Remote diagnosis system and method for an image forming apparatus
First Claim
1. A remote diagnosis system, comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses each having a respective trouble informing device which provides data including a trouble indicator indicative of a problem with a respective image forming apparatus of said plurality of image forming apparatuses;
a data communication apparatus, connected to each of said plurality of image forming apparatus, which receives said data from said respective image forming apparatus; and
a central controller, connected to the data communication apparatus, which receives said data from said data communication apparatus,wherein each of said respective trouble informing device includes a trouble classifying device which classifies a cause of said trouble indicator which has occurred in said respective image forming apparatus, and wherein said data communication apparatus collects data classified by said trouble classifying device,wherein said trouble classifying device classifies troubles which cause said respective image forming apparatus to be inoperative as urgent information data, when said trouble occurs,wherein said trouble classifying device classifies causes of troubles which do not cause said respective image forming apparatus to be inoperative as non-urgent information data, when said trouble occurs, andwherein said trouble informing device transmits said urgent information to said central controller prior to said non-urgent information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A remote diagnosis system including a plurality of image forming apparatus each having a trouble informing device, and a central controller for receiving data including a trouble indicator indicative of a problem which may or has occurred in each of the image forming apparatus and for responding to this data. Also included is a data communication apparatus, connected to each of the plurality of image forming apparatus and the central controller, for receiving the data including the trouble indicator from each of the plurality of image forming apparatus, and for transmitting this data to the central controller. The remote diagnosis system further includes a trouble classifying device for classifying causes of trouble which may occur in each of the image forming apparatus. In addition, the data communication apparatus collects data classified by the classifying device.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A remote diagnosis system, comprising:
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a plurality of image forming apparatuses each having a respective trouble informing device which provides data including a trouble indicator indicative of a problem with a respective image forming apparatus of said plurality of image forming apparatuses; a data communication apparatus, connected to each of said plurality of image forming apparatus, which receives said data from said respective image forming apparatus; and a central controller, connected to the data communication apparatus, which receives said data from said data communication apparatus, wherein each of said respective trouble informing device includes a trouble classifying device which classifies a cause of said trouble indicator which has occurred in said respective image forming apparatus, and wherein said data communication apparatus collects data classified by said trouble classifying device, wherein said trouble classifying device classifies troubles which cause said respective image forming apparatus to be inoperative as urgent information data, when said trouble occurs, wherein said trouble classifying device classifies causes of troubles which do not cause said respective image forming apparatus to be inoperative as non-urgent information data, when said trouble occurs, and wherein said trouble informing device transmits said urgent information to said central controller prior to said non-urgent information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
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trouble which senses a trouble which may occur during an operation thereof; a trouble classifying device which classifies causes of said trouble which may occur in said image forming apparatus, wherein a plurality of causes of trouble classified by said trouble classifying device are automatically transmitted to a data communication apparatus; and a trouble informing device which provides data including a trouble indicator indicative of a problem with the image forming apparatus, wherein said trouble classifying device classifies troubles which cause said image forming apparatus to be inoperative as urgent information data, when said trouble occurs. wherein said trouble classifying device classifies causes of troubles which do not cause said image forming apparatus to be inoperative as non-urgent information data, when said trouble occurs, and wherein said trouble informing device transmits said urgent information to a central controller prior to said non-urgent information. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A method for sending a request from a plurality of image forming apparatuses to a central control apparatus, comprising the steps of:
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sensing one or more causes of trouble which may occur in a respective image forming apparatus of said plurality of image forming apparatuses; classifying said one or more causes of troubles into urgent information if the one or more causes of trouble causes said respective image forming apparatus to be inoperative; classifying said one or more causes of troubles into non-urgent information if the one or more causes of trouble causes said respective image forming apparatus to not be inoperative; storing said one or more causes of trouble in a memory of said respective image forming apparatus; polling said plurality of image forming apparatuses for collecting data indicative of said one or more causes of trouble; and transmitting said urgent information to a central controller prior to said non-urgent information. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification