JP5080353B2 - Image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an image defect elimination control function for eliminating an image defect of an image forming unit, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus management system capable of transmitting and receiving information via a network.

  When printing in the image forming apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, some resources in the image forming unit 30 operate as follows. The surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is uniformly charged by the corona charger 32, the charging on the photosensitive drum 31 is selectively erased by the exposure unit 33, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 31, Toner is attached to the charging unit by the developing units 34 to 37 and the electrostatic latent image is developed.

  In such an image forming apparatus, ozone is generated by discharge when charging is performed by the corona charger 32, and moisture in the air is decomposed by the ozone to generate ion products such as nitrogen oxides and ammonium salts. Is done. Since this ion product is water-soluble, it adheres to the image carrier such as the photosensitive drum 31 and takes in moisture in the atmosphere particularly in a high temperature and high humidity environment, thereby reducing the resistance of the surface of the image carrier. As a result, a lateral flow of potential occurs at the edge portion of the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the image carrier, resulting in an image defect.

  Further, when the image carrier is made of amorphous silicon (a-Si), a-Si has higher hygroscopicity than an organic photoreceptor and image defects are likely to occur. Even if a charging roller is used instead of the corona charger 32 in order to suppress the ozone, some ozone is generated, resulting in an image defect.

  In order to eliminate the image defect, the applicant of the present invention, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, performs a developing operation on the image carrier separately from the normal printing mode to attach a toner containing an abrasive to the solid image. There has been proposed an image forming apparatus that performs a forming operation and provides a mode (a kind of image defect elimination control function according to the present invention) in which the surface of the image carrier is rubbed and polished with the toner.

  In addition, the image defect of the image forming unit 30 may be caused by a change in density characteristics due to the use environment of the user. In order to eliminate this image defect, the image forming apparatus is provided with a mode for calibrating density characteristics (a kind of image defect elimination control function according to the present invention).

  However, since such an image defect elimination control function uses the image forming unit 30, a period during which the image forming unit 30 cannot be used for a normal purpose until the image defect after the execution of the function is eliminated, that is, the image forming unit 30. Downtime occurs.

Therefore, in Patent Document 2 below, a configuration is disclosed in which calibration is executed at various start timings in order to suppress downtime of the image forming unit 30.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-3014 JP 2003-167394 A

  However, in the above configuration, since the service person cannot grasp the usage status or usage environment of the image forming apparatus, the control information of the calibration function including the start timing cannot be changed according to the usage status or usage environment. Depending on the use situation or the use environment, calibration may be performed unnecessarily, resulting in downtime, and on the contrary, sufficient calibration may not be performed and image defects may not be resolved.

  In general, since it is impossible for the user himself to change the control information, the service person will change it. Even in this case, it is possible to change the control information quickly, accurately and easily. desirable. Further, the above problem can be solved by appropriately changing the control information of the refresh function which is another image defect elimination control function.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to suppress downtime of an image forming unit and sufficiently eliminate an image defect in an image forming apparatus having an image defect eliminating control function of an image forming unit. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus management system capable of changing control information of an image defect elimination control function quickly, easily and appropriately.

In the first aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
Communication means coupled to the network, storage means, image forming means, and image forming means are controlled based on control information stored in the storage means in order to eliminate image defects in the image forming means. In an image forming apparatus comprising image defect elimination control means,
Creating history information of the image defect elimination control means and storing the history information in the storage means;
Transmission control means for causing the execution history information to be read from the storage means and transmitting the information to a management apparatus on the network via the communication means as a judgment material for changing the control information;
Change instruction reception control means capable of changing the control information of the storage means based on control change instruction information from the management device received by the communication means;
Is further provided.

In a second aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
It further comprises detection means for detecting temperature or humidity,
The history information creation means further creates environmental history information based on the output of the detection means,
The transmission control means further transmits the environmental history information as the determination material together with the execution history information.
It is characterized by that.

In a third aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
The history information creating means further creates a job history,
The transmission control means further transmits the job history as the determination material together with the execution history information.
It is characterized by that.

In a fourth aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
The control information includes a set value of the image defect elimination control means,
The transmission control means transmits the set value as the determination material together with the execution history information.
It is characterized by that.

In a fifth aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
The image forming means includes an amorphous silicon photosensitive drum and a corona charger,
The image defect elimination control means is a refresh means for the amorphous silicon photosensitive drum,
The history information creating means creates the execution history information of the refresh means;
It is characterized by that.

In a sixth aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
The image defect elimination control means is a calibration means,
The history information creating means creates the execution history information of the calibration means;
It is characterized by that.

In a seventh aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention,
The execution history information is a history of the number of executions or execution time.
It is characterized by that.

In an eighth aspect of the image forming apparatus management system according to the present invention,
An image forming apparatus management system in which any one of the image forming apparatuses and the management apparatus are coupled via a network,
The management device
Display means;
Instruction input means;
Communication means for receiving from the network information including execution history information of the image defect elimination control means created in the image forming apparatus;
A confirmation screen for information received by the communication means and a selection screen for control change contents of the image defect elimination control means are displayed on the display means, and the control change contents are selected from the instruction input means, and the control A change determination means for receiving an information change instruction;
In response to the received change instruction, control change instruction information including information corresponding to the control change content selected on the selection screen and the change instruction is designated as the destination for the image forming apparatus to the communication unit. Transmission control means for transmitting;
It is characterized by providing.

In a ninth aspect of the image forming apparatus management system according to the present invention,
The change determination means further determines whether the information received by the communication means satisfies a predetermined change condition before displaying the confirmation screen, and displays the confirmation screen when it is determined that the information satisfies the change condition. It is characterized by that.

