초록 ▼

A remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus for making a diagnosis of a remote client appliance comprises a data acquisition unit that acquires data necessary to diagnose the client appliance, a diagnosing unit that make an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance based on the data acquired by t

A remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus for making a diagnosis of a remote client appliance comprises a data acquisition unit that acquires data necessary to diagnose the client appliance, a diagnosing unit that make an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance based on the data acquired by the data acquisition unit, and an automatic diagnosis result reporting unit that reports a result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus configured to diagnose remote client appliance, the apparatus comprising:a data acquisition unit configured to acquire data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including informat

1. A remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus configured to diagnose remote client appliance, the apparatus comprising:a data acquisition unit configured to acquire data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; a diagnosing unit configured to make an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance based on the data acquired by the data acquisition unit; and an automatic diagnosis result reporting unit configured to report a result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:an interview result entry unit configured to input and register a result of an interview; and a diagnosis report creating unit configured to creates a remote diagnosis customer report based on the result of the automatic diagnosis and the result of the interview. 3. The remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, and the automatic diagnosis result reporting unit is configured to periodically report the result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the trouble history includes a service call made by the client appliance when a problem occurs, and the diagnosing unit makes the automatic diagnosis based on the service call.5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein trouble history includes a paper jam that has occurred in the client appliance, and the diagnosing unit makes the automatic diagnosis based on the occurrence of the paper jam.6. The remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.7. A client appliance comprising:a self-diagnosis unit configured to make a self-diagnosis of the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; an interface configured to send a result of the self-diagnosis to an external diagnosis apparatus and receive inquiries from the external diagnosis apparatus; and an operation panel configured to allow a user to answer the inquiries. 8. The client appliance according to claim 7, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, and the interface is configured to periodically send the result of the self-diagnosis to the external diagnosis apparatus. 9. The client appliance according to claim 8, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.10. A remote diagnosis system comprising:a client appliance; and a remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus connected to the client appliance via a network and diagnosing the client appliance, the remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus having: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; an automatic diagnosis unit configured to make an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance based on the data acquired by the data acquisition unit; and an automatic diagnosis result reporting unit configured to report a result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance. 11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the data acquisition unit of the remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus acquires the data from the customer appliance administration apparatus.12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the automatic diagnosis result reporting unit reports the result of the automatic diagnosis to the client apparatus via the customer appliance administration apparatus.13. The remote diagnosis system according to claim 10, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, and the automatic diagnosis result reporting unit is configured to periodically report the result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance. 14. The remote diagnosis system according to clam 13, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.15. A remote diagnosis method of diagnosing a remote client appliance, comprising the steps of:acquiring data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; making an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance at a remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus based on the acquired data; and reporting a result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance. 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of:entering an interview result into the remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus; and creating a remote diagnosis report automatically based on the result of the automatic diagnosis and the interview result. 17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the automatic diagnosis step includes determination of whether or not there is a service call made by the client appliance within a predetermined period of time.18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the automatic diagnosis step includes determination of whether or not a paper jam occurred in the client appliance within a predetermined period of time.19. The remote diagnosis method according to claim 15, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, reporting of the result of the automatic diagnosis to the client appliance is performed periodically. 20. The remote diagnosis method according to claim 19, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.21. A remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus configured to diagnose a remote client appliance, the apparatus comprising:a data acquisition unit configured to acquire data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; a diagnosing unit configured to make an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance based on the data acquired by the data acquisition unit; and an automatic diagnosis result reporting unit configured to report a result of the automatic diagnosis, together with an inquiry, to the client appliance. 22. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising:an interview result entry unit configured to input and register a result of an interview, the interview being conducted based on the inquiry; and a diagnosis report creating unit configured to creates a remote diagnosis customer report based on the result of the automatic diagnosis and the result of the interview. 23. The remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus according to claim 21, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, and the automatic diagnosis result reporting unit is configured to periodically report the result of the automatic diagnosis, together with the inquiry, to the client appliance. 24. The remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.25. A remote diagnosis system comprising:a client appliance; and a remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus connected to the client appliance via a network and diagnosing the client appliance, the remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus having: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; an automatic diagnosis unit configured to make an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance based on the data acquired by the data acquisition unit; and an automatic diagnosis result reporting unit configured to report a result of the automatic diagnosis, together with an inquiry, to the client appliance. 26. The remote diagnosis system according to claim 25, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, and the automatic diagnosis result reporting unit is configured to periodically report the result of the automatic diagnosis, together with the inquiry, to the client appliance. 27. The remote diagnosis system according to claim 26, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.28. A remote diagnosis method of diagnosing a remote client appliance, comprising the steps of:acquiring data collected from the client appliance, the data collected via a customer appliance administration apparatus and including information to diagnose an increased likelihood of malfunction of the client appliance; making an automatic diagnosis of the client appliance at a remote maintenance and diagnosis apparatus based on the acquired data; and reporting a result of the automatic diagnosis, together with an inquiry, to the client appliance. 29. The remote diagnosis method according to claim 26, whereinthe data collected includes information concerning at least one of operational condition, trouble history, and prior measures taken to resolve problems of the client appliance, reporting of the result of the automatic diagnosis, together with the inquiry, to the client appliance is performed periodically. 30. The remote diagnosis method according to claim 29, wherein the data collected includes information concerning detection of at least one of paper consumption, chemicals, noise, electric voltage, pressure, signal timing, image tone, and image density.