Patent Application
20200364004
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that enables communication with an image forming apparatus that has a consumable, an image forming apparatus that has a consumable, and a control method for the image forming apparatus.
A maintenance system that manages consumables of an image forming apparatus generally consists of the image forming apparatus and a maintenance service server that are connected via a network, such as the Internet, in recent years. When detecting approach of replacement time, the image forming apparatus notifies the maintenance service server of a delivery request signal that requires delivery of the consumable. In response to the signal, the maintenance service server delivers the consumable to an office in which the image forming apparatus concerned is installed. Thereby, a user can obtain a new consumable.
A consumable in an image forming apparatus is a toner container that stores toner that is consumed by being used for a product, for example. Or a consumable is a photosensitive member that operates to generate a product. Hereinafter, these are generically called consumables.
Particularly, when toner used for image formation is exhausted during use of an image forming apparatus, an expected product cannot be obtained. Accordingly, it is necessary to request delivery of a toner container before a toner remaining amount that is a remaining usable amount in the toner container is exhausted.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2017-37596 (JP 2017-37596A) discloses a system that decides a reference toner remaining amount on the basis of a predicted toner remaining amount for every used day and delivery days and that issues a delivery request when an actual toner remaining amount becomes less than the reference toner remaining amount. This enables execution of the delivery request of a toner container according to a use mode of a user who uses an image forming apparatus. That is, a consumable can be delivered at suitable time by predicting the number of remaining days (hereinafter referred to as a remaining period) within which a toner container is usable from usage history that shows history of the consumption amount.
However, when a user is changed during use of a consumable, a problem may occur. For example, a case where an image forming apparatus is transferred to another section in a company will be considered. When an image forming apparatus is transferred to another section in a company, an equipped consumable is used continuously in many cases without being exchanged for a new consumable. In the meantime, a use mode of the consumable may change and a consumption speed may change largely after the transfer.
When the use mode changes largely, past user's use history can be erased in order to extract a use history of a new user correctly. However, a certain length is needed for a predetermined period that is subjected to extraction of a use history in order to predict the remaining period of a consumable with high accuracy from the use history. A state where the remaining period of the consumable cannot be predicted continues until the predetermined period elapses after the use history is erased. When the use history is cleared in a state where a usable amount (remaining amount) of the consumable is few, a replacement time may come before extracting the use history. That is, since a delivery request cannot be issued in the state where the use history cannot be extracted, there is a problem that the delivery of the consumable may be delayed.
The present invention provides an information processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus, and a control method therefor that are capable of reducing a delay of delivery of a consumable even if a history of a consumption amount of a consumable is erased.
Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides an information processing apparatus that enables communication with an image forming apparatus that has a consumable. The information processing apparatus includes a memory that stores data related to a consumption amount of the consumable, a controller configured to determine a future change of a remaining amount of the consumable from the data stored in the memory based on a first determination condition, control a timing at which a delivery request that urges delivery of a replacement consumable is output based on the future change of the remaining amount of the consumable, and receive user instruction information. The controller determines the future change of the remaining amount of the consumable from the data stored in the memory based on a second determination condition that is different from the first determination condition after receiving the user instruction information.
Accordingly, a second aspect of the present invention provides an image forming apparatus that has a consumable, the image forming apparatus including a memory that stores data related to a consumption amount of the consumable, a controller configured to determine a future change of a remaining amount of the consumable from the data stored in the memory based on a first determination condition, control a timing at which a delivery request that urges delivery of a replacement consumable is output based on the future change of the remaining amount of the consumable, and receive user instruction information. The controller determines the future change of the remaining amount of the consumable from the data stored in the memory based on a second determination condition that is different from the first determination condition after receiving the user instruction information.
Accordingly, a third aspect of the present invention provides a control method for an image forming apparatus that has a consumable and a memory storing data related to a consumption amount of the consumable, the control method including determining a future change of a remaining amount of the consumable from the data stored in the memory based on a first determination condition, controlling a timing at which a delivery request that urges delivery of a replacement consumable is output based on the future change of the remaining amount of the consumable, receiving user instruction information: and determining the future change of the remaining amount of the consumable from the data stored in the memory based on a second determination condition that is different from the first determination condition after receiving the user instruction information.
According to the present invention, a delay of delivery of a consumable is reduceable even if a history of a consumption amount of a consumable is erased.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail by referring to the drawings. In the following embodiments, an image forming apparatus that has a consumable will be described.
