JP2025107668A - Image reading device, program, and guidance method - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide appropriate guidance on how to set a document in an automatic document reading device. [Solution] The present invention provides an image reading device that includes an automatic document reading device, a storage unit that stores mixed information indicating whether the environment includes a mixture of image reading devices that use different document loading methods for the automatic document reading device, and a display control unit that, when an operation using the automatic document reading device is detected, provides guidance on how to set the document in accordance with the mixed information. [Selected Figure] Figure 11

Description

The present invention relates to an image reading device, a program, and a guidance method.

Some image reading devices with scanner functions also have an automatic document reading device (ADF: Auto Document Feeder). Many of the automatic document reading devices in general image reading devices are of the type that take in documents one by one from the top of a stack of documents set face-up. However, it is possible that face-up and face-down machines are mixed among the multiple image reading devices that a user can use.

A technology has been devised that matches the page order of the originals with the page order of the printed matter when different models with different document reading orders and recording surface ejection directions are mixed on a network (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that selects a face-down or face-up printer to perform a copy operation depending on whether the ADF reads from the first page or the last page.

However, conventional technology has a problem in that users may mistake whether they should place the document face-up or face-down on the automatic document reading device. For example, in an environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed, the method of placing the document is different, so the user may mistake the method of placing the document.

In view of the above problem, the present invention provides a technology that appropriately guides users on how to set a document in an automatic document reading device.

In consideration of the above problem, the present invention provides an image reading device having an automatic document reading device, a storage unit that stores mixed information indicating whether the environment includes a mixture of image reading devices that use different methods of setting documents in the automatic document reading device, and a display control unit that, when an operation using the automatic document reading device is detected, provides guidance on how to set the document in accordance with the mixed information.

It can provide proper guidance on how to set the document into the automatic document reader.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of an equipment system including an image reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image reading apparatus. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an example of an image reading apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of initial setting information stored in an initial setting information storage unit. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation history information stored in an operation history information storage unit of the image reading apparatus when user authentication is not performed. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of operation history information stored in an operation history information storage unit of the image reading apparatus in a case where user authentication is performed; FIG. 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining operation histories in an image reading apparatus and another apparatus when user authentication is performed; 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process in which the image reading device displays guidance on how to place a document; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen displayed on an operation panel. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process in which the image reading device displays guidance on how to place a document; 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which a determination unit determines whether or not to display guidance. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application selection screen displayed on an operation panel. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of a reading setting screen and guidance displayed on an operation panel when a document is read.

Below, we will explain an image reading device and a method of guiding a document set performed by the image reading device as an example of a form for implementing the present invention.

<Additional information about ADF>
Many ADFs included in image reading devices take in documents one by one from the top of a stack of documents set face-up. However, in the future, there is a possibility that ADFs that read documents one by one from the bottom of a stack of documents set face-down may be distributed. If face-up type ADFs and face-down type ADFs are mixed in a customer environment, the user must set documents face-up on one image reading device and face-down on the other image reading device, or the user must set documents differently for each device. This may confuse the user about how to set documents.

The image reading device may display guidance on how to set the document each time the user uses the ADF, but if the customer environment does not include a mixture of face-up and face-down machines, the user will learn the correct setting method while using the image reading device. In this case, the user may find it annoying if the image reading device displays guidance every time.

In addition, the user can set the guidance not to be displayed from the next time onwards, but once this is set, the guidance will never be displayed again. In a situation where multiple users use an image reading device, if one user sets the guidance not to be displayed, it will never be displayed again, which could be the same as if the guidance function did not exist.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the image reading device controls whether to display or hide the guidance depending on whether the environment is one in which face-up and face-down machines are installed together. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in an environment in which face-up and face-down machines are installed together, the image reading device displays the guidance when the ADF is used infrequently. As a result, the guidance is not displayed when the ADF is used more frequently, reducing annoyance.

In addition, because the frequency with which the ADF is used is likely to vary from person to person, when the image reading device is in a state in which it can identify the user (for example, when user authentication is performed), the image reading device controls whether to display or hide the guidance depending on the frequency with which each user uses the ADF.

In this way, in an environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed, the image reading device of this embodiment can reduce the number of times the user places the document incorrectly by controlling whether the image reading device displays or hides the guidance. In addition, the image reading device can reduce the inconvenience to the user by controlling whether the image reading device displays or hides the guidance depending on how frequently the user uses the ADF.

<Terminology>
A customer environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed is an environment where the same user can use both face-up and face-down machines, and may actually differ depending on the range of movement of each user. In this embodiment, it is determined whether face-up and face-down machines are mixed in the customer environment where other machines from which the image reading device can obtain information are installed. The other machines from which the image reading device can obtain information are, for example, the same building, floor, or room. Alternatively, the customer environment can be said to be the range in which the image reading device and other machines are connected via a network. On the other hand, a user (customer engineer) may set in the image reading device whether the customer environment is a mixture of face-up and face-down machines. A customer environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed is called a "mixed environment of face-up and face-down machines" or a "mixed environment of different ADF types".

The image reading device that the user is operating may be referred to as the "own device," and other image reading devices as seen from the image reading device that the user is operating may be referred to as the "other devices."

The document setting method refers to the way the user places the document, whether the document is set with the front side facing up or the front side facing down.

The automatic document reading device is an ADF. There are two types of ADF: one-pass double-sided ADF and automatic reversing ADF. The one-pass double-sided ADF is an ADF that reads both sides of the document in one paper feed. The automatic reversing ADF is an ADF that reverses the document after each side is read. The ADF in this embodiment can be either type.

Operations using the automatic document reading device include operations such as the user placing a document in the ADF and starting up a scanner application. In addition, operations that are necessary for the image reading device in order for the user to use the automatic document reading device are included in operations using the automatic document reading device.

The mixed information is information that indicates whether or not the environment contains a mixture of image reading devices that use different methods for loading documents into the ADF. In this embodiment, the mixed information is described as initial setting information that is stored in the initial setting storage unit.

Guidance is a guide. In this embodiment, the guidance is an image that explains how to set the document. The guidance may be a video or animation. The guidance may also be audio, or both an image and audio may be presented.

A user is a person who operates the image reading device 20. A user may include a customer's end user, a system administrator, or a customer engineer.

<System configuration example>
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of an equipment system 100 including an image reading device 20 according to the present embodiment. The equipment system 100 shown in Fig. 1 has a configuration in which the image reading device 20 is communicably connected via a network N2.