  According to the configuration of the first aspect, “the execution history information of the image defect elimination control means is created and stored in the storage means, and the execution history information is read from the storage means. Control information transmitted to the management apparatus on the network via the communication means as a judgment material for changing the control information, and the control change from the management apparatus received by the communication means And a change instruction reception control unit capable of changing the control information of the storage unit based on the instruction information ”. Therefore, the execution information of the image defect elimination control unit to be transmitted is a single item such as the number of executions. Since it is not information but history information, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to grasp in detail when the image defect elimination control by the image defect elimination control means has been executed. Control information such as avoiding the execution or reducing the number of executions when it seems unnecessary to analyze the trend and suppress downtime (hours, days, days of the week, weeks or months) It is possible to change the information quickly and easily and accurately. For example, the service person can change the information through the network without going to the user. Even when the information is changed by going to the user, it is possible to save the trouble of going to the user many times in advance and investigating the usage environment and usage status of the image forming apparatus.

  In addition, when the time series trend of the execution is analyzed and it is considered necessary to sufficiently eliminate the image defect (time, day, day of the week, week or month), the execution may be performed, or It is also possible to change the control information 200a quickly, easily and accurately, such as increasing the number of executions.

  According to the configuration of the second aspect, not only the execution history information but also the environment history information such as humidity and temperature can be used as a judgment material for determining whether or not to change the control information and determining the specific change contents. In addition, there is an effect that the control information of the image defect elimination control means can be changed. Specifically, based on the execution history information and the environment history information, the image defect elimination control means are executed unnecessarily many times in the time zone where the humidity or temperature is low, and conversely in the time zone where the humidity or temperature is high, Since it is possible to grasp that the image defect elimination control means is not sufficiently executed, for example, the image defect elimination control means is executed during a time period when the temperature or humidity is high, and the image defect elimination means is performed during a low time period. The control information can be appropriately changed so as to suppress the downtime and sufficiently eliminate the image defect according to the use environment of the user.

  Similarly, according to the configuration of the third aspect, the job history of the image forming apparatus can also be used as a determination material for determining whether or not to change the control information and determining the specific change contents. The control information of the means can be changed. Specifically, based on the execution history information and job history information, image defect elimination control means are executed unnecessarily many times during times when jobs are frequently executed, and conversely image defect resolution control is executed during times when jobs are little executed. Since it is possible to grasp that the means is not executed, for example, the image defect elimination control means is executed during a time period when the job is less executed, and the image defect elimination means is not executed during a time period when the job is little. For example, the control information can be appropriately changed so as to suppress the downtime according to the use state of the user.

  Similarly, according to the configuration of the fourth aspect, the set value of the current image defect elimination control means can also be used as a determination material for determining the specific change contents of the control information, so that the image defect elimination is more appropriately performed. There is an effect that the control information of the control means can be changed.

  According to the configuration of the fifth aspect, since the history information creating unit further creates the execution history information of the refresh unit and transmits it, the control information of the refresh unit can be appropriately changed. Since the image forming means used for the refresh means includes an amorphous silicon photosensitive drum and a corona charger, many image defects occur as described above in the section of “Background Art”. In combination with the first aspect and the like, the control information of the refresh means can be appropriately changed, and the image defect can be sufficiently solved.

  According to the configuration of the sixth aspect, the history information creating means further creates the execution history information of the calibration means and transmits this, so that the control information of the calibration means can be appropriately changed. Play.

  In the seventh aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, since the execution history information is a history of the number of executions or execution time, for example, in which time zone or which day of the week the operation of the image defect elimination control means is large or small. There is an effect that it becomes easier to grasp.

  According to the configuration of the eighth aspect, “the confirmation screen for the information received by the communication means and the selection screen for the control change content of the image defect elimination control means are displayed on the display means, and the instruction input means Change control means for accepting selection of the control change content and a change instruction for the control information, information corresponding to the control change content selected on the selection screen in response to the accepted change instruction, and change Control change instruction information including an instruction and a transmission control unit that designates the image forming apparatus as a destination and transmits the information to the communication unit. It is possible to visually grasp on the confirmation screen, determine whether or not the control information is to be changed, and to select specific change contents easily on the selection screen.

  According to the configuration of the ninth aspect, “the change determination unit further determines and satisfies whether the information received by the communication unit satisfies a predetermined change condition before displaying the confirmation screen”. The confirmation screen is displayed when it is determined that the control information can be grasped when the control information should be changed while saving the trouble of the service person, so the control information of the image defect elimination control means can be changed easily and appropriately. There is an effect that it is possible.

  Other objects, configurations and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus management system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[1] Schematic Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus Management System This system 5 is configured by connecting an image forming apparatus 10, a mail server 400, and an image forming apparatus management server 500 via the Internet 300.

  The image forming apparatus 10 is a printer, a copier, a fax machine, or a complex machine having a color printing function, a calibration function, and a refresh function. In the first embodiment, various information (hereinafter referred to as change determination element information) is sent by e-mail as a determination material for control change of the calibration function or the refresh function (hereinafter referred to as an image defect elimination control function). The image is transmitted to the image forming apparatus management server 500.

  The mail server 400 includes both a known SMTP server and a POP server. The mail server 400 collects e-mails from the image forming apparatus 10 and distributes the e-mails to the image forming apparatus management server 500 when there is a distribution request.

