminal device 300 has a display unit 310 (see Figure 4 below), a control unit, an operation unit, a storage unit, and a communication unit, etc., which are not shown. Various programs are stored in the storage unit. The control unit executes the various programs stored in the storage unit. The various programs include programs that execute the processes shown in the flow chart of Figure 2 below. The user can input various instructions to the terminal device 300 by operating the operation unit. 【0013】 <User Management Server> The user management server 400 manages user information via the terminal device 300 or the advertising server 100. The user management server 400 includes a control unit (not shown), a storage unit, a communication unit, etc. 【0014】 <Advertising Server> The advertising server 100 is a server installed and managed by, for example, the manufacturer of the printer 200. The advertising server 100 receives advertising images from the advertising management server 500 at predetermined timings. The advertising server 100 distributes the acquired advertising images to the printer 200 and causes it to print. The advertising server 100 is an example of a distribution information provider server, and the advertising images are an example of distribution information. 【0015】In detail, the advertising server 100 includes a control unit 110, a storage unit 115, a communication unit 140, etc. The control unit 110, storage unit 115, and communication unit 140, etc. are connected via a bus 105 to enable information transmission and reception. The storage unit 115 is composed of, for example, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, HDD, etc. The storage unit 115 stores various programs 120 and various data 130. The various programs 120 include an information distribution and printing program that executes the control contents of the advertising server 100 as shown in the flow chart of Figure 2, which will be described later, and the various data 130 include the printer ID of the printer 200, user ID, advertising image, etc. 【0016】 The control unit 110 is a device that performs data processing, such as a processor like a CPU. The control unit 110 executes various programs stored in the storage unit 115. The control unit 110 performs various processes, including data communication with the printer 200, terminal device 300, user management server 400, and advertising management server 500, which are connected to the network NT. The communication unit 140 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the printer 200, terminal device 300, user management server 400, and advertising management server 500. 【0017】<Advertising Management Server> The advertising management server 500 transmits advertising images for printing by the printer 200 to the advertising provision server 100. The advertising management server 500 has a control unit (not shown), a storage unit, a communication unit, etc., and in this example, it receives bid requests from the advertising provision server 100 via the communication unit. Multiple advertiser terminal devices or servers (not shown) are connected to the network NT, and the control unit of the advertising management server 500 executes an auction corresponding to the bid request for advertising images submitted by these advertisers and acquires suitable advertising images by bidding on the auction. When a successful bid that meets the predetermined conditions of the auction is made, the control unit of the advertising management server 500 acquires the corresponding advertising image from the terminal device, etc., of the successful bidder advertiser. The acquired advertising image is transmitted from the advertising management server 500 to the advertising provision server 100 via the communication unit, and the receiving advertising provision server 100 further transmits it to the printer 200 for printing. The ad delivery server 100 may obtain the ad images from the ad management server 500, or the ad management server 500 may obtain ad images from another external server and send them to the ad delivery server 100. The ad management server 500 is an example of a distribution information management server. 【0018】 The servers 100, 400, and 500 described above may each consist of a single standalone "server," or each may be composed of multiple servers. Alternatively, at least two of the functions of these servers 100, 400, and 500 may be provided by a single standalone "server." 【0019】 <Printer> Printer 200 is assigned the aforementioned printer ID. Printer 200 includes a control unit 210, a storage unit 215, a display unit 240, an operation unit 250, a communication unit 260, a printing unit 270, etc. The control unit 210, storage unit 215, display unit 240, operation unit 250, communication unit 260, and printing unit 270 are connected via bus 205 to enable information transmission and reception. Printer 200 is an example of a printing device. 【0020】The storage unit 215 is composed of, for example, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, HDD, etc. The storage unit 215 stores various programs 220 and various data 230. The various programs 220 include, for example, a program that executes the control contents of the printer 200 according to the flow shown in Figure 2, which will be described later. The various data 230 include the aforementioned printer ID and advertising images received from the advertising server 100, which are obtained from the terminal device of the successful bidder among the advertisers and sent from the advertising server 100. In this embodiment, the data 230 also includes the email address of the terminal device 300. The email address of the terminal device 300 is used for warning emails regarding the distribution and printing of advertisements, which will be described later. At least a portion of the above various data may be stored in the storage unit 115 of the advertising server 100. Alternatively, at least some of the original data may be stored in either the storage unit 215 of the printer 200 or the storage unit 115 of the advertising server 100, and a copy of that original data may be stored in the other of the two. 