JP6211904B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that receives an operation on a touch panel and executes a corresponding function.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus, a copy button is displayed on a touch panel, and when the copy button is touched by a user, a copy operation is started and the display of the copy button is changed to “copy stop”. It was. With this change, the user can operate without being confused even when the copying operation is interrupted. On the other hand, some users may hit the copy button repeatedly when instructing to start copying. In such a case, even if the display is changed to “Cancel Copy” during repeated hitting, it is not noticed. On the other hand, there is a case where copying is erroneously instructed.

  Patent Document 1 describes a technique for effectively preventing the occurrence of such an erroneous touch operation. That is, after the copy button is pressed, the copy button is switched to the display of the copy cancel button, while the acceptance to the copy cancel button is invalidated for a certain period of time. By intervening such a reception invalid time, it becomes possible to effectively prevent erroneous touches caused by repeated hits.

JP 2013-3749 A

  However, in a situation where a large number of users use one image forming apparatus, considering an individual difference among users, an appropriate invalid time is set so as not to impair the operability of each user. Is not easy.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and by setting the first operation to the first button before switching and the second operation to the second button after switching in a different manner. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that prevents erroneous acceptance of the first operation to the second button.

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays a button previously associated with a function, an operation unit that is disposed on the display unit and that receives a touch sensor that receives an operation from the outside, and the display When a first operation on the first button displayed at a predetermined position of the unit is accepted, execution of the first process associated with the first button is permitted, while execution of the first process is performed. After the permission, the second button is displayed corresponding to the position where the first button is displayed on the display unit, and the second button has a mode different from the mode of the first operation. When the second operation is received, the control unit instructs the execution of the second process that is associated with the second button and cancels the permission of the execution of the first process.

  According to the present invention, when the first operation on the first button is accepted, execution of the first process associated with the first button is permitted. Next, a second button is displayed corresponding to the position where the first button of the display unit was displayed. In this state, the second button of a mode different from the mode of the first operation to the second button is displayed. When the operation is accepted, execution of the second process that cancels the permission to execute the first process associated with the second button is instructed. Therefore, the operation on the first button and the operation on the second button can be performed in different modes, and erroneous acceptance of the first operation on the second button is prevented. The second button only needs to be identified or recognized as being associated with a function different from that of the first button, and may be an icon different from the first button. Other information may be written or additionally displayed.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first process is a predetermined operation for outputting information, and the second process is a process for interrupting the predetermined operation. It is characterized by. According to this configuration, when the second button is switched and displayed following the first button, erroneous acceptance to the second button is prevented even if a continuous operation is performed. .

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first process performs a predetermined setting for information to be processed, and the second process clears the predetermined setting. It is a process. According to this configuration, when a predetermined setting is performed on information to be processed through a first operation on the first button, and the second button is displayed after the predetermined setting. In this case, a predetermined setting for the information to be processed is cleared by the second operation on the second button. Therefore, a clear instruction to only a predetermined setting for information to be processed is easily performed. In addition, by changing the operation mode, the setting instruction and the clear instruction are not confused or misidentified.

  The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising customization means for selecting a mode of the second operation from a plurality of modes. According to this configuration, as the second operation mode, it is possible to select a movement close to the user's familiarity (gesture) or a favorite one, so that the operability is improved.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the customization unit can select a mode of the second operation for each type of the second processing. According to this configuration, since the second operation mode can be set for each type of the second process, it is possible to associate an appropriate operation mode corresponding to the type of the process, and the operability is improved.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a user identification unit that identifies a user, wherein the customization unit can select the second operation mode for each user. According to this configuration, each user can select a familiar operation mode, so that operability is improved.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first operation is an external contact / separation operation, and the second operation is at least one-dimensional movement from the outside. It is an operation. According to this configuration, the second operation can be clearly different from the first operation such as a pressing operation.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent the second button after the switching display from being erroneously operated by the first operation.