The image forming apparatus management server 500 displays the change determination element information in the received e-mail on the display device, and changes the control information of the image defect elimination control function in response to an instruction from the service person.
[2] Hardware Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. For simplification, a configuration in the case where the image forming apparatus 10 is used as a printer will be described below. In the illustrated example, the transfer drum method is adopted, but the present invention can be similarly applied even if other intermediate transfer belt method or tandem method is adopted.

  The image forming apparatus 10 is roughly classified into a paper feed tray 11, a transport path 20, a transport roller 21, a paper discharge tray 22, an image forming unit 30 disposed along the transport path 20, and an image forming unit. And a control unit 50 electrically coupled to each resource of the image forming apparatus including 30.

  For example, A4 size printing paper 12 is set vertically in the paper feeding tray 11, and during color printing, the printing paper 12 is transported from the paper feeding tray 11 by the transport roller 21 under the control of the control unit 50. 20, a color image, which will be described later, is formed by the image forming unit 30 in the middle of the conveyance path 20, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 22.

  The image forming unit 30 includes a photosensitive drum 31, a corona charger 32, an exposure unit 33, a Y developing unit 34, an M developing unit 35, a C developing unit 36, a BK developing unit 37, and a photosensitive member cleaning. A unit 38, an intermediate transfer drum 39, an intermediate transfer member cleaning unit 40, a secondary transfer unit 41, a density detection sensor 42, a temperature / humidity sensor 43, a transport belt 44, and a fixing device 45 are included.

  In the first embodiment, for the drum refresh described in the “Background Art” section, the photoconductor cleaning unit 38 includes a cleaning roller 38a that rubs and polishes the surface of the photoconductor drum 31 using toner, and its A cleaning blade 38b for scraping off the toner from the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is provided, and titanium oxide or the like is mixed as an abrasive for the photosensitive drum 31 in the toner used in any of the developing devices 34 to 37 ( For example, JP 2007-304508).

  When performing color image formation, the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is charged by the corona charger 32, and then the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is exposed by the exposure unit 33 in accordance with the image data. An electrostatic latent image is formed. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 31 is developed by the Y developing unit 34 to be a Y toner image, transferred to the intermediate transfer drum 39 (primary transfer), and the residual Y toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 31 is It is removed by the photoconductor cleaning unit 38. At this time, the secondary transfer unit 41 is separated from the intermediate transfer drum 39.

  In this way, an M toner image, a C toner image, and a BK toner image are sequentially formed on the photosensitive drum 11, and are primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer drum 39 to superimpose colors of the respective colors. A color toner image is formed thereon.

  The color toner image on the intermediate transfer drum 39 is secondarily transferred onto the printing paper 12 conveyed from the paper feed tray 11 by the secondary transfer unit 41 that contacts the intermediate transfer drum 39 at the timing of the secondary transfer. The image is transferred and sent to the fixing device 43 by the conveying belt 42, where the color toner image on the printing paper 12 is fixed. Thereafter, the recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 22 via the conveyance path 20. After the secondary transfer, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer drum 39 is removed by the intermediate transfer body cleaning unit 40.

  Next, the control unit 50 shown in FIG.

  The control unit 50 includes an MPU 51 for controlling each resource including the image forming unit 30 in the image forming apparatus 10. The MPU 51 includes a RAM 52, a ROM 53, an HDD 54, an operation unit 55, A transport control device 56, an image forming unit control device 57, a NIC (Network Interface Card) 58, and a USB port 59 are combined.

  For example, when there is a print instruction from the operation unit 55, the MPU 51 supplies the image data to be printed stored in the RAM 52 to the image forming unit control device 57 and causes the conveyance control device 56 to perform paper conveyance control. . The image forming unit controller 57 develops a bitmap of this image data, controls the exposure unit 33 to scan the laser beam on the photosensitive drum 31, and controls on / off of the laser beam based on the bitmap data. As a result, a desired electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 31. Note that the MPU 51 and the image forming unit controller 57 also play a role of calibration control and drum refresh control, which will be described later in detail.

  The RAM 52 is for a work area and temporarily stores image information to be printed. The ROM 53 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, for example, and stores the model name of the image forming apparatus 10 and various setting value information.

  The HDD 54 is for data storage. The operation unit 55 is configured by a combination of a touch panel and hardware keys, and is used for inputting instructions or setting values and displaying various operation screens or confirmation screens.

The NIC 58 enables the image forming apparatus 10 and the management server 500 to communicate with each other via the Internet 400. The USB port 59 is detachable from the USB memory 60 and mediates exchange of electronic data between the image forming apparatus 10 and the USB memory 60.
[3] Hardware Configuration of Image Forming Device Management Server 500 FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image forming device management server 500 shown in FIG.

  In the image forming apparatus management server 500, a RAM 503, a ROM 504, an HDD 505, an interactive input device 506, a display device 507, a NIC 508, and a USB port 509 are coupled to the MPU 501 via an interface 502. In FIG. 3, a plurality of basic interfaces are shown as one block for the sake of simplicity.

  The RAM 503 is for main memory. The ROM 504 stores a bootstrap and BIOS. The HDD 505 stores an OS, various applications, and various device drivers.

  The interactive input device 506 receives user input and is, for example, a keyboard or a pointing device. The display device 507 is for displaying characters or images on the screen.

The NIC 508 is coupled to the Internet 300 via a cable or a wireless communication medium, and communicates with the mail server 400 on the Internet 300. The USB port 509 is detachable from the USB memory 60, and mediates exchange of electronic data between the image forming apparatus management server 500 and the USB memory 60.
[4] Functional Unit Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus Management System FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus management system 5 shown in FIG.