The image reading device 20 is placed in a facility such as a company and is connected to a network N2. The network N2 may be a LAN, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), wide area Ethernet (registered trademark), a mobile phone network such as 4G, 5G, or 6G, etc.

The image reading device 20 and the server device 10 are connected so that they can communicate with each other via a wide area network N1 such as the Internet. In addition, the server device 10 can communicate with an external service system 40, which is an external system, via the network N1, and the image reading device 20 can communicate with the external service system 40, which is an external system, via the networks N1 and N2.

The image reading device 20 may be any device equipped with or connected to an ADF. The image reading device 20 may have a scanner function for reading an original document captured by the ADF. In addition to the scanner function, the image reading device 20 may have one or more of a print function, a copy function, a fax function, or a data storage function. The image reading device 20 may also be called an image processing device, an image forming device, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a scanner device, a printing device, a printer, a fax device, a copy device, etc.

The image reading device 20 may be capable of executing a web browser. The image reading device 20 can communicate with the server device 10 using the functions of the web browser operated by the user. For example, the image reading device 20 can execute a web application called a workflow using the web browser, and can transmit image data of a document generated by reading a document captured by the ADF by the image reading device 20 to the server device 10. A workflow is a service that executes a series of processes using one web application (or application), and allows the user to execute a series of processes all at once with a few operations.

The image reading device 20 may also be a system in which, for example, a PC (personal computer) and a scanner device are separate. In this case, the scanner device is equipped with an ADF. The scanner device reads an original document in response to an instruction from the PC and transmits image data to the PC.

Note that from here on, when distinguishing between multiple image reading devices 20, they will be referred to using suffixes such as "image reading device 20A" and "image reading device 20B."

The server device 10 is realized by one or more information processing devices. In this embodiment, the server device 10 is not required. If the server device 10 is present, the operation history information of the ADF in each image reading device 20 is stored in the server device 10, and each image reading device 20 can obtain the frequency of use of the ADF of other devices from the server device 10.

The server device 10 may be realized by cloud computing or by a single information processing device. Cloud computing refers to a form in which resources on a network are used without being aware of specific hardware resources. The server device 10 may exist on the Internet or on-premise.

The external service system 40 is one or more information processing devices that provide services by storing, retrieving, or processing data when the server device 10 executes an application. In this embodiment, the external service system 40 is not essential. The "external" in the external service system 40 means that it is a system separate from the server device 10, but it does not necessarily have to be operated by a different company than the server device 10. For example, the same user may have different accounts on the external service system 40 and the server device 10.

Examples of the external service system 40 include, for example, a cloud service, an ASP (Application Service Provider), etc., and may include various external services provided via a network. For example, an example of a service is a storage service. The external service system 40 may exist on the Internet or on-premise.

In addition to the illustrated example, a terminal device may be connectable to the network N2. The terminal device is, for example, a desktop PC, a notebook PC, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, etc. used by a user. A web browser runs on the terminal device. The user can operate the terminal device to connect it to the image reading device 20 and transmit image data of a document captured by the ADF and read by the image reading device 20 to the terminal device.

<Hardware configuration example>
The hardware configuration of the image reading device 20 included in the equipment system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image reading device 20. As shown in Fig. 2, the image reading device 20 includes a controller 910, a short-range communication circuit 920, an engine control unit 930, an operation panel 940, and a network I/F 950.

Of these, the controller 910 has a CPU 901, which is the main part of the computer, a system memory (MEM-P) 902, a north bridge (NB) 903, a south bridge (SB) 904, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 906, a local memory (MEM-C) 907, which is a storage unit, a HDD controller 908, and a HD 909, which is also a storage unit, and is configured such that the NB 903 and the ASIC 906 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 921.

Of these, the CPU 901 is a control unit that performs overall control of the image reading device 20. The NB 903 is a bridge that connects the CPU 901 with the MEM-P 902, the SB 904, and the AGP bus 921, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 902, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) master, and an AGP target.

The MEM-P 902 is composed of a ROM 902a, which is a memory for storing programs and data that realize the various functions of the controller 910, and a RAM 902b, which is used for expanding the programs and data, and as a drawing memory during memory printing. The programs stored in the RAM 902b may be provided by recording them in an installable or executable format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, or DVD.

SB904 is a bridge for connecting NB903 with PCI devices and peripheral devices. ASIC906 is an IC (Integrated Circuit) for image processing applications that has hardware elements for image processing, and acts as a bridge connecting AGP bus921, PCI bus922, HDD controller908, and MEM-C907. This ASIC906 is composed of a PCI target and AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that is the core of ASIC906, a memory controller that controls MEM-C907, multiple DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) that rotate image data using hardware logic, and a PCI unit that transfers data between scanner unit931, printer unit932, and facsimile unit via PCI bus922. The ASIC 906 may have a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface or an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394 (IEEE 1394) interface.

MEM-C907 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and a code buffer. HD909 is a storage for storing image data, font data used during printing, and forms. HD909 controls the reading and writing of data from and to HD909 under the control of CPU901. AGP bus921 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed to speed up graphic processing, and by directly accessing MEM-P902 with high throughput, the graphics accelerator card can be made faster.

The short-range communication circuit 920 also includes a short-range communication circuit antenna 920a. The short-range communication circuit 920 is a communication circuit such as NFC or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

The engine control unit 930 further includes a scanner unit 931, a printer unit 932, and a facsimile unit 933. The operation panel 940 also includes a panel display unit 940a, such as a touch panel, that displays current settings and selection screens and receives input from the operator. The operation panel 940 includes hard keys 940b, such as a numeric keypad that receives settings for image formation conditions such as density settings, and a start key that receives a copy start command. The controller 910 controls the entire image reading device 20, and controls, for example, drawing, communication, and input from the operation panel 940. The scanner unit 931 or the printer unit 932 includes an image processing unit such as error diffusion and gamma conversion.

The scanner unit 931 is connected to the ADF 934. The scanner unit 931 and the ADF 934 may be integrated. In the case of single-sided reading, the scanner unit 931 requests the ADF 934 to take in the next document each time it reads one side, and continuously reads only one side of the document stack. In the case of double-sided reading and the ADF 934 is a one-pass double-sided ADF (the ADF has a scanner), the scanner unit 931 reads the document sent to the scanner unit 931 while the ADF 934 reads one side of the document. The scanner unit 931 receives image data from the ADF 934, and requests the ADF 934 to take in the next document each time it reads both sides of a sheet. In the case of double-sided reading and the ADF 934 is an automatic inversion ADF, the scanner unit 931 reads one side of the document sent from the ADF 934, and requests the ADF 934 to invert the document. The ADF 934 turns over the document and sends it to the scanner unit 931, which reads one side of the document sent from the ADF 934. After reading both sides of a document, the scanner unit 931 requests the ADF 934 to read the next document.