【0021】 The control unit 210 is a data processing device, such as a processor like a CPU. The control unit 210 executes various programs stored in the storage unit 215. The display unit 240 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, capable of displaying various information. The operation unit 250 is, for example, a keyboard or buttons, and accepts user input. The user can input various instructions to the printer 200 by operating the operation unit 250. The communication unit 260 is connected to the network NT and can communicate with the advertising server 100, the advertising management server 500, the user management server 400, and the terminal device 300. The printing unit 270 includes a printing engine and, using a transport mechanism (not shown), removes and transports printing paper from a paper tray, while forming and printing an image on the paper using, for example, an inkjet method or a laser method. The following explanation will use the inkjet method as an example. 【0022】The cartridge holder 280 is configured to accommodate a cartridge 285. The cartridge 285 consists of multiple ink color cartridges, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The cartridge holder 280 is provided with an ink level sensor (not shown) capable of detecting the remaining amount or consumption of each of the multiple ink color cartridges by a known method. 【0023】 The printing unit 270 performs printing while consuming the ink in the cartridge 285. The reader / writer 290 is provided in the cartridge holder 280. The reader / writer 290 reads and writes cartridge information to the IC chip provided in the cartridge 285 housed in the cartridge holder 280. For example, the reader / writer 290 detects the type of cartridge 285 housed in the cartridge holder 280 by reading the cartridge information from the IC chip. The amount of ink used or remaining in the cartridge 285 may also be detected by the above reading by the reader / writer 290. 【0024】 The control unit 210 determines that an ink level error, a type of main unit error, has occurred if the ink level falls below a predetermined small threshold. The printer 200 is also configured to detect other examples of main unit errors, such as paper jams in the transport mechanism or the depletion of paper in the paper tray, using known methods. In these cases, the control unit 210 also determines, based on the detection results, that a transport error or paper out error, both types of main unit errors, has occurred. Ink is an example of a consumable item, and so is paper. Furthermore, the ink level falling below a threshold, paper jams, and the depletion of paper in the paper tray are examples of predetermined conditions. 【0025】<Features of the Embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, an auction is held for the advertisement to solicit bids, and if there is a successful bid that meets the conditions, the winning advertisement image is delivered to the printer 200 and the advertisement is printed. At that time, there may be cases where printing fails due to some malfunction in the printer 200, or where printing cannot be started in order to prevent printing failure. Since the user of the printer 200 is not necessarily near the printer 200, in such cases the advertiser of the advertisement may miss the opportunity to obtain the effect of the advertisement, or charging the advertiser as is may cause a disadvantage to the advertiser. The feature of this embodiment is that when printing the advertisement, a predetermined notification is given in a manner different from when the user of the printer 200 instructs the terminal device 300 to print, so that the user is made aware of the above malfunction in the printer 200 that is causing the printing failure, and the situation in which the advertisement cannot be printed is prevented or reduced. The details of this process will be explained below with reference to Figure 2. Figure 2 is a sequence flow representing the control performed through the cooperation of the advertising server 100, the advertising management server 500, the printer 200, and the terminal device 300. 【0026】 In Figure 2, first, in S5, the advertising server 100 determines the minimum bid price for soliciting bids for advertising images. This minimum bid price is, for example, uniquely predetermined and stored in the storage unit 115. In S5, the minimum bid price is determined based on the contents of the storage unit 115, and a bid request including this minimum bid price is sent to the advertising management server 500. The control unit 110 of the advertising server 100 that executes S5 is an example of a request transmission unit. 【0027】 In response to the submitted bidding request, the ad management server 500 conducts an auction for suitable advertisements and solicits bids. At that time, the bidding request is for an advertisement image that meets predetermined conditions, including having a bid price equal to or higher than the minimum bid price. 【0028】In S7, the advertising management server 500 transmits the bidding results from the auction conducted in response to the bidding request sent in S5. If there is a bid that meets the specified conditions requested in the bidding request, the transmitted content will include the URL of the advertisement image submitted by that bidder. If there is no bid that meets the specified conditions requested in the bidding request, that fact will be included in the transmitted content. 【0029】 In S8, the ad provider server 100 determines whether there are any bids that meet the winning conditions based on the content of the bid results transmitted in S7, and bids that meet the winning conditions are determined to be the winning advertisement. Winning conditions include, for example, having the highest bid price. In addition, the conditions for winning may include meeting predetermined conditions requested in the bid request. The determined advertisement is an example of specific distribution information, and the control unit 110 of the ad provider server 100 that executes S8 is an example of an information determination unit. 【0030】 In S10, a "hold notification" is sent to the advertising management server 500 to inform advertisers who have submitted bids that meet the bidding conditions, i.e., the successful bidders, that their bids have been accepted and will be stored without being deleted. The advertising management server 500 then transmits this hold notification to the successful bidder's terminal devices, servers, etc., connected to the advertising management server 500 via the network NT. If there are multiple bids that meet the bidding conditions, multiple hold notifications may be sent. 