JPH04151765A - System for automatically ordering consumables in facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically order consumables by subtracting the number of replaced consumpables from the number of remaining pertinent consumables at the time detecting replacement of consumables and generating an order slip of pertinent consumables to transmit it to an ordering destination at the time of coincidence between the number of remaining consumables as the subtraction result and that for the start of ordering. CONSTITUTION:When replacement information of consumables is inputted to a reminder management control part 1, a part 4 detecting replacement of consumables detects which consumables are replaced. A subtraction processing part 5 reads out the present remainder of pertinent consumables and that for the start of ordering from a storage part 2 of management information of consumables and subtracts the number of replaced consumables and collates the result with the remainder for the start of ordering by a remainder collating part 6. If the remainder as the subtraction result coincides with the remainder for the start of ordering, a slip generating part 3 reads out information stored in the storage part 2 and generates an ordering slip of pertinent consumables to automatically transmit it to the ordering destination. Thus, pertinent consumables are automatically ordered.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Table of contents] Overview Industrial field of application Conventional technology Problems to be solved by the invention Means for solving the problems (Fig. 1) Working examples (Figs. 2 and 3) Effects of the invention (j!l required) Concerning the automatic ordering method for consumables for facsimile machines, by managing the inventory of consumables using the facsimile machine and automatically placing an order when the number of stocks is low, consumables can be continuously supplied. For the purpose of smooth operation, the facsimile machine is equipped with a consumables management information storage section, a remaining amount management control section, and a slip creation section. , current remaining quantity, remaining quantity for order activation,
Order information, etc. is stored as consumables management information, and when the remaining amount management control unit detects the replacement of a consumable, it subtracts the number of replaced consumables from the remaining amount of the corresponding consumable. hand,
Compare with the remaining quantity of the order activation, and if the remaining quantity of the subtraction result matches the remaining quantity of the order activation, the voucher creation department creates an order voucher for the relevant consumables and sends it to the supplier. By doing so, the system can be configured to automatically order consumables.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an automatic ordering system for consumables for facsimile machines.1. More specifically, it is a facsimile machine that manages consumables such as recording paper and thermal transfer film, and can automatically order consumables to prevent them from running out of stock. Regarding the automatic ordering method for consumables.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, facsimile machines have been introduced in large numbers into small businesses, shops, and general households.

By the way, facsimile machines use consumables such as recording paper, thermal transfer film, and cartridge-type developing tanks, and these consumables need to be replaced after a predetermined period of use.

In the past, orders for such consumables were often forgotten, and orders were made in a hurry after the stock ran out, but the current situation is that it is not possible to order them immediately.

Therefore, some customers have assigned a manager to manage the inventory of consumables, and when the number of items in stock becomes low, they create a slip and issue a press release.

However, in general, there is almost no management person present, and inventory management is not carried out.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional devices had the following drawbacks.

(1) If consumables for facsimile machines are not managed, for example, when a recording paper alarm occurs, there will be cases where the user panics because there is no recording paper in stock.

(2) If the inventory of consumables is managed by a person in charge of management, stockouts rarely occur, but inventory management takes time and effort. Furthermore, since the work is done manually, it is possible for orders to be forgotten or ordered incorrectly.

The present invention eliminates these conventional drawbacks, manages the inventory of consumables using a facsimile machine, and automatically places an order when the inventory is low, thereby ensuring continuous smooth operation of consumables. The purpose is to make it possible.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, in which 1 is a remaining amount management control section, 2 is a consumables management information storage section, 3 is a slip creation section, and 4 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention.
5 indicates a consumables replacement detection section, 5 indicates a subtraction processing section, 6 indicates a remaining quantity verification section, and 7 indicates an order control section.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a facsimile machine with a consumables management information storage section 2 that stores consumables management information, and a consumables management information storage section 2 that uses the information stored in the consumables management information storage section 2. A remaining amount management control unit 1 performs quality and quantity management control, and an order slip for consumables is created using information in the consumables management information storage unit 2 according to instructions from the remaining amount management control unit 1. The consumables management information storage unit 2 stores in advance the item name, the current remaining quantity, the remaining quantity for order activation, ordering information, etc. as consumables management information. When the remaining quantity management control unit 1 detects the replacement of a consumable item, it subtracts the number of replaced consumable items from the remaining quantity of the corresponding consumable item, compares it with the remaining quantity of the order activation, and calculates the subtraction result. If the remaining quantity of the consumables matches the remaining quantity of the order activation, the above-mentioned slip creation section 3 creates an order slip for the consumables and sends it to the supplier, thereby automatically ordering the consumables. It has been made possible.

