阅读说明：本技术 耗材订购系统 (Consumable ordering system ) 是由 吉田直贵 千村哲之 和泉智之 亲里知树 相场雅彰 于 2020-02-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种耗材订购系统,提高多个电子设备各自的耗材的剩余量减少的情况下的便利性。在耗材订购系统中,其特征在于：图像形成装置将剩余量低于特定的阈值的耗材通知给管理系统,管理系统在从图像形成装置自主地通知剩余量低于阈值的耗材的情况下,对作为该图像形成装置的自主通知设备以外的特定图像形成装置确认剩余量低于阈值的耗材(S122),将作为订购从自主通知设备自主地通知的耗材、以及在S122中确认出的耗材所需的信息的订购用信息通知给自主通知设备(S129),自主通知设备显示从管理系统通知的订购用信息,并根据指示订购显示有订购用信息的耗材。(The invention provides a consumable supply ordering system, which improves the convenience under the condition that the residual quantity of consumable supplies of a plurality of electronic devices is reduced. In a consumable ordering system, characterized by: the image forming apparatus notifies a management system of consumables having a remaining amount lower than a specific threshold value, the management system confirms consumables having a remaining amount lower than the threshold value to a specific image forming apparatus other than an autonomous notification device as the image forming apparatus when the consumables having a remaining amount lower than the threshold value are autonomously notified from the image forming apparatus (S122), notifies an autonomous notification device of ordering information (S129) which is information required to order the consumables autonomously notified from the autonomous notification device and the consumables confirmed in S122, and the autonomous notification device displays the ordering information notified from the management system and orders the consumables having the ordering information according to an instruction.)

1. A consumable ordering system is characterized by comprising:

a plurality of electronic devices; and

a management system that manages the plurality of electronic devices,

the electronic device is provided with:

a remaining amount detection unit that detects a remaining amount of consumable items of the electronic device; and

a remaining amount-reduced consumable part notification unit configured to notify the management system of the consumable parts of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit is lower than a specific threshold value,

the management system is provided with:

a remaining amount-reduced consumable part confirmation unit configured to confirm, when the consumable part having the remaining amount lower than the threshold value is autonomously notified from the electronic device, the consumable part having the remaining amount lower than the threshold value for a specific electronic device other than an autonomous notification device as the electronic device; and

an order information notification unit configured to notify the autonomous notification apparatus of order information that is information required to order the consumable part autonomously notified from the autonomous notification apparatus and the consumable part confirmed by the remaining amount-reduced consumable part confirmation unit,

The autonomous notification apparatus includes:

an order information display unit that displays the order information notified from the management system; and

and a consumable material ordering unit for ordering the consumable materials whose ordering information is displayed by the ordering information display unit in accordance with an instruction.

2. The consumable ordering system according to claim 1,

the consumable parts ordering unit reserves the order of the consumable parts for which the order information is displayed by the order information display unit according to an instruction.

3. The consumable ordering system according to claim 1,

the remaining amount-reduced consumable part notifying unit does not autonomously notify the management system of the consumable parts of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detecting unit is lower than the threshold value, when the management system has been notified of all the consumable parts of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detecting unit is lower than the threshold value.

4. The consumable ordering system according to claim 1,

the specific electronic device is the electronic device belonging to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a consumable ordering system that orders consumables in electronic devices.

Background

Conventionally, as a consumable supply ordering system for ordering consumable supplies in an electronic device, a management system including an electronic device and managing the electronic device is known (for example, see patent document 1). In a conventional consumable supply ordering system, an electronic device notifies a management system of consumable supplies whose remaining amount is below a specific threshold value. When the management system notifies the electronic device of the consumable items of which the remaining amount is lower than the specific threshold value, the management system notifies the electronic device of ordering information, which is information necessary for ordering the consumable items notified from the electronic device. Then, the electronic device displays the ordering information notified from the management system, and orders the consumable parts displaying the ordering information.

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2010-055357

Disclosure of Invention

However, in the conventional consumable supply ordering system, when the remaining amount of consumable supplies of each of the plurality of electronic devices is lower than a specific threshold value, it is necessary to order each of the consumable supplies of each of the plurality of electronic devices, and therefore, there is a problem in that a user has a large power-consumption load such as man-hour and freight.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a consumable supply ordering system that can improve convenience in a case where the remaining amount of consumable supplies of each of a plurality of electronic devices is reduced.

The consumable supply ordering system of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a plurality of electronic devices; and a management system that manages the plurality of electronic devices, the electronic devices including: a remaining amount detection unit that detects a remaining amount of consumable items of the electronic device; and a remaining amount-reduced consumable part notification unit configured to notify the management system of the consumable parts of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit is lower than a specific threshold value, the management system including: a remaining amount-reduced consumable part confirmation unit configured to, when the consumable part having the remaining amount lower than the threshold value is autonomously notified from the electronic device, confirm the consumable part having the remaining amount lower than the threshold value for a specific electronic device other than an autonomous notification device of the electronic device; and an order information notification unit configured to notify the autonomous notification apparatus of order information that is information required to order the consumable supplies autonomously notified from the autonomous notification apparatus and the consumable supplies confirmed by the remaining amount-reduced consumable supply confirmation unit, the autonomous notification apparatus including: an order information display unit that displays the order information notified from the management system; and a consumable parts ordering unit for ordering the consumable parts whose ordering information is displayed by the ordering information display unit according to an instruction.

