Controller Consumable Ordering Logic Bundling
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Solution Overview
Problem
In automatic consumable ordering systems, users face a burden from receiving and managing consumables one after another as each consumable reaches its threshold, leading to cumbersome and time-consuming management.
Innovation Solution
An image recording apparatus with a controller that determines the consumption levels of multiple consumables and selectively performs order processes or non-order processes based on their states, allowing concurrent ordering of consumables with similar consumption levels, thereby reducing user burden.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If consumables are ordered individually when each reaches its threshold, then the ordering system is simple and responsive, but the user burden increases due to multiple separate deliveries and management tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple consumable orders into a single bundled order when their consumption levels are similar. Instead of processing orders individually as each consumable reaches its threshold, the system groups consumables together and delivers them in one batch, reducing the number of separate deliveries and user management tasks while maintaining automated ordering functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary assessment of consumption levels for multiple consumables before finalizing orders. By evaluating whether consumption levels are similar in advance, the system can proactively bundle orders together, preventing the need for multiple separate ordering operations and reducing user burden before the actual ordering occurs
2Productivity
If consumables are delivered separately as they reach threshold, then the ordering timing is precise and responsive, but the delivery frequency increases causing user inconvenience
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple consumable deliveries are merged into a single consolidated delivery event. By combining consumables with similar consumption levels into one order batch, the system reduces delivery frequency from multiple separate deliveries to one unified delivery, saving user time and reducing inconvenience while maintaining efficient ordering response
3Measurement precision
If the system monitors and orders each consumable independently, then the ordering precision is high, but the management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary comparison of consumption levels across multiple consumables before initiating ordering. By assessing whether consumption levels are similar in advance, the system can determine whether to bundle orders, thereby simplifying management complexity while preserving precise consumption level monitoring and appropriate ordering timing
Data Source
AI summary
A controller performs: determining which of a first state, a second state, and a third state a consumption level of a first consumable corresponds to; determining which of a fourth state, a fifth state, and a sixth state a consumption level of a second consumable corresponds to; and in a case where the first consumable becomes the third state before the second consumable becomes the sixth state, selectively performing an order process or a non-order process for first and second consumables based on determination results. The selectively performing the order process or the non-order process includes: in a case where the second consumable is in the fourth state, performing the order process for the first consumable and performing the non-order process for the second consumable; and in a case where the second consumable is in the fifth state, performing the order process for the first and second consumables.