Patent Application
20170091771
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-188309 filed Sep. 25, 2015.
The present invention relates to a control apparatus and method, an image processing apparatus, and a non-transitory computer readable medium.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a control apparatus including an identifying unit, an accepting unit, and a display controller. The identifying unit identifies a user and an attribute of the user. The accepting unit accepts designation of a time zone from the user. The display controller displays, on a display, information indicating a fee in a case where the user causes an execution unit to execute a process, the execution unit executing a process at a fee in accordance with a time zone and an attribute.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
Each image processing apparatuses 1 is an apparatus that allows a user to use an execution unit that executes a process at a fee in accordance with a usage time zone and the attribute of the user. The execution unit executes a process of forming an image, a process of reading an image formed on a medium, or the like. A fee charged for the process to the user changes in accordance with a time zone in which the process is executed (or a designated time zone) and the attribute of the user.
A fee adjustment machine 4 for adjusting and settling a fee for a process executed on each image processing apparatus 1 may be connected to the image processing apparatus 1. Note that the image processing system 9 may include multiple fee settlement servers 2, or may include no fee settlement server 2. In the case where the image processing system 9 includes no fee settlement server 2, the user may adjust and settle a fee using, for example, the fee adjustment machine 4 connected to the image processing apparatus 1.
The fee adjustment machine 4 is an apparatus that collects a fee from the user, and exchanges information indicating the fee adjustment and settlement status with the image processing apparatus 1. The fee adjustment machine 4 is, for example, a coin acceptor that collects a fee in cash. Alternatively, the fee adjustment machine 4 may be a magnetic card reader/writer that collects a fee via a magnetic card, or an integrated circuit (IC) card reader/writer that collects a fee via an IC card. The image processing apparatus 1 may execute a process in accordance with the fee adjustment and settlement status at the fee adjustment machine 4.
A communication unit 23 is an interface for communicating with the image processing apparatus 1 via various financial networks such as the Japanese Bankers Association network and Credit And Finance Information System (CAFIS).
The memory 22 is a large-capacity memory such as a hard disk drive, and stores a program read by the CPU of the controller 21.
The memory 22 also stores a balance DB 221. The balance DB 221 is a database that stores, for each user's user ID, a deposit balance which indicates assets held by the user.
On receipt of a request from the image processing apparatus 1, the controller 21 performs settlement by rewriting the balance DB 221 stored in the memory 22. For example, the balance DB 221 stores, as the user ID, identification information on the owner of the image processing apparatus 1 in association with the user's deposit balance. When the user causes the image processing apparatus 1 to execute a process, the image processing apparatus 1 transmits information indicating a fee for the process to the fee settlement server 2. On receipt of the information indicating the fee, the controller 21 subtracts the fee from the user's deposit described above, and adds the resultant amount to the balance of the owner of the image processing apparatus 1.
The memory 52 is a large-capacity memory such as a hard disk drive, and stores a program read by the CPU of the controller 51. The memory 52 additionally stores a fee DB 521 in which information on a fee for a process executed on the image processing apparatus 1 is described for each user attribute and for each time zone where a process is executed.
An “attribute” is set for each of the user's social characteristics including position, class, and nationality, ability characteristics including a qualification and expertise, and physical characteristics including age, sex, height, and weight. For example, attributes include “student in A department”, “student in B department”, and “staff”, and fees are set in such a manner that a fee charged to staff is cheaper than a fee charged to a student, or a process is free of charge for staff. An “update time” is described in association with each “attribute”. In the fee DB 521, fee information is updated for each user attribute, and the time at which the fee information is updated is described in the “update time”. Updating of the fee DB 521 is performed in response to an instruction sent from an operation unit (not illustrated), or from an information terminal (not illustrated) via the communication line 3.
In addition, a fee is set for each time zone in the fee DB 521. The time zone list 5212 is a list of multiple time zones in which different fees are set for users with a certain attribute. For example, for “student in A department”, one day is divided into four time zones, “0:00 to 7:00”, “7:00 to 10:00”, “10:00 to 16:00”, and “16:00 to 24:00”. Note that this division may be common to all attributes.
The fee table 5213 is a table in which, when a process is caused by a user with a certain attribute to be executed in a certain time zone, a fee for each detail of the process is described. A process designated by a user has various modes. For example, in the case of a process of forming an image on a medium, various modes include the size of a medium such as paper, and the number of colors of developers used in forming an image. The fee table 5213 describes fees in accordance with combinations of the attributes, time zone, and details. For example, when a user with the attribute “student in A department” forms a “full-color” image on paper with the size “L” in the time zone “7:00 to 10:00”, a fee of 50 yen per sheet is incurred in the example illustrated in
A communication unit 13 includes a first communication unit 131 that is an interface for communicating with the fee information server 5 via the communication line 3, and a second communication unit 132 that is an interface for communicating with the fee adjustment machine 4 and the fee settlement server 2.
An operation unit 14 includes operators such as operation buttons for giving various instructions. The operation unit 14 accepts an operation performed by the user, and supplies a signal in accordance with the details of the operation to the controller 11.