According to this configuration, in the consumable supply ordering system of the present invention, when the consumable supplies having the remaining amount lower than the specific threshold value are autonomously notified from the autonomous notification apparatus, the consumable supplies having the remaining amount lower than the specific threshold value are confirmed with respect to the specific electronic apparatus other than the autonomous notification apparatus, and the ordering information, which is information required to order the consumable supplies autonomously notified from the autonomous notification apparatus and the consumable supplies confirmed with respect to the specific electronic apparatus other than the autonomous notification apparatus, is notified to the autonomous notification apparatus. Therefore, the consumable supply ordering system of the present invention can improve convenience in the case where the remaining amount of the consumable supply of each of the plurality of electronic devices is reduced.

In the consumable supply ordering system according to the present invention, it is preferable that the consumable supply ordering part reserves ordering of the consumable supplies for which the ordering information is displayed by the ordering information display part in accordance with an instruction.

In the consumable supply-ordering system according to the present invention, it is preferable that the remaining amount-reduced consumable supply notification unit does not autonomously notify the management system of the consumable supplies of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit is lower than the threshold value, when the management system has been notified of all of the consumable supplies of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit is lower than the threshold value.

In the consumable supply ordering system of the present invention, it is preferable that the specific electronic device is the electronic device belonging to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device.

The consumable supply ordering system can improve the convenience under the condition that the residual quantity of the consumable supplies of a plurality of electronic devices is reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a consumable supply ordering system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1 in the case of the MFP.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the management system shown in fig. 1 in the case where the management system is constituted by 1 computer.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the management target device information shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the order URL information shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the delivery destination information shown in fig. 3.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information of the consumable part shown in FIG. 3.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 2 in a case where the remaining amount of consumables is lower than a specific threshold value.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of the operation of the management system shown in fig. 3 in the case where the consumable ID is autonomously notified from the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 when confirmation of the remaining amount of consumables is requested from the management system.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 2 when the order URL is notified from the management system.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an order URL screen including only an order URL for the autonomous notification apparatus as the order URL displayed in the operation shown in fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an order URL screen including an order URL for an image forming apparatus other than the autonomous notification device, which is displayed in the operation shown in fig. 11.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 2 when the order URL screen is displayed.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the operation of the management system shown in fig. 3 when an order URL is notified from the image forming apparatus.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a single order screen displayed in the operation shown in fig. 14.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of order screens displayed in the operation shown in fig. 14.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart showing a part of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 2 in the case of the consumable part ordering screen.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart subsequent to the flowchart shown in fig. 18.

Fig. 20 is a flowchart subsequent to the flowchart shown in fig. 19.

Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the individual ordering screen displayed in the operations shown in fig. 18 to 20.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of the consumable supply ordering system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a consumable supply ordering system 10 of the present embodiment.

As shown in fig. 1, the consumable supply ordering system 10 includes an image forming apparatus 20 as an electronic device. The image forming apparatus 20 is configured by, for example, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a dedicated printer, a dedicated copier, and the like. The consumable supply-ordering system 10 may include at least one image forming apparatus similar to the image forming apparatus 20, in addition to the image forming apparatus 20. The image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 are attached with identification information (hereinafter referred to as "device ID") such as a serial number.

The consumable supply ordering system 10 includes a management system 30 that manages the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10. The management system 30 may be constituted by 1 computer or a plurality of computers.

The image forming apparatus and the management system 30 in the consumable supply ordering system 10 can communicate with each other via a network such as a lan (local Area network), the internet, or the like, or can directly communicate with each other by wire or wireless without via the network.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus 20 in the case of the MFP.

As shown in fig. 2, the image forming apparatus 20 includes: an operation unit 21 which inputs various operations, for example, an input device such as a button; a Display unit 22 which is a Display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for displaying various information; a printer 23, which is a printing device that prints an image on a recording medium such as paper; a scanner 24 which is a reading device that reads an image from an original; a facsimile communication unit 25 which is a facsimile device that performs facsimile communication with an external facsimile apparatus not shown via a communication circuit such as a public telephone line; a communication unit 26 that is a communication device that communicates with an external apparatus via a network such as a LAN or the internet, or directly communicates with an external apparatus via a wired or wireless method without the network; a storage unit 27, which is a nonvolatile storage device such as a semiconductor memory or an hdd (hard Disk drive) for storing various information; and a control unit 28 for controlling the entire image forming apparatus 20.

As consumables in the image forming apparatus 20, for example, toner, recording medium, staple, and the like used in the printer 23 are available. The consumable is provided with identification information (hereinafter referred to as "consumable ID"). For example, in the case of toner, a consumable ID is attached for each toner container that houses toner.