The image reading device 20 can sequentially switch between the document box function, copy function, print function, and facsimile function using the application switching key on the operation panel 940. When the document box function is selected, the image reading device 20 goes into document box mode, when the copy function is selected, the image reading device 20 goes into copy mode, when the print function is selected, the image reading device 20 goes into printer mode, and when the facsimile mode is selected, the image reading device 20 goes into facsimile mode.

The network I/F 950 is an interface for data communication using the network N2. The short-range communication circuit 920 and the network I/F 950 are electrically connected to the ASIC 906 via the PCI bus 922.

<About the function>
Next, the functional configuration of the image reading device 20 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image reading device 20 according to this embodiment.

The image reading device 20 has an operation panel control service 21, a scanner application 22, a reading control service 23, and a communication control service 24. Each functional unit of the image reading device 20 is a function or means realized by the CPU 901 shown in FIG. 2 executing instructions contained in one or more programs installed in the image reading device 20.

The image reading device 20 also has an initial setting information storage unit 25 and an operation history information storage unit 26. These storage units of the image reading device 20 are constructed in the HD 909, RAM 902b, etc. shown in FIG. 2. Note that these storage units may be constructed in the server device 10 or the external service system 40, instead of the image reading device 20.

The scanner application 22 is one of multiple applications that the user executes on the image reading device 20. The scanner application 22 sends image data of a scanned document as an attachment to an e-mail, or sends the data to a folder specified by the user. In other words, the scanner application 22 is an application that uses image data generated from a document by the reading control service 23. Note that while the scanner application 22 has been described here as a representative application that performs reading, the scanner application 22 may also be a copy application or a fax application.

The scanner application 22 has an information acquisition unit 31, a ratio calculation unit 32, a judgment unit 33, a display control unit 34, an ADF communication unit 35, and an authentication unit 36. The information acquisition unit 31 acquires device information and operation history information from other machines via the communication control service 24. The device information includes information on whether the machine is face-up or face-down. The operation history information of other machines is the portion for each other machine among those shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6.

The ratio calculation unit 32 calculates the ratio of "ADF/total" to the number of reading jobs on the own machine, and also calculates the ratio of "ADF/total" to the number of reading jobs on other machines. The "ADF/total" ratio is the ratio (proportion) of the number of reading jobs that use the ADF to the number of all reading jobs that use the scanner. Details will be described later.

In this embodiment, the determination unit 33 performs various determinations. For example, the determination unit 33 compares the above ratio with thresholds 1 and 2 (which are examples of the first threshold and the second threshold, respectively).

When the display control unit 34 detects a user's operation to use the ADF 934, it controls whether or not to display guidance on how to set the document on the operation panel 940 depending on whether face-up and face-down machines are mixed.

The ADF communication unit 35 communicates with the ADF 934 of the machine itself and receives notifications from the ADF 934, such as when the user has set a document.

The authentication unit 36 authenticates the user. The authentication unit 36 may request the authentication itself from an authentication server. The authentication unit 36 authenticates the user using a combination of a user name and password, biometric information, face authentication, an IC card, or the like. If the authentication is successful, the logged-in user is identified.

The operation panel control service 21 displays a screen that serves as a user interface on the operation panel 940. The operation panel control service 21 also accepts the user's selection of an application and settings for the application. The operation panel control service 21 notifies various applications of the contents of the user's operations that it has accepted.

The reading control service 23 operates the scanner unit 931 in response to an instruction from the scanner application 22 to read a document and generate image data. The reading control service 23 also notifies the scanner application 22 of the type of ADF 934 (face-up or face-down) that is connected when the main power is turned on.

The communication control service 24 connects to the network N2 and communicates with other devices and the server device 10. The communication control service 24 acquires device information and operation history information from other devices and transmits them to the scanner application 22.

<<Initial setting information storage section>>
4 shows an example of the initial setting information stored in the initial setting information storage unit 25. The initial setting information mainly includes information on whether face-up machines and face-down machines are mixed. Although it is called "initial", the initial setting information storage unit 25 does not necessarily include only information that is set at the time of startup, etc.
The item "mixed devices" indicates whether the customer environment is a mixed environment of face-up and face-down devices. The item "mixed devices" may be detected by the image reading device 20 or may be set by the user.
In the item of threshold 1, a threshold is set to be compared with the ratio of "ADF/whole" to determine whether or not to display guidance on how to load an original, regardless of whether or not there is a mixed environment of face-up and face-down machines. Threshold 1 may be set by the user or may be pre-coded in the program.
In the item of threshold 2, a threshold is set to be compared with the ratio of "ADF/whole" to determine whether or not to display guidance on how to load an original when the environment is a mixture of face-up and face-down machines. Threshold 2 may be set by the user or may be pre-coded in the program.

<<Operation History Information Storage Unit>>
FIG. 5 shows an example of operation history information stored in the operation history information storage unit 26 of the image reading device 20 when user authentication is not performed.
The user ID field is the user's identification information. If user authentication is not performed, all users are recorded as guest users.
・The user name field is the user's name, etc. If user authentication is not performed, all users will be recorded as guest users.
The item of the number of reading jobs in the own device is the total number of reading jobs that have been executed in the past by the image reading device 20 operated by the user.
The item of the number of reading jobs using the ADF 934 in the own device is the number of reading jobs that the image reading device 20 operated by the user has executed in the past using the ADF 934.
The item "Name of Other Device" is the model name of the other device acquired by the information acquisition unit 31 of the image reading device 20 via the network.
The type item of the ADF 934 of the other machine is the device information of the other machine (face-up machine, face-down machine) acquired by the information acquisition unit 31 of the image reading device 20 via the network.
The item of the number of reading jobs in other apparatuses is the number of all reading jobs previously executed by other apparatuses, which is acquired by the information acquisition unit 31 of the image reading device 20 via the network.
The item of the number of reading jobs using the ADF 934 in another device is the number of reading jobs that another device has previously executed using the ADF 934, which is acquired by the information acquisition unit 31 of the image reading device 20 via the network.

The items from the name of other devices to the number of reading jobs using ADF 934 on other devices exist for the number of other devices from which the information acquisition unit 31 of the image reading device 20 has acquired device information via the network.