A sheet S as a recording material is stored so as to be stacked on a lift-up device 152 in a recording-material container 151, and is fed according to an image formation timing with a roller 153. It should be noted that a sheet-feeding method does not matter. The sheet S sent out with the roller 153 passes a conveyance path 154 and is conveyed to a registration roller pair 155. The registration roller pair 155 corrects a skew and a timing of the sheet S and then sends the sheet S to a secondary transfer section. This secondary transfer section is a transfer nip position formed between a drive roller 2 and an outer roller 156 that face mutually. A toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 102 is transferred onto the sheet S by giving predetermined pressure force and electrostatic load bias to the secondary transfer section.
An image forming process to the secondary transfer section, which is performed at the same timing as a conveyance process of the sheet S to the secondary transfer section, will be described. The image forming apparatus 101 has the image forming units 110Y, 110M, 110C, and 110Bk that form images with yellow (Y) toner, magenta (M) toner, cyan (C) toner, and black (Bk) toner, respectively. Since the image forming units 110Y, 110M, 110C, and 110Bk has the same configuration except the toner color, the image forming unit 110Y will be described as a representative.
The image forming unit 110Y has a photosensitive member 111, an electrostatic charger 112 that charges the photosensitive member 111, an exposure opening 113, a development device 114, a primary transfer roller 115, and a photosensitive-member cleaner 116. The electrostatic charger 112 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive member 111 that rotates in a direction of an arrow m in
A magenta toner image formed by the image forming unit 110M is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 102 so as to be piled on the yellow toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 102. Furthermore, a cyan toner image formed by the image forming unit 110C is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 102 so as to be piled on the magenta toner image. Furthermore, a black toner image formed by the image forming unit 110Bk is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 102 so as to be piled on the cyan toner image. In this way, a full color image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 102 because the different color toner images are formed in pile on the intermediate transfer belt 102. The number of colors is not limited to four and the arrangement order is not limited to the exemplified embodiment.
Moreover, toner bottles 140Y, 140M, 140C, and 140Bk that are replaceable toner containers are provided so as to respectively correspond to the image forming units 110Y, 110M, and 110C and 110Bk. The toner bottles 140Y, 140M, 140C, and 140Bk respectively contain yellow toner, magenta toner, cyan toner, and black toner. The toner bottles 140Y, 140M, 140C, and 140Bk are constituted so as to be detachable from bottle mounts (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus 101. When each of the toner bottles 140Y, 140M, 140C, and 140Bk is attached to the bottle mount, a supply-port shutter provided in a supply port of each toner bottle is released. As described by referring to
The intermediate transfer belt 102 is supported by the drive roller 2, a tension roller 3, and a roller 4 in a tensioned state. The drive roller 2 serves both as a drive member and a secondary transfer inner member. The tension roller 3 gives predetermined tension to the intermediate transfer belt 102. The roller 4 is a support member. The intermediate transfer belt 102 is a belt member that is driven and conveyed in a direction of an arrow V in
The tension roller 3 is held so as to be movable in a direction, which is parallel to a plane formed by the intermediate transfer belt 102 supported between the tension roller 3 and roller 4, of an arrow T in
The image forming processes of the respective colors are parallelly processed by the above-mentioned image forming units 110M, 110C, and 110Bk at the timings when toner images are piled on a toner image of an upstream color that is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 102. As a result, a full color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 102 finally and is conveyed to the secondary transfer section.
The full color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 102 is transferred onto the sheet S at the secondary transfer section. After that, the sheet S is conveyed to a fixing device 158 by a pre-fixing conveyance unit 157. The fixing device 158 gives predetermined pressure and heat to the sheet S at a fixing nip formed between a fixing roller 159 and pressure roller 160 that face each other and fusion-fixes the toner image on the sheet S. The fixing roller 159 includes a heater as a heat source. The pressure roller 160 is pressed toward the fixing roller 159. The sheet S that passes the fixing device 158 and is conveyed by a reversal roller pair 161 is discharged onto a tray 162 as-is.
When double-sided image formation is required, the sheet S is guided to a branching device 163, the front and rear ends of the sheet S are interchanged by a switch back operation by the reversal roller pair 161, and the sheet S is conveyed to a double-sided conveying path 164. After that, the sheet S is conveyed to the secondary transfer section again through the conveyance path 154 from a paper re-feeding path 165 at a timing decided by considering a timing of the following sheet conveyed from the roller 153. Since an image forming process for the back surface (second side) is the same as that for the front surface (first side), its description is omitted.
