Management apparatus, image forming apparatus maintenance system including the same, and management method

摘要

A management apparatus communicates, via a communication network, with image forming apparatuses, and includes an information reception device that receives, from each of the image forming apparatuses via the network, prediction-use information useful for predicting a latent image carrier surface contamination level due to discharge products generated during charging, a contamination level prediction device that, on the basis of the received prediction-use information, predicts the latent image carrier surface contamination level of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the prediction-use information, and an instruction transmission device that, if the predicted latent image carrier surface contamination level exceeds a predetermined allowable range, transmits an execution instruction to execute a contamination reduction operation of reducing the contamination of the surface of the latent image carrier due to the discharge products to the image forming apparatus corresponding to the latent image carrier surface contamination level via the network.

主权项

1. A management apparatus that communicates, via a communication network, with multiple image forming apparatuses each uniformly charging a surface of a latent image carrier to a predetermined charge potential, forming an electrostatic latent image on the charged surface of the latent image carrier, and developing the electrostatic latent image and forming a visible image to be transferred onto a recording medium, the management apparatus comprising:
a prediction-use information reception device configured to receive, from each of the multiple image forming apparatuses via the communication network, prediction-use information for predicting a latent image carrier surface contamination level due to discharge products generated during the charging; a latent image carrier surface contamination level prediction device configured to execute, on the basis of the received prediction-use information, a prediction process of predicting the latent image carrier surface contamination level of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the prediction-use information and generating a predicted latent image carrier surface contamination level; and an execution instruction transmission device configured to, if the predicted latent image carrier surface contamination level exceeds a predetermined allowable range, transmit an execution instruction to execute a contamination reduction operation of reducing the contamination of the surface of the latent image carrier due to the discharge products to the image forming apparatus corresponding to the latent image carrier surface contamination level via the communication network, wherein, if the predicted latent image carrier surface contamination level exceeds the predetermined allowable range, the execution instruction transmission device calculates a length of operation of the contamination reduction operation on the basis of the latent image carrier surface contamination level, and transmits the execution instruction to execute the contamination reduction operation for the calculated length of operation to the image forming apparatus corresponding to the latent image carrier surface contamination level.