Figure 6 shows an example of operation history information stored in the operation history information storage unit 26 of the image reading device 20 when user authentication is performed. As can be seen by comparing Figure 6 with Figure 5, the items in the operation history information storage unit 26 are the same regardless of whether user authentication is performed or not. However, when user authentication is performed, the user ID and user name items are recorded for the logged-in user. This allows the image reading device 20 to control whether to display or hide guidance for each user.

- For example, User A has performed two scan jobs on his/her own machine, but has never used ADF934. User A has also never used another machine.

- User B performed 10 scan jobs on his/her own machine, with one job using ADF934. User B has also used machine A, performing two scan jobs, both of which used ADF934. User B has never used machines B or C.

- User C performed five scan jobs on his/her own machine, four of which used ADF934. User C has also used other machine C, performing four scan jobs, one of which used ADF934. User C has never used other machines A or B.

- User D performed 10 scan jobs on his/her own machine, 4 of which used ADF934. User D has also used other machine B, performing 10 scan jobs, 9 of which used ADF934. User D has also used other machine C, performing 6 scan jobs, 4 of which used ADF934. User D has never used other machine A.

Therefore, the operation history information in Figure 6 makes it possible to know whether each of users A to D has used a face-up machine and a face-down machine, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 is a diagram that illustrates the operation history of the image reading device 20 and other devices when user authentication is performed. Based on the operation history information in Figure 6, Figure 7 shows whether each user has used a face-up device and a face-down device. Figure 7 illustrates the user's own device and other devices A to C (all image reading devices 20), and indicates whether users A to D have used each of the user's own device and other devices A to C.

For example, user A has only used a face-down machine. User B has used both a face-down machine and a face-up machine. User C has used both a face-down machine and a face-up machine. User D has used both a face-down machine and a face-up machine. In this way, the operation history of face-up and face-down machines is known for each user, so image reading device 20 can control whether to display or hide guidance for each user. Information such as that shown in FIG. 7 is used in the judgment in step S108 of FIG. 11, which will be described later.

<Guidance on how to place the original>
Next, a flow of the image reading device 20 displaying guidance on how to place a document will be described with reference to FIG.

S1: First, the image reading device 20 communicates with other devices in the network at startup (when the main power is turned on or when the device returns to power saving mode, etc.) and periodically to obtain device information and operation history information from the other devices. For this reason, the information acquisition unit 31 of the scanner application 22 requests the communication control service 24 to obtain information.

S2, S3: The communication control service 24 communicates with other devices A and B (for drawing purposes, there are two other devices, but three or more devices are acceptable) and obtains device information and operation history information. From the device information, it is possible to determine whether other devices A and B are face-up or face-down devices. In addition, the scanner application 22 can calculate the "ADF/total" ratio for other devices from the operation history information.

The communication control service 24 communicates with at least other devices in the same network. The same network refers to a network with the same network address. The communication control service 24 may communicate with other devices in the same LAN as its own device by broadcasting, or may obtain the IP addresses of devices in the network with an arp command and communicate with all IP addresses as destinations. The communication control service 24 communicates with other devices using communication protocols such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) or HTTP, and obtains device information, operation history information, etc.

S4: The communication control service 24 returns the acquired device information and operation history information to the information acquisition unit 31.

S5: The information acquisition unit 31 stores in the initial setting information storage unit 25 whether or not the environment contains a mixture of face-up and face-down machines based on the device information.

S6: The information acquisition unit 31 also stores the operation history information in the operation history information storage unit 26.

S7: Next, the user presses the scanner application icon on the user interface screen displayed on the operation panel 940 (see FIG. 12). The operation panel control service 21 accepts the press. If the image reading device 20 has user authentication, the authentication unit 36 authenticates the user before operation begins. A user who has been successfully authenticated is a logged-in user.

S8: The operation panel control service 21 notifies the scanner application 22 that the button (scanner application icon) to launch the scanner application 22 has been pressed.

S9: Upon receiving the notification, the scanner application 22 causes the display control unit 34 to request the operation panel control service 21 to display the reading settings screen. In response to the request, the operation panel control service 21 displays the reading settings screen on the operation panel 940.

S10: This causes the reading settings screen to be displayed on the operation panel 940 (see Figure 13).

S11: Next, the user places the document on the ADF 934. The ADF 934 detects the placement of the document using a sensor and notifies the scanner unit 931.

S12: The scanner unit 931 notifies the ADF communication unit 35 of the scanner application 22 that a document has been placed on the ADF 934.

S13: The judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 that received the notification obtains the initial setting information from the initial setting information storage unit 25 and determines whether or not the environment contains a mixture of face-up and face-down machines.

S14: The determination unit 33 also obtains information for calculating the "ADF/total" ratio from the operation history information storage unit 26.

The scanner application 22 requests the operation panel to display guidance on how to place a document in the ADF 934 in the following cases.
(i) When it is the first time that the user has used the ADF 934 to read an original document, including other devices If it is the first time that the user has used the ADF 934, including the user's own device and other devices, it is assumed that the user is not familiar with using the ADF 934, so image reading device 20 displays guidance.
(ii) When the ratio of "ADF/total" is less than the threshold in the own machine, if the ADF 934 is used infrequently in the own machine, apart from other machines, it is considered that the user is not accustomed to using the ADF 934 in the image reading device 20 that he or she is operating, so guidance is displayed.
(iii) In an environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed, when the ADF 934 is used less frequently on the own machine than on other machines In an environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed, when the other machines are using the ADF 934 to a certain extent but the own machine is not, it is likely that the user is not accustomed to using the ADF 934 on the own machine, so guidance is displayed.

S15: Details of the above determinations (i) to (iii) are described in FIG. 11. In any of the above cases (i) to (iii), the display control unit 34 of the scanner application 22 requests the operation panel control service 21 to display guidance on how to place the document in the ADF 934.

S16: The operation panel control service 21 causes the operation panel 940 to display guidance on how to place the document in the ADF 934.

When the user actually uses the ADF 934 to scan a document, the scanner application 22 records this in the operation history information storage unit 26 (increasing by one each the items for the number of scan jobs on the own machine and the number of scan jobs using the ADF 934 on the own machine).

<User settings for a mixed environment of face-up and face-down machines>
In the description of FIG. 8, the image reading device 20 automatically acquires device information from other nearby devices and determines whether or not the environment is a mixed environment of face-up and face-down devices. In contrast, whether or not the environment is a mixed environment of face-up and face-down devices can also be set by the user. That is, the user can set whether or not the environment is a mixed environment of face-up and face-down devices even if the image reading device 20 cannot acquire device information from other devices. In addition, the user can correct the setting by the image reading device 20 as to whether or not the environment is a mixed environment of face-up and face-down devices.