In the above-mentioned image forming process, a toner image is formed by consuming the toner stored in the development device 114. Accordingly, whenever the image forming process is performed, the toner amount in the development device 114 decreases. A sensor 131 provided in the development device 114 detects whether the amount of the toner stored in the development device 114 is equal to or more than a second predetermined amount. When the amount of the toner in the development device 114 is less than the second predetermined amount, the toner stored in the hopper 132 connected with the development device 114 is supplied to the development device 114. A supply screw 133 is provided inside the hopper 132. When a CPU 200 (
When the toner amount stored in the hopper 132 is less than a third predetermined amount, the correct amount of toner cannot be supplied to the development device 114 even if the supply screw 133 rotates. A sensor 134 provided in the hopper 132 detects whether the amount of toner stored in the hopper 132 is equal to or more than the third predetermined amount. Then, when the amount of toner in the hopper 132 is less than the third predetermined amount, the toner stored in the toner bottle 140Y is supplied to the hopper 132. An inductance sensor that measures magnetic permeability, a powder level sensor that uses a piezoelectric vibrator, or another sensor may be employed as the sensors 131 and 134.
A spiral toner conveyance structure is formed inside the toner bottle 140Y. When a toner supply instruction to the hopper 132 is received, the toner bottle 140Y rotates and the toner in the toner bottle 140Y is conveyed toward the supply port by an effect of the toner conveyance structure. Furthermore, the toner bottle 140Y contracts according to the rotation. Accordingly, the toner in the toner bottle conveyed near the supply port is discharged from the supply port by a pumping effect accompanying the contraction of the toner bottle 140Y and is supplied to the hopper 132.
Since the toner consumed by the development device 114 is supplied from the toner bottle 140Y, when the image forming process continues, the toner remaining amount in the toner bottle 140Y will become less than the first predetermined amount after a while. Since the toner bottle 140Y is constituted to be detachable from the image forming apparatus 101, the image forming process is able to continue by replacing the toner bottle with a new toner bottle that contains toner.
The ROM 201 stores control programs that are executed by the CPU 200. The RAM 202 stores various kinds of information and provides a work area that is used when the CPU 200 runs the control programs. When a print job is input from a PC (personal computer (not show)) or the operation panel 171, the CPU 200 gives commands to the image processor 301 and toner supply processor 303.
The image processor 301 obtains image pixel information corresponding to an image to output. Then, the image processor 301 generates a laser emission command to control light-emitting timings of the scanner unit 117 according to the image pixel information. The image pixel information is used also for prediction of a toner use amount. The toner supply processor 303 decides operation timings of the supply screw 133 and toner bottle 140Y on the basis of the detection results of the sensors 131 and 134, and rotates motors for driving them. The toner supply processor 303 counts the number of times of driving and rotating the toner bottle 140Y as a toner supply count and stores it in the RAM 202.
The memory 304 is provided in the toner bottle 140Y. Memories are provided also in the other toner bottles 140M, 140C, and 140Bk. The CPU 200 is able to read and rewrite the information stored in the memory 304. The memory 304 stores remaining amount information that shows the toner remaining amount in the toner bottle 140Y and information that enables distinguishment of whether the delivery request signal has been issued to the maintenance service server 307. The delivery request signal is used to request delivery of a toner bottle for replacement (replaceable consumable) from the maintenance service server 307. When a toner bottle is unused, a weight of toner that has been filled at a time of production is recorded in the memory 304 as the remaining amount information. The CPU 200 calculates a new toner remaining amount by subtracting successively a predicted value of the toner use amount that is obtained for every calculation from the remaining amount information that is obtained from the memory 304 according to the below-mentioned method (
In step S100, the CPU 200 generates a past use amount list LST that is a history of a one-day toner use amount CT by executing a toner-use-amount calculation process (
In step S103, the CPU 200 calculates the number D of remaining days (referred to as a remaining period D) that is estimated according to a future change of a remaining amount of a consumable by executing a remaining-period calculation process (
In the embodiment, representation values for the toner use amount per one pixel of an image and the toner supply amount per toner supply are found experimentally beforehand. For example, the toner use amount per one pixel of an image is 0.015 [mg] and the toner supply amount per toner supply is 180 [mg]. In step S203, the CPU 200 calculates a toner use amount Q during one step of calculation according to a formula 1 by using the average of the estimated values of the toner use amounts that are based on the estimated values of the toner use amounts on the basis of output images and the supply amount from the toner bottle.
In step S204, the CPU 200 calculates the accumulated toner use amount CT of the day on which this process is executing. The CPU 200 calculates the accumulated toner use amount CT at the time T by adding the toner use amount Q to an accumulated toner use amount CT−1 that has been found at the time of the last calculation. In step S205, the CPU 200 finds for a toner remaining amount WT at the time T by subtracting the toner use amount Q from the toner remaining amount WT−1. Then, in step S206, the CPU 200 updates the toner remaining amount WT stored in the memory 304 as the remaining amount information to the toner remaining amount WT found in the step S205.