The storage part 27 can store a consumable part ordering program 27a for ordering consumable parts. The consumable supply ordering program 27a may be installed in the image forming apparatus 20 at the stage of manufacturing the image forming apparatus 20, may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 20 from an external storage medium such as a usb (universal Serial bus) memory, or may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 20 from the network.

The storage unit 27 stores remaining amount threshold information 27b indicating a threshold of the remaining amount for each consumable part in the image forming apparatus 20.

The storage section 27 stores notification status information 27c indicating whether or not the remaining amount has been reduced for each consumable part in the image forming apparatus 20, to the management system 30.

The control unit 28 includes, for example, a CPU (central Processing unit), a rom (read Only memory) in which programs and various data are stored, and a RAM (random Access memory), which is a memory used as a volatile memory device as a work area of the CPU of the control unit 28. The CPU of the control unit 28 executes a program stored in the storage unit 27 or the ROM of the control unit 28.

The control unit 28 executes the consumable part ordering program 27a to realize a remaining amount detecting unit 28a for detecting the remaining amount of the consumable parts in the image forming apparatus 20, a remaining amount reducing consumable part notifying unit 28b for notifying the management system 30 of the consumable parts of which the remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detecting unit 28a is less than a specific threshold value, an ordering information display unit 28c for displaying ordering information notified from the management system 30 on the display unit 22, and a consumable part ordering unit 28d for ordering the consumable parts of which the ordering information is displayed on the ordering information display unit 28c in accordance with an instruction.

The remaining amount detecting unit 28a detects the remaining amount of consumables in the image forming apparatus 20 by a sensor, not shown, for example.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the management system 30 in the case where 1 computer is used.

As shown in fig. 3, the management system 30 includes: an operation unit 31 which is an operation device such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various operations; a display unit 32 which is a display device such as an LCD for displaying various information; a communication unit 33 which is a communication device that communicates with an external apparatus via a network such as a LAN or the internet, or directly communicates with an external apparatus by wire or wireless without via a network; a storage unit 34, which is a nonvolatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD that stores various information; and a control unit 35 for controlling the entire management system 30.

The storage unit 34 stores a management program 34a for managing the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10. The management program 34a may be installed in the management system 30 at the stage of manufacturing the management system 30, may be additionally installed in the management system 30 from an external storage medium such as a cd (compact disk), a dvd (digital Versatile disk), or a USB memory, or may be additionally installed in the management system 30 from the network.

The storage unit 34 stores management target device information 34b indicating various information of the image forming apparatus to be managed.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the management target device information 34 b.

As shown in fig. 4, the management target device information 34b includes, for each image forming apparatus, a device ID, an ip (internet protocol) address of the image forming apparatus, and identification information of the holder of the image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "holder ID").

As shown in fig. 3, the storage unit 34 stores order URL information 34c, and the order URL information 34c indicates an order URL (uniform Resource locator) that is a URL (uniform Resource locator) for ordering consumables.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the order URL information 34 c.

As shown in fig. 5, the order URL information 34c represents an order URL for each combination of the equipment ID and the consumable ID.

As shown in fig. 3, the storage unit 34 stores delivery destination information 34d indicating a delivery destination of the consumable substance.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the delivery destination information 34 d.

As shown in fig. 6, the delivery destination information 34d includes, for each device ID, an individual delivery destination that is a delivery destination set for each image forming apparatus, and a collective delivery destination that is a delivery destination set for each owner of the image forming apparatus. The delivery destination is represented by, for example, a name, a zip code, an address, and a telephone number.

As shown in fig. 3, the storage unit 34 stores consumable part detailed information 34e indicating detailed information of consumable parts.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of consumable part detailed information 34 e.

As shown in fig. 7, the consumable detail information 34e includes, for example, a consumable name, which is the name of the consumable, and a unit price of the consumable, for each consumable ID.

The control unit 35 shown in fig. 3 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM storing programs and various data, and a RAM used as a work area of the CPU of the control unit 35. The CPU of the control unit 35 executes a program stored in the storage unit 34 or the ROM of the control unit 35.

The control unit 35 implements a remaining amount-reducing consumable part confirmation unit 35a and an ordering information notification unit 35b by executing the management program 34a, the remaining amount-reducing consumable part confirmation unit 35a confirming, when the image forming apparatus is autonomously notified of consumables having a remaining amount lower than a specific threshold value, consumables having a remaining amount lower than the threshold value to a specific image forming apparatus other than an autonomous notification device as the image forming apparatus, and the ordering information notification unit 35b notifying the autonomous notification device of ordering information which is information required to order consumables autonomously notified from the autonomous notification device and consumables confirmed by the remaining amount-reducing consumable part confirmation unit 35 a.

Next, the operation of the consumable supply ordering system 10 will be described.

First, the operation of the image forming apparatus in the case where the remaining amount of consumables is less than a specific threshold value will be described. Although the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus, all the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 operate similarly.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus 20 in a case where the remaining amount of consumables is lower than a specific threshold value.