【0031】 In S15, a "defeat notification" is sent to the advertising management server 500 to inform advertisers who have submitted bids that do not meet the bidding conditions, i.e., non-winning bidders, that their bids will not be accepted because there is another winning bidder. The advertising management server 500 then receives this defeat notification and sends it to the terminal devices and servers of the non-winning bidders connected to the advertising management server 500 via the network NT. If there are multiple bids that do not meet the bidding conditions, multiple defeat notifications may be sent. 【0032】In S17, using the URL of the advertisement image obtained in S7, an advertisement image request is sent from the advertisement provision server 100 to the advertisement management server 500 requesting the advertisement image of the successful bidder for whom a hold notification was sent in S10. If there are multiple successful bidders, multiple advertisement images may be requested. In response to the above advertisement image request, in S20 the advertisement management server 500 sends the advertisement image from the successful bidder, which is received and acquired by the advertisement provision server 100. The acquired advertisement image is stored, for example, in the storage unit 115. The control unit 110 of the advertisement provision server 100 that executes S20 is an example of a specific distribution information acquisition unit. 【0033】 The printer 200 can perform both distribution printing, which prints advertisements distributed from the advertisement server 100, and normal printing, which prints regular documents in response to print commands from the user's terminal device 300, etc., based on the control of the control unit 210. In the case of distribution printing, printing is performed according to a predetermined distribution printing setting (first setting) that corresponds to the printing of advertisement images, while in the case of normal printing, printing is performed with various settings. Therefore, in the case of normal printing, printing may be performed with a second setting other than the first setting. The settings referred to here include the type and size of paper installed in the printer 200. 【0034】 In Figure 2, in S21, the printer 200 determines whether the conditions for checking the printer's settings are met at this point. If the conditions for checking the printer's settings are met in S21, then in S22, the printer 200 determines whether the printer 200 is in the first setting as determined in S21. 【0035】 If the first setting is selected, the printer 200 determines Yes in S22 and waits for a print command (S30) from the advertising server 100, which will be described later. If the first setting is not selected, the printer 200 determines No in S22 and proceeds to S23. In S23, the printer 200 sends a warning email to the terminal device 300 using the email address of the terminal device 300 stored in the storage unit 215, informing it that it should revert to the first setting. The process executed in S23 is an example of failure cause notification processing, and the control unit 210 of the printer 200 that executes S23 is an example of a failure cause notification unit. 【0036】 In S23, the terminal device 300 receives a warning email to revert the settings, and in S23C, it displays a corresponding warning message to revert the settings on the display unit 310. An example of a warning message to revert the settings is shown in Figure 3. 【0037】 As shown in Figure 3, in this example, the message M11, "Please return the paper in the tray to A4 size so that the advertisement can be printed," and the user's confirmation "OK" button 311 are displayed. The display content shown in Figure 3 is an example of a predetermined notification. Returning to Figure 2, after S23, the printer 200 enters a state where it waits for a print command (S30) from the advertisement provision server 100, which will be described later. In this state, it is waiting for a print command from the advertisement provision server and is also able to accept normal printing. 【0038】 In S30, the advertising server 100 creates a distribution image containing the winning bidder's advertisement image, that is, a distribution image containing information including the advertisement image received from the advertising management server 500 in S20. Alternatively, instead of the advertising server 100 creating the distribution image, the advertising management server 500 may create the distribution image and the advertising server 100 may acquire it. Alternatively, instead of creating the distribution image in S30, print data for printing the distribution image may be created in various page description languages. The advertising server 100 then distributes a print instruction containing the created distribution image to the printer 200. The print instruction is an example of a print execution instruction. 【0039】 In this example, when the printer 200 receives a print command in S30, it executes the process in S26. That is, in S26, the printer 200 performs an error check (hereinafter referred to as "main unit error check") to see if the aforementioned main unit error has occurred inside the printer 200. The contents of the main unit error check include, for example, as described above, whether the ink level is below a predetermined small threshold; whether there is no paper left in the paper tray; and whether there is a paper jam in the transport mechanism. The control unit 210 of the printer 200 that executes S26 is an example of a failure detection unit. 【0040】 In S27, the printer 200 determines whether or not any main unit error has occurred as a result of the check in S26. 