MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, OBJECT MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20150077797A1
• Filed: 09/09/2014
• Published: 03/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: KUROKAWA, Kaname
• Granted Patent: US 9,521,293 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0095 Testing the sensing arrangement, e.g. testing if a magnetic card reader, bar code reader, RFID interrogator or smart card reader functions properly testing of electrical circuits G01R31/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10316 using at least one antenna particularly designed for interrogating the wireless record carriers antennas in general H01Q1/22
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00342 with a radio frequency tag transmitter or receiver storage of additional information in an RFID tag attached to an image bearing paper sheet H04N1/32138
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32138 in an electronic device attached to the sheet, e.g. in an RFID tag
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32539 Detecting or indicating the status of the output devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A management apparatus includes a search part that requests a plurality of communication devices to search for a terminal device to obtain search information from a communication device that detects the terminal device via communication. The search information includes object identifying information for identifying an object to be managed to which the terminal device is attached, location information regarding a location where the object locates, and storage location information indicating a storage location of the object. The terminal device stores the object identifying information and the storage location information. The management apparatus also includes a determination part that determines whether the object is stored at the storage location based on the search information; and an output part that outputs a result of the determination.

Claims

1. A management apparatus comprising:

a search part that requests a plurality of communication devices to search for a terminal device to obtain search information from a communication device that detects the terminal device via communication, the search information including object identifying information for identifying an object to be managed to which the terminal device is attached, location information regarding a location where the object locates, and storage location information indicating a storage location of the object, the terminal device storing the object identifying information and the storage location information;

a determination part that determines whether the object is stored at the storage location based on the search information; and

an output part that outputs a result of the determination.

2. The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the determination part determines that the object is stored at the storage location when the storage location indicated in the storage location information corresponds to the location indicated in the location information, and

the determination part determines that the object is not stored at the storage location when the storage location indicated in the storage location information does not correspond to the location indicated in the location information.

3. The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination part determines that the object is missing when the search part does not obtain the search information from any one of the communication devices.

4. The management apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a management part that obtains management information including the object identifying information, time and date information, the location information, and the storage location information and that manages the management information on management information storage part every time each of the communication devices detects the terminal device via communication, wherein

the output part further outputs transference history information indicating a transference history of the object based on the management information when the determination part determines that the object is missing.

5. The management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a management part that obtains management information including the object identifying information, time and date information, the location information, and the storage location information and that manages the management information on management information storage part every time each of the communication devices detects the terminal device via communication, wherein

the output part further outputs stay ratio information indicating a stay ratio for each location where the object locates based on the management information.

6. The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the location information is stored in each of the communication devices.

7. The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the object is a printed material, and

the storage location information stored in the terminal device is written in printing in an image forming device.

8. The management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the communication devices are reading devices for reading, via communication, information stored in the image forming device and the terminal device.

9. A management system comprising:

a plurality of communication devices; and

a management apparatus, wherein

the management apparatus includes

a search part that requests the communication devices to search for a terminal device to obtain search information from a communication device that detects the terminal device via communication, the search information including object identifying information for identifying an object to be managed to which the terminal device is attached, location information regarding a location where the object locates, and storage location information indicating a storage location of the object, the terminal device storing the object identifying information and the storage location information;

a determination part that determines whether the object is stored at the storage location based on the search information; and

an output part that outputs a result of the determination, and

each of the communication devices includes

a storage part that stores the location information; and

a control part that, when succeeding in communication with the terminal device, detects the terminal device, obtains the object identifying information and the storage location information from the detected terminal device, obtains the location information from the storage part to generate the search information, and transmits the search information to the management apparatus.

10. An object management method comprising:

requesting a plurality of communication devices to search for a terminal device to obtain search information from a communication device that detects the terminal device via communication, the search information including object identifying information for identifying an object to be managed to which the terminal device is attached, location information regarding a location where the object locates, and storage location information indicating a storage location of the object, the terminal device storing the object identifying information and the storage location information;

determining whether the object is stored at the storage location based on the search information; and

outputting a result of the determination.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon and executed by a computer, wherein the program instructs the computer to execute the object management method according to claim 10.