The control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 repeatedly executes the operation shown in fig. 8 at a specific timing.

As shown in fig. 8, the remaining amount detecting portion 28a detects the remaining amount of consumables in the image forming apparatus 20 (S101).

Next, the remaining amount reducing consumable part notification portion 28b determines whether or not there is a consumable part (hereinafter referred to as "remaining amount reducing consumable part") of which the remaining amount detected in S101 is lower than the threshold value indicated by the remaining amount threshold information 27b with respect to the consumable part itself, among the consumable parts in the image forming apparatus 20 (S102).

If the remaining amount reduction consumable part notification portion 28b determines in S102 that there is a remaining amount reduction consumable part, it is determined based on the notification status information 27c whether there is a consumable part whose remaining amount reduction has not been notified to the management system 30 (hereinafter referred to as "remaining amount reduction non-notification consumable part") among the remaining amount reduction consumable parts in the image forming apparatus 20 (S103).

If the remaining amount reduction consumable part notification part 28b determines in S103 that there is a remaining amount reduction unreinforced consumable part, it notifies the management system 30 of the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 and consumable part IDs of all remaining amount reduction consumable parts (S104). As a method of the notification in S104, for example, notification by email is performed. When the remaining amount reducing consumable part notification portion 28b notifies the management system 30 of the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 and the consumable part ID of the remaining amount reducing consumable part by email, the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 and the consumable part ID of the remaining amount reducing consumable part may be notified to the administrator of the image forming apparatus 20 and/or the administrator of the management system 30 by email.

After the processing in S104, the remaining amount-reduced consumable part notification portion 28b records in the notification status information 27c that the management system 30 has been notified of the reduction in the remaining amount, with respect to all the consumable parts that have notified the management system 30 of the consumable part ID in S104 (S105).

The remaining amount reduction consumable part notification unit 28b ends the operation shown in fig. 8 if it is determined in S102 that there is no remaining amount reduction consumable part or it is determined in S103 that there is no remaining amount reduction non-notification consumable part or the processing of S105 is executed.

Next, the operation of the management system 30 when the consumable ID is autonomously notified from the image forming apparatus will be described.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of the operation of the management system 30 in the case where the consumable part ID is autonomously notified from the image forming apparatus.

The control unit 35 of the management system 30 executes the operation shown in fig. 9 when the consumable ID is autonomously notified from the image forming apparatus.

As shown in fig. 9, the remaining amount reducing consumable part checking unit 35a determines whether or not there is an image forming apparatus belonging to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device, except for the autonomous notification device that is the image forming apparatus to which the consumable part ID is autonomously notified (S121). The remaining-amount-reduced consumable part checking unit 35a can determine image forming apparatuses belonging to the same LAN based on the IP address in the management target device information 34 b.

When it is determined in S121 that there is an image forming apparatus other than the autonomous notification device that belongs to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device, the remaining amount reduction consumable part confirmation unit 35a requests confirmation of the remaining amount of the consumable part for all image forming apparatuses other than the autonomous notification device that belong to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device (S122).

Here, the operation of the image forming apparatus in the case where the management system 30 requests confirmation of the remaining amount of consumable supplies will be described. Although the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus, all the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 operate similarly.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus 20 in the case where confirmation of the remaining amount of consumables is requested from the management system 30.

When the control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 requests the management system 30 to check the remaining amount of consumable parts, the operation shown in fig. 10 is executed.

As shown in fig. 10, the remaining amount detecting unit 28a detects the remaining amount of consumables in the image forming apparatus 20 (S141).

Next, the remaining amount-reduced consumable part notification portion 28b determines whether or not there is any consumable part having a remaining amount detected in S141 lower than the threshold indicated by the remaining amount threshold information 27b with respect to the consumable part itself, that is, remaining amount-reduced consumable part, among the consumable parts in the image forming apparatus 20 (S142).

When it is determined in S142 that there are remaining amount reducing consumables, the remaining amount reducing consumable part notification portion 28b notifies the management system 30 of the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 and consumable part IDs of all remaining amount reducing consumables as a response to the request in S122 (S143).

After the processing in S143, the remaining amount-reduced consumable part notification unit 28b records the notification of the reduction in the remaining amount to the management system 30 in the notification status information 27c for all the consumable parts that have notified the management system 30 of the consumable part ID in S143 (S144), and ends the operation shown in fig. 10.

When it is determined in S142 that there is no remaining amount reducing consumable part, the remaining amount reducing consumable part notification unit 28b notifies the management system 30 of the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 and the fact that there is no remaining amount reducing consumable part as a response to the request in S122 (S145), and terminates the operation shown in fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 9, the remaining amount reducing consumable part checking section 35a of the management system 30 determines whether or not a response to the request in S122 is received from all the image forming apparatuses requesting confirmation of the remaining amount of consumable parts in S122 after the process in S122 until it is determined that a response to the request in S122 is received from all the image forming apparatuses requesting confirmation of the remaining amount of consumable parts in S122 (S123).