In step S207, the CPU 200 obtains the date information and determines whether the date has progressed from the time of the last calculation. Then, when the date has not progressed, the CPU 200 finishes the toner-use-amount calculation process shown in
When data of the toner use amounts CT in the past predetermined period i is not stored in the past use amount list LST obtained, the CPU 200 finishes the feature amount calculation process shown in
In the meantime, when the data over the predetermined period i has been extracted from the past use amount list LST, the CPU 200 obtains the toner remaining amount WT calculated in the step S205 in
In the next step S403, the CPU 200 obtains the average use amount UAVE and the standard deviation σ that are calculated in the step S303 in
In the next step S406, the remaining period D found in the step S405 is displayed on the operation panel 171.
The calculation of the remaining period D in the step S405 will be described. The calculation of the remaining period D assumes that the same feature of usage in the past predetermined period i will continue in D days from the present time (the same toner consumption will continue). The calculation uses a toner use amount (center value) UAVE·D after D days, a standard deviation √(σ2·D) after D days, and a remaining-amount prediction error σL after D days in addition to the remaining-amount prediction error σL and the delayed-delivery-probability variable r.
In the embodiment, the minimum value Dmin is employed as the remaining period D that is the usable period of the toner bottle. In the meantime, the center value Dcenter, the maximum value Dmax, or the intermediate value between the minimum value Dmin and maximum value Dmax may be employed. Particularly, it is preferable to employ the shortest minimum value Dmin about an indispensable consumable like a toner bottle containing toner (i.e., lack of the toner stops the image forming apparatus) from a view point of reducing the risk of an operation stop as much as possible. Even when daily usage of a user varies, the remaining period D is predictable with sufficient accuracy by calculating and updating the day on which the toner remaining amount will become zero successively on the basis of the feature of the usage. It should be noted that the probability that prevents delayed delivery is settable arbitrarily by adjusting the delayed-delivery-probability variable r.
As shown in
In step S501, the CPU 200 determines whether the erasure button 172 is pressed. When the erasure button 172 is not pressed, the CPU 200 finishes the history erasure process shown in
The erasure button 172 is operated by a service person or a user when a user is changed because the image forming apparatus 101 is moved to another section in a company, for example. Accordingly, even when the feature of the toner consumption is changed, the remaining period D suitable for a new user can be recalculated without being influenced by the history of the feature amount of the previous user. Although the erasure button 172 is provided in the consumable management screen as an erasing means to erase a user's use history, an aspect of the erasing means is not limited to this. For example, the use history may be erased by a command from a PC. Alternatively, the use history may be erased in conjunction with initialization of various data stored in the image forming apparatus 101. When the erasure button 172 is pressed, the CPU 200 receives user instruction information showing that the erasure button 172 is pressed. When receiving the user instruction information, the CPU 200 executes a process in step S502.
In the step S602, the CPU 200 determines whether the remaining period D found in the step S406 is equal to or less than a threshold period (the number of days for a threshold) ThD. The threshold period ThD (for example, ten days) is beforehand stored in the ROM 201 or the RAM 202. The threshold period ThD is set by adding a predetermined margin to a period needed until a new toner bottle arrives after notifying the maintenance service server 307 of the delivery request signal, for example. When the remaining period D exceeds the threshold period ThD, the CPU 200 decides not to perform the delivery request and finishes the delivery decision process shown in
In the meantime, when the remaining period D is equal to or less than the threshold period ThD, the CPU 200 determines in step S603 whether a notification flag is set because the continuous use of the toner bottle will be unavailable soon. When the notification flag has been already set, the CPU 200 finishes the delivery decision process shown in
In step S606, the CPU 200 determines whether the toner remaining amount WT stored in the memory 304 is equal to or less than a remaining-amount threshold (threshold amount) ThW. The remaining-amount threshold ThW is decided until installation of the image forming apparatus 101. The remaining-amount threshold ThW is 50%, for example, but is not limited to 50%. It should be noted that a service person or a user is able to change the setting value of the remaining-amount threshold ThW after installation of the image forming apparatus 101. The initial value of the remaining-amount threshold ThW is stored in the ROM 201, and is read to the RAM 202. It should be noted that the remaining-amount threshold ThW may be stored in another storage unit that keeps memory even if the power of the image forming apparatus 101 is turned OFF. When the toner remaining amount WT exceeds the remaining-amount threshold ThW, the CPU 200 finishes the delivery decision process shown in
In the meantime, when the toner remaining amount WT is equal to or less than the remaining-amount threshold ThW, the CPU 200 executes the process from step S607 because the continuous use of the toner bottle may be unavailable soon. In the step S607, the CPU 200 sets up a necessary period j (second period) on the basis of toner remaining amount WT. The necessary period j is the number of the daily toner use amounts required to calculate the remaining period. The necessary period j is calculated by multiplying the predetermined period i by a remaining amount rate (%), for example. The necessary period j is shorter than the predetermined period i. The remaining amount rate is equal to the toner remaining amount WT or a value decided from the toner remaining amount WT. Specifically, when the predetermined period i is 30 days and the remaining amount rate is 50%, the necessary period j becomes 15 days. When the remaining amount rate is 10%, the necessary period j becomes 3 days. When the necessary period j becomes less than one day as a result of the calculation, the necessary period j is set to one day. It should be noted that the method of finding the necessary period j is not limited to the method of the multiplication of the predetermined period i and the remaining amount rate.
