Patent · US Active

Charge managing system, image forming apparatus, charge managing server, and image forming method

US8156020B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
9References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 20, 2008
Grant dateApr 10, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 31, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06Q40/02
  • WIPO fieldIT methods for management
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A charge managing system including an image forming apparatus and a charge managing server is provided. The image forming apparatus includes plural applications each configured for executing a specific process on input data, a counter unit that counts a number of result items output as a result of executing at least one of the applications, a count value storage unit that stores a count value corresponding to the number of result items counted by the counter unit, and a storage area setting unit that secures a plurality of storage areas within the count value storage unit each of which storage areas is configured for storing a corresponding count value obtained for each of the applications. The charge managing server manages charging a fee for using the image forming apparatus based on the corresponding count value stored in each of the storage areas secured for each of the applications.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.