When it is determined in S123 that responses to the request in S122 are received from all the image forming apparatuses requesting confirmation of the remaining amount of consumables in S122, the remaining amount-reducing consumable part 35a determines whether consumable part IDs of remaining amount-reducing consumable parts are received from the image forming apparatuses requesting confirmation of the remaining amount of consumable parts in S122 (S124).

When it is determined in S121 that there is no image forming apparatus belonging to the same LAN as the autonomous notification apparatus other than the autonomous notification apparatus or it is determined in S124 that the consumable part ID of the remaining amount reducing consumable part is not received from the image forming apparatus which requested confirmation of the remaining amount of the consumable part in S122, the order information notification unit 35b acquires the order URL for the autonomous notification apparatus as order information from the order URL information 34c based on the combination of the apparatus ID of the autonomous notification apparatus and the consumable part IDs of all the remaining amount reducing consumable parts in the autonomous notification apparatus (S125).

Next, the order information notification unit 35b notifies the autonomous notification device of the order URL for the autonomous notification device acquired in S125 (S126), and the operation shown in fig. 9 is ended.

When it is determined in S124 that the consumable part ID of the remaining amount reducing consumable part is received from the image forming apparatus that requested to confirm the remaining amount of the consumable part in S122, the order information notifying unit 35b acquires the order URL for the self-notification device as order information from the order URL information 34c based on the combination of the device ID of the self-notification device and the consumable part IDs of all the remaining amount reducing consumable parts in the self-notification device (S127).

Next, the order information notifying unit 35b acquires, as order information, an order URL for an image forming apparatus other than the main notifying device from the order URL information 34c based on a combination of the device ID of the image forming apparatus to which the consumable part ID of the remaining amount reducing consumable part is notified, of the image forming apparatuses requesting confirmation of the remaining amount of the consumable part in S122, and the consumable part IDs of all the remaining amount reducing consumable parts in the image forming apparatuses (S128).

Next, the order information notifying unit 35b notifies the order URL for the autonomous notifying device acquired in S127, the order URL for the image forming apparatus other than the autonomous notifying device acquired in S128, and the device ID of the image forming apparatus to the autonomous notifying device (S129), and ends the operation shown in fig. 9.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus when the order URL is notified from the management system 30 will be described. In the following, the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus, but all image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 operate similarly.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of the operation of image forming apparatus 20 when order URL is notified from management system 30.

When the order URL is notified from the management system 30, the control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 executes the operation shown in fig. 11.

As shown in fig. 11, order information display unit 28c determines whether or not an order URL for an image forming apparatus other than image forming apparatus 20, that is, an order URL for another image forming apparatus is notified from management system 30 (S161).

When it is determined in S161 that the order URL for another image forming apparatus is not notified from the management system 30, the order information display unit 28c displays an order URL screen including only the order URL for the image forming apparatus 20 received from the management system 30 as the order URL, that is, the order URL for the self-notification device, on the display unit 22 (S162), and ends the operation shown in fig. 11.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an order URL screen 40 including only an order URL for the autonomous notification apparatus as an order URL.

As shown in fig. 12, the order URL screen 40 includes an order URL41 for the image forming apparatus 20 and an order reservation button 42 arranged in association with the order URL41 for reserving an order. In fig. 12, only the order URLs for 1 image forming apparatus 20 are displayed, but the order URL screen 40 can include an order URL for each remaining amount reduction consumable part, and can include an order reservation button for each remaining amount reduction consumable part, that is, each order URL.

As shown in fig. 11, when it is determined in S161 that the order URL for another image forming apparatus is notified from the management system 30, the order information display unit 28c displays an order URL screen including the order URL for the image forming apparatus 20 received from the management system 30, that is, the order URL for the autonomous notification device and the order URLs for image forming apparatuses other than the autonomous notification device on the display unit 22 (S163), and ends the operation shown in fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an order URL screen 50 including an order URL for an image forming apparatus other than the autonomous notification device.

As shown in fig. 13, the order URL screen 50 includes an order URL51 for the image forming apparatus 20, an order reservation button 52 arranged in association with the order URL51 and used to reserve orders, an order URL53 for image forming apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus 20, and an order reservation button 54 arranged in association with the order URL53 and used to reserve orders. In fig. 13, only 1 order URL for the image forming apparatus 20 and only 1 order URL for an image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus 20 are displayed, but the order URL screen 50 can include an order URL for each remaining amount reduction consumable part and an order reservation button for each remaining amount reduction consumable part, that is, each order URL. The order URL screen 50 also includes a device ID55 of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the order URL 53. The device ID55 is notified from the management system 30 in S129.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus when the order URL screen is displayed will be described. Although the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus, all the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 operate similarly.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the operation of image forming apparatus 20 in the case where the order URL screen is displayed.

When the display unit 22 displays the order URL screen, the control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 executes the operation shown in fig. 14.

As shown in fig. 14, the consumable part ordering part 28d determines whether or not the order URL is pressed on the order URL screen (S181).

