Equipment control apparatus

• US 6,112,035 A
• Filed: 09/22/1997
• Issued: 08/29/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Ozaki, Hiroshi, Nakamura, Shinichi, Kaneko, Satoshi, Kuroyanagi, Satoshi, Adachi, Hideki, Miyata, Masanori, Takizawa, Mitsuharu, Ohki, Naoyuki, Kaneko, Tokuharu, Tahara, Hisatsugu, Fukada, Taisei
• Primary Examiner(s): Brase, Sandra
• Application Number:
  US08/934,727
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 399/8, 399/9, 399/10, 399/11, 399/16, 399/18, 399/21, 399/81
• US Class Current: 399/8
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5079 for maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/55 Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 21/1652 Electrical connection means
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00109 Remote control of apparatus, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/16 Mechanical means for facilitating the maintenance of the apparatus, e.g. modular arrangements and complete machine concepts
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/1675 jam treatment
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/1696 for auxiliary devices, e.g. add-on modules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0733 in a data processing system embedded in an image processing device, e.g. printer, facsimile, scanner
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/007 with remote control systems remote control in general G08C

Abstract

An equipment controlling apparatus is composed of a counter for counting the operational number of the equipment, memories for storing data indicating the state of the equipment, a communication device for communicating on the stored data with a centralized control apparatus, which controls the communicated data intensively, and a controlling device for causing the stored data to be transmitted to the centralized control apparatus when the counter has counted a predetermined value.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

image forming means for forming an image on a sheet;

detecting means for detecting that a predetermined condition has occurred;

transmitting means for transmitting, in response to said detecting means detecting that the predetermined condition has occurred, data relating to said image forming apparatus to a remote apparatus; and

setting means for setting whether to make the transmission in response to said detecting means.

2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said setting means sets in response to an operation of an operation panel provided in said image forming apparatus.

3. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said setting means sets in response to an indication of the remote apparatus.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined condition is any one of an occurrence of an abnormality, an occurrence of jamming, and a lapse of a predetermined time period, in said image forming apparatus.

5. An apparatus for transmitting data relating to an image forming apparatus, said apparatus comprising:

detecting means for detecting that a predetermined condition has occurred in an image forming section where an image is formed on a sheet;

transmitting means for transmitting, in response to said detecting means detecting that the predetermined condition has occurred, data relating to the image forming apparatus to a remote apparatus; and

setting means for setting whether to make the transmission in response to said detecting means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said setting means sets a condition in response to an operation of an operation panel provided in the image forming apparatus.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said setting means sets a condition in response to an indication of the remote apparatus.

8. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said predetermined condition is any one of an occurrence of an abnormality, an occurrence of jamming, and a lapse of a predetermined time period, in said image forming apparatus.

9. An image forming apparatus comprising:

image forming means for forming an image on a sheet fed from any of a plurality of feeding sections;

memory means for storing a sheet feeding number for each of the plurality of feeding sections; and

transmitting means for transmitting the sheet feeding number stored in said memory means to a remote apparatus.

10. An image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said image forming means performs copying processing.

11. An image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said transmitting means transmits the data via a public line.

12. An image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the remote apparatus is a host computer.

13. An apparatus for transmitting data relating to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet fed from any of a plurality of feeding sections, said apparatus comprising:

memory means for storing a sheet feeding number for each of the plurality of feeding sections; and

transmitting means for transmitting the sheet feeding number stored in said memory means to a remote apparatus.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image forming section performs copying processing.

15. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said transmitting means transmits the data via a public line.

16. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the remote apparatus is a host computer.

17. An image forming apparatus comprising:

image forming means for forming an image on a sheet;

detecting means for detecting that an expendable item in said image forming apparatus is replenished; and

transmitting means for transmitting data relating to said image forming apparatus to a remote apparatus, in response to said detecting means detecting that the expendable item is replenished.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising second detecting means for detecting that replenishment of the expendable item is required,

wherein said transmitting means starts the transmission in response to said second detecting means and said detecting means.

19. An apparatus for transmitting data relating to an image forming apparatus, said apparatus comprising:

detecting means for detecting that an expendable item in said image forming apparatus is replenished; and

transmitting means for transmitting data relating to said image forming apparatus to a remote apparatus, in response to said detecting means detecting that the expendable item is replenished.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising second detecting means for detecting that replenishment of the expendable item is required,

wherein said transmitting means starts the transmission in response to said second detecting means and said detecting means.

21. An image forming apparatus comprising:

image forming means for forming an image on a sheet;

detecting means for detecting that a predetermined condition has occurred;

transmitting means for transmitting data relating to said image forming apparatus to a remote apparatus in response to said detecting means detecting that the predetermined condition has occurred; and

controlling means for controlling whether to transmit the data by said transmitting means.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said controlling means sets a condition in response to an operation of an operation panel provided in said image forming apparatus.

23. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said control means sets a condition in response to an indication of the remote apparatus.

24. An apparatus for transmitting data relating to an image forming apparatus, said apparatus comprising:

detecting means for detecting that a predetermined condition has occurred in an image forming section where an image is formed on a sheet;

transmitting means for transmitting data relating to the image forming apparatus to a remote apparatus in response to said detecting means detecting that the predetermined condition has occurred; and

control means for controlling whether to transmit the data by said transmitting means.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said control means sets a condition in response to an operation of an operation panel provided in the image forming apparatus.

26. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said setting means sets a condition in response to an indication of the remote apparatus.