  First, the image forming apparatus 10 will be described.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes an image forming unit 30, an operation unit 55, a first storage unit 200, a sensor unit 201, a job control unit 202, an image defect elimination control unit 203, a history information creation unit 204, A second storage unit 205, a transmission control unit 207, a communication unit 208, and a change instruction reception control unit 209 are mainly provided.

  The first storage unit 200 includes a part of the ROM 53 and stores control information 200a in advance. The control information 200 a is used by the image defect elimination control unit 203 to control the image forming unit 30, and includes a control program and control setting value data. Is changed.

  If the control program of the image defect elimination control unit 203 or the control set value data is also stored in the HDD 54, the area in the HDD 54 in which these are stored also corresponds to the first storage unit 200. .

  The sensor unit 201 includes the density detection sensor 42 and the temperature / humidity sensor 43, and detects a toner density value, temperature, humidity, or the like.

  The job control unit 202 includes the MPU 51, the RAM 52, and the ROM 53 in which a predetermined program is stored, and appropriately controls various resources of the image forming apparatus 10 including the image forming unit 30 in response to instructions from the operation unit 55. Then, the designated job is executed.

  The image defect elimination control unit 203 includes the MPU 51, the image forming unit control device 57, and the RAM 52. Based on the control information 200 a stored in the first storage unit 200, the image defect elimination control unit 203 Resources are controlled to eliminate image defects that occur in the image forming unit 30. The image defect elimination control unit 203 includes, for example, a drum refresh control unit 203a and a calibration control unit 203b as described above in the “Background art column”.

  As described above, the photosensitive drum 31 made of a-Si is used to absorb moisture in the atmosphere due to moisture absorption of ion products and high hygroscopicity of a-Si itself in a high temperature and high humidity environment. As a result, the surface resistance decreases. When the surface resistance is lowered, image flow tends to occur and image defects occur.

  Therefore, the drum refresh control unit 203a starts control of the image forming unit 30 in order to eliminate the image defect at the time arbitrarily determined by the control information 200a at the time of non-image formation. The timing is not particularly limited as long as it is during non-image formation. For example, (1) when a predetermined number of prints is exceeded, (2) when the apparatus is turned on, and (3) returns from the power saving mode. (4) When the predetermined average printing rate is below, (5) When the predetermined driving time of the developing units 34 to 37 is exceeded, (6) When new toner is supplied to the developing units 34 to 37, (7) When the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature or humidity, (8) When the predetermined time is reached, or (9) When the operation unit 55 instructs to perform the refresh mode.

  After the drum refresh control unit 203a starts drum refresh at any of the above timings, the drum refresh control unit 203a first turns on the power of a drum motor (not shown) that rotationally drives the photosensitive drum 31 to rotate the photosensitive drum 31, For example, a developing bias is applied to the BK developing unit 37 and black toner containing an abrasive is attached to the entire surface of the photosensitive drum 31. At this time, in order to prevent the black toner from being transferred to the intermediate transfer drum 39, a voltage having the same polarity as the toner having the opposite polarity to that of the transfer is applied to the intermediate transfer drum 39 with reference to the photosensitive drum 31. Then, the cleaning roller 38a is rotationally controlled, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is rubbed and polished with the abrasive contained in the black toner, so that the ion products and other deposits adhered to the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 are removed. Remove and end the refresh control. Since the above processing suppresses the image flow, the image defect of the image forming unit 30 is eliminated.

  In order to save the black toner, when the toner adheres to only a part of the surface of the photosensitive drum 31, the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is controlled by controlling the corona charger 32 after the rotation of the photosensitive drum 31 is controlled. Are uniformly charged, the exposure unit 33 is controlled to selectively erase the charge on the photosensitive drum 31, and a predetermined solid image (electrostatic latent image) is formed on the photosensitive drum 31. As a result, the black toner adheres only to the portion corresponding to the solid image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31.

  In addition, as described above, the image defect of the image forming unit 30 may be caused by a change in the density characteristic of the toner due to the use environment of the user.

  Therefore, the calibration control unit 203b starts control of the image forming unit 30 in order to eliminate the image defect at the time arbitrarily determined by the control information 200a at the time of non-image formation. The timing includes, for example, the timings listed in (1) to (9) above. Since the transfer drum system is adopted in the first embodiment, for example, as the calibration process, toner patches of CMYK colors are formed on the intermediate transfer drum 39, and these densities are detected by the density detection sensor 42. A so-called γ table is created from the detected density value and the reference density value. Since this γ table sets the toner output density by the developing devices 34 to 37 to an appropriate value, the image defect of the image forming unit 30 is eliminated by the above processing.

  The history information creation unit 204 includes an MPU 51, a RAM 52, and a ROM 53 in which a program having a monitoring agent is stored. Whether or not the image defect elimination control unit 203 performs control and whether or not the job control unit 202 performs control. The detection of the sensor unit 201 is monitored, the execution history information 206a of the image defect elimination control unit 203, the job history information 206b of the job control unit 202, and the environment history information 206c based on the detection information of the sensor unit 201, Are created and stored in the second storage unit 205.

  The execution history information 206a includes, for example, a refresh control execution history of the drum refresh control unit 203a and / or a calibration control execution history of the calibration control unit 203b.

  The job history information 206b includes a job type name such as a copy job, print job, scan job, or fax job, and the execution date and time of the job. The environment history information 206c includes a history of temperature and / or humidity in the image forming apparatus 10.

