JP2008176601A - Image forming apparatus and method for setting image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus and a method for setting the image forming apparatus capable of arbitrarily changing a settlement/cancellation designation of setting before transition when transiting the setting screen on a display part. <P>SOLUTION: Button operation switch setting is performed by operation input from an operation part 2. When an image forming condition is input by the operation part 2 and a screen is transited to return the screen to the setting screen where the image forming condition has already been input by a hierarchy display button being pressed, it is determined by a control unit 9 according to the set button operation switch setting whether the image forming condition input to the setting screen displayed before the screen transition is settled or canceled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus setting method.

  In recent years, with the increase in the number of functions of image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers, those capable of setting various image forming conditions when outputting one image have become widespread. Many of these image forming apparatuses include a touch panel (operation display panel), and image forming conditions are set on a displayed setting screen. Such an operation display panel is hierarchically displayed so that the route to the currently displayed setting screen can be seen, and the user can return to any setting screen by touching the displayed hierarchical portion. What you can do is known. By using such an operation display panel, an operator of the image forming apparatus can easily recognize which item of which classification is currently set as an image forming condition, and an arbitrary setting screen. Therefore, high operability is realized.

Further, in Patent Document 1, by setting the type of power saving mode in advance on the setting screen displayed on the operation display panel, it is possible to switch to a different power saving mode without performing an operation when switching the power saving mode. An image forming apparatus has been proposed.
JP-A-2005-212406

  However, in the above prior art, when the setting screen transitions, the setting for confirming or canceling (cancelling) the setting specified on the setting screen before the screen transition is determined in advance by the image forming apparatus. It is impossible to meet different requests depending on the operator who wants to cancel or cancel. Further, it is difficult for a person who operates the image forming apparatus for the first time to grasp whether the setting designated on the setting screen before the screen transition is confirmed or canceled.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus setting method that can arbitrarily change the confirmation or cancellation of the setting before the transition when the setting screen on the display unit transitions.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus,
A screen display for displaying operation items on the screen;
An operation input unit for performing input to the operation items displayed by the screen display unit;
Specify the setting to confirm or cancel the operation item value input by the operation input unit before the transition when the screen displayed on the screen display unit transitions to another screen, based on the specification And a control unit that sets an operation item value on the screen before the screen transition at the time of the screen transition.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect,
A storage unit that stores user information that is information of a user who operates the image forming apparatus;
The control unit performs user authentication of the user of the image forming apparatus based on user information stored in the storage unit, and confirms or cancels the operation item value for each user information stored in the storage unit. After setting the user authentication, based on the setting specification whether to confirm or cancel the operation item value corresponding to the user information stored in the storage unit for the authenticated user The operation item value on the screen before the screen transition is set at the time of the screen transition.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect,
A storage unit that stores user information that is information of a user who operates the image forming apparatus;
The control unit designates user classification information that is a classification of the user for each user information stored in the storage unit, and performs user authentication of the user of the image forming apparatus based on the user information stored in the storage unit. User information stored in the storage unit for the authenticated user after the user authentication, specifying a setting for confirming or canceling the operation item value for each of the specified user classification information Setting the operation item value on the screen before the screen transition at the time of the screen transition, based on the designation of the setting to confirm or cancel the operation item value corresponding to the user classification information set for It is characterized by.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the setting method of the image forming apparatus,
An image forming apparatus setting method for displaying an operation item on a screen and receiving an input to the operation item displayed on the screen.
Specify the setting to confirm or cancel the operation item value input before the transition when the screen displaying the operation item transitions to another screen, and based on the specification, It is characterized by setting the operation item value on the screen before transition.

  According to the first and fourth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily change the setting confirmation / cancellation designation before the transition at the time of transition of the setting screen on the display unit.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make a valid / cancel designation effective only when the user operates the image forming apparatus for each user who has been authenticated.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of users to be authenticated are classified into user classifications, and a confirmation / cancellation designation effective only when the user associated with the user classifications operates the image forming apparatus. This can be performed for each user classification.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  First, FIG. 1 shows an outline of the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation unit 2, a display unit 3, a touch panel 4, an image input unit 5, an image processing unit 6, an image forming unit 7, a storage unit 8, and a control unit 9.