With reference to FIG. 9, the following describes the result of the determination made by the image reading device 20 as to whether or not the environment is a mixture of face-up and face-down machines, and how to manually change this. FIG. 9 shows a setting screen 200 displayed on the operation panel 940. The setting screen 200 has a detection result field 201 and a manual setting field 202. The detection result field 201 displays the result of the determination made by the image reading device 20 as to whether or not the environment is a mixture of face-up and face-down machines. The manual setting field 202 displays radio buttons 203 and 204 associated with "Yes" and "No". When the user manually sets that the environment is a mixture of face-up and face-down machines, the user presses the radio button 203 associated with "Yes", and when the user does not manually set the environment, the user presses the radio button 204 associated with "No".

Figure 9 (a) shows the initial setting screen 200 when the image reading device 20 has determined that the environment contains a mixture of face-up and face-down machines. The detection result field 201 indicates that there is a mixture. If the user wishes to change the indication that there is a mixture, the user can select the radio button 203 associated with "Yes" in the manual setting field 202.

Figure 9 (b) shows the setting screen 200 in the case where the image reading device 20 has determined that the environment is not a mixture of face-up and face-down machines, but the user has manually set it to be a mixture of face-up and face-down machines. Radio buttons 205 and 206 associated with "mixed" and "not mixed" are displayed only when the user selects the radio button 203 associated with "Yes".

The setting screen 200 in FIG. 9 can be displayed when a customer engineer installs the image reading device 20, or when a user sets up whether or not the environment is a mixture of face-up and face-down machines at any time.
The advantage of being able to set manually in this way is that the image reading device 20 can display guidance even in the following cases.
(1) Case where the image reading device 20 is not connected to the network N2
(2) Cases where information cannot be obtained via the network because the other device is a device of another company, etc.
(3) Cases where image reading devices 20 with different types of ADF 934 are installed outside the same network In either of these cases, the image reading device 20 cannot obtain device information from other devices, so it cannot automatically determine whether or not it is an environment where face-up and face-down devices are mixed. In addition, although the image reading device 20 automatically determines whether or not it is an environment where face-up and face-down devices are mixed, another advantage is that the user can correct this.

<Guidance display when user authentication is enabled>
Next, the flow of displaying guidance on how to set a document when user authentication is performed will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining the process in which the image reading device 20 displays guidance on how to set a document. The explanation of Fig. 10 will mainly focus on the differences from Fig. 8. In Fig. 10, steps S21 and S22 have been added, and the conditions for displaying the guidance are different.

S21: The information acquisition unit 31 of the scanner application 22 acquires operation history information for each image reading device 20 and for each user, and stores the information in the operation history information storage unit 26. Note that even if there are many image reading devices 20 in a large office or the like, it is estimated that the number of image reading devices 20 used by each user is limited to a few within the user's range of movement, so a huge amount of storage space is not required to store the operation history information.

S22: The judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 obtains operation history information associated with the user ID of the logged-in user from the operation history information storage unit 26.

In step S15, the conditions under which the scanner application 22 displays the guidance are as follows.
(iv) When the logged-in user is using the ADF934 for scanning for the first time
(v) If the logged-in user does not frequently scan using the ADF934 on his/her own device
(vi) In an environment where the logged-in user is using a mixture of face-up and face-down devices, the logged-in user scans less frequently using the ADF 934 on his/her own device compared to other devices. Under these conditions, guidance can be displayed effectively based on the percentage of "ADF/Overall" on the logged-in user's own device and the percentage of "ADF/Overall" on other devices.

<Details on deciding whether to display or hide guidance>
Next, the details of the process by which the scanner application 22 determines whether or not to display guidance will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the process by which the determination unit 33 determines whether or not to display guidance. First, a general determination will be described with a flow chart, and then an example of determination using the operation history information in Figs. 5 and 6 will be described. Fig. 11 may be common to both cases with and without user authentication. In the case of without user authentication, the acquisition and determination of operation history information will be made by the guest user, and in the case of with user authentication, they will be made by the logged-in user.

First, the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether the information acquisition unit 31 has acquired device information and operation history information of other devices (S101). That is, it is judged whether the communication control service 24 has communicated with other devices via the network and received device information and operation history information. If the judgment unit 33 has received device information and operation history information of at least one other device, it may judge step S101 as Yes. Alternatively, the judgment unit 33 may compare the number of other devices from which information has been acquired with a fixed threshold value to judge whether device information and operation history information of other devices has been acquired.

When the user manually sets whether or not the environment contains a mixture of face-up and face-down machines on the setting screen 200, the device information is determined to have been "obtained." If the determination in step S101 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S102, and if the determination is No, the process proceeds to step S108. Therefore, when proceeding to step S102, the decision as to whether or not to display the guidance is made based only on the information of the own machine.

If the device information and operation history information of the other device cannot be obtained (Yes in S101), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether the own device has an operation history of scanning using the ADF 934, or whether the logged-in user has an operation history of scanning using the ADF 934 on the own device (S102). In step S102, it is judged whether the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF on the own device" in the operation history information is "0". If the judgment in step S102 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and if the judgment in step S102 is No, the process proceeds to step S104.

If the own device or the logged-in user has no operation history of scanning using the ADF 934 on the own device (Yes in S102), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges that guidance should be displayed (S103). Therefore, the display control unit 34 causes the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.

If the own machine or the logged-in user has an operation history of scanning using the ADF 934 on the own machine (No in S102), the ratio calculation unit 32 of the scanner application 22 calculates the "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scanning jobs on the own machine, and the judgment unit 33 judges whether the ratio is less than threshold 1 (e.g., 30%) (S104). In step S104, the ratio of the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF on the own machine" (an example of the second job number) to the "number of scanning jobs on the own machine" (an example of the first job number) in the operation history information is compared with threshold 1. If the judgment in step S104 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and if No, the process proceeds to step S105.

If the "ADF/Entire" ratio is less than threshold 1 (e.g., 30%) (Yes in S104), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges that guidance should be displayed (S103). Therefore, the display control unit 34 causes the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.

If the "ADF/Overall" ratio is not less than threshold 1 (e.g., 30%) (No in S104), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether the item for mixed devices in the initial setting information is "Y" (S105). If the judgment in step S105 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S106, and if the judgment is No, the process proceeds to step S107.

If the mixed device item in the initial setting information is not "Y" (No in S105), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges not to display guidance (S107). Therefore, the display control unit 34 does not cause the operation panel control service 21 to display guidance.