  The second storage unit 205 includes, for example, a partial area of the ROM 53 or the HDD 54, and is a material for determining whether the control information 200a is appropriate for change and determination of specific change contents on the image forming apparatus management server 500 side. The change determination element information 206 is stored. The change determination element information 206 includes execution history information 206a created by the history information creation unit 204, job history information 206b, and environment history information 206c.

  The transmission control unit 207 includes an MPU 51, a RAM 52, and a ROM 53 in which a predetermined program is stored. For example, the transmission control unit 207 responds to key operations of the operation unit 55 periodically, such as once a week or once a month. Then, all or a part of the various change determination element information 206 is read from the second storage unit 205, and an e-mail including this is created. Next, the image forming apparatus management server 500 is designated as the destination of the created electronic mail, and this is transmitted to the mail server 400 via the communication unit 208.

  The communication unit 208 includes the MPU 51 and the NIC 58, and transmits an email to the mail server 400 or receives an email addressed to the mail server 400 image forming apparatus 10.

  When the communication unit 208 receives an e-mail from the image forming apparatus management server 500, the change instruction reception control unit 209 extracts control change instruction information, which will be described later, from the e-mail, and based on the control change instruction information, 1 All or part of the control information 200a stored in the storage unit 200 is changed. Specifically, since the control information 200a includes a control program and control set value data, the entire control program or a part of the program (module) constituting this program is changed to another program, or The setting threshold value data used for the control start timing, the control time setting value data of various resources after the start of control, the control speed setting value data of various resources, or the like is changed.

  As a result of the above change, the image defect elimination control unit 203 can control the image forming unit 30 based on the control information 200a appropriately changed according to the use state and use environment of the user. The occurrence of 30 downtime can be suppressed, and image defects can be sufficiently resolved.

  Next, the image forming apparatus management server 500 will be described.

  The image forming apparatus management server 500 mainly includes a communication unit 530, a third storage unit 531, and a change management unit 540 in addition to the input device 506 and the display device 507.

  The communication unit 530 includes the MPU 501 and the NIC 508, communicates with the mail server 400 on the Internet 300, and receives an e-mail including the change determination element information 206 from the image forming apparatus 10.

  The third storage unit 531 includes a part of the area in the HDD 505. In order to change the control of the image defect elimination control unit 203, the control program of the control unit 202 or a part of the program constituting the control program is stored in the third storage unit 531. Multiple types are stored. Hereinafter, these programs are referred to as a change control program 531a.

  The change management unit 540 includes the MPU 501, the RAM 503, and the HDD 505 storing a predetermined determination program. The change management unit 540 appropriately controls the communication unit 530, the display device 506, and the third storage unit 531. Based on the various change determination element information 206 from the apparatus 10, control change instruction information for instructing the change to the control information 200 a that is determined to be appropriate for the use situation or use environment of the user is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10. In order to perform this control, the change management unit 540 includes a change determination unit 540a and a change instruction control unit 540b.

  The change determination unit 540a receives an e-mail from the image forming apparatus 10, receives a periodic interrupt instruction, or instructs the input device 507 by the service person as a pre-stage for causing the service person to make a determination. The change determination element information 206 is extracted from the received e-mail at a predetermined timing such as time, and based on this, it is determined whether or not the control information 200a described later is appropriate for change. Here, when an affirmative determination is made, the change determination unit 540a displays the change determination element information 206 on the display device 506 to cause the serviceman to make a specific determination. In order to save time and effort, the processing is ended without displaying anything on the display device 506.

  The change instruction control unit 540b responds to an instruction of the input device 507 that is operated after the service person specifically determines the change content based on the change determination element information 206 displayed on the display device 506, and controls change instruction information Is included in the e-mail addressed to the image forming apparatus 10, and is transmitted to the mail server 400 via the communication unit 530.

When changing the control set value data in the control information 200a, the control change instruction information includes a change instruction, an identification name of the control set value data to be changed, and its detailed value data. Further, when changing the entire control program or a part of the control information in the control information 200a, a change instruction, an identification name of the program to be changed, and a change control program 531a are included.
[5] Operation of Image Forming Apparatus Management System 5 FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart showing an aspect of the operation of the image forming apparatus management system 5 shown in FIG.

  Note that, in this flowchart, only changing the control setting value (a kind of control information 200a) of the drum refresh control unit 203a will be described, but the same processing is performed for changing other control information 200a. In the following, the step identification codes in FIG. 5 are shown in parentheses.

  (S10) The history information creation unit 204 of the image forming apparatus 10 monitors the execution start control of the refresh unit 203a. For example, drum refresh execution history information which is a kind of execution history information 206a is transmitted for one week until transmission. It is created and stored in the second storage unit 205. Similarly, the execution start control of the job control unit 202 is monitored, and one week of job history information 206 b is created as a type of change determination element information 206, and stored in the second storage unit 205. In addition, based on the output of the sensor unit 201, environmental history information 206 c including a temperature history and a humidity history for one week is created and stored in the second storage unit 205.

  (S11) The transmission control unit 207 of the image forming apparatus 10 performs, for example, every week, various change determination element information 206a to 206c stored in the second storage unit 205 and first change determination element information 206. The information related to the control information 200a stored in the unit 200 is included in an e-mail addressed to the image forming apparatus management server 500, and the e-mail is transmitted to the mail server 400 by controlling the communication unit 208. Thereafter, the transmitted information 206a to 206c is deleted from the second storage unit 205. The information related to the control information 200a includes, for example, information on the execution start timing of the drum refresh control unit 203a and a threshold value used for the timing.

