Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha

Other

Rintaro Nakane

Jiro Egawa

Shigeru Fujiwara

Yoshikatsu Kamisuwa

Hideaki Fukaya

Katsuya Nagamochi

Koji Tanimoto

Naruhito Yoshida

Naoaki Ide

Mitsuaki Kohyama

Hiroki Kanno

Tadayoshi Ohno

Kunihiko Miura

Toshihiro Kasai

Shuichi Tsujimoto

Shinya Tomura

Hiroyo Katou

Seiya Shimizu

Hirofumi Harada

Osamu Tachiyama

Masanori Kawasumi

Kazuo Sumioka

Yoshito Nakanishi

Yaeko Harada

Yoshikatsu Kumisuwa

Masayuki Fukusawa

Certain embodiments provide a server device including: a first storage section which stores task execution device information for each of the identification information items of a plurality of task execution devices; a second storage section which stores operation environment information for each identification information item of an operating device; a receiving section which receives a requested task from the operating device to the task execution device; and a providing section which examines whether or not the requested task is executable and provides an examination result and the operation environment information corresponding to identification information to the operating device.

Server device, system, and operation environment management method

A maintenance scheduling system that lays out a maintenance schedule for an image forming apparatus includes an actual-use-result acquiring unit that acquires actual use result information of consumables, a failure-probability-distribution estimating unit that estimates failure probability distributions of the consumables, a cost-related-constant acquiring unit that acquires cost related constants of the consumables, a first cost calculating unit that calculates, for each of plural visit interval values, cost per unit time required for the image forming apparatus, a visit-interval calculating unit that calculates the visit interval value giving minimum cost, a second cost calculating unit that calculates, for each of plural replacement interval values, cost per unit time required for the image forming apparatus, a replacement-interval calculating unit that calculates a calculated replacement interval value, and a maintenance-schedule presenting unit that presents the next visit time and at least one of the consumables to be replaced in the visit.

Maintenance scheduling system, maintenance scheduling method, and image forming apparatus

A maintenance system for an apparatus that is a maintenance target enables reduction in cost related to maintenance services and reduction in downtime of the apparatus. The maintenance system acquires information related to a visit interval that prescribes a time interval at which a visit should be made for maintenance operation for each consumable part and a replacement interval that prescribes a time interval at which each consumable part should be replaced, acquires a counter value that indicates actual use of the consumable parts, and calculates the time for the next maintenance visit and the consumable part that should be replaced at that time, on the basis of the information related to the visit interval and the replacement interval, and the counter value.

Maintenance system and method

Power consumption P of a building where plural image forming apparatusesare installed is detected. When this detection result reaches an upper limit value Pa, power consumption of each of the image forming apparatusesis reduced.

Electric-power management of at least one image forming apparatus to control power consumption of a building

To provide a technique of reducing the costs for maintenance work and also the downtime of products. There is provided a maintenance system that calculates a timing to make a visit for maintenance work for consumable parts of a machine to be maintained. The maintenance system includes: a visit-interval calculating section for calculating a visit interval to make a visit for maintenance work for each consumable part on the basis of a failure rate distribution; a replacement-interval calculating section for calculating a replacement interval to replace the consumable parts for each consumable part on the basis of the failure rate distribution; and a visit-timing calculating section for calculating a timing to actually visit the machine to be maintained on the basis of the visit interval calculated by the visit-interval calculating section and the replacement interval calculated by the replacement-interval calculating section.

Maintenance system and method and program therefor

A maintenance scheduling system for creating a maintenance schedule for an image forming apparatus includes an actual use acquiring unit configured to acquire actual use information of the image forming apparatus and actual use information of a consumable part, a failure probability distribution estimating unit configured to estimate failure probability distribution of the consumable part on the basis of history of actual use information of the consumable part, a counter proceeding degree acquiring unit configured to acquire a counter proceeding degree, which is a counter value per day, on the basis of history of actual use information of the image forming apparatus, and a maintenance scheduling unit configured to present next replacement timing and a consumable part to be replaced, on the basis of the failure probability distribution of each of the consumable parts and the counter proceeding degree.

Maintenance scheduling system, maintenance scheduling method and image forming apparatus

A gradation pattern is printed, the gradation pattern is corrected with a gamma correction table Tbased on a result in which the printed gradation pattern is read, the corrected gradation pattern is printed on a photosensitive drum or the like, and a measured density of the printed gradation pattern in Sis stored as a reference value of density D. Thereafter, without user's operation, at a set automatic timing, the read gradation pattern P is corrected with the gamma correction table Tand printed on the photosensitive drum or the like, density deviation &#x394;D between a measured density D of the printed gradation pattern in Sand the reference value of density Dis determined, and the latest gamma correction table T is generated and updated on the basis of the density deviation &#x394;D. Consequently, high-quality image formation can be automatically performed.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

There is provided a program management apparatus adapted to perform a program updating operation of a program by downloading the program from a server which manages an information of the program to a predetermined terminal device, including: a pattern setting unit, which retains plural kinds of patterns each serving as a mode for giving an information inclusive of a program and updating such a program, for allowing a user to select one of the patterns so as to previously set it as a selected pattern; and a program updating unit for, upon activation of a program updating operation, automatically performing the program updating operation according to the selected pattern set by the pattern setting unit.

