Information processing apparatus for automatic ordering of consumable items

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10810651-B2
Application number	US-201615086830-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes a communication interface, a storage, and a controller. The controller is configured to: acquire consumable item information including remaining amount information about a remaining amount of a consumable item; output screen information about an input screen to which condition information about an order condition for ordering a new consumable item for replacement is inputted; receive the condition information inputted to the input screen displayed on the basis of the screen information; determine whether or not the order condition represented by the received condition information is met in response to acquisition of the consumable item information; and output order information including information about an order of the new consumable item to a server in response to determination that the order condition represented by the received condition information is met.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:
a communication interface;
a storage; and
a controller configured to:
acquire, from a sensor of an image forming apparatus, printer cartridge information including printer cartridge type information and remaining amount information about a remaining amount of ink or toner and store the printer cartridge information in the storage;
cause an input screen to be displayed to allow for inputting a threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner, which is based on the remaining amount of the ink or the toner and delivery destination information, and represents an order condition for automatic ordering of a new printer cartridge;
receive the threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner inputted to the input screen displayed and store, in the storage, the threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner in association with the printer cartridge information;
in response to acquisition of the printer cartridge information, determine whether or not the order condition represented by the received threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner is met;
in response to determining that the order condition represented by the received threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner is met, determine whether or not a previously ordered printer cartridge is in course of delivery by transmitting, via the communication interface, an electronic shipping inquiry to a server configured to manage a delivery state of the previously ordered printer cartridge; and
in response to determining that a previously ordered printer cartridge is not in course of delivery by receiving, via the communication interface, a response to the shipping inquiry from the server, output order information to the server, the order information comprising information about an order of the new printer cartridge, the order information including an order request and type information corresponding to the printer cartridge type information.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
perform the determination whether or not the order condition represented by the received threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner based further on the stored threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
acquire the delivery destination information about a delivery destination of the new printer cartridge,
wherein, on the input screen, a specific value according to the acquired delivery destination information is displayed as a default value or one of choices for inputting a threshold value with respect to the remaining amount of the ink or the toner, and
wherein the threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner includes threshold information indicating a user-designated threshold value inputted as the threshold value through the input screen.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
in response to determining that a previously ordered printer cartridge is in course of delivery, output inquiry information for inquiring whether or not to order the new printer cartridge;
receive reply information from an output destination to which the inquiry information has been outputted, the reply information representing a reply to the inquiry by the inquiry information; and
in response to receipt of the reply information representing affirmative reply, output the order information to the server.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner includes threshold information designating a first threshold value with respect to the remaining amount of the ink or the toner, and
wherein the controller is further configured to determine that the order condition is met in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being that the remaining amount of the ink or the toner has reached the first threshold value, the remaining amount of the ink or the toner being represented by the remaining amount information included in the acquired printer cartridge information, the first threshold value being designated by the threshold information included in the received threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the threshold information is for further designating, in addition to the first threshold value, a second threshold value with respect to number of times the remaining amount of the ink or the toner represented by the remaining amount information included in the acquired printer cartridge information has reached the first threshold value, and
wherein the controller is further configured to determine that the order condition is met in response to both the first condition and a second condition being met, the second condition being that the number of times the remaining amount of the ink or the toner has reached the second threshold designated by the threshold information included in the received threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the printer cartridge information includes replacement information about number of times the printer cartridge has been replaced,
wherein the threshold value of the remaining amount of the ink or the toner includes first information about whether or not to order the new printer cartridge in a case where the current number of replacements represented by the currently acquired replacement information is not consecutive to the previous number of replacements represented by the previously acquired replacement information, and
wherein the controller is further configured to:
output, in a case where the current number of replacements is not consecutive to the previous number of replacements, first inquiry information for inquiring whether or not to order the new printer cartridge,
receive first reply information from an output destination to which the first inquiry information has been outputted, the first reply information representing a first reply to the first inquiry by the first inquiry information; and
in response to receipt of the reply information representing affirmative first reply, determine that the order condition is met.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
output, in a case where the current number of replacements is not consecutive to the previous number of replacements, second inquiry information for inquiring how many number of orders of the new printer cartridge is selected within a difference number between the current number of replacements and the previous number of replacements to the output destination,
receive second reply information from the output destination, the second reply information representing a second reply to the second inquiry by the second inquiry information; and
output the order information including order number information about a selected number of orders indicated by the second reply represented by the second reply information to the server.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
output inquiry information for inquiring a desired delivery form of the new printer cartridge;
receive reply information from an output destination to which the inquiry inform

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Ohara Kiyotaka

Classifications

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title

• G06K15/4075

  Determining remaining quantities of ink or toner · CPC title

• G06Q30/0635 Primary

  replenishment orders; recurring orders · CPC title

• G06F3/1204

  resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data · CPC title

• G06F3/1229

  Printer resources management or printer maintenance, e.g. device status, power levels · CPC title