If the mixed device item in the initial setting information is "Y" (Yes in S105), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether the "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scanning jobs on the own machine, or the "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scanning jobs on the logged-in user's own machine is less than threshold 2 (e.g., 50%) (S106). In step S106, the ratio of the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF on the own machine" (an example of the second job number) to the "number of scanning jobs on the own machine" (an example of the first job number) in the operation history information is compared with threshold 2. If the judgment in step S106 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and if No, the process proceeds to step S107.

If the ratio of "ADF/whole" in the own device is less than threshold value 2 (e.g., 50%) (Yes in S106), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges that guidance should be displayed (S103). Therefore, the display control unit 34 causes the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.
In other words, since this is an environment that contains a mixture of face-up and face-down machines, by making Threshold 2 larger than Threshold 1, guidance is displayed even if the ratio of "ADF/Overall" on the machine itself is somewhat large.

If the "ADF/Entire" ratio is not less than threshold value 2 (e.g., 30%) (No in S106), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges that the guidance should not be displayed (S107). Therefore, the display control unit 34 does not cause the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.

Next, moving to the right side of the flowchart, we will explain what happens when the information acquisition unit 31 is able to acquire information about other devices.

In step S108 (if information on the other device has been acquired), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether there is no operation history of the ADF 934 on the own device or the other device, or whether the logged-in user has no operation history of the ADF 934 on the own device or the other device (S108). In step S108, as shown in FIG. 7, it is judged whether the "number of reading jobs using the ADF on the own device" or the "number of reading jobs using the ADF on the other device" in the operation history information is "0". If the judgment in step S108 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and if No, the process proceeds to step S109.

If there is no operation history using the ADF 934 on the own device or the other device (Yes in S108), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges that guidance should be displayed (S103). Therefore, the display control unit 34 causes the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.

If there is an operation history using the ADF 934 in the own machine or another machine (No in S108), the ratio calculation unit 32 of the scanner application 22 calculates the ratio of "ADF/total" of the number of scanning jobs in the own machine, and the judgment unit 33 judges whether the ratio is less than threshold 1 (e.g., 30%) (S109). In step S109, the ratio of the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF in the own machine" (an example of the second number of jobs) to the "number of scanning jobs in the own machine" (an example of the first number of jobs) in the operation history information is compared with threshold 1. In the case of user authentication, the ratio of the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF in the own machine" (an example of the second number of jobs) to the "number of scanning jobs in the own machine" (an example of the first number of jobs) by the logged-in user is compared with threshold 1. If the judgment in step S109 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and if No, the process proceeds to step S110.

If the "ADF/whole" ratio is less than threshold 1, the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges that guidance should be displayed (S103). Therefore, the display control unit 34 causes the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.

If the ratio of "ADF/total" is not less than threshold 1, the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether there is another machine with a different type of ADF 934 attached to the own machine (S110). In step S110, the "ADF type of other machine" in the operation history information is referenced to judge whether it is the same as the ADF type of the own machine. If user authentication is present, a comparison is made with the "ADF type of other machine" that the logged-in user has used. If the judgment in step S110 is Yes, processing proceeds to step S111, and if No, processing proceeds to step S107.

If there is no other device with a different type of ADF 934 attached (No in S110), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges not to display the guidance (S107). Therefore, the display control unit 34 does not cause the operation panel control service 21 to display the guidance.

If there is another machine with a different type of ADF 934 than the own machine (Yes in S110), the judgment unit 33 of the scanner application 22 judges whether the "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scanning jobs on the own machine is lower than the ratio on the other machine with a different type of ADF 934 (S111). In step S111, the ratio of the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF on the own machine" (an example of the second number of jobs) to the "number of scanning jobs on the own machine" (an example of the first number of jobs) in the operation history information is compared with the ratio of the "number of scanning jobs using the ADF on the other machine" (an example of the fourth number of jobs) to the "number of scanning jobs on the other machine" (an example of the third number of jobs). If user authentication is performed, the operation history information of the other machine that the logged-in user has used is used.

For example, in a case where the ratio of the own machine is low, i.e., the other machines often use ADF934 but the own machine does not use it much, the judgment unit 33 judges that the guidance should be displayed. In the opposite case, the judgment unit 33 judges that the guidance should not be displayed. If the judgment in step S111 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and if the judgment in step S111 is No, the process proceeds to step S107.

As an example, threshold 1 is set to 30% and threshold 2 is set to 50%, but these are only examples and the thresholds may be different values. Thresholds 1 and 2 may be hard-coded into the program, or may be set as settings in the initial settings so that the user can change them as desired.

<Explanation based on specific data in the flowchart of FIG. 11>
<<When face-up and face-down machines are mixed in the environment and information on other machines cannot be obtained>>
The control of displaying or hiding the guidance in this case will be described with reference to the initial setting information in FIG. 4 and the operation history information in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 as examples.

(1) When User Authentication is Not Used First, according to the operation history information in FIG. 5, the ratio of “ADF/total” in the number of reading jobs is as follows:
The "ADF/total" ratio for your aircraft is 32/54 = 59%
Therefore, it is determined that step S102 is No, step S104 is No, step S105 is Yes, and step S106 is No. Therefore, no guidance is displayed.

(2) Case where User Authentication is Present The following will be described based on the operation history information shown in FIG.
- The "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scan jobs on User A's own device is 0/2 = 0%.
In the case of user A, the result of step S102 is No and the result of step S104 is Yes, so that guidance is displayed.
- The ratio of "ADF/total" to the number of scan jobs on User B's own device is 1/10 = 10%.
In the case of User B, the result of step S102 is No and the result of step S104 is Yes, so that the guidance is displayed.
- The ratio of "ADF/total" to the number of scan jobs on User C's own device is 4/5 = 80%.
In the case of User C, it is determined that step S102 is No, step S104 is No, step S105 is Yes, and step S106 is No. Therefore, no guidance is displayed.
- The "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scan jobs on User D's own device is 4/10 = 40%.
For User D, it is determined that step S102 is No, step S104 is No, step S105 is Yes, and step S106 is Yes, so guidance is displayed.

<<When you can obtain information from other machines in a mixed environment of face-up and face-down machines>>
The control of displaying and hiding the guidance in this case will be described with reference to the initial setting information in FIG. 4 and the operation history information in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 as examples.

(1) When User Authentication is Not Used First, according to the operation history information in FIG. 5, the ratio of “ADF/total” in the number of reading jobs is as follows:
The "ADF/total" ratio for your aircraft is 32/54 = 59%
The combined "ADF/total" ratio of A and B is (29+27) / (47+34) = 69%
Based on these values, it is determined that step S108 is No, step S109 is No, step S110 is Yes, and step S111 is Yes, so guidance is displayed.