  The operation unit 2 includes various function keys such as a start key and a numeric key for instructing start of image formation. When these function keys and the touch panel 4 are operated, a corresponding operation signal is output to the control unit 9.

  The display unit 3 includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) formed integrally with the touch panel 4. Various operation screens for setting various image forming conditions such as the number of copies, density, double-sided / single-sided printing, or stamp overlay (a function to output date and fixed characters on the image) are displayed on this LCD. Display.

  The image input unit 5 includes a light source, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), an A / D (Analog to Digital) converter, and the like. At the time of image reading, reflected light of the light scanned from the light source to the original is imaged and photoelectrically converted by the CCD to read the original image and generate an image signal (analog signal). Thereafter, the image signal is converted into digital image data by an A / D converter and output to the image processing unit 6. Further, the image is not limited to an image such as a figure or a photograph, but also includes a character image such as a character or a symbol.

  The image processing unit 6 performs various image processing on the read image input from the image input unit 5 to generate an output image for output, and outputs the output image to the image forming unit 7. Image processing includes color conversion processing, averaging processing, γ correction processing, resolution conversion processing, screen processing, and the like.

  The image forming unit 7 performs print output by an electrophotographic method based on the output image output from the image processing unit 6. In the electrophotographic system, exposure is performed by irradiating a photosensitive drum with laser light from a laser light source (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image. A developing unit (not shown) transfers toner images formed by spraying toner onto the recording paper. In this embodiment, the printing method is an electrophotographic method. However, the printing method is not limited to this, and an ink jet method or a thermal transfer method may be used, and a printing method is not particularly limited.

  The storage unit 8 is a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores various control programs executed by the control unit 9 as well as parameters and data necessary for each unit. For example, operation information input by the operation unit 2, information on whether or not to confirm the information, and various user information for each user when the operator of the image forming apparatus 1 is authenticated are stored. .

  The control unit 9 performs centralized control of the operation of each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 according to a control program stored in the storage unit 8.

2 to 15 are image diagrams of screens displayed on the LCD formed integrally with the touch panel 4.
First, an example of a button operation switching setting method will be described with reference to FIGS. The button operation switching setting means that when the image transition conditions are sequentially input from the operation unit 2 to each setting screen and the screen transition is made to return to the setting screen in which the image formation conditions have already been input, this screen transition This is a setting for confirming or canceling the image forming conditions input to the setting screen displayed previously.

  FIG. 2 is an operation menu screen displayed when copying. An operation button group for displaying various setting screens such as tray settings and utilities is displayed in the display area A1a. When the utility button B10 is pressed, a setting screen for utility setting as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed.

  In the display area A2 of FIG. 3, a group of operation buttons for displaying various setting screens for performing environment settings, function settings, and the like for copying are displayed. When the environment setting button B11 is pressed, a setting screen for environment setting as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed.

  In the display area A3 in FIG. 4, a group of operation buttons for displaying various setting screens for performing environment settings such as language setting, buzzer setting, and button operation switching is displayed. When the button operation switching button B12 is pressed, a button operation switching setting screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

  In the display area A4 of FIG. 5, a group of operation buttons for setting the button operation switching setting to “confirm” or “cancel” is displayed. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of processing when button operation switching setting is performed on the button operation switching setting screen shown in FIG. The control unit 9 executes the process. When the confirm button B13 is pressed, “confirm” is set, and when the cancel button B14 is pressed, “cancel” is set (S11). Next, when the OK button B16 is pressed (S12; “OK” button), the button operation switching setting information stored in the storage unit 8 is rewritten to the set button operation switching setting, and the setting screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. It is displayed (S13). When the cancel button B15 is pressed (S12; “Cancel” button), the setting screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed without rewriting the button operation switching setting information stored in the storage unit 8 (S14).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 to FIG. 9, how the determination method of the image forming condition input from the operation unit 2 changes depending on the button operation switching setting will be described.