  (S12) The communication unit 530 of the image forming apparatus management server 500 communicates with the mail server 400 and receives the electronic mail from the image forming apparatus 10.

  (S13) The change determination unit 540a of the image forming apparatus management server 500 extracts various change determination element information 206a to 206c from the email received by the communication unit 530. Next, based on the extracted drum refresh execution history information 206a, the number of drum refreshes per week is calculated, and it is determined whether the number is less than 5 times per week. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S14. If a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S13a.

  (S14) The change determination unit 540a calculates the average humidity for one week based on the extracted environment history information 206c, and determines whether this exceeds 70%. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to the next step, and if the determination is negative, the process ends.

  (S15) The change determination unit 540a displays a change notification dialog 550 as shown in FIG. This dialog 550 includes a detail button 551 and a cancel button 552 that the setting value for control should be changed so as to increase the number of executions of drum refresh.

  (S16) The change determination unit 540a accepts pressing of the detail button 551 or pressing of the cancel button 552 by the input device 507. The change determination unit 540a proceeds to the next step when the pressing of the detail button 551 is accepted, and ends the process when the cancel button 552 is accepted.

  (S13a-16a) Similarly to the above, if it is determined whether or not the calculated number of drum refreshes per week exceeds 30, and if an affirmative determination is made, the average of the week is further determined based on the extracted environmental history information 206c. It is determined whether the humidity is less than 70%. If the determination is affirmative, the change determination unit 540a displays a change notification dialog 550 similar to that shown in FIG. 6 including that the control set value should be changed so as to reduce the number of drum refreshes. It is displayed on the device 506.

  (S17) The change determination unit 540a displays a detailed dialog 560 as shown in FIG. The detailed dialog 560 includes refresh execution history information 206a, job history information 206b, and environment history information 206c that are received and extracted by the communication unit 530, which are change determination elements of the control information 200a. The calculated number 561 of drum refreshes per week, information 562 related to the control information 200a, an average temperature 563, and an average humidity 564 are included. In addition, a check box 571 for selecting the execution start timing of the drum refresh control unit 203a so that the serviceman can select how to change the control information 200a (change contents), and to determine the timing And a threshold selection box 572 for selecting a threshold to be used.

  In addition, the detail dialog 560 includes a change button 573 and a cancel button 574 as buttons for receiving user instructions.

  Here, the service person comprehensively determines whether the change is appropriate and the content of the change based on the information displayed in the detail dialog 560. For example, it is necessary to change the control information 200a by recognizing that one week of drum refresh is performed unnecessarily much based on the displayed drum information, in particular, the drum refresh execution history information 206a and the environment history information 206c. If it is determined, the change contents of the control information 200a are selected from the check box 571 and the threshold value selection box 572 so that the drum refresh is not performed more than necessary according to the use environment in order to suppress the downtime, and the change button 573 is selected. Press.

  In the first embodiment, since the job history information 206c is also displayed in the detailed dialog 560, not only the control information 200a is changed based on the environment history information 206c but also the job history information 206c. Based on the check box 571 and the threshold selection box 572, it is possible to change the control information 200a so that the drum refresh is executed in accordance with the use state of the user to suppress downtime. Specifically, based on the drum refresh execution history information 206a and the job history information 206b, the service person does not perform drum refresh during the lunch break when the job is not performed frequently, and during the time when the job is frequently performed. When grasping that the drum refresh is being executed, the check box 571 of “when a predetermined time is shown” shown in FIG. 7 is checked, and the other chuck boxes 571 are unchecked, and the corresponding threshold value selection box 572 is displayed. For example, the time 10 minutes after the start of the lunch break is set, and the change button 573 is pressed.

  Note that the check box 571 is not limited to the case where only one check box 571 is selected as described above, and a plurality of check boxes 571 can be selected.

  (S18) The change determination unit 540a accepts the pressing of the change button 573 or the cancel button 574 by the input device 507. The change determination unit 540a outputs a transmission request to the change instruction control unit 540b when the change button 573 is received, proceeds to step S19, and ends the process when the pressing of the cancel button 574 is received.

  (S19) The change instruction control unit 540b sends control change instruction information having a change instruction and control setting value data corresponding to the change contents selected by the service person in step S17 to the image forming apparatus 10 as an e-mail. The electronic mail is transmitted to the mail server 400 via the communication unit 530. When the change instruction control unit 540b also changes a control program which is a kind of the control information 200a, the change instruction control unit 540b reads the corresponding change control program 531a from the third storage unit 540, which is also included in the e-mail. Make it.

  (S20) The communication unit 208 of the image forming apparatus 10 receives an e-mail from the mail server 400 image forming apparatus management server 500 via the network 300.

  (S21) When the communication unit 208 receives an email containing the control change instruction information, the change instruction acceptance control unit 209 of the image forming apparatus 10 extracts the control change instruction information from the email.

  (S22) The change instruction reception control unit 209 causes the operation unit 55 to display a reception confirmation screen 600 as shown in FIG. This acceptance confirmation screen 600 includes a touch panel type YES button 601 and a NO button 602 for confirming whether or not the image forming apparatus user accepts a change instruction. The user of the image forming apparatus presses the YES button 601 when permitting the change instruction, and presses the NO button 602 when not permitting the change instruction.

  (S23) The change instruction acceptance control unit 209 accepts these presses. When the YES button 601 is pressed, the process proceeds to the next step S24. When the NO button 602 is pressed, the received e-mail is sent. Delete and finish the process.

  (S24) The change instruction reception control unit 209, based on the change content selected by the service person included in the extracted control change instruction information, a part of the control information 200a in the first storage unit 200, for example, the drum refresh control unit 203a. The threshold value used for determining the execution start timing is changed.

(S25) The change instruction reception control unit 209 causes the operation unit 55 to display a change result confirmation screen 610 indicating that the execution start timing of the drum refresh control unit 203a has been changed, for example, as illustrated in FIG.
[6] Effect of Invention of First Embodiment According to the configuration of the first embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 creates “execution history information 206a, job history information 206b, and environment history information 206c and stores them in the second storage. The history information creation unit 204 to be stored in the unit 205, and transmission control for transmitting the information 206a-c and the information related to the control information 200a to the image forming apparatus management server 500 as judgment materials for changing the control information 200a. 207 and a change instruction reception control unit 209 that can change the control information 200a of the image defect elimination control unit 203 based on the control change instruction information from the management server 500 received by the communication unit 208. ing.

  Accordingly, the execution information of the image defect elimination control unit 203 to be transmitted is not single information such as the number of executions but history information 206a as shown in FIG. Since it is possible to grasp in detail whether or not the defect elimination control has been executed, when the service person seems to be unnecessary to analyze the time series trend of the execution and suppress downtime (time, day, day of the week, The control information 200a can be changed quickly, easily, and accurately, such as by preventing the execution or reducing the number of executions in a week or month). It is possible to change the information 200a via the network without going to the network, and when the service person goes to the user and changes the information 200a. In also, in advance many times Habukeru the trouble, such as that to go to a user of the original investigate the use environment and usage of the image forming apparatus.

  In addition, when the time series trend of the execution is analyzed and it is considered necessary to sufficiently eliminate the image defect (time, day, day of the week, week or month), the execution may be performed, or It is also possible to change the control information 200a quickly, easily and accurately, such as increasing the number of executions.

  Further, based on the execution history information 206a and the environment history information 206c, the image defect elimination control means is executed unnecessarily many times during the time period when the humidity or temperature is low, and conversely, when the humidity or temperature is high, the image is displayed. Since it is possible to grasp that the defect elimination control means is not sufficiently executed, for example, the image defect elimination control means is executed during a time period when the temperature or humidity is high, and the image defect elimination means is executed during a low time period. There is an effect that the control information can be appropriately changed so as to suppress the downtime and sufficiently eliminate the image defect according to the use environment of the user, such as preventing the image from being executed.

  Similarly, on the basis of the execution history information 206a and the job history information 206c, the image defect elimination control means is executed unnecessarily many times during the time when the job is frequently executed. Since it is possible to grasp that the means is not executed, for example, the image defect elimination control means is executed during a time period when the job is less executed, and the image defect elimination means is not executed during a time period when the job is little. For example, the control information can be appropriately changed so as to suppress the downtime according to the use state of the user.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus management server 500 displays on the display device 506 a detailed dialog 560 that includes a “confirmation screen for information received by the communication unit 530 and a selection screen for selecting a control change content for the image defect elimination control unit 203. The change determination unit 540a that receives the selection of the control change content and the control information change instruction from the input device 507, and the control change content selected on the selection screen in response to the received change instruction. A change instruction control unit 540b that designates the image forming apparatus 10 as a destination and transmits the control change instruction information including the corresponding information and the change instruction to the communication unit. The effect is that the execution history information etc. of the control means can be visually grasped on the confirmation screen, whether the control information can be changed or not, and the specific change contents can be easily selected on the selection screen. To.

Further, in the image forming apparatus management server 500, the change determination unit 540a further determines whether or not the information received by the communication unit 530 satisfies a predetermined change condition before displaying the detailed dialog 560. When the determination is made, the change notification dialog 600 as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, so that it is possible to grasp the time when the control information 200a should be changed while saving the trouble of the service person. There is an effect that the control information 200a of the unit 203 can be changed.
[7] Modification of Invention of Embodiment 1 The above-described Embodiment 1 of the present invention is an example for explaining the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments. . Various modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the gist thereof. Hereinafter, some of the modifications will be exemplified.

  In the first embodiment, the change determination element information 206 or the control change instruction information is transmitted via e-mail, but these pieces of information are stored in a removable storage medium such as the USB memory 60 and are addressed to the service person or the user. It is possible to mail to. Other examples of the removable storage medium include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD, MD, HDD, SD card, and CF card.

  In this case, the change instruction reception control unit 209 shown in FIG. 4 reads the control change instruction information from the removable storage medium mailed by the service person, and changes the control information 200a based on the read control change instruction information.

  Similarly, the change instruction reception control unit 209 can also change the control information 200a in the first storage unit 200 by receiving an instruction from the operation unit 55 that is operated by a serviceman visiting the user.

  In addition to the e-mail, the transmission may be performed using another transmission method such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) or SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).

  Furthermore, among the exchange determination element information 206 to be transmitted, the execution history information 206a is not limited to the history in which the date and time and execution is shown as shown in FIG. 7, but the execution frequency history for each time zone or day of the week. Or it may be an execution time history. In this case, it becomes easier to grasp which time zone or day of the week is more or less operated by the image defect elimination control unit 203 than the history information 206a shown in FIG. Similarly, the job history information 206b may be a job frequency history for each time zone or each day of the week.

  Furthermore, the case where the refresh count 561 or the average temperature 563 and the average humidity 564 shown in FIG. 7 are calculated on the management server 500 side in step S13 or S14 has been described, but these are calculated on the image forming apparatus 10 side. May be transmitted to the management server 500 together with the execution history information 206a.