1 is a partial perspective view of an image forming apparatus to which an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram explaining the function of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen of the display part in 1st Example of a function execution process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen when a start button is pressed in the screen of FIG. It is a flowchart of the function execution process I which is a 1st Example of a function execution process. It is a flowchart of the dialog processing part at the time of interposing dialog processing in the function execution processing I. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen of the display part in 2nd Example of a function execution process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen switched by pressing the page aggregation button in the screen of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen switched by pressing OK button in the screen of FIG. It is a flowchart of the function execution process II which is a 2nd Example of a function execution process. 10 is a flowchart of a dialog processing part when dialog processing is interposed in function execution processing II. It is a flowchart which shows the customization process with respect to the aspect of a 2nd operation.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment to which an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied includes a casing 1A having a predetermined shape, for example, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a document in the inside thereof. Each unit includes a reading process, an image forming process, and an information communication process. Although omitted in FIG. 1, an automatic document feeder for automatically feeding a plurality of placed documents one by one to the optical document reading position on the document table 1B is provided at the top of the housing 1A. Is mounted in a state where the document table 1B can be opened and closed. At an appropriate position of the housing 1A, for example, a front portion of the upper surface (lower right direction in FIG. 1), a touch panel 10 as an operation portion having a substantially horizontal surface portion is disposed so as to protrude. The touch panel 10 includes a display unit 11 having a predetermined shape, for example, a rectangular display surface, and a transparent touch sensor 12 (see FIG. 2) such as a pressure sensitive element stacked on the display surface of the display unit 11.

  As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In addition to the touch panel 10, a storage unit 30, a communication unit 40, a document reading unit 50 that optically reads a document image, and an image forming unit 60 that copies and outputs a document image are connected to the control unit 20. The communication unit 40 transmits a document image by facsimile to another device using a telephone line or transfers it to another device using a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The storage unit 30 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM stores a control program executed by the control unit 20 and data necessary for processing, and the RAM is in the middle of processing. These data are temporarily stored.

  The control unit 20 includes a display control unit 21, an operation reception unit 22, a function execution processing unit 23, a customization unit 24, and a user identification unit 25.

  The display control unit 21 displays various screens on the display unit 11. Various screens are hierarchically prepared in advance corresponding to operations, and include various buttons as virtual operation members. A function is associated with each button in advance. The functions include those related to information processing and those related to job (operation) processing. Information processing is, for example, processing for associating conditions in the copy mode (including parameters such as copy density and scale ratio) with the copy mode, and processing for associating the transmission destination in data transmission with the transmission data. Information processing settings are temporarily stored in the storage unit 30. The job processing includes copying, facsimile, data transmission, and the like, and whether or not the job is being executed (operating) is written in the storage unit 30 with a flag or the like, for example.

  The operation accepting unit 22 accepts the presence / absence of an operation with the user's finger or the like on the button displayed on the display unit 11. By storing the display coordinates of the displayed buttons and the position information of the touch sensor 12 in advance in the storage unit 30, it is possible to detect which button is touched from the touch position. In addition to the pressing operation (first operation) on the touch sensor 12, the operation accepting unit 22 reciprocates the finger in either direction (for example, the left-right direction) in an operating mode different from the pressing operation, for example, in the pressed state. An operation (second operation) such as a swipe to be moved can be detected through time-dependent position detection.

  The function execution processing unit 23 executes a function corresponding to the received button, and the correspondence relationship is stored in the storage unit 30 in advance. The execution of the function is processed by the corresponding command.

  The customization unit 24 prepares a plurality of types of second operation modes in advance, and allows any one to be selected and set as the second operation. For example, a customization button is displayed in the initial screen, and when this customization button is pressed, the screen is switched to the customization screen so that a desired mode can be selected. The selection result is associated with the second operation.

  The user identification unit 25 is necessary when the customization process can be set for each user. For example, the user identification unit 25 accepts a password for each user on the initial screen, and permits the operation with the user recognized. It is a thing. The user identification may be a mode in which the user information is read in proximity to each other via a portable card or the like of each person storing the user identification information in addition to inputting a password.