Program management apparatus, program management system, and program management method

A color image reader according to the present invention has a reading object holder which is plate shape and which can transmit light and holds the subject to be read, a lighting device for illuminating the subject to be read on the reading object holder a reducing lens for providing convergence to the image light from the reading object, a 3-line CCD sensor for receiving the image light with convergence given by the reducing lens and outputting three electrical signals corresponding to the image light, and a lateral chromatic aberration correction circuit for designating one output signal of the three output signals outputted from the 3-line CCD sensor to the reference, comparing the two remaining output signals with the output signal used for the reference, and providing a predetermined correction to the two remaining output signals, and can suppress generation of image color deviation which depends on the distance between the 3-line CCD sensor and the optical axis of the reducing lens.

Color image reader for use in image forming apparatus

In the present invention, control amounts are input from plural sensors. Good/bad determination is performed to determine whether all deviations of control amount variables are within tolerable ranges. If a determination result is &ldquo;bad&rdquo;, it is determined whether a position in a control amount deviation space is present in success experiences learnt at this time point. If there is the experience, a learning control using the operation amount of the success experience is executed. Otherwise, the operation amount is determined based on an adaptive control.

Adjustment control and adjustment control method

An adjustment control system compares multiple control amounts detected by a sensor with target values, thereby computing individual control amount deviations. When at least one of the control amount deviations is out of a predetermined tolerance, an operation-amount-determining section determines operation amounts for compensating the control amount deviations. When successful instances that have been used in the computed control amount deviations are available, the operation-amount-determining section executes a learning-control method that determines the operation amounts according to the control instances. When the successful instances are not available, the operation-amount-determining section executes an adaptive-control method and thereby determines the operation amounts. As a result of the execution of the learning-control, when the control amount deviations are not converged into the tolerance, the operation-amount-determining section determines the successful instances used in the control to be inappropriate. Then, the operation-amount-determining section switches from the learning-control to the adaptive-control, thereby executing adjustment control. In this case, inappropriate successful instances are deleted.

Adjustment-control system for image forming apparatus

There is disclosed an image forming apparatus in which photosensitive member properties including potential properties of an exposed portion and unexposed portion of the surface of a photosensitive member irradiated with a light beam are estimated. An appropriate contrast potential and a developing bias voltage and charging grid bias voltage suitable for forming a high-density image are determined by a feedback control based on the photosensitive member properties. A laser power is changed to form an intermediate-density image whose density agrees with an intermediate-density target value. When the laser power is changed, the photosensitive member property changes. Therefore, the photosensitive member property is re-estimated, and the developing bias voltage and charging grid bias voltage are set again while maintaining the appropriate contrast potential.

Image forming apparatus with density control

An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an exposure portion to form an electrostatic latent image by exposing the surface of an image carrier, a developing device to form a developer image by developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with a developer and a detecting device that has a specified detecting area on the image carrier and detects the quality change of an image formed on the detecting area. The image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes a means to decide a minimum examination image forming area that is nearly in accord with the detecting area of the detecting device by forming an examination image for the image change detection on the image carrier by the exposure portion and the developing device, detecting the formed examination image by the detecting means and changing the examination image forming area according to the detection result of the detecting device.

Image forming apparatus and examination image forming method in image

In an image processing apparatus of this invention, an error diffusion processing means having a multi level signal conversion means changes the conversion characteristics of the multi level signal conversion means, e.g., corrects the output value of error diffusion processing, on the basis of an output from a means for detecting a variation in toner attachment amount or image forming condition. That is, this invention executes error diffusion processing as follows when an input dimension is different from an output dimension (e.g., input dimension=reflection factor or density, output dimension=number of gradation levels) with respect to a multi-value conversion means because error diffusion processing cannot be simply performed. The input dimension is set to coincide with the output dimension (an output signal is set to coincide with the input signal), this output signal is changed in accordance with a variation in image density, and an error between the changed output signal and the input signal is calculated, thereby executing error diffusion processing. Even when the gradation characteristics per pixel vary due to the influence of a change in environment or aging, or the number of gradation levels decreases due to the variation, the gradation characteristics in a local area can be maintained good, and initial image quality can be provided over a long period of time.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Rintaro Nakane