[Effect]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

When the consumables replacement information is input to the remaining amount management control section 1, the consumables replacement detection section 4 detects what kind of consumables have been replaced.

After that, the subtraction processing unit 5 reads the current remaining quantity of the corresponding consumable and the remaining quantity of the order activation from the consumables management information storage unit 2, subtracts the replaced consumable, and checks the remaining quantity. Unit 6 compares it with the remaining quantity of the order activation.

If the remaining quantity as a result of the subtraction is greater than the remaining quantity in the order activation, the above process is repeated; however, if the two numbers match, the ordering control unit 7 sends a
Instruct the person to create a slip.

Upon receiving this instruction, the slip creation section 3 reads out the information stored in the consumables management information storage section 2 and creates an order slip for the corresponding consumable.

Thereafter, the created slip is automatically transmitted from the communication control unit to the supplier.

In this way, the consumables used for the facsimile machine can be managed within the facsimile machine, and when the remaining quantity reaches the preset order activation quantity, the corresponding consumables can be automatically ordered. becomes possible.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart.

In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts. Further, 8 is an MPU, 9 is a display control unit, 10 is a display unit, 11 is a speaker drive unit, 12 is a consumables management information read/write unit, 13
14 is a key manual control unit, 14 is a key manual control unit, 15 is a line control unit, 16 is a communication control unit, 17 is a recording control unit, and 18 is a consumables-free detection unit.

In this embodiment, the facsimile machine is newly provided with a remaining amount management control section 1, a consumables management information storage section 2, and a slip creation section 3.
, speaker drive section 11, key input section 13, key manual control section 14, line control section 15, communication control section 16, recording control section 1
7. The detection unit without consumables is the same as the conventional device.

The remaining amount management control section 1 also includes a consumables replacement detection section 4, a consumables management information read/write processing section 12, and a subtraction processing section 5.
, a remaining amount verification section 6, and an order control section 7 are provided.

The consumables management information stored in the consumables management information storage unit 2 includes the name of the consumable, the quantity remaining, the quantity remaining for order activation, the ordered product number (order drawing number), the ordered quantity, and the FAX information of the supplier. Various information necessary for automatic ordering is set, such as the customer number, the name of the ordering party, the name of the ordering party, and the telephone subscriber number of the ordering party.

All of this information is input at first, but only the relevant information needs to be input later when purchasing consumables or changing input information.

The consumables replacement detection unit 4 detects which consumables have been replaced. For example, if there is a sensor that automatically detects when replacing consumables, it detects the output signal of the sensor,
After replacing the consumables, if a function key is to be operated, the output signal of the function key is detected.

The consumables management information read/write processing unit 12 reads or writes necessary information from the consumables management information storage unit 2 when controlling the remaining amount of consumables.

The subtraction processing section 5 subtracts the number of replaced consumables (usually 1) from the current number of remaining supplies, and the remaining amount checking section 6
It is checked whether the remaining quantity as a result of subtraction by the subtraction processing unit 5 matches the preset remaining quantity for order activation.

The perspiration control unit 7 judges the verification result of the remaining amount verification unit 6, and
It controls the ordering of consumables.

The slip creation section 3 reads information necessary for creating a slip from the consumables management information storage section 2 in response to instructions from the order control section 7, and creates an order slip for consumables.

The communication control section 16 receives and receives the order slip created by the slip creation section 3, and performs control for transmitting it to the facsimile machine of the ordering party.

The consumables handled in this embodiment are all facsimile machine consumables that are used by being attached to the facsimile machine, such as recording paper, thermal transfer film, and developer cartridges.