  Next, a first embodiment of the function execution process will be described with reference to FIGS. The first example of the function execution process (function execution process I) assumes a job for reading and copying a document as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example. When the copy mode button is selected from the initial screen (not shown), the screen of FIG. 3 is switched and displayed. On the display surface 110 of the display unit 11, buttons and the like for setting conditions (including parameters) such as job finish are displayed. An icon 111 indicating the job status is displayed on the upper right side of the display surface 110, setting buttons 112 for setting various reading conditions such as the reading density and resolution of the original are displayed on the left side, and the setting buttons 112 are further displayed. The other function button 113 is displayed in the lower part. The other function button 113 is for notifying that further functions are prepared on the next screen according to the number of types of functions in each layer. In this embodiment, in addition to FIG. Is displayed. Further, on the lower right side, a start button 114 having a predetermined shape, in this case a relatively large rectangle or the like as compared with other buttons, is displayed. In addition, although other buttons are displayed on the display surface 110, descriptions of those not directly related to the copy operation are omitted.

  In FIG. 3, when the start button 114 is pressed (first operation), a copy operation is permitted, that is, the document is read by the document reading unit 50, and the read document is transmitted to the image forming unit 60. The When the start button 114 is pressed, the display surface 110 notifies that the document is being read, that is, is being transmitted (from the document reading unit 50 to the image forming unit 60). Switch to In FIG. 4, the icon 111 in FIG. 3 indicating the job status is changed to an icon 121 for notifying that transmission is in progress, and a large-sized window 122 is overlaid on the approximate center of the display surface 110. The window 122 is for informing the progress of the job, for example.

  Further, on the display surface 110, the start button 114 of FIG. 3 is changed and displayed as a reading stop button 123 for instructing reading stop. On the reading stop button 123, a mark 124 for teaching a left / right swipe operation (second operation) is displayed together as necessary. When it is detected that the user performs a swipe operation in the display area of the reading stop button 123 during job execution, the job is interrupted even during execution. When the job is completed without being interrupted, the display screen 110 returns from the screen of FIG. 4 to a predetermined screen, for example, FIG. 3, and the reading stop button 123 is also hidden.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the function execution process I shifts to the copy job basic screen (FIG. 3) when the copy mode button in the initial screen is pressed (step S11), and executes the copy job. Various necessary conditions are set through the respective buttons (step S13).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the start button 114 has been pressed (turned on) (first operation has been performed) (step S15). If not, the process returns to step S13 to set necessary conditions. Is called. If the start button 114 is pressed in step S15, the execution of the job is permitted, that is, started according to the set condition (step S17). Subsequently, the start button 114 is switched to the reading stop button 123 and displayed (step S19). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not a swipe operation (second operation) has been performed on the reading stop button 123 (step S21). If the swipe operation has not been performed, it is determined whether or not the job has been completed (step S23). If the job has been completed, this flow ends. If the job is not completed, the process returns to step S21. If a swipe operation is performed in step S21, a job interruption command is issued (step S25), and the control unit 20 stops the job operation in response to the command.

  In this way, the job interruption is different from the operation mode allowing the job start, so that even when the job start is instructed by continuous continuous operation, the job stop is instructed by mistake. The job start can be instructed smoothly and reliably.

  In FIG. 5, when the swipe operation is performed in step S <b> 21, the job being executed is interrupted uniformly. However, FIG. 6 is a process in which a dialog with the user, a so-called dialog process is interposed. It is. FIG. 6 is different only in the process of step S25 of FIG. That is, when a swipe operation is performed, first, the job is temporarily stopped (step S251), and a dialog is further displayed (step S253). As the dialog, it is possible to employ a general dialog that displays a cancel button that denies execution of the previous function and a restart button that indicates affirmation. The operation on the dialog may be a normal pressing mode.

  It is determined whether or not the cancel button of the dialog has been pressed (step S255). If the cancel button is pressed, the job is canceled (step S257). If the cancel button is not pressed, the resume button has been pressed. It is determined whether or not (step S259). If the resume button has not been pressed, the process returns to step S255 and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, when the resume button is pressed, the job is resumed (step S261). Opportunities for job resumption can be provided by interposing dialog processing.

