JPS63294062A - Image communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently use an equipment, and to surely detect the operation state of the equipment even in a position distant from the equipment, by providing a monitor part which has light emitting elements as a display means internally and is covered with a luminous panel. CONSTITUTION:A monitor part 4 is formed to have the same surface as a housing 94 of the upper face of the equipment and is covered with a luminous panel 41 constituted across front and right side faces of an expanding part of the housing 94. This panel 41 consists of light-transmissive materials through which the emitted light of light emitting elements 71 and 72 provided on the inside can be confirmed. The monitor part 4 is controlled in a prescribed lighting format through a display control part 35 by the signal indicating the operation state from a control part 33. That is, not only the transmitting state, the receiving state, the copying state, or the like but also error information such as the absence of recording paper, jamming, and the absence of toner in a recording part are displayed on the monitor part 4. Thus, the operation state of the equipment is surely detected even in a position distant from the equipment and the equipment is efficiently used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image communication device, and particularly to an image communication device that transmits and receives image data via a predetermined communication line.

[Prior Art] Conventional image communication devices, especially facsimile devices, require a relatively long time for one transmission, reception, etc., so knowing what operating state the device is in is very important to the device. This is very important when using it.

However, in conventional devices, operating means such as a numeric keypad,
An operation panel composed of a display panel such as an LCD or LED that displays the operating status of the device is often provided on the top surface of the device.

FIG. 4 shows the appearance of a conventional facsimile machine.

As shown in the figure, an operation panel 1 consisting of a display 3 and a keyboard 2 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus in front of the image reading section 5.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The operation panel as described above cannot be seen unless viewed from above the device, and is assumed to be visible from the side of the device.

Therefore, in order to know whether the device is currently in use or what kind of operation is being performed, the operator has to move to the side of the device and look at the operation panel from above. .

If the device is installed near the operator, this will not be a big problem, but if the operator and the device are installed far apart, it is troublesome to move the device each time to check the operating status. Moreover, if the operator moves to the device in order to perform a transmission, but the device is in use, the operator's movement to that point is completely in vain.

Furthermore, even in configurations where the operation panel is provided on the front of the device, the conventional configuration assumes that the display is visible from near the device, making it difficult to view it from a distance, resulting in the same problem as above. .

Therefore, a communication device is desired that allows the operating state to be known even from a location far from the device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, in an image communication device that transmits and receives image data via a predetermined communication line, the operating state of the device is determined by adjusting the operating state of the device at a predetermined distance from the device. We have adopted a configuration that provides means for displaying information so that it can be confirmed from a distance.

[Function] According to the above configuration, the operating state of the device can be known even from a position far from the device, so the device can be used efficiently.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a facsimile machine employing the present invention. In this embodiment, an operation panel 1 comprising a display 3 and a keyboard 2 is provided on the front side of the image reading section 5 on the top surface of the apparatus, similar to the conventional example shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, a monitor section 4 is provided so that the operating state of the device can be visually checked from a certain distance. The monitor section 4 is configured to straddle the front side and the right side surface of a bulging section 51 on the top surface of the device, which constitutes a part of the image reading section 5 and the like.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the monitor section 4 shown in FIG. 1 in detail. Here, the state in which the exterior 94 of the bulging portion 51 is broken is illustrated.

The monitor section 4 has a shape flush with the exterior 94 of the bulge 151 and is covered by a light emitting panel 41 configured to face the front and right side of the bulge 51. The light emitting panel 41 is made of a material, such as a milky white translucent acrylic material, that has a light transmittance that allows the light emitted from the light emitting elements 71 and 72 provided therein to be visually recognized.

Inside the light emitting panel 41, two light emitting elements 71 and 72 are supported by the fixing member 8. The fixing member 8 has a substantially L-shaped outer shape, a lower structure 86 having cutouts and bends formed to escape other not-shown members, and a lower structure 86 that allows light from the light emitting elements 71 and 72 to pass through the light emitting panel 41. It consists of an upper structure having four reflective surfaces 81 to 84 that reflect the light toward the outside.

The fixing member 8 is made of a material with high light reflectivity, such as aluminum, stainless steel, or a plastic base material plated at least at the upper structural part constituting the reflective surfaces 31 to 84, into the shape shown in the figure. .

The lower structure 86 of the fixing member 8 is fixed to the frame 93 of the main body of the apparatus by screws 91 and 92. With such a configuration, the configuration of the monitor section 4 can be easily attached and detached, and maintenance can be easily performed.

The light emitting elements 71 and 72 are, for example, L having different emission colors.
It consists of ED etc. The four reflecting surfaces 81 to 84 holding the light emitting elements 71.72 are processed at angles such that the light from the light emitting elements 71.72 is reflected in the front direction and the right side direction of the device, and the light emitting panel 41 is Since it is made of a semi-transparent material with strong diffusivity, when either of the light emitting elements 71 or 72 is turned on, the front part of the device,
The display can be viewed from the right side.