【0041】 If no main unit error has occurred, the printer 200 determines S27 as No and proceeds to S32 described below. If a main unit error has occurred, the printer 200 determines S27 as Yes and proceeds to S28. In S28, the printer 200, as in S23 above, sends an error warning email to the terminal device 300 using the email address stored in the storage unit 215, stating that a main unit error has occurred. In the case of normal printing, the printer 200 notifies the program of the terminal device 300 that the error has occurred (e.g., print application, printer driver, etc.) that issued the print command. In the case of advertising printing, the email is sent to the email address because if the user has not launched the normal printing program, the error notification will not be transmitted to the terminal device 300. The process executed in S28 is also an example of failure cause notification processing, and the control unit 210 of the printer 200 that executes S28 is also an example of a failure cause notification unit. In S28, the terminal device 300 receives an error warning email and, in S28C, displays the corresponding error warning on the display unit 310. Examples of error warning displays are shown in Figures 4(a) to 4(c), respectively. 【0042】Figure 4(a) shows an example of the ink level error, where the ink level falls below the threshold. In this example, the message M21, "The ink has run out. Please replace the cartridge with a new one," and an "OK" button 311 for user confirmation are displayed. Figure 4(b) shows an example of the transport error, where a paper jam occurs in the transport mechanism. In this example, the message M22, "There is a paper jam. Please open the cover and remove the jammed paper," and an "OK" button 311 for user confirmation are displayed. Figure 4(c) shows an example of the paper out error, where the paper in the paper tray has run out. In this example, the message M23, "The paper has run out. Please replenish the tray with paper," and an "OK" button 311 for user confirmation are displayed. The display contents shown in Figures 4(a) to (c) are also examples of predetermined notifications. 【0043】 Returning to Figure 2, after S28, in S29, the printer 200 determines whether the user has performed the necessary steps to resolve the ink level error, transport error, or paper out error, corresponding to one of the displays in Figures 4(a) to (c). If the error has been resolved, the printer 200 determines S29 as Yes and proceeds to S32. If it is determined in S27 that no main unit error has occurred (No determination), the process also proceeds to S32. 【0044】 In S32, printing of the distributed image is started based on a print instruction sent in S30, which includes the advertisement image. This distributed image is an example of a printable distributed image based on specific distribution information, the process executed in S32 is an example of a printing process, and the control unit 210 of the printer 200 that executes S32 is an example of a printing unit. In S30, the advertisement server 100 may distribute the distributed image to the printer 200 via another relay device. Alternatively, instead of distributing the distributed image to the printer 200, a page description language for printing the distributed image or a link to the distributed image may be sent to the printer 200. If a link to the distributed image is sent, the printer 200 accesses the link to obtain the distributed image and performs printing. 【0045】 After S32, in the advertisement providing server 100, printing is completed in S35, and a printing completion notice is sent to the advertisement providing server 100. Then, a billing notice for claiming a reward corresponding to the advertisement printing is sent to the advertisement management server 500 in S36 to the advertiser who is the winning bidder for the advertisement image included in the distribution image transmitted in S30. 【0046】 In S37, the advertisement management server 500 that has received the sent billing notice sends the billing notice to the terminal device of the winning bidder, etc., and the winning bidder is billed. Thus, the processing of the flow in FIG. 2 ends. 【0047】 <Effect of the embodiment> As described above, in the information distribution printing system 1 of the present embodiment, a bid is solicited by sending a bid request from the advertisement providing server 100 in S5, and among the advertisements received in response to the bid request, the winning advertisement is determined in S8. The advertisement providing server 100 acquires the winning advertisement in S20, and in S32, the printer 200 executes printing of the advertisement image based on the acquired advertisement. At this time, if there is any situation that causes a printing failure when trying to execute printing in S32, a predetermined notification related to the failure cause is made by S23 or S28. When printing the advertisement image, the user is not always near the printer 200. Therefore, when printing the advertisement image, a predetermined notification is made in a mode different from the normal printing execution instructed by the user from the terminal device 300, and the user can be made to recognize to eliminate the failure cause. According to the present embodiment, since the user of the printer 200 is notified that there is a possibility that printing may fail, the user can eliminate the failure cause by himself / herself. As a result, the success probability of printing can be improved, and a situation where the advertisement cannot be printed despite winning the bid can be prevented or reduced. 【0048】Also, in particular, in this embodiment, when the printer 200 receives a print instruction from the advertisement providing server 100 at S30, at S28, it notifies the terminal device 30 that a main body error has occurred. Thereby, it is possible to surely notify the user of the printer 200 at the stage when the print instruction from the advertisement providing server 100 arrives. 【0049】 Also, in particular, in this embodiment, the printer 200 detects a failure factor in the printing executed at S32 at S26, and when a print instruction is received at S30, according to the content detected at S26 above, at S28, it performs corresponding notification. Thereby, it is possible to surely notify the user at S28 of the occurrence of the failure factor detected by the printer 200 itself at S26. 【0050】 Also, in particular, in this embodiment, when a print instruction is received at S30, the printer 200 performs corresponding notification at S28 in response to detecting at S26 that consumables such as ink and printing paper used for printing are in an error state. Thereby, for example, it is possible to surely notify the user that the amount of ink in the printer 200 is low or out of ink, that the printing paper is jammed in the conveyance mechanism, that there is no paper left, etc. 