  FIG. 2 is an operation menu screen for copying by the image forming apparatus 1 as described above. In the display area A1b, a group of operation buttons for displaying a setting screen for setting various image forming conditions is displayed. When the application setting button B20 is pressed, a setting screen for performing application settings as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  In the display area A5 of FIG. 6, a group of operation buttons for displaying a screen for setting various image forming conditions such as single sheet aggregation, centering, or stamp / overlay is displayed. When the stamp / overlay button B21 is pressed, a setting screen for setting stamps and overlays as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

  In the display area A6 in FIG. 7, an operation button group for displaying a setting screen for setting a stamp is displayed. When the numbering button B22 is pressed, a setting screen for setting numbering as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed.

  An operation button group for setting the numbering position is displayed in the display area A7 in FIG. When the position fine adjustment button B23 is pressed, a setting screen for fine adjustment of the numbering printing position as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed.

  In the display area A8 in FIG. 9, a group of operation buttons for finely adjusting the numbering printing position in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction is displayed. When the OK button B44 is pressed, the setting content input on this setting screen is stored in the storage unit 8 as the determined image forming condition, and the stamp / numbering setting screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. Next, when the OK button B43 on the stamp / numbering setting screen is pressed, the setting contents input on this setting screen are stored in the storage unit 8 as the determined image forming conditions, and the stamp / overlay setting screen shown in FIG. Is displayed. Next, when the OK button B42 on the stamp / overlay setting screen is pressed, the setting content input to this setting screen is stored in the storage unit 8 as a confirmed image forming condition, and the application setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. The

  Further, when the cancel button B54 on the fine adjustment setting screen at the position shown in FIG. 9 is pressed, the setting contents input on this setting screen are canceled, and the stamp / numbering setting screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. Next, when the cancel button B53 on the stamp / numbering setting screen is pressed, the setting content input on this setting screen is canceled, and the stamp / overlay setting screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. Next, when the cancel button B52 on the stamp / overlay setting screen is pressed, the setting content input to this setting screen is canceled and the setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  In addition, on each setting screen shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the arrival routes until the currently displayed setting screen is displayed are hierarchically displayed (A 21 to A 24). When a portion where each level is displayed (hereinafter referred to as a “level display button”) is pressed, an image forming condition setting screen indicated by each level is displayed.

  For example, when the hierarchy display button B61 in FIG. 9 is pressed, the application setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. When B62 is pressed, the stamp / overlay setting screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. When B63 is pressed, a stamp / numbering setting screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed.

  In this case, that is, when the screen transition is made to return to the setting screen in which the image forming conditions have already been input by pressing the layer display buttons B61 to B63, it is input to the fine adjustment setting screen at the position shown in FIG. Whether to confirm or cancel the image forming condition is determined by the setting made on the button operation switching setting screen shown in FIG.

  That is, when “OK” is set by pressing the OK button B13 on the button operation switching setting screen shown in FIG. 5, the image forming conditions input to the fine adjustment setting screen at the position shown in FIG. The determined image forming conditions are stored in the storage unit 8. If “Cancel” is set by pressing the cancel button B14 on the button operation switching setting screen shown in FIG. 5, the image forming conditions input on the fine adjustment setting screen at the position shown in FIG. 9 are canceled. .

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing processing for confirming or canceling the setting of the image forming condition when the hierarchical display button is pressed by the setting made on the button operation switching setting screen shown in FIG. The execution of this process is performed by the control unit 9 and is started when image forming conditions are input from the operation unit 2 on the setting screens shown in FIGS.