Further, due to the diffusivity of the light emitting panel 41, the entire monitor section 4 emits light, so that the display can be viewed even from a considerable distance.

Therefore, if the operating status of the device is displayed by changing the light emitting color, blinking, lighting, and extinguishing state of the monitor unit 4, the operator can monitor the device even from a considerable distance by changing the light emitting state of the monitor unit 4. You can know the operating status of the

FIG. 3 shows an example of a control system for controlling the monitor section 4. As shown in FIG. The control system is microbrossé.

A control section 33 consisting of a memory and the like is connected to a reading section 5 for reading originals and a printer section 34 for recording images.
It has a well-known configuration that controls a communication control unit 31 that inputs and outputs transmission/reception data and procedure signals to and from the line. The operator can control the operation of the entire apparatus by giving commands to the control section 33 by inputting operations via the operation panel 1.

The monitor section 4 is controlled by the control section 33 via the display control section 35 .

The display control section 35 controls the monitor section 4 in a predetermined lighting format according to a signal indicating the operating state given from the control section 33.

Information regarding the operating state that can be displayed on the monitor section 4 may include information such as sending, receiving, copying, etc., as well as error information such as no recording paper, 1 paper jam, no toner in the recording section, and the like.

For each of these operating states, the 1 display control unit 35 may control the monitor unit 4 using different lighting formats.The 0 lighting format is to change the emitting color, lighting, blinking, extinguishing state, etc. of the monitor unit 4 as described above. When using two light-emitting elements of different colors, the light-emitting color can be set in various ways using the individual light-emitting color of each light-emitting element and the composite color of the two light-emitting elements. Furthermore, in the blinking state, a plurality of operating states can be expressed by variously changing the blinking interval.

A person skilled in the art may use any combination of lighting formats to assign lighting formats to each operating state; for example,
In a normal state, one of the light emitting elements 71 and 72 is used to light up in green, blue, etc. to indicate the operating status such as transmitting or receiving, and in an error state, a lighting color such as red is used. In an error state, it is conceivable to indicate the type of error by changing the blinking pattern of each lighting color.

With the above configuration, the operator can visually check the operating status mentioned above from a distance, so he can know from a distance whether the device is in use or whether an error has occurred, and can perform operations. Appropriate measures can be taken, such as suspending the process or taking error recovery steps. Therefore, the device can be used efficiently. Furthermore, since the operating status of the device is displayed on the monitor unit 4 having a large light emitting area, errors caused by erroneous operation can be reliably prevented.

Further, in the configuration of one or more monitors, the monitor section is provided across a plurality of surfaces, and the light emitting elements are shared between the plurality of surfaces, so there is an advantage that the configuration is simple.

Although the configuration in which the operating state is indicated by only light has been described above, by using a buzzer sound or the like in combination with lighting of the monitor unit 4, the operating state of the device can be identified more reliably. For example, by emitting a buzzer sound and turning off the monitor unit 4 at the end of the operation, changes in the operating state can be reliably notified even if the operator is not facing the device. This is the same in the case of an error display, and by changing the lighting of the monitor unit 4 in combination with a buzzer sound, the operator can be reliably informed of the timing of an error occurrence.

The position of the monitor section 4, the number of light emitting elements, and the colors shown above are not limited to those described above, and may be changed in various ways. However, monitor section 4
In order to improve visibility, it is preferable to provide it across two or more surfaces of the device as shown in item 1-.

In addition to the above configuration, the monitor section 4 may be made detachable, or only the display section of the operation panel may be configured separately from the device.
The same effect as described above can be obtained even if the device can be placed at a location apart from the installation location via a cable or the like.

[Effect of the Invention 1] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, in an image communication device that transmits and receives image data via a predetermined communication line, the operating state of the device can be confirmed from a position at least a predetermined distance from the device. Since the system is equipped with a means for displaying information so that the operating status of the device can be reliably known even from a distance from the device, there is an excellent advantage that the device can be used efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a facsimile machine adopting the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cutaway perspective view showing the structure of the monitor section in Figure 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control system of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional facsimile machine. l...Operation panel 2...Keyboard 3...Display unit 4...Monitor section 5...Image reading section 8...Fixing member -71
, 72...Light emitting elements 81-84...Reflecting surface 7 to 7 shimiri vomit 4) 4to Saihiroshi] Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An image communication device that transmits and receives image data via a predetermined communication line is provided with means for displaying the operating state of the device so that it can be checked from a position at least a predetermined distance from the device. Features of image communication device. 2) Image communication according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means is provided so as to be visible on any one of a plurality of adjacent surfaces of the front, side, and top surfaces other than the operation surface of the device. Device. 3) The second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the display means comprises a light emitting means, and displays the operating state of the device by lighting, blinking, or changing the color of the light emitted from the light emitting means.
The image communication device described in . 4) The light emitting means constituting the display means is visible on any one of a plurality of adjacent surfaces, such as the front, side, and top surfaces of the device other than the operation surface of the device. The image communication device according to item 3.