When it is determined in S181 that the order URL is pressed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d deletes the order URL determined in S181 as pressed and the order hold button arranged in association with the order URL from the order URL screen (S182).

Next, the consumable part ordering unit 28d notifies the management system 30 of the order URL determined to be pressed in S181 (S183).

Here, the operation of the management system 30 when the order URL is notified from the image forming apparatus will be described.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the operation of the management system 30 when an order URL is notified from the image forming apparatus.

When the order URL is notified from the image forming apparatus, the control unit 35 of the management system 30 executes the operation shown in fig. 15.

As shown in fig. 15, the order information notification unit 35b acquires the equipment ID and the consumable part ID associated with the order URL notified from the image forming apparatus in the order URL information 34c (S201).

Next, the order information notification unit 35b acquires the individual delivery destination and the collective delivery destination associated with the device ID acquired in S201 in the delivery destination information 34d (S202).

Next, the order information notification unit 35b acquires information on the consumable part associated with the consumable part ID acquired in S201 in the consumable part detailed information 34e (S203).

Next, the order information notification unit 35b notifies the image forming apparatus of the notification source of the order URL of the device ID acquired in S201, the individual delivery destination and the collective delivery destination acquired in S202, and the information on the consumables acquired in S203 (S204), and the operation shown in fig. 15 is ended.

As shown in fig. 14, after the process of S183, the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines whether or not the information of the facility ID, the individual delivery destination, the collective delivery destination, and the consumable parts is received from the management system 30 until it determines that the information of the facility ID, the individual delivery destination, the collective delivery destination, and the consumable parts is received from the management system 30 (S184).

When the consumable parts ordering unit 28d determines in S184 that the device ID, the individual delivery destination, the collective delivery destination, and the information on the consumable parts have been received from the management system 30, a consumable parts ordering screen for ordering the consumable parts is displayed on the display unit 22, and the information on the device ID, the individual delivery destination, the collective delivery destination, and the consumable parts determined in S184 to have been received from the management system 30 is reflected on the consumable parts ordering screen (S185).

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a single order screen 60 as a consumable part order screen including only information of 1 consumable part.

As shown in fig. 16, the single ordering screen 60 includes information 61 of consumables, individual delivery destinations 62 of the consumables indicated by the information 61, an ordering button 63 for ordering the consumables indicated by the information 61, and a cancel button 64 for suspending ordering of the consumables. The information 61 includes the name of the consumable part, the unit price of the consumable part, and the device ID of the target image forming apparatus.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of order screens 70 as a consumable part order screen including information of a plurality of consumable parts.

As shown in fig. 17, the plurality of ordering screens 70 include information 71 of the 1 st consumable part, an order reservation button 72 for ordering the consumable part represented by the information 71, information 73 of the 2 nd consumable part, an order reservation button 74 for reserving the order of the consumable part represented by the information 73, a collective delivery destination 75 of the consumable parts represented by the information 71 and the information 73, a collective ordering button 76 for collectively ordering the consumable parts represented by the information 71 and the information 73, an individual ordering button 77 for individually ordering the consumable parts represented by the information 71 and the information 73, and a cancel button 78 for suspending the ordering of the consumable parts.

Although the plurality of ordering screens 70 shown in fig. 17 are consumable supply ordering screens including information on 2 consumable supplies, the same applies to consumable supply ordering screens including information on 3 or more consumable supplies.

As shown in fig. 14, when the consumable part ordering part 28d determines in S181 that the order URL is not pressed, it determines whether or not the order reservation button is pressed on the order URL screen (S186).

When the consumable parts ordering part 28d determines in S186 that the order reservation button is not pressed, the process of S181 is executed.

When it is determined in S186 that the order reservation button is pressed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d deletes the order reservation button determined in S186 and the order URL arranged in association with the order reservation button from the order URL screen (S187).

When the process in S185 or S187 is completed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines whether or not the order URL is included in the order URL screen (S188).

When the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines in S188 that the order URL is included in the order URL screen, it executes the process of S181.

When the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines in S188 that the order URL is not included in the order URL screen, it deletes the order URL screen (S189) and terminates the operation shown in fig. 14.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus in the case where the consumable supply ordering screen is displayed will be described. Although the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus, all the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 operate similarly.

Fig. 18 to 20 are flowcharts showing the operation of the image forming apparatus 20 in the case where the consumable supply ordering screen is present.

The control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 executes the operations shown in fig. 18 to 20 when the consumable supply ordering screen is displayed on the display unit 22.

As shown in fig. 18 to 20, the consumable parts ordering part 28d determines whether or not the consumable parts ordering screen displayed on the display part 22 is a single ordering screen (S221).

When the consumable supply ordering part 28d determines in S221 that it is a single order screen, it determines whether or not an order button in the single order screen is pressed (S222).

When it is determined in S222 that the order button is pressed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d orders the consumable parts displayed on the individual order screen to the individual delivery destinations displayed on the individual order screen, with respect to an order management system (not shown) (S223).