  When the layer display button is pressed (S1), if the button operation switching setting information stored in the storage unit 8 is “confirmed” (S2; Yes), the image forming conditions input before pressing the layer display button Is stored in the storage unit 8 as a confirmed condition, a setting screen corresponding to the pressed hierarchy display button is displayed (S3), and this process is terminated. When the hierarchical display button is pressed (S1), if the button operation switching setting information stored in the storage unit 8 is “cancel” (S2; No), the image forming conditions input before the hierarchical display button is pressed Is deleted from the storage unit 8 as a canceling condition, a setting screen corresponding to the pressed hierarchy display button is displayed (S4), and this process is terminated.

  In the above embodiment, during the operation of setting the image forming condition on the setting screen shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, it is confirmed whether the button operation switching setting is set to “confirm” or “cancel”. I can't. Therefore, it may be displayed on the setting screen shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 which setting is made. For example, the icon I1 is displayed on the setting screen shown in FIG. 10, and this icon indicates that the button operation switching setting information stored in the storage unit 8 is set to “confirmed”. An icon I2 is displayed on the setting screen illustrated in FIG. 11, and this icon indicates that the button operation switching setting information stored in the storage unit 8 is set to “cancel”.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the button operation switching setting is performed, the setting content is reflected to all persons who operate the image forming apparatus 1 thereafter, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  For example, the image forming apparatus 1 performs user authentication of a user who operates the image forming apparatus 1, and the authenticated user can perform effective button operation switching setting only when the user operates the image forming apparatus 1. Also good. FIG. 12 is an example of a setting screen for setting button operation switching for each user. In the display area A9a, user information of a user to be set for button operation switching is displayed. In the display area A9b, an operation button group for making settings related to the user's operation of the image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to the user information displayed in the display area A9a is displayed. When the confirm button B71 is pressed, the button operation switching setting is set as “confirmed”. When the cancel button B72 is pressed, “cancel” is set. When the OK button B73 is pressed, the information stored in the storage unit 8 as the user button operation switching setting information corresponding to the user information displayed in the display area A9a is rewritten with the set contents. The user authentication method is not particularly limited, and any known method can be used.

  In addition, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 1 can set a user group for each user in order to classify a plurality of users to be authenticated into a predetermined group, and perform button operation switching settings for each classified user group. Anyway.

FIG. 13 is an example of a setting screen for the administrator of the image forming apparatus 1 to set a user group for each user.
In the display area A10a, user information of a user for which a user group is set is displayed. In the display area A10b, a group of operation buttons for performing operations of the user of the image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to the user information displayed in the display area A10a, settings regarding the user group, and the like are displayed. When button B81 is pressed, the user corresponding to the user information displayed in display area A10a is set to the first user group. When button B82 is pressed, the user corresponding to the user information displayed in display area A10a is set to the second user group. The set user group is stored in the storage unit 8 as user group information in association with user information.

  FIG. 14 is an example of a setting screen for the administrator of the image forming apparatus 1 to set button operation switching for each user group set on the setting screen shown in FIG. In A11, the first user group name is displayed. In A12, the second user group name is displayed. When the confirm button B91 is pressed, the first user group is set to “confirm”, and when the cancel button B92 is pressed, it is set to “cancel”. When the confirm button 93 is pressed, the second user group is set to “confirm”, and when the cancel button 94 is pressed, it is set to “cancel”. The set contents are stored in the storage unit 8 in association with user information corresponding to each user group as button operation switching setting information.

  In addition, the button operation switching setting in the above embodiment can be set only to “confirm” or “cancel”, but is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the hierarchical display button is disabled and the hierarchical display button is pressed. It may be possible to set “invalid” so that screen transition cannot be performed. FIG. 15 is an example of a setting screen on which the button operation switching setting can be set as “invalid”. In the display area A13, a group of operation buttons for setting button operation switching is displayed. When the invalid button B17 is pressed, the hierarchy display button is set invalid. When the OK button B18 is pressed, information indicating that the hierarchy display button is disabled is stored in the storage unit 8.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1, when the OK button B <b> 16 is pressed after the confirmation button B <b> 13 or the cancel button B <b> 14 displayed on the touch panel 4 is pressed, the button operation switching setting is performed by the control unit 9. When a screen transition is made to return to a setting screen in which the image forming conditions have already been input by pressing the layer display button when the image forming conditions are input from the operation unit 2, before the screen transition Whether the image forming condition input to the setting screen displayed on the screen is confirmed or canceled is determined by the control unit 9 according to the set button operation switching setting.