【0051】 Also, in particular, in this embodiment, the printer 200 stores a mail address for accessing the terminal device 300 in the storage unit 215, sends a mail to the terminal device 300 using that mail address, and the terminal device 300 performs notification regarding the print failure factor based on the mail received from the printer 200. During normal printing execution, generally, various displays are often made on the driver or application etc. activated on the terminal device 300. On the other hand, during advertisement printing, it is possible that the driver or application is not activated. In this embodiment, in response to this, information regarding the failure factor can be surely sent to the terminal device 300 via mail and the user can be notified. 【0052】It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible without departing from its spirit and technical idea. Such modifications will be described in order below. The same reference numerals are used for parts equivalent to those in the above embodiments, and their descriptions will be omitted or simplified as appropriate. 【0053】 (1) When notification is provided in the application of the terminal device, that is, in the above embodiment, notification regarding the cause of failure was provided by sending an email from the printer 200 to the terminal device 300 in S23 and S28, but it is not limited to this. For example, based on the application running in the terminal device 300, a predetermined notification regarding the cause of failure may be provided by voice, display on the display unit 310, or voice from an appropriate sound-producing unit provided in the terminal device 300. In this case as well, similar to notification by sending an email, the cause of failure can be reliably notified by the terminal device 300 and made known to the user, regardless of whether the user is near the printer 200 or not. 【0054】 (2) When notification is provided on the printer's display unit, that is, in the above embodiment and modified example (1), notification regarding the failure cause was provided on the terminal device 300, but this is not limited to this. That is, in S23 and S28 of Figure 2, instead of sending the above email, the printer 200's display unit 240 may provide a predetermined notification regarding the failure cause in a special manner different from the normal display unit 240, for example, in a particularly visually striking color, brightness, design, etc. The special manner is an example of a predetermined manner. 【0055】During normal printing, users often go to the printer 200 immediately after printing is complete to retrieve the printed materials. If a display is shown on the printer 200's display unit 240, for example, on a panel, the user can immediately recognize the display. However, when printing advertisements or similar materials, it is not expected that the user will spontaneously access the printer 200. Therefore, in this modified example, by displaying the information in the special manner described above, which can be recognized even from a distance, the cause of the failure can be clearly and quickly recognized by the user. Note that the notification method is not limited to the above display; the printer 200 may also provide predetermined notifications related to the cause of the failure through sound from an appropriate sound-producing unit. 【0056】 (3) When notification is given before receiving a print command, that is, in the above embodiment, when a print command is received in S30, a predetermined notification related to the failure cause is given in S28, but it is not limited to this. The notification may be given at an appropriate timing before the print command is received. In this case, the user can be notified promptly before the print command arrives at the printer 200 from the advertising server 100 in S30. 【0057】 (4) When notification is given in accordance with a predetermined schedule, that is, in the above embodiment, when a print instruction was received in S30, a predetermined notification related to the failure cause was given in S28, but it is not limited to this. For example, the predetermined notification may be given at a predetermined timing after normal printing is completed, or at the scheduled print execution time or immediately before or after there, so that the user is reliably notified at a desired appropriate time and is prompted to return the settings to settings suitable for advertising distribution printing. 【0058】(5) In the case where the notification method can be selected in advance, that is, the operation unit of the terminal device 300 or the operation unit 250 of the printer 200 may be used to select at least one of the following: the execution location where the predetermined notification to be performed in S23 and S28 of Figure 2 will be performed, and the notification execution method, whether it be an audio notification or a display notification. In this case, in S23 and S28, the predetermined notification will be performed in at least one of the execution location and execution method based on the selection operation. Note that the operation unit or operation unit 250 described above is an example of a notification selection unit. According to this modified example, the user can be notified using a desired notification method selected in advance by the user. 【0059】 (6) In the above, the advertising server 100 has been described as a single device, but multiple devices may work together to perform the function of the advertising server 100. 【0060】 Furthermore, the sequence flow shown in Figure 2 does not limit the present invention to the procedures shown in the above flow, and procedures may be added, deleted, or their order changed without departing from the spirit and technical idea of ​​the invention. 【0061】 In addition to what has already been described above, the methods described in the above embodiments and their respective modifications may be used in appropriate combinations. 【0062】 Furthermore, although not to be exemplified individually, the present invention may be implemented with various modifications without departing from its spirit. 【0063】 1. Information Distribution and Printing System 100. Advertisement Provision Server (Example of an advertisement provision server) 110. Control Unit 200. Printer (Example of a printing device) 210. Control Unit 215. Storage Unit 500. Advertisement Management Server (Example of an advertisement management server)