In the next step S608, the CPU 200 determines whether data (toner use amounts CT) over the necessary period j (past j days) is stored in the past use amount list LST obtained. It should be noted that the CPU 200 may determine whether the data over the necessary period j has been extracted from the past use amount list LST. Accordingly, the CPU 200 calculates an average use amount UAVE and a standard deviation σd using all the data stored in the past use amount list LST in step S609 with the same method as the step S303 in
In the next step S610, the CPU 200 obtains the remaining-amount prediction error σL and the delayed-delivery-probability variable r that are stored in the RAM 202 as with the step S404 in
As a result of the determination in the step S608, when data over the necessary period j is not stored in the past use amount list LST, the CPU 200 finishes the delivery decision process shown in
According to the embodiment, the CPU 200 presumes the remaining period D on the basis of the history of the consumption amounts over the predetermined period i when the consumption amounts (toner use amounts CT) over the predetermined period i have been extracted from the past use amount list LST. In the meantime, when the consumption amounts over the predetermined period i have not been extracted from past use amount list LST, the CPU 200 presumes the remaining period Dd on the basis of the history of the consumption amounts over the period that includes at least the necessary period j being shorter than the predetermined period i. Then, the CPU 200 determines whether performing the delivery request on the basis of the presumed usable period (remaining period D or remaining period Dd). Accordingly, even in a case where the past use amount list LST that is the history of the consumption amounts of the toner in the toner bottle is erased, delayed delivery of a toner bottle as a consumable is reduced.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the necessary period j as the second period is set up on the basis of the remaining amount rate determined from the toner remaining amount WT. As compared with this, the CPU 200 sets up the necessary period j on the basis of a usable period (remaining period Dd) immediately prior to erasure of the past use amount list LST in the second embodiment. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the history erasure process and delivery decision process. The other configurations are the same as that in the first embodiment.
In the step S801, the CPU 200 obtains the remaining period Dr that has been stored in the RAM 202 in the step S702 just before erasing the past use amount list LST. In the next step S802, the CPU 200 calculates and sets up the necessary period j on the basis of the remaining period Dr and the threshold period ThD. For example, the CPU 200 calculates the necessary period j by the equation j=Dr−ThD. For example, when the remaining period Dr is 20 days and the threshold period ThD is 10 days, the necessary period becomes 10 days.
In the next step S803, the CPU 200 determines whether the necessary period j is shorter than the predetermined period i (i>j is satisfied). Then, when the necessary period j is equal to or more than the predetermined period i (the first period), the CPU 200 finishes the delivery decision process shown in
According to the second embodiment, when the consumption amounts over the predetermined period i have not been extracted from the past use amount list LST, the necessary period j is set up on the basis of the remaining period Dr immediately prior to erasure of the past use amount list LST. Accordingly, even in a case where the past use amount list LST has been erased, the same effect as the first embodiment is achieved about the reduction of the delayed delivery of a toner bottle.
It should be noted that the CPU 200 may determine whether the data over the predetermined period i is stored in the obtained past use amount list LST in the step S601 in
Although a toner bottle is exemplified as a consumable in the embodiments, a consumable is not limited to a toner bottle. A photosensitive member 111 may be a consumable. When a consumable does not contain consumption material like toner, a consumption amount corresponds to the toner use amount CT and a usable amount corresponds to the toner remaining amount WT.
Although the standard deviation σ is used as one of the feature amounts of a user, a dispersion that squares the standard deviation may be used.
It should be noted that the method shown in
Although the present invention has been described in detail on the basis of the suitable embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments and includes various configurations that do not deviate from the scope of the present invention. Parts of the above-mentioned embodiments may be combined suitably.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-092904, filed May 16, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-092904 | May 2019 | JP | national |
