SYSTEM FOR MANAGING APPROPRIATENESS OF USE OF CONSUMABLES FOR PRINTING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING APPROPRIATENESS OF USE OF CONSUMABLES FOR PRINTING APPARATUS
First Claim
1. A system for managing appropriateness of use of consumables for a printing apparatus, the system comprising:
- an information recording unit attached to a container containing consumables for a printing apparatus, individual information of the container being recorded in the information recording unit;
a management apparatus configured to manage quality information about consumables contained in each container;
a terminal apparatus configured to be able to read individual information recorded in an information recording unit attached to a target container, and transmit the read individual information to the management apparatus; and
a printing apparatus including;
a passcode input accepting unit configured to accept input of a passcode from an external source; and
an information reading unit configured to read the individual information recorded in the information recording unit, the printing apparatus performing printout using the consumables, whereinwhen the management apparatus receives the individual information transmitted from the terminal apparatus, the management apparatus determines, based on the quality information, whether to allow use of consumables contained in the container corresponding to the received individual information, and when the management apparatus determines to allow use of the consumables, the management apparatus creates a passcode based on the received individual information and transmits the created passcode to the terminal apparatus, andthe printing apparatus performs a predetermined authentication verification process based on the individual information read by the information reading unit from the information recording unit attached to the target container and the passcode accepted by the passcode input accepting unit, to determine whether to allow use of the consumables contained in the target container.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bottle for ink supply is shipped with a two-dimensional code attached to the bottle, individual information being embedded in the two-dimensional code. A user reads the two-dimensional code with a portable information terminal and thereby transmits the individual information to a management server. If there is no fraud or problem, the management server transmits a passcode to the portable information terminal. When the bottle is placed in a bottle storing unit, the two-dimensional code is read by a two-dimensional code reader, and a passcode is created based on the individual information embedded in the two-dimensional code. Only when the passcode matches the passcode registered by the user, ink in the bottle becomes ready to use.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system for managing appropriateness of use of consumables for a printing apparatus, the system comprising:
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an information recording unit attached to a container containing consumables for a printing apparatus, individual information of the container being recorded in the information recording unit; a management apparatus configured to manage quality information about consumables contained in each container; a terminal apparatus configured to be able to read individual information recorded in an information recording unit attached to a target container, and transmit the read individual information to the management apparatus; and a printing apparatus including;
a passcode input accepting unit configured to accept input of a passcode from an external source; and
an information reading unit configured to read the individual information recorded in the information recording unit, the printing apparatus performing printout using the consumables, whereinwhen the management apparatus receives the individual information transmitted from the terminal apparatus, the management apparatus determines, based on the quality information, whether to allow use of consumables contained in the container corresponding to the received individual information, and when the management apparatus determines to allow use of the consumables, the management apparatus creates a passcode based on the received individual information and transmits the created passcode to the terminal apparatus, and the printing apparatus performs a predetermined authentication verification process based on the individual information read by the information reading unit from the information recording unit attached to the target container and the passcode accepted by the passcode input accepting unit, to determine whether to allow use of the consumables contained in the target container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for managing appropriateness of use of consumables for a printing apparatus, the method comprising:
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a consumables shipping step of shipping a container containing consumables for a printing apparatus, with an information recording unit attached to the container, individual information of the container being recorded in the information recording unit; an individual information transmitting step of reading individual information recorded in an information recording unit attached to a target container, and transmitting the read individual information to a management apparatus that manages quality information about consumables contained in each container, the individual information transmitting step being performed by a terminal apparatus; a passcode transmitting step of receiving the individual information transmitted from the terminal apparatus, determining, based on the quality information, whether to allow use of consumables contained in the container corresponding to the received individual information, and creating a passcode based on the received individual information to transmit the created passcode to the terminal apparatus when it is determined to allow use of the consumables, the passcode transmitting step being performed by the management apparatus; a passcode input accepting step of accepting input of a passcode from an external source; and a use-of-consumables allowed/not-allowed determining step of reading the individual information recorded in the information recording unit attached to the target container by using an information reading unit provided in advance, and performing a predetermined authentication verification process based on the read individual information and the passcode accepted in the passcode input accepting step, to determine whether to allow use of the consumables contained in the target container, the use-of-consumables allowed/not-allowed determining step being performed by a printing apparatus.
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Specification