(2) Case where User Authentication is Present The following will be described based on the operation history information shown in FIG.
In the case of user A, the answer is determined as Yes in step S108, and guidance is displayed.
- The ratio of "ADF/total" to the number of scan jobs on User B's own device is 1/10 = 10%.
Therefore, in the case of User B, it is determined No in step S108 and Yes in step S109, and guidance is displayed.
- The "ADF/total" ratio of the number of scan jobs on User C's own machine is 4/5 = 80%, and the ratio for other machines is 1/4 = 25%.
In the case of user C, the determination is No in step S108, No in step S109, Yes in step S110, and No in step S111, and no guidance is displayed.
- User D's share of the player's own machine is 4/10 = 40%, and the share of other machines is (9+4)/(10+6) = 81%.
In the case of user D, the determination is No in step S108, No in step S109, Yes in step S110, and Yes in step S111, and the guidance is displayed.

<Example of guidance display>
12 shows an example of an application selection screen 240 displayed on the operation panel. A copy application icon 241, a scanner application icon 242, a fax application icon 243, and a document box application icon 244 are displayed on the application selection screen 240. When the user presses the scanner application icon 242, the reading setting screen 210 is displayed.

Figure 13 shows the reading settings screen 210 and guidance displayed on the operation panel when reading a document. Figure 13 (a) shows the reading settings screen 210. The reading settings screen 210 has a reading condition setting field 211, an automatic density field 212, a document feed field 213, and a file format field 214.

When the user presses the reading condition setting field 211, a screen for setting reading conditions such as resolution and color is displayed. When the user presses the automatic density field 212, the function for automatically adjusting density is turned on (reversed). When the user presses the document feed field 213, a screen for the user to specify whether to read one side or both sides of the document is displayed. When the user presses the file format field 214, a screen for setting the file format of the image data (PDF, JPEG, etc.) is displayed.

The reading settings screen 210 also has email sending settings 215 and folder sending settings 216. When email sending settings 215 are selected, a destination list 218 is displayed, and the email address of a destination user selected by the user in the destination list 218 is displayed in an email address field 217. When folder sending settings 216 are selected, a list of folders such as shared folders is displayed, and when the user selects a folder from the list, that folder is displayed in the field that replaces the email address field 217.

If the scanner application 22 determines that guidance should be displayed, and the user places a document on the ADF 934 (when the reading setting screen 210 is displayed), the operation panel control service 21 displays a pop-up guidance on the reading setting screen 210. Therefore, when the reading setting screen 210 is displayed, placing a document on the ADF 934 corresponds to detecting an operation to use the ADF 934.

Figure 13(b) shows an example of guidance 220 for a face-down machine. This guidance 220 displays a message 221 saying, "Please place the document on this machine's ADF so that the front side of the first page of the document faces downwards." It also displays an image 222 of how to place the document. This allows the user to set the document in the correct way on this image reading device 20.

Figure 13(c) shows an example of guidance 230 for a face-up machine. This guidance 230 displays a message 231 saying, "Please place the document in this machine's ADF so that the front of the first page of the document is facing up." It also displays an image 232 of how to place the document. This allows the user to set the document in the correct way on this image reading device 20.

Note that if the user places a document on the ADF 934 before displaying the read setting screen 210 in FIG. 13(a), the guidance 220, 230 is displayed at the time the user displays the read setting screen 210 in FIG. 13(a). In other words, the read setting screen 210 is displayed with the guidance 220, 230 displayed as a pop-up. Therefore, when a document is placed on the ADF 934, pressing the scanner application icon 242 in FIG. 12 corresponds to the detection of an operation to use the ADF 934.

The content of the guidance may be different depending on whether the user places a document on the ADF 934 before displaying the reading setting screen 210 or after displaying the screen. For example, if the user places a document on the ADF 934 before displaying the reading setting screen 210, the display control unit 34 displays a message such as "Is the document set incorrectly?" In this way, adding a message prompting confirmation increases the likelihood that the user will check the setting method of a document that has already been set.

<Major Effects>
In an environment where face-up and face-down machines are mixed, the image reading device 20 of the present embodiment can reduce mistakes in the way documents are set by controlling whether to display or hide the guidance by the image reading device 20. In addition, the image reading device can reduce annoyance to the user by controlling whether to display or hide the guidance depending on the frequency of use of the ADF by the user.

<Other application examples>
The above describes the best mode for carrying out the present invention using examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples in any way, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, the image reading device 20 has an initial setting storage unit and an operation history information storage unit 26, but the server device 10 may hold these. In this case, the image reading device 20 obtains the initial setting information and operation history information from the server device 10 at startup (when the main power is turned on or when returning from energy saving mode, etc.) and periodically. Therefore, it is not necessary for each image reading device 20 to communicate with other devices and obtain the initial setting information and operation history information from the server device 10.

The example of the guidance display in FIG. 13 is just one example, and the image reading device 20 may transmit the guidance to a user's smartphone or the like, and the smartphone may display the guidance.

The configuration examples in Figure 3 and other figures are divided according to the main functions to make it easier to understand the processing by the image reading device 20. The method of dividing the processing units or the names of the processing units does not limit the present invention. The processing by the image reading device 20 can be divided into even more processing units depending on the processing content. It can also be divided so that one processing unit includes even more processes.

Each function of the embodiments described above can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, and devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP (Digital Signal Processor), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and conventional circuit modules designed to execute each function described above.