  Next, a second embodiment of the function execution process will be described with reference to FIGS. The function execution process according to the second embodiment (function execution process II) is a process of clearing the setting contents afterwards as shown in FIGS. For example, when the other function button 113 is selected on the screen of FIG. 3, the display surface 110 is switched to the screen shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, an other function window 131 for displaying other functions is displayed on the display surface 110, and an OK button 132 for determining setting contents is displayed at an appropriate position, for example, the upper right part. . In addition, various setting menu buttons 133 are displayed in the other function window 131. The setting menu button 133 includes, for example, a page aggregation button 1331 to be processed in the present embodiment.

  When the page aggregation button 1331 is pressed in FIG. 7, the display surface 110 becomes the screen shown in FIG. That is, on the display surface 110, the page aggregation window 141 is displayed so as to overlap a part of the other function window 131. An OK button 142 for determining setting contents is displayed at an appropriate position of the page aggregation window 141, for example, at the upper right part. Note that page aggregation is a process of selecting the type of document to be placed on one sheet. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, setting conditions such as the number of documents to be assigned to one copy sheet, layout, presence / absence of border lines, and types are prepared as buttons. The setting by pressing the desired button is completed, and the setting content is determined by pressing the OK button 142, and the display surface 110 returns to the previous screen, that is, FIG.

  In FIG. 9, a predetermined mark indicating that it has been set in association with the page aggregation button 1331, here a check mark 151 is displayed, and a mark 152 that teaches the left / right swipe operation is displayed together as necessary. . The check mark 151 is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 9, and various modes can be adopted as long as it can be identified that it has been set. For example, the display color of the button 1331 can be changed or can be turned on. Also good. Then, when a swipe operation (second operation) is performed on the button with the check mark 151 on the screen of FIG. 9, for example, the page aggregation button 1331, the setting contents for the page aggregation set in FIG. Cleared and the check mark 151 is deleted. As a result, the user is notified that the previous settings for page aggregation have been cleared. To clear the setting contents, when the contents are changed to a predetermined state, for example, de facto, when the previous setting contents are maintained and only the decision flag is cleared, or when returning to the previous setting contents Etc. are assumed.

  Using the flowchart of the second embodiment of function execution processing (function execution processing II) shown in FIG. 10, the setting of processing conditions for a job, the setting of instruction contents for information processing, and the canceling method thereof explain.

  First, a setting menu screen is displayed (step S31), and then it is determined whether selection of a setting button has been accepted (step S33). For example, a setting menu button 133 for setting the contents of page aggregation illustrated in FIG. 7 is displayed, and it is determined whether any one of the setting buttons, for example, the page aggregation button 1331 has been pressed. When the page aggregation button 1331 is pressed, the setting menu screen in FIG. 8 is displayed.

  Subsequently, an operation from the user is received, and the setting content is changed according to the received content (step S35). For example, the setting contents are changed in accordance with a pressing operation on each button in the page aggregation window 141 in FIG. The setting content changing process is repeated until the determination button is pressed (step S37). For example, when the OK button 142 in FIG. 8 is pressed, it is possible to change the setting contents for each button in the page aggregation window 141. On the other hand, when the OK button 142 is pressed, the display surface 110 is switched to the previous screen, and the setting screen is displayed on the button for which the setting process has been performed (step S39). For example, the screen is switched from FIG. 8 to FIG. 9, and a check mark 151 is displayed on the page aggregation button 1331. Further, a mark 152 is displayed as necessary.

  Here, it is determined whether or not a swipe operation has been performed on the button for which the setting process has been performed (step S41). If the swipe operation is not performed, this flow ends. On the other hand, if the swipe operation is performed on the button for which the setting process has been performed, the setting content for the button is cleared (step S43). For example, when a swipe operation is performed on the page aggregation button 1331 in FIG. 9, the setting contents related to page aggregation are cleared. In addition, the check mark 151 is erased. The control unit 20 stores the contents after the setting and the contents before the setting, and executes the process of returning to the contents before the setting when the clear process is received. According to this, since the cancel operation is not the operation to the OK button, but the second operation is directly performed on the setting buttons such as the page aggregation button 1331, a cancel instruction is issued for each corresponding setting content. It becomes possible.