  According to such an embodiment, it is possible to arbitrarily set button operation switching. For example, a person who is familiar with the image forming condition setting operation sets the button operation switching setting to “confirm”, thereby confirming the image forming condition once input by pressing the hierarchical display button and quickly setting an arbitrary setting screen. It is possible to transition to. On the other hand, a person unfamiliar with the setting operation of the image forming conditions sets the button operation switching setting to “cancel”, and when the user notices that the image forming conditions once input are unintended image forming conditions, By pressing the layer display button, it is possible to cancel the image forming condition once input and quickly shift to an arbitrary setting screen.

  Further, when the control unit 9 authenticates the user who operates the image forming apparatus 1 and the confirm button B71 or the cancel button B72 displayed on the touch panel 4 is pressed, the control unit 9 displays the button operation switching setting information. By associating them with each other and storing them in the storage unit 8, the authenticated user can perform effective button operation switching setting only when the user operates the image forming apparatus 1. As a result, the authenticated user does not need to perform the button operation switching setting every time the operation is started.

  Further, when the button B81 or the button B82 displayed on the touch panel 4 is pressed, the user group information is stored in the storage unit 8 in association with the user information by the control unit 9, and the confirmation button B91 displayed on the touch panel 4 is displayed. When the cancel button B92, the confirmation button B93, or the cancel button B94 is pressed, the control unit 9 stores the button operation switching setting information in the storage unit 8 in association with the user information corresponding to each user group. By doing so, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 1 can classify a plurality of users to be authenticated into user groups, and perform button operation switching setting for each classified user group. As a result, the user does not need to perform the button operation switching setting.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when performing copying in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when setting image forming conditions in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when setting image forming conditions in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when setting image forming conditions in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when setting image forming conditions in the embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when setting image forming conditions in another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when setting image forming conditions in another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by a display unit when button operation switching is performed in another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Operation part 3 Display part 4 Touch panel 5 Image input part 6 Image processing part 7 Image forming part 8 Storage part 9 Control part

Claims (4)

A screen display for displaying operation items on the screen;
An operation input unit for performing input to the operation items displayed by the screen display unit;
Specify the setting to confirm or cancel the operation item value input by the operation input unit before the transition when the screen displayed on the screen display unit transitions to another screen, based on the specification An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that sets an operation item value on a screen before the screen transition at the time of the screen transition. A storage unit that stores user information that is information of a user who operates the image forming apparatus;
The control unit performs user authentication of the user of the image forming apparatus based on user information stored in the storage unit, and confirms or cancels the operation item value for each user information stored in the storage unit. After setting the user authentication, based on the setting specification whether to confirm or cancel the operation item value corresponding to the user information stored in the storage unit for the authenticated user The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation item value on a screen before the screen transition is set at the time of the screen transition. A storage unit that stores user information that is information of a user who operates the image forming apparatus;
The control unit designates user classification information that is a classification of the user for each user information stored in the storage unit, and performs user authentication of the user of the image forming apparatus based on the user information stored in the storage unit. User information stored in the storage unit for the authenticated user after the user authentication, specifying a setting for confirming or canceling the operation item value for each of the specified user classification information Setting the operation item value on the screen before the screen transition at the time of the screen transition, based on the designation of the setting to confirm or cancel the operation item value corresponding to the user classification information set for The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. An image forming apparatus setting method for displaying an operation item on a screen and receiving an input to the operation item displayed on the screen,
Specify the setting to confirm or cancel the operation item value input before the transition when the screen displaying the operation item transitions to another screen, and based on the specification, An image forming apparatus setting method, wherein operation item values on a screen before transition are set.

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