Claims

1. An information distribution printing system comprising a printing device, a distribution information provision server that receives distribution information managed by a distribution information management server and distributes it to the printing device, and a terminal device, the system comprising: a request transmission unit that sends a request for bidding on distribution information to the distribution information management server; an information determination unit that determines specific distribution information to be awarded among the distribution information received by the distribution information management server in response to the request for bidding on distribution information transmitted by the request transmission unit; a specific distribution information acquisition unit that acquires the specific distribution information determined by the information determination unit from the distribution information management server; a printing unit that prints a printable distribution image based on the specific distribution information; and a failure factor notification unit that, with respect to the printing of the printable distribution image in the printing unit, provides predetermined notification related to the cause of printing failure in a manner different from that of normal printing execution instructed by the terminal device.

2. The information distribution printing system according to claim 1, wherein the failure cause notification unit is configured to give the predetermined notification before the printing unit receives a print execution instruction to the printing unit.

3. The information distribution printing system according to claim 2, wherein the failure cause notification unit is configured to give a predetermined notification at a predetermined timing associated with the printing execution timing in the printing unit.

4. The information distribution printing system according to claim 1, wherein the failure cause notification unit is configured to give the predetermined notification when a print execution instruction to the printing unit is received by the printing unit.

5. The information distribution printing system according to claim 4, further comprising: a failure detection unit for detecting the failure cause in the printing unit, wherein the failure cause notification unit is configured to make a predetermined notification according to the content detected by the failure detection unit when the print execution instruction is received.

6. The information distribution printing system according to claim 5, wherein the printing unit is capable of performing distribution printing using a first setting for printing the distribution image for printing, and normal printing which can also be performed using a second setting different from the first setting for printing images other than the distribution image for printing, and the failure cause notification unit is configured to give the predetermined notification in response to the failure detection unit continuing to detect the second setting after the execution of normal printing using the second setting has finished.

7. The information distribution printing system according to claim 5, wherein the failure cause notification unit is configured to give a predetermined notification when the print execution instruction is received and the failure detection unit has detected that the consumables used in the printing unit are in a predetermined state.

8. The information distribution printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is equipped with a failure cause notification unit and is configured to provide the predetermined notification by displaying a predetermined manner relating to the failure cause.

9. The information distribution and printing system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is equipped with the failure cause notification unit and is configured to provide the predetermined notification related to the failure cause by voice or display.

10. The information distribution printing system according to claim 9, wherein the printing device includes a storage unit that stores an email address for accessing the terminal device, transmits information related to the failure cause to the terminal device via email using the email address, and the terminal device provides predetermined notification related to the failure cause based on the email received from the printing device.

11. The information distribution printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising: a notification selection unit that receives a selection of at least one of the execution location and execution mode of the notification in the failure cause notification unit, wherein the failure cause notification unit is configured to perform the predetermined notification in at least one of the execution location and execution mode based on the selection received by the notification selection unit.

12. A printing device equipped with a control unit and connected to a distribution information provision server that receives and distributes distribution information managed by a distribution information management server, wherein the control unit is configured to perform a printing process that prints a printable distribution image based on a specific distribution information that is the winning bid, determined from among the bid results received in response to a bid request for the distribution information, onto a printing medium, and a failure cause notification process that provides predetermined notification regarding the printing failure cause of the printable distribution image in the printing process in a manner different from that of normal printing execution.

Images