Image Forming Apparatus Automatic Email Notification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image forming apparatuses require users to register notification information such as name and email address, making the process cumbersome and prone to errors, which can result in incorrect notifications.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a controller that receives emails, generates identification information, stores it with image data, prints specific images, and automatically retrieves and transmits emails to the correct address using a communication device connected to a mail server, eliminating the need for manual registration of notification information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual registration of notification information is required, then the notification system can be established, but the operation becomes cumbersome and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically extracts notification information (email addresses, names) from incoming emails and uses this information to send notifications without requiring manual user input. The email server and image forming apparatus perform the information gathering and notification tasks autonomously, eliminating the need for users to manually register notification preferences and contact information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-extracts and stores notification information from incoming emails before the notification process is triggered. By having the email server save the transmission source address and the image forming apparatus store the recipient information in advance, the system prepares all necessary data beforehand, so when a notification is needed, it can be sent immediately without requiring user input at that moment.
2Productivity
If notification information is registered in advance, then notifications can be sent, but errors in registered information can occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the incoming email itself as feedback to obtain accurate notification information. The transmission source address from the email and the extracted recipient information serve as real-time feedback that ensures the notification is sent to the correct destination, eliminating errors that would occur with pre-registered static information.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical process of typing and registering notification information is replaced with an automated information extraction system. The email server automatically captures the transmission source address, and the image forming apparatus automatically extracts and stores recipient information, replacing manual data entry with automated digital processes that reduce errors.
Data Source
AI summary
In an image forming apparatus, a controller is configured to receive an e-mail stored in a mail server through a network interface, generate identification information corresponding to image data attached to the received e-mail, store, in a storage, the identification information, a transmission source address of the e-mail to which to the image data corresponding to the identification information is attached, and the image data corresponding to the identification information, in an associated manner, cause a printer to print a particular image corresponding to the identification information, identify the identification information in the particular image read by an image reader, retrieve, from the storage, the transmission source address of the e-mail to which the image data corresponding to the identification information identified in the identifying process, and transmit an e-mail addressed to the transmission source address retrieved in the address retrieval step to the mail server.