Maintenance system and method for performing apparatus management using network
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKunihiro Kikuchi, Hisao Nomura, Shinsuke Azakami
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A maintenance system for improving maintenance service includes a copying machine and a management server. When a copying machine uses a communication server to notify a management server of malfunction, the management server posts malfunction details and the names of components required for repair to an information terminal of a serviceperson. The copying machine is notified of an estimated time of arrival of the serviceperson, and the time is displayed on an operation panel.
Claims22
A maintenance system for using a network to manage apparatuses linked thereto, comprising:
- a receiver adapted to receive maintenance information required for maintaining each of the apparatuses;
- a message-transfer unit adapted to transfer, to an information terminal of a serviceperson, a message created based on the maintenance information received by said receiver and which instructs the serviceperson to perform maintenance;
- an input unit adapted to allow the serviceperson to input, when the transferred message is displayed by the information terminal, an estimated time of arrival at a location of one of the apparatuses requiring maintenance;
- and
- a transfer unit adapted to transfer the estimated time of arrival to the apparatus requiring maintenance, which is inputted by the serviceperson in said input unit.
A maintenance system for using a network to manage apparatuses linked thereto, comprising:
- a receiver adapted to receive maintenance information required for maintaining each of the apparatuses;
- a diagnosis unit adapted to perform a diagnosis for specifying each component required for the maintenance;
- and
- a message-transfer unit adapted to transfer, to an information terminal of a serviceperson, a message created based on the maintenance information received by said receiver and which instructs the serviceperson to perform maintenance,
- wherein said message-transfer unit transfers information on each specified component together with the message.
A maintenance method of using a network to manage apparatuses linked thereto, comprising:
- a receiving step of receiving maintenance information required for maintaining each of the apparatuses;
- a message-transfer step of generating a maintenance-instruction message based on the received maintenance information and transferring the message to an information terminal of a serviceperson;
- and
- a transfer step for, when the message is displayed by the information terminal, transferring, to one of the apparatuses requiring the maintenance, an estimated time of arrival of the serviceperson at a location of the apparatus requiring maintenance, which is input by the serviceperson using the information terminal.
A maintenance method of using a network to manage apparatuses linked thereto, comprising:
- a receiving step of receiving maintenance information required for maintaining each of the apparatuses;
- a diagnosis step of performing a diagnosis for specifying each component required for the maintenance;
- and
- a message-transfer step of generating a maintenance-instruction message based on the received maintenance information and transferring the message to an information terminal of a serviceperson,
- wherein, in said message-transfer step, information on each specified component is transferred together with the message.
A computer-readable recording medium storing a control program for implementing a method of controlling a maintenance system that uses a network to manage apparatuses linked thereto, the control program controlling a computer in the maintenance system to execute a process, and the control program comprising:
- code for a receiving step of receiving maintenance information required for maintaining each of the apparatuses;
- code for a message-transfer step of generating a maintenance-instruction message based on the received maintenance information and transferring the message to an information terminal of a serviceperson;
- and
- code for a transfer step of, when the message is displayed by the information terminal, transferring, to one of the apparatuses requiring the maintenance, an estimated time of arrival of the serviceperson at a location of the apparatus requiring maintenance, which is input by the serviceperson using the information terminal.
A control program product for controlling a maintenance system that uses a network to manage apparatuses linked thereto, said control program product controlling a computer in the maintenance system to execute a process, said control program product comprising:
- code for a receiving step of receiving maintenance information required for maintaining each of the apparatuses;
- code for a message-transfer step of generating a maintenance-instruction message based on the received maintenance information and transferring the message to an information terminal of a serviceperson;
- and
- code for a transfer step of, when the message is displayed by the information terminal, transferring, to one of the apparatuses requiring the maintenance, an estimated time of arrival of the serviceperson at a location of the apparatus requiring maintenance, which is input by the serviceperson using the information terminal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.