When the consumable supply ordering part 28d determines in S222 that the order button is not pressed, it determines whether or not the cancel button in the single order screen is pressed (S224).

When the consumable parts ordering part 28d determines in S224 that the cancel button is not pressed, the process of S222 is executed.

When the process at S223 is finished or the cancel button is determined to be pressed at S224, the consumable parts ordering unit 28d deletes the individual order screen (S225), and ends the operation shown in fig. 18 to 20.

When the consumable part ordering part 28d determines in S221 that the order screen is not a single order screen, it determines whether or not an order reservation button is pressed in the plurality of order screens (S226).

When it is determined in S226 that the order reservation button is pressed, the consumable part ordering part 28d deletes the order reservation button and the information on the consumables arranged in association with the order reservation button from the plurality of order screens (S227).

Next, the consumable part ordering part 28d determines whether or not the current consumable part ordering screen includes information on a plurality of consumable parts (S228).

When it is determined in S228 that the current consumable supply ordering screen does not include information on a plurality of consumable supplies, the consumable supply ordering part 28d changes the current consumable supply ordering screen to a single ordering screen (S229), and executes the process in S222.

When it is determined in S226 that the order reservation button is not pressed or it is determined in S228 that the current consumable part ordering screen includes information of a plurality of consumable parts, the consumable part ordering part 28d determines whether or not the collective order button in the plurality of ordering screens is pressed (S230).

When it is determined in S230 that the order button is pressed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d orders the order management system (not shown) to distribute all the consumables displayed on the plurality of order screens to the order destinations (S231).

When the consumable parts ordering part 28d determines in S230 that the unified order button is not pressed, it determines whether or not the cancel button is pressed in the plurality of order screens (S232).

When the process at S231 is finished or the cancel button is determined to be pressed at S232, the consumable parts ordering unit 28d deletes the plurality of ordering screens (S233), and ends the operation shown in fig. 18 to 20.

When the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines in S232 that the cancel button is not pressed, it determines whether or not the individual order button is pressed on the plurality of order screens (S234).

When the consumable parts ordering part 28d determines in S234 that the individual ordering button is not pressed, the process of S226 is executed.

When it is determined in S234 that the individual order button is pressed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d generates a sequence (hereinafter referred to as "consumable part sequence") including a plurality of consumable parts shown on the current plurality of order screens (S235).

Next, the consumable part ordering part 28d changes the current consumable part ordering screen to an individual ordering screen as a consumable part ordering screen for individually ordering the plurality of consumable parts included in the consumable part array generated in S235 (S236). Here, the consumable part shown on the individual order screen displayed in S236 is the first consumable part in the consumable part list generated in S235.

Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the individual ordering screen 80.

As shown in fig. 21, the individual ordering screen 80 includes information 81 of consumables, an individual delivery destination 82 of the consumables indicated by the information 81, an order button 83 for ordering the consumables indicated by the information 81, an order reservation button 84 for suspending the order of the consumables indicated by the information 81, a forward button 85 of the individual ordering screen for switching to the previous one of the consumables of the consumable part of the current object in the consumable part array, a backward button 86 of the individual ordering screen for switching to the next consumable part of the current object in the consumable part array, and a "return unified order" button 87 for returning unified order. In addition, in the individual order screen 80, when the current target consumable part is the first consumable part in the consumable part list, the forward button 85 is grayed out or the like and becomes inoperable. Similarly, in the individual order screen 80, when the current target consumable part is the last consumable part in the consumable part list, the backward button 86 is grayed out or the like, and becomes inoperable. In the example shown in fig. 21, the forward button 85 is grayed out.

As shown in fig. 18 to 20, after the processing of S236, the consumable parts ordering part 28d determines whether or not the forward button is pressed on the individual ordering screen (S237).

When it is determined in S237 that the forward button is pressed, the consumable supply ordering part 28d switches the current consumable supply ordering screen to the individual ordering screen for the consumable supply immediately before the current target consumable supply in the consumable supply array (S238), and executes the process of S237.

When the consumable supply ordering part 28d determines in S237 that the forward button is not pressed, it determines whether or not the backward button is pressed on the individual ordering screen (S239).

When it is determined in S239 that the backward button is pressed, the consumable supply ordering part 28d switches the current consumable supply ordering screen to the individual ordering screen for the next consumable supply of the current target consumable supply in the consumable supply array (S240), and executes the process of S237.

When the consumable part ordering part 28d determines in S239 that the back button is not pressed, it determines whether or not the "return to unified order" button in the individual order screen is pressed (S241).

When the "return to unified order" button is pressed in S241, the consumable part ordering unit 28d changes the current consumable part ordering screen to a plurality of ordering screens (S242), and executes the process in S226. The plurality of ordering screens to be changed in S242 are consumable supply ordering screens for consumable supplies included in the current consumable supply line.

When the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines in S241 that the "return to unified order" button is pressed, it determines whether or not the order button is pressed on the individual order screen (S243).

When it is determined in S243 that the order button is pressed, the consumable part ordering unit 28d orders the current target consumable part in the order screen to the order management system (not shown) and delivers the consumable part to the individual delivery destination indicated in the order screen (S244).