<Additional Notes>
[Appendix 1]
An automatic document reader;
a storage unit that stores mixed information indicating whether the automatic document reading device includes image reading devices having different document setting methods;
a display control unit that, when detecting an operation for using the automatic document reading device, guides a user on a method for setting the document in accordance with the mixed information;
An image reading device having the above structure.
[Appendix 2]
When the mixed information indicates that image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed, the display control unit displays the document setting methods,
2. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein, when the mixture information indicates that image reading devices having different document setting methods are not present, the display control unit does not display the document setting method.
[Appendix 3]
The storage unit stores information regarding whether the machine has previously read an original using the automatic original reading device,
The image reading device described in Appendix 1 or 2, wherein when the mixture information indicates that there are image reading devices having different methods of setting the document even if the device itself has previously used the automatic document reading device to read a document, the display control unit displays the method of setting the document.
[Appendix 4]
The storage unit stores the number of all first jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
A ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value, and
According to the mixed information, when image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed,
4. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays a method for setting the document.
[Appendix 5]
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value;
According to the mixed information, image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed, and
5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a step of displaying a method for setting the document when a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is less than a second threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value.
[Appendix 6]
An authentication unit that authenticates a user,
the storage unit stores, for each of the users, the number of all first jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
For the logged in user,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value;
According to the mixed information, image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed, and
The image reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a step of displaying a method for setting the document when a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is less than a second threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value.
[Appendix 7]
an information acquisition unit that acquires device information related to the automatic document reading device from another device that can communicate with the automatic document reading device via a network;
the information acquisition unit stores in the mixed information information that the other apparatus has a different document setting method from the own apparatus;
the display control unit, when the other apparatus having a different document setting method from the own apparatus is mixed, displays the document setting method,
2. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the method for setting the document is not displayed when the other device having a different method for setting the document from the self device is not mixed.
[Appendix 8]
The storage unit stores information regarding whether the machine has previously read an original using the automatic original reading device,
The image reading device described in Appendix 7, wherein, even if the own device has previously read an original using the automatic original reading device, when the mixture information indicates that the own device and another device have a different method of setting the original, the display control unit displays the method of setting the original.
[Appendix 9]
The storage unit stores the number of all first jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
A ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value, and
According to the mixed information, when the other machine having a different document setting method from the self machine is mixed,
9. The image reading device according to claim 7, wherein the display control unit displays a method for setting the document.
[Appendix 10]
the information acquisition unit acquires, from another apparatus that can communicate via a network, a total number of third jobs in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past and a fourth job number in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value;
According to the mixed information, the other machine having a different document setting method from the own machine is mixed, and
An image reading device as described in Appendix 9, which displays a method for setting the document when the ratio of the number of second jobs to the number of first jobs in the own device is lower than the ratio of the number of fourth jobs to the number of third jobs in another device.
[Appendix 11]
An authentication unit that authenticates a user,
the information acquisition unit acquires, from another apparatus capable of communicating via a network, the number of all first jobs in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
the storage unit stores, for each of the users, the number of all first jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
For the logged in user,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of second jobs to the number of first jobs of the own machine is not less than a first threshold value,
According to the mixed information, the other machine having a different document setting method from the own machine is mixed, and
An image reading device as described in any one of Appendices 7 to 9, which displays a method for setting the document when the ratio of the number of second jobs to the number of first jobs in the own device is lower than the ratio of the number of second jobs to the number of first jobs in another device.

20 Image reading device 22 Scanner application

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-044561

Claims (14)

An automatic document reader;
a storage unit that stores mixed information indicating whether the automatic document reading device includes image reading devices having different document setting methods;
a display control unit that, when detecting an operation for using the automatic document reading device, guides a user on a method for setting the document in accordance with the mixed information;
An image reading device having the above structure. When the mixed information indicates that image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed, the display control unit displays the document setting methods,
The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein when the mixture information indicates that image reading devices having different document setting methods are not present, the display control unit does not display the document setting method. The storage unit stores information regarding whether the machine has previously read an original using the automatic original reading device,
The image reading device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the mixed information indicates that there are image reading devices having different methods of setting the document, even if the image reading device itself has previously read a document using the automatic document reading device, the display control unit displays the method of setting the document. The storage unit stores the number of all first jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
A ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value, and
According to the mixed information, when image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed,
The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the display control unit displays a method for setting the document. The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value;
According to the mixed information, image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed, and
The image reading apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein when the ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is less than a second threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value, a method for setting the document is displayed. An authentication unit that authenticates a user,
the storage unit stores, for each of the users, the number of all first jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
For the logged in user,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value;
According to the mixed information, image reading devices having different document setting methods are mixed, and
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when the ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is less than a second threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value, a method for setting the document is displayed. an information acquisition unit that acquires device information related to the automatic document reading device from another device that can communicate with the automatic document reading device via a network;
the information acquisition unit stores in the mixed information information that the other apparatus has a different document setting method from the own apparatus;
the display control unit, when the other apparatus having a different document setting method from the own apparatus is mixed, displays the document setting method,
2. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein when the other device having a different document setting method from the image reading device itself is not present, the document setting method is not displayed. The storage unit stores information regarding whether the machine has previously read an original using the automatic original reading device,
The image reading device of claim 7, wherein when the self-device has previously read a document using the automatic document reading device, but the mixture information indicates that the self-device and the other device have a different method of setting the document, the display control unit displays the method of setting the document. The storage unit stores the number of all first jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
A ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value, and
According to the mixed information, when the other machine having a different document setting method from the self machine is mixed,
The image reading device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the display control unit displays a method for setting the document. the information acquisition unit acquires, from another apparatus that can communicate via a network, a total number of third jobs in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past and a fourth job number in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs is not less than a first threshold value;
According to the mixed information, the other machine having a different document setting method from the own machine is mixed, and
10. The image reading device according to claim 9, further comprising: a display unit configured to display a method for setting the document when a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs in the own device is lower than a ratio of the number of the fourth jobs to the number of the third jobs in the other device. An authentication unit that authenticates a user,
the information acquisition unit acquires, from another apparatus capable of communicating via a network, the number of all first jobs in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the other apparatus has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
the storage unit stores, for each of the users, the number of all first jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past and the number of second jobs in which the own machine has read documents in the past using the automatic document reading device;
For the logged in user,
The machine has previously used the automatic document reading device to read documents,
a ratio of the number of second jobs to the number of first jobs of the own machine is not less than a first threshold value,
According to the mixed information, the other machine having a different document setting method from the own machine is mixed, and
8. The image reading device according to claim 7, further comprising a display unit that displays a method for setting the document when a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs in the image reading device itself is lower than a ratio of the number of the second jobs to the number of the first jobs in the image reading device. displaying whether or not the other apparatuses having different document setting methods from the own apparatus, which is acquired by the information acquisition unit, are mixed;
8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a change acceptance unit that accepts a change from a user as to whether or not the other apparatus having a different document setting method from the image reading apparatus is present. An image reading device having an automatic document reading device,
Based on information on whether the environment includes a mixture of image reading devices having different document setting methods for the automatic document reading device,
a display control unit that, when detecting an operation for using the automatic document reading device, guides a user on a method for setting the document in accordance with the mixed information;
A program that functions as a A guiding method performed by an image reading device having an automatic document reading device, comprising:
Based on a storage unit that stores mixed information on whether the environment includes a mixed image reading device having a different method of setting the document on the automatic document reading device,
a process of guiding a method for setting the document in accordance with the mixed information when an operation for using the automatic document reading device is detected;
A guidance method for carrying out the above.