System uses internet electronic mail for requesting status of a monitored device from a monitoring device

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention is related to the remote monitoring, diagnosis and control of machines using connection- and connectionless-modes of communication and is more particularly related to monitoring, the control and diagnosis of business office machines such as copiers, printers, and facsimile machines. The invention is also related to the use and sharing of data bases containing information about the machines being monitored.

#2. Discussion of the Background

#A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 illustrates three networked business office machines connected to a network of computers and data bases through the Internet;

#FIG. 2 illustrates the components of a digital copier/printer;

#Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and-more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a figure showing various machines and computers for monitoring, diagnosing and controlling the operation of the machines. In FIG. 1, there is a first network 16, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) connected to computer workstations 17, 18, 20 and 22. The workstations can be any type of computers including IBM Personal Computer compatible devices, Unix Based Computers, or Apple Macintoshes. Also connected to the network 16 are a digital copier/printer 24, a facsimile machine 28, and a printer 32. The devices 24, 28 and 32 are referred to as machines or monitored devices although other types of devices may be used as the machines or monitored devices. Also, a facsimile server (not illustrated) may be connected to the network 16 and have a telephone or ISDN connection. In addition to the digital copier/printer 24, facsimile machine 28, and printer 32 being connected to the network 16, these devices may also include conventional telephone and/or ISDN connections 26, 30 and 34, respectively. As is explained below, the business office machines or business devices 24, 28 and 32 communicate with a remote monitoring, diagnosis and control station, also referred to as a monitoring device, through the Internet via the network 16 or by a direct telephone or ISDN connection.

#In FIG. 1, the Internet is generally designated by 10. The Internet 10 includes a plurality of interconnect computers designated by 12A-12I. The manner of communicating over the Internet is known through RFC documents obtained by FTP at NIC.DDN.MIL or at FTP NISC.SRI.COM. TCP/IP related communication is described for example in the book “TCP/IP Illustrated,” Vol. 1, The Protocols, by Stevens, from Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994. As the Internet is a network accessible by many people and organizations, it is not considered to be secure. Therefore, messages transmitted over the Internet should be encrypted to keep the messages confidential. Encryption mechanisms are known and commercially available which may be used with the present invention. For example, a C library function, crypt ( ), is available from Sun Microcomputers for use with the Unix operating system, and other encryption and decryption routines are known and commercially available.

#An additional security measure used in connecting a computer network to the Internet is a protective device known as a firewall. This device allows only authorized computers to access a network or other computer via the Internet. Firewalls are known and commercially available devices and, for example, include SunScreen from Sun Microsystems Inc.