Next, the automatic consumables ordering process of the embodiment will be explained based on the process flowchart of FIG. Note that each process number in the figure is shown in parentheses.

First, when the facsimile machine is in operation, when the out-of-consumables detecting unit 18 of the recording control unit 17 detects that there are no consumables (S 1 ), the display control unit 9 displays the heating state of the consumables on the display unit IO. is displayed, and by the sliding force drive unit 11,
A speaker (not shown) issues a warning that there are no consumables (S2).

When an operator or the like replaces a consumable based on such a display and alarm, it is detected by the consumables replacement detection unit 4 (S3).

Next, the consumables management information read/write unit 12 reads the current remaining quantity and the remaining quantity of the order activation from the consumables management information storage unit 2 and collates the remaining quantity with the subtraction processing unit 5. Send to section 6.

The subtraction processing unit 5 subtracts the number of replaced consumables from the current remaining quantity (-1) L (S4), and the remaining quantity matching unit 6 then calculates the remaining quantity as a result of the subtraction and the order activation. The remaining amount is checked (S5).

As a result, if the two remaining quantities do not match (S6), the consumables management information read/write unit 12 writes the subtraction result as the remaining quantity to the consumables management information storage unit 2 and displays the current consumables. The remaining amount is updated (S9).

However, if they match (S6), the order control section 7 issues an instruction to the slip creation section 3 to create an order slip for the corresponding consumables (S7), and the communication control section 16 sends the created slip to the slip creation section 3.
and send it to the facsimile machine of the ordering source (S8
).

The ordering party that has received the automatically created order slip as described above will confirm the received slip from the ordering party by telephone etc., and if it is correct, the order will be processed and the consumables will be shipped. Arrangements can be made.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention can also be implemented as follows.

(1) In the above embodiments, recording paper, thermal transfer film,
Although this is an example in which consumables such as developer cartridges are managed and ordered automatically, these consumables may be sold separately.

(2) For example, when automatically ordering only recording paper as a consumable, in the embodiment shown in FIG. The management information storage section j2 is defined as a "recording paper management information storage section",
"Consumables replacement detection unit" 4 is referred to as "1 recording paper replacement detection unit",
``Consumables management information read/write unit JI2'' may be set as ``recording paper management information read/write unit.''

The processing in this case is the same as in the above embodiment.

(3) Consumables other than those mentioned above can also be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention has the following effects.

(1) At the time of purchasing consumables, the facsimile machine operation manager only needs to update the stock quantity from the keypad on the operation panel; other information can be saved as entered when the machine was installed. By doing so, you can always manage consumables within the facsimile machine and automatically issue slips and place orders.

(2) There is no need to constantly worry about the number of consumables in stock.

(3) No more trouble in emergencies due to forgetting to order consumables.

(4) Eliminates incorrect ordering of consumables.

(5) Almost no manpower is required, I can figure it out.

Labor saving in office work

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart of the embodiment. 1 - Remaining amount management control section 2 - Consumables management information storage section 3 - Slip creation section 4 - Consumables replacement detection section 5 - Subtraction processing section 6 - Remaining amount checking section 7 - Ordering control section

Claims (1)

[Claims] A facsimile machine includes a consumables management information storage unit (2) that stores consumables management information.
and a remaining amount management control unit (1) that manages and controls the remaining amount of consumables using the information stored in the consumables management information storage unit (2).
), and a slip creation section (3) that creates an order slip for consumables using the information in the consumables management information storage section (2) according to instructions from the remaining quantity management control section (1). , In advance, the product name, the current remaining quantity, the remaining quantity to start ordering, ordering information, etc. are stored in the consumables management information storage unit (2) as consumables management information, and the remaining quantity management control unit ( In 1), when the replacement of a consumable is detected, the number of replaced consumables is subtracted from the remaining amount of the corresponding consumable, and compared with the remaining amount of the order activation, the remaining amount of the subtraction result is calculated. If the number matches the remaining quantity of the order activation, the above-mentioned slip creation section (3) creates an order slip for the consumables and sends it to the supplier, allowing automatic ordering of the consumables. An automatic ordering method for facsimile machine consumables, which is characterized by: