Control appartus of copying machine with improved communication function for centralized control

A controlling apparatus collecting data related to a copying machine and communicating with a centralized control unit on the basis of the collected data, comprising:

• communication means for calling said centralized control unit when a predetermined transmission condition is satisfied, said predetermined transmission condition including one with high priority and one with low priority;
• timer means for counting the present time;
• determining means for determining whether the counted present time is in a first time period in which activation of said communication means is permitted when the priority of said transmission condition is high, or the counted present time is in a second time period in which activation of said communication means is permitted when the priority of said predetermined transmission condition is low;
• differentiating means for differentiating the priority of said predetermined transmission condition;
• and
• controlling means for activating the communication means in response to outputs of said determining means and differentiating means.

A controlling apparatus collecting data related to a copying machine and communicating with a centralized control unit on the basis of the collected data, comprising:

• communication means for calling said centralized control unit;
• first control means for activating said communication means when a predetermined transmission condition is satisfied, said predetermined transmission condition including one with high priority and one with low priority;
• determining means for determining that connection with said centralized control unit can not be made in spite of activation of said communication means;
• differentiating means for differentiating the priority of said predetermined transmission condition;
• setting means for setting a retransmission time in response to outputs of said determining means and differentiating means, said setting means setting a retransmission time in a predetermined permittable condition according to the priority of the predetermined transmission condition;
• timer means for counting the present time;
• second controlling means for operating said communication means again when the counted present time comes to the retransmission time;
• counting means for counting the number of times of retransmission of the communication means by said second controlling means;
• deciding means for deciding that said counted number of times of retransmission exceeds a predetermined number of times;
• and
• third controlling means for changing said predetermined permittable condition in response to an output of said deciding means.

A controlling apparatus collecting data related to a copying machine and communicating with a centralized control unit on the basis of the collected data, comprising:

• communication means for calling said centralized control unit;
• detecting means for detecting that a condition of said copying machine is abnormal on the basis of the data from said copying machine;
• counting means for counting the number of copies made after the condition of said copying machine is detected to be abnormal by said detecting means;
• first deciding means for deciding that a counted value of said counting means attains a predetermined value;
• timer means for counting the present time;
• second deciding means for deciding that the counted present time comes to a predetermined time;
• and
• controlling means for controlling said communication means to call the centralized control unit in response to outputs from any one of the first and second deciding means.

A copying machine controlling system including a control terminal for collecting data related to a copying machine and a centralized control unit for collecting the data from said control terminal, wherein

• said control terminal comprises;
• communication means for calling said centralized control unit,
• timer means for counting a present time,
• storing means for storing a predetermined time Specified by said centralized control unit,
• first control means for operating said communication means when the counted present time comes to the predetermined time stored in said storing means,
• determining means for determining that connection with said centralized control unit can not be made in spite of activation of said communication means,
• setting means for setting a retransmission time in response to an output of said determining means,
• second control means for operating said communication means again when the counted present time comes to the retransmission time,
• counting means for counting the number of times of retransmission of said communication means by said second control means, and
• first transmitting means for transmitting said counted number of times of retransmission to said centralized control unit, and
• said centralized control unit comprises;
• receiving means for receiving the number of times of retransmission transmitted from said first transmitting means of said control terminal,
• specifying means for specifying a next predetermined time for communication of the control terminal with the centralized control unit, said next predetermined time being specified based on the number of times of retransmission received by said receiving means, and second transmitting means for transmitting said specified next predetermined time to said control terminal.

A copying machine control system including a plurality of control terminals collecting data about each of a plurality of copying machines, and a centralized control unit for collecting the data from said control terminals, wherein

• said each control terminal comprises;
• first timer means for counting a present time,
• communication means for calling said centralized control unit, and
• first storing means for storing a predetermined time specified by said centralized control unit,
• control means for operating said communication means when the counted present time comes to the predetermined time stored in said first storing means, and
• counting means for counting a number of times said communication means attempts to call said centralized control unit, wherein said control means provides said counted number of times to said communication means for transmission to said centralized control unit, and
• said centralized control unit comprises;
• second timer means for counting the present time,
• detecting means for detecting if a control terminal does not make communication when the counted present time comes to the specified predetermined time,
• changing means for changing the predetermined time stored in said storing means for the control terminal detected by said detecting means based, at least in part, on said counted number of times, and
• transmitting means for transmitting the changed predetermined time to the corresponding control terminal.

A copying machine control system including a plurality of control terminals collecting data about a plurality of copying machines, respectively, and a centralized control unit for collecting the data from said control terminals, wherein

• said each control terminal comprises;
• first timer means for counting a present time,
• communication means for calling said centralized control unit,
• first storing means for storing a predetermined time specified by said centralized control unit,
• control means for operating said communication means when the present time comes to the predetermined time stored in the storing means, and
• counting means for counting a number of times said communication means attempts to call said centralized control unit, wherein said control means provides said counted number of times to said communication means for transmission to said centralized control unit, and
• said centralized control unit comprises;
• second timer means for counting the present time,
• second storing means for storing a predetermined time specified for each control terminal,
• detecting means for detecting if a control terminal fails to communicate with the centralized control unit when the counted present time comes to the specified predetermined time,
• calculating means for calculating the frequency of detected failures for each control terminal,
• changing means for changing the predetermined time stored in said second storing means for each of the control terminals based on one of the corresponding frequency calculated by the calculating means and the counted number of time, and
• transmitting means for transmitting the changed predetermined time to each control terminal.

A centralized control unit for collecting data from a plurality of control terminals each collecting data of each of a plurality of copying machines, comprising:

• timer means for counting a present time;
• storing means for storing a predetermined time at which each of the control terminals should make communication to said centralized control unit;
• receiving means for receiving a counted number of retransmission attempts by a control terminal;
• detecting means for detecting if said control terminal fails to communicate with the centralized control unit when the counted present time comes to a predetermined time;
• calculating means for calculating for each control terminal the frequency of detected failures;
• changing means for changing the predetermined time stored in said storing means for each of the control terminals according to one of said calculated frequency and said counted number of time;
• and
• transmitting means for transmitting the changed predetermined time to each control terminal.