When the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines in S243 that the order button is not pressed, it determines whether or not the order reservation button is pressed on the individual order screen (S245).

When the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines in S245 that the order reservation button has not been pressed, the process of S237 is executed.

When the process of S244 is completed or the order reservation button is pressed in S245, the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines whether the current target consumable part in the consumable part array is the last consumable part (S246).

When it is determined in S246 that the current target consumable item in the consumable item array is the last consumable item, the consumable item ordering unit 28d sets the immediately preceding consumable item of the current target consumable item in the consumable item array as the new target consumable item (S247), and deletes the immediately succeeding consumable item of the current target consumable item in the consumable item array, that is, the last consumable item (S248).

When it is determined in S246 that the current target consumable part in the consumable part array is not the last consumable part, the consumable part ordering unit 28d sets the next consumable part to the current target consumable part in the consumable part array as the new target consumable part (S249), and deletes the next consumable part to the current target consumable part in the consumable part array (S250).

After the processing in S248 or S250, the consumable part ordering unit 28d determines whether or not a plurality of consumables are included in the consumable part array (S251).

When it is determined in S251 that the consumable part list does not include a plurality of consumable parts, the consumable part ordering unit 28d changes the current consumable part ordering screen to a single ordering screen (S252), and executes the process in S222. The single order screen changed in S252 is a consumable part order screen for the current target consumable part in the consumable part list.

When it is determined in S251 that a plurality of consumables are included in the consumable part array, the consumable part ordering unit 28d switches the current consumable part ordering screen to the individual ordering screen for the current target consumable part in the consumable part array (S253), and executes the process of S237.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus in the case of consumable part replacement will be described. Although the image forming apparatus 20 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus, all the image forming apparatuses in the consumable supply ordering system 10 operate similarly.

When the consumable part has been replaced, the remaining amount reduction consumable part notification unit 28b of the image forming apparatus 20 records that the management system 30 is not notified of the reduction of the remaining amount in the notification status information 27c for the replaced consumable part.

Even if the consumable part is not replaced, the remaining amount reducing consumable part notification unit 28b can record in the notification status information 27c that the management system 30 is not notified of the reduction of the remaining amount of the specific consumable part, in response to an instruction via the operation unit 21 or the communication unit 26.

As described above, when the consumable supplies having the remaining amount lower than the specific threshold value are autonomously notified from the autonomous notification apparatus in S104, the consumable supply ordering system 10 confirms the consumable supplies having the remaining amount lower than the specific threshold value to the specific image forming apparatuses other than the autonomous notification apparatus (S122), and notifies the autonomous notification apparatus of ordering information (S129) which is information necessary for ordering the consumable supplies autonomously notified from the autonomous notification apparatus and the consumable supplies confirmed by the specific image forming apparatuses other than the autonomous notification apparatus, and thus, the consumable supplies of each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses can be collectively ordered. Therefore, the consumable supply ordering system 10 can improve the convenience in the case where the remaining amount of the consumable supplies of each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is reduced.

The consumable supply-ordering system 10 can increase the number of consumable supplies to be collectively ordered according to the instruction (yes in S186, S187, yes in S224, yes in S225, yes in S226, S227, yes in S232, S233, yes in S245, S248, or yes in S245 and S250) to reserve the order of the consumable supplies on which the ordering information is displayed.

When the image forming apparatus has notified the management system 30 of all consumables whose remaining amount is less than the specific threshold value (no in S103), the image forming apparatus does not autonomously notify the management system 30 of consumables, and therefore, the consumable supply ordering system 10 can reduce the possibility that the image forming apparatus autonomously repeatedly notifies the management system 30 of the same consumables, and as a result, can reduce the number of times the ordering information of the image forming apparatus is displayed. Therefore, the consumable ordering system 10 can improve convenience.

When the consumable supplies whose remaining amount is lower than the specific threshold value are autonomously notified from the autonomous notification device in S104, the consumable supply ordering system 10 confirms the consumable supplies whose remaining amount is lower than the specific threshold value to the other image forming apparatuses belonging to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device (S122), and therefore, it is possible to improve the convenience in the case where the remaining amount of the consumable supplies of each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses belonging to the same LAN is reduced.

In addition, when the consumable supply ordering system 10 autonomously notifies the consumable supplies whose remaining amount is lower than the specific threshold value from the autonomous notification device, as the image forming apparatus for confirming the consumable supplies whose remaining amount is lower than the specific threshold value, an image forming apparatus selected by a condition other than a condition belonging to the same LAN as the autonomous notification device may be used. For example, when a consumable supply whose remaining amount is lower than a specific threshold value is autonomously notified from an autonomous notification device, the consumable supply ordering system 10 confirms a consumable supply whose remaining amount is lower than the specific threshold value to another image forming apparatus held by the same owner as the autonomous notification device.

The electronic device according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus in the present embodiment, but may be an electronic device other than an image forming apparatus such as a pc (personal computer).