The operation unit 14 additionally includes an IC card reader 141 that reads information transmitted from a contactless IC card that conforms to, for example, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 18092 standard, and a touch screen 142 that detects a position at which a contacting body such as the user's finger contacts, and identifies an instruction given by the user.
A display 15 includes a liquid crystal display, and displays various types of information designated by the controller 11. The above-described touch screen 142 may be arranged over the display 15. In this case, the touch screen 142 is formed of a transparent material such that the user is able to see an image displayed on the liquid crystal display of the display 15.
An image forming unit 16 is, for example, an electrophotographic printer, and forms an image on a medium such as paper under control of the controller 11. The image forming unit 16 is an example of the “execution unit” according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
A reading unit 17 is, for example, an optical scanner, and reads an image formed on a medium such as paper under control of the controller 11. The reading unit 17 is an example of the “execution unit” according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
The memory 12 is a large-capacity memory such as a hard disk drive, and stores a program read by the CPU of the controller 11. The memory 12 additionally stores a user DB 121, an apparatus DB 122, and a fee DB 123.
In the case where the update time described in the fee DB 521 is newer than the update time described in the fee DB 123, the controller 11 obtains the time zone list 5212 corresponding to the above-mentioned attribute in the fee DB 521, and multiple fee tables 5213 corresponding to time zones described in this time zone list 5212 from the fee information server 5, and, using the obtained data, updates the fee DB 123.
In this case, the update time described in the attribute list 1231 may be a corresponding update time described in the attribute list 5211 or may be a time at which the fee DB 123 is updated. In short, after the update process, until the fee DB 521 is updated, it is only necessary for the update time described in the fee DB 521 be newer than the update time described in the fee DB 123.
The IC card reader 141 reads, from an IC card owned by a user, that user's user ID and authentication information. The authenticating unit 111 performs an authentication process of authenticating whether the user is verified or not by comparing a pair of the user ID and the authentication information read by the IC card reader 141 with a pair of a user ID and authentication information described in the user DB 121.
The identifying unit 113 refers to the user DB 121, and identifies the user ID of the user who has been verified (authenticated as a legitimate user) by the authenticating unit 111, and that user's attribute.
The accepting unit 112 accepts designation of a time zone from the user whose user ID has been identified by the identifying unit 113, via the touch screen 142.
The obtaining unit 114 refers to the fee DB 123, and obtains information indicating a fee for a process caused by the user with the attribute identified by the identifying unit 113, to be executed using the image forming unit 16 and/or the reading unit 17 (execution unit) in a time zone indicated in the designation accepted by the accepting unit 112. In addition, the obtaining unit 114 connects to the fee information server 5 via the communication unit 13, and, in the referenced fee DB 123, in the case where information on a fee charged to the user who has the attribute identified by the identifying unit 113 is older than corresponding information in the fee information server 5, obtains new fee information from the fee information server 5.
The display controller 115 displays, on the display 15, the information obtained by the obtaining unit 114. Note that the display controller 115 may include the above-described obtaining unit 114. That is, it is only necessary for the display controller 115 to be one that displays, on a display, information indicating a fee in the case where the user causes the execution unit, which executes a process at a fee in accordance with a time zone and an attribute, to execute a process.
The operation of the image processing apparatus 1 will be described.
The controller 11 searches the user DB 121 for the user ID of the user, determined to be a legitimate user by the authentication, and identifies the user's attribute (step S102). The controller 11 refers to the fee DB 123, and determines whether fee information on the identified attribute is stored (step S103). In the case where it is determined that no fee information on the identified attribute is stored (NO in step S103), the controller 11 proceeds the process to step S106 (described later), and obtains fee information from the fee information server 5.
In contrast, in the case where it is determined that fee information on the identified attribute is stored (YES in step S103), an update time described in association with the attribute is transmitted to the fee information server 5 via the communication line 3, and an inquiry is sent to the fee information server 5 about whether the fee DB 521 is holding, in association with the attribute, fee information in which an update time newer than the transmitted update time is described (step S104).
The controller 11 receives, from the fee information server 5, a response to the inquiry. On the basis of the response, it is determined whether the fee information server 5 is holding fee information newer than that in the fee DB 123 (step S105).
In the case where it is determined that the fee information server 5 is holding no fee information newer than that in the fee DB 123 (NO in step S105), the controller 11 ends the process. In contrast, in the case where it is determined that the fee information server 5 is holding fee information newer than that in the fee DB 123 (YES in step S105), the controller 11 obtains fee information corresponding to the above-described attribute from the fee information server 5, updates the fee DB 123 (step S106), and ends the process. Note that the term “update” in this case refers to “create new” in the case where the fee DB 123 stores no fee information to be updated.
In contrast, in the case where it is determined that the user's designation of a time zone has not been accepted (NO in step S201), the controller 11 extracts a fee table of a time zone including the current time, which is defined for the user with the above-described attribute, from the fee DB 123, and displays the fee table on the display 15 (step S203).