  The history information creation unit 204 has been described as having a monitoring agent program. However, this program is not essential. For example, a program for creating an operation history in the control program of the image defect elimination control unit 203 or the job control unit 202 is provided. When installed, the monitoring agent is not necessary.

  Further, when there are a plurality of photosensitive drums 31, the execution history information 206a may be created and transmitted.

  In addition to the above, the change of the control information 200a of the change instruction reception control unit 209 includes a change in toner consumption used for drum refresh, for example, a change in roller speed of the cleaning roller 38a, a change in control time, and the like. Can be mentioned.

  Furthermore, the first and second storage units 205 may be composed of a plurality of HDDs or ROMs, and conversely may be composed of a single HDD or ROM.

  Also, the calibration control unit 203b explained the control for the device calibration in which the calibration is executed without printing the patch on the printing paper 12, but the patch is printed on the printing paper 12 and this is used for the scanner or the dedicated density. You may employ | adopt control of the soft calibration which measures a density | concentration using a measuring device.

  Further, FIG. 2 shows an example in which the image forming apparatus 10 is a printer. However, the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to this, and may be a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having these functions.

  Furthermore, the image forming apparatus management system 5 may include elements other than the above-described constituent elements, or may not include some of the above-described constituent elements.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus management system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus management server illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus management system shown in FIG. 1. 5 is a detailed flowchart showing one aspect of the operation of the image forming apparatus management system shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the change notification dialog displayed on the display apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the detail dialog displayed on the display apparatus shown in FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams of contents displayed on the operation unit illustrated in FIG. 4, in which FIG. 4A is a change instruction reception confirmation screen, and FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of a change result confirmation screen;

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Image forming apparatus management system 10 Color image forming apparatus 300 Internet 400 Mail server 500 Image forming apparatus management server 11 Paper feed tray 12 Printing paper 20 Carriage path 21 Carrying roller 22 Paper discharge tray 30 Image forming part 31 Photosensitive drum 32 33 exposure unit 34 Y developing unit 35 M developing unit 36 C developing unit 37 BK developing unit 38 photoconductor cleaning unit 39 intermediate transfer drum 40 intermediate transfer unit cleaning unit 41 secondary transfer unit 42 density detection sensor 43 temperature / humidity sensor 44 transport belt 45 Fixing device 50 Control unit 51 MPU
52 RAM
53 ROM
54 HDD
55 Operation Unit 56 Conveyance Control Device 57 Image Forming Unit Control Device 58 NIC
59 USB port 60 USB memory 200 first storage unit 201 sensor unit 202 job control unit 203 image defect elimination control unit 204 information creation unit 205 second storage unit 206 change determination element information 206a execution history information 206b environment history information 206c job history 207 Transmission control unit 208 Communication unit 209 Change instruction reception control unit 501 MPU
502 interface 503 RAM
504 ROM
505 HDD
506 Interactive input device 507 Display device 508 NIC
509 USB port 530 Communication unit 531 Third storage unit 540 Change management unit 550 Change notification dialog 551 Detailed button 552 Cancel button 560 Detailed dialog 561 Drum refresh count 562 Information related to control information 563 Average temperature 564 Average humidity 571 Check box 572 Threshold selection Box 573 Change button 574 Cancel button 600 Acceptance confirmation screen 601 YES button 602 NO button 610 Change result confirmation screen

Claims (9)

Communication means coupled to the network, storage means, image forming means, and image forming means are controlled based on control information stored in the storage means in order to eliminate image defects in the image forming means. In an image forming apparatus comprising image defect elimination control means,
Creating history information of the image defect elimination control means and storing the history information in the storage means;
Transmission control means for causing the execution history information to be read from the storage means and transmitting the information to a management apparatus on the network via the communication means as a judgment material for changing the control information;
Change instruction reception control means capable of changing the control information of the storage means based on control change instruction information from the management device received by the communication means;
An image forming apparatus further comprising: It further comprises detection means for detecting temperature or humidity,
The history information creation means further creates environmental history information based on the output of the detection means,
The transmission control means further transmits the environmental history information as the determination material together with the execution history information.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The history information creating means further creates a job history,
The transmission control means further transmits the job history as the determination material together with the execution history information.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The control information includes a set value of the image defect elimination control means,
The transmission control means transmits the set value as the determination material together with the execution history information.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The image forming means includes an amorphous silicon photosensitive drum and a corona charger,
The image defect elimination control means is a refresh means for the amorphous silicon photosensitive drum,
The history information creating means creates the execution history information of the refresh means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The image defect elimination control means is a calibration means,
The history information creating means creates the execution history information of the calibration means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The execution history information is a history of the number of executions or execution time.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus management system in which the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and its management apparatus are coupled via a network,
The management device
Display means;
Instruction input means;
Communication means for receiving from the network information including execution history information of the image defect elimination control means created in the image forming apparatus;
A confirmation screen for information received by the communication means and a selection screen for control change contents of the image defect elimination control means are displayed on the display means, and the control change contents are selected from the instruction input means, and the control A change determination means for receiving an information change instruction;
In response to the received change instruction, control change instruction information including information corresponding to the control change content selected on the selection screen and the change instruction is designated as the destination for the image forming apparatus to the communication unit. Transmission control means for transmitting;
An image forming apparatus management system comprising:   The change determination means further determines whether the information received by the communication means satisfies a predetermined change condition before displaying the confirmation screen, and displays the confirmation screen when it is determined that the information satisfies the change condition. The image forming apparatus management system according to claim 8.

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