  Further, in FIG. 10, when the swipe operation is performed in step S41, the set contents are cleared. However, in FIG. 11, a process for interacting with the user, that is, a so-called dialog process is interposed. is there. In FIG. 11, only the process of step S43 of FIG. 10 is different. That is, when a swipe operation is performed on the corresponding button, a confirmation dialog is displayed (step S431). As the dialog, it is possible to adopt a general dialog that displays a cancel button for denying the execution of the previous function and a setting button for instructing affirmation. Further, the operation on the dialog may be a normal pressing mode.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the cancel button of the confirmation dialog has been pressed (step S433). If the cancel button is pressed, the setting contents are cleared and returned to the contents before the setting (step S435). If not pressed, it is determined whether or not the setting button has been pressed (step S437). If the setting button has not been pressed, the process returns to step S433, and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, when the setting button is pressed, the setting content is confirmed (step S439). In this way, an opportunity for reconfirmation of setting contents can be provided by interposing dialog processing.

  In the above description, the swipe operation is adopted as the second operation mode that negates (cancels, clears) the previously executed function. However, as the second embodiment, the operation that denies the execution of the previous function is a left-right swipe. The present invention is not limited, and various modes may be prepared and arbitrarily set (customized). For example, it may be set for each image forming apparatus 1 or may be set for at least one of each processing type and each user within one image forming apparatus 1. According to these, versatility improves with respect to the mode of the second operation.

  That is, the customization process for the second operation mode will be described with reference to FIG. First, a system setting screen, for example, an initial screen is displayed (step S51), and a plurality of second operation modes are displayed in the screen so as to be selectable by each button. When the user selects and presses one of them, the second operation mode for the apparatus 1 is selected and set (step S53). When setting for each processing mode, a processing mode selection button may be displayed together on the system setting screen displayed in step S51. Moreover, what is necessary is just to add a user identification process in the aspect which can be set for every user. For example, an input unit for user identification information may be provided and user recognition processing may be employed. Then, when the image forming apparatus 1 is used after customization, a mode for the second operation customized by performing user recognition may be set.

  In addition, although the left and right swipe operations have been described as the second operation mode, the present invention is not limited to this, and the third embodiment is a primary operation such as a vertical swipe operation that is different from the first operation. Original operations and further two-dimensional operations such as drawing circles or other figures may be included. In addition to the moving operation, a three-dimensional operation including a contact / separation operation with respect to the touch sensor 12 may be performed.

  In addition, as a third embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is also applicable to an information processing apparatus equipped with an information creation function such as creation of a document and a figure and an information communication function regardless of the presence or absence of an image forming function such as copying or printing Is possible. In addition, the present invention is not limited to copying the type of job, and can be applied to a facsimile or other information communication job. Further, the setting content is not limited to the condition setting for a copy job, and each information The present invention is also applicable to setting of a processing method, for example, a document filing method.

  In addition, the description of the above-described embodiment is an example in all respects, and should be considered not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiments but by the claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

1 Image forming apparatus 10 Touch panel (operation unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Display part 12 Touch sensor 20 Control part (control means)
24 Customization Department (Customization means)

Claims (7)

A display unit for displaying buttons previously associated with functions;
An operation unit that is disposed on the display unit and includes a touch sensor that receives an operation from outside;
When a pressing operation on the first button displayed at a predetermined position of the display unit is accepted, execution of the first process associated with the first button is permitted, while execution of the first process is performed. After the permission, when the second button is displayed corresponding to the position where the first button is displayed on the display unit and an operation different from the pressing operation to the second button is received, the second button is displayed. An information processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that instructs to execute a second process that cancels permission to execute the first process, and is associated with the second button.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first process is a predetermined operation for outputting information, and the second process is a process of interrupting the predetermined operation. .   2. The first process according to claim 1, wherein the first process performs a predetermined setting for information to be processed, and the second process is a process for clearing the predetermined setting. Information processing device. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a customizing unit that selects an operation mode different from the pressing operation from a plurality of modes. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the customization unit can select an operation mode different from the pressing operation for each type of the second processing. A user identification means for identifying a user;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the customization unit can select an operation mode different from the pressing operation for each user. 7. The pressing operation is an external contact / separation operation, and the operation different from the pressing operation is a moving operation different from the pressing operation from the outside. The information processing apparatus described.

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