In step S203 illustrated in
The screen of the display 15 includes regions R1 to R5. The region R1 displays a title indicating what is displayed. In
The region R2 displays a time zone set as a time zone of a fee table to be displayed. In this case, the time at which the user starts using the image processing apparatus 1 without designating a time zone is 8 AM; thus, a time zone including 8 AM is selected. That is, the region R2 displays “Usage fee table/7:00 to 10:00”.
The region R3 displays a fee table for the time zone displayed in the region R2. The region R4 displays a character string prompting the user to designate a time zone, such as “Please tap the time zone you want to check”. The region R5 displays a list of time zones that the user is able to designate. In the list of time zones, a time zone selected by the controller 11 is displayed distinctively from the other time zones, such as in a different color.
In this case, when the user U1 designates the time zone “16:00 to 24:00”, as illustrated in
With the configuration, information indicating a fee for each time zone when the user causes the execution unit to execute a process is browsed in other time zones in response to that user's operation.
Although the exemplary embodiment has been described as above, the details of the exemplary embodiment may be modified as follows. In addition, the following modifications may be combined.
In the above-described exemplary embodiment, the controller 11 refers to the fee DB 123 and determines whether fee information on the identified attribute has been stored. Alternatively, the memory 12 may not store the fee DB 123. In this case, the controller 11 may obtain fee information from the fee information server 5 whenever the attribute of the user is identified.
In the above-described exemplary embodiment, the region R5 chronologically displays a list of time zones that the user is able to designate. Alternatively, the time zones may be rearranged in accordance with the user's purpose. In this case, the controller 11 may function as an evaluating unit 116 indicated by a broken line in
For example, the evaluating unit 116 may compare average fees described in fee tables for time zones, and the display controller 115 may rearrange corresponding time zones in ascending order of average fees. In the example illustrated in
With this configuration, a cheaper average price is displayed first. The user is able to understand which time zone may reduce costs when using the image processing apparatus 1, without looking at all the fee tables.
As has been described above, the evaluation result may be reflected in rearranging the time zones by the display controller 115. Instead of reflecting the evaluation result in rearranging the time zones, the evaluation result may be reflected in, for example, the color, size, brightness, or the speed of lighting the characters or buttons displaying the time zones in such a manner as to enable the user to understand the evaluation of each time zone.
In addition, the display controller 115 may only display, on the display 15, a time zone where the fees are cheapest in distinction from the other time zones. Although the display controller 115 rearranges the evaluated time zones in ascending order of fees, the display controller 115 may rearrange the time zones in descending order of fees. In short, it is only necessary for the user to understand the evaluation of each time zone.
The evaluating unit 116 mentioned in the second modification may evaluate the time zones in accordance with a designated process accepted from the user. For example, the evaluating unit 116 may compare fees for the time zones when the user causes the execution unit (image forming unit 16 or reading unit 17) of the image processing apparatus 1 to execute a designated process, and the display controller 115 may rearrange corresponding time zones in ascending order of fees.
When the user designates forming a full-color image on L-size paper, if a process in accordance with the designation is executed in the time zone “7:00 to 10:00”, the fee is 50 yen in the example illustrated in
However, when the user designates forming a monochrome image on paper other than L-size or S-size paper, the fee is 10 yen in the time zone “7:00 to 10:00” and is 15 yen in the time zone “16:00 to 24:00”. Therefore, in the case where “forming a monochrome image on other paper” is designated, the evaluating unit 116 rearranges the time zones such that “16:00 to 24:00” comes after “7:00 to 10:00”.
With this configuration, even in the case where the evaluations of the time zones change in accordance with the details of a designated process, the user understands the evaluations of the time zones.
The memory 52 of the fee information server 5 may store the fee DB 521 in which information on a fee for a process executed on the image processing apparatus 1 is described for each user attribute, each time zone where a process is executed, and each group to which the image processing apparatus 1 belongs. In this case, the obtaining unit 114 reads the apparatus ID, stored in the memory 12, of the image processing apparatus 1, obtains a group ID associated with the apparatus ID from the apparatus DB 122, and requests, via the communication unit 13, the fee information server 5 to compare the update date and time of information associated with the group ID in the fee DB 521 with the update date and time of corresponding information in the fee DB 123. When the comparison result indicates that the information stored in the fee DB 521 is newer than that in the fee DB 123, the obtaining unit 114 simply obtains that new information from the fee information server 5.
Although the image processing apparatus 1 includes the image forming unit 16, the image processing apparatus 1 may be configured to be connected to an external image forming unit. In this case, the image processing system 9 may include an image processing apparatus (control apparatus) including no image forming unit, instead of the image processing apparatus 1.
In addition, the external apparatus to which this image processing apparatus connects is not limited to an image forming unit, and may be any apparatus as long as it performs a process of some sort under control of the image processing apparatus.
A program executed by the controller 11 of the image processing apparatus 1 may be provided while being stored in a computer-readable recording medium including a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk, an optical recording medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. The program may be downloaded via the Internet or the like. Note that various apparatuses other than a CPU may be applied to a controller exemplified by the above-mentioned controller 11, and a dedicated processor may be used, for example.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-188309 | Sep 2015 | JP | national |
