JP2001243160A - Image processing unit and control method of image processing unit, and image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to enhance operability of function setting input. SOLUTION: Device data of all output devices is read from a device data storage region (S1), and then a logical sum operation is performed for executable function types of all the output devices (S2). Thereafter, a screen to display only the function obtained by the operation result of the logical sum operation is generated (S3), and the generated screen is displayed (S4).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a control method for the image processing apparatus, and an image processing system, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus having an image input / output function and connected to a network, and the image processing apparatus. The present invention relates to a method of controlling an image processing apparatus for controlling a function setting display of the processing apparatus, and an image processing system in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses are connected on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image processing system in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses having an image input / output function are connected via a network.

Some image processing systems of this type include an image input from a certain image processing apparatus on a network,
2. Description of the Related Art Output to an image output unit of the own device or output to an image output unit of another image processing apparatus via a network is known.

The image processing apparatus used in the above-described image processing system also has various functions for the printing method, and a function instructing means for instructing setting of these various functions, There is provided a function display means for displaying the function designated by the designation means.

In this type of image processing apparatus, output destination instructing means for setting and instructing which image processing apparatus on the network to output image data input to its own image input unit, There is also known an apparatus having output destination display means for displaying an output destination specified by the output destination specifying means. Further, in the method of instructing the output destination instructing means, the image processing apparatus for outputting the image data is explicitly specified manually or the output destination is automatically specified based on the function setting relating to the printing method. There is also known one that can select either one of the above.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional image processing apparatus, functions that can be set in the output destination image processing apparatus are displayed by the function display means, and the setting of each function is performed by the output destination instruction means. If you want to display all the functions of all the image processing devices on the network, the number of functions you want to display increases in proportion to the number of image processing devices connected to the network,
For this reason, there is a problem that the display screen becomes complicated, the appearance and operability are reduced, and there is a possibility that the user may make an erroneous setting.

Further, when a function setting screen in which functions of a plurality of image processing apparatuses can be set as described above is created, a portion for displaying functions of an image processing apparatus for which function setting is not currently performed occupies most of the screen. There is a possibility that the function information required for the image processing apparatus for which the function setting is currently performed may not be able to be displayed, and in such a case, effective information regarding the desired function setting of the image processing apparatus may be provided to the user. There is a problem in that the function information that the user actually needs cannot be obtained, and the function information that the user actually needs becomes very difficult to understand on the display screen.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an image processing apparatus, a control method for the image processing apparatus, and an image processing system capable of improving operability regarding input of function settings. The purpose is to do.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention has an image input / output function and is connected to a plurality of output devices via a predetermined communication network. In the apparatus, function information acquiring means for acquiring function information of all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the own device, display means for displaying function information of the output destination device, and acquisition by the function information acquiring means Computing means for performing a logical sum operation on the obtained function information, wherein the display means visually displays only the function information obtained by the computing means.

The control method of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention has an image input / output function and is connected to a plurality of output devices via a predetermined communication network. A function information obtaining step of obtaining function information of all output devices on a predetermined communication network including:
A display step of displaying function information of the output destination device, and a calculation step of performing a logical sum operation on the function information obtained in the function information obtaining step, wherein the display step includes the function information obtained in the calculation step It is characterized in that only one is visually displayed.

Further, in the image processing system according to the present invention, a plurality of image processing apparatuses having an image input / output function are connected via a predetermined communication network. Function information acquiring means for acquiring function information possessed by all output devices on a predetermined communication network, display means for displaying function information possessed by the output destination device, and logical function information acquired by the function information acquiring means. Computing means for performing a sum operation, wherein the display means visually displays only the function information obtained by the computing means.

The other features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image processing system according to the present invention. The image processing system includes three image processing apparatuses 1 (first to third image processing apparatuses). 1a to 1c) are LANs as networks
(Intra-region communication network) 2.

The image processing apparatuses 1a to 1c include scanner sections 3a to 3b for reading image data, printer sections 4a to 4c for outputting image data, and an operation section for giving instructions for reading and outputting image data. 5a-5c and LAN2
And a control unit 7a to 7c connected to a WAN (Public Telephone Network) 6 and connected to each of the above components to control the entire apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of the image processing apparatus 1.

The printer section 4 is provided below the image processing apparatus 1. The printer unit 4 is a unit that converts raster image data into image data on recording paper,
The method may be an electrophotographic method using a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive belt, an ink jet method in which ink is ejected from a minute nozzle array to print an image directly on paper, or any other method. Further, the printer unit 4 includes:
A plurality of paper cassettes (first to third paper cassettes 8a to 8a) are provided so that different paper sizes and different paper orientations can be selected.
8c), and a discharge tray 9 for discharging recording paper on which image data has been printed.

A scanner unit 3 and an operation unit 5 are disposed above the printer unit 4, and a document feeder unit 11 having a document tray 10 is mounted on the scanner unit 3.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing the appearance of the operation unit 5.

The LCD display unit 12 has a touch panel sheet 13 adhered to the surface thereof, and displays an operation screen and soft keys of the system. When the displayed soft key is pressed, its position information, that is, coordinate information is displayed. Is transmitted to the control unit 7.

The start key 14 is operated to start a reading operation of a document image. At the center of the start key 14, an LED section 15 that lights up in green or red is provided.
It is determined whether or not is available. The stop key 16 is operated to stop the operation during operation, the reset key 17 is operated to initialize the setting state of the operation unit 5, and
The key 18 is operated when the operator inputs a user ID. And start key 14, stop key 1
6. Various key groups 5 with reset key 17 and ID key 18
0.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing details of the control unit 7. As shown in FIG.

The CPU 19 is a controller for controlling the entire system. The RAM 20 is used as a work area for the CPU 19 and for temporarily storing image data and other operation data. The ROM 21 stores a boot program, a control program described later, and the like, and the hard disk drive (HDD) 22 stores system software and image data. The operation I / F unit 23 controls an interface operation with the operation unit 5. The network I / F unit 24 is connected to the LAN 2 and performs input / output processing of information with the LAN 2. The modem 25 is connected to the WAN 6 and
An information input / output process is performed with the AN 6.

The components described above are connected to each other via a system bus 26.

The image I / F 27 connects the system bus 26 and the image bus 28 to convert the data structure.

The image bus 28 is a PCI bus or IEEE
1394, and transfers image data at high speed. The image bus 28 includes a raster image processor (RIP) unit 29, a device I / F unit 30, a scanner image processing unit 31, a printer image processing unit 32, and an image rotation unit 3.
3 and the image compression unit 34 are connected.

The RIP unit 29 develops a PDL code into a bitmap image. The device I / F unit 30 is connected to the scanner unit 5 and the printer unit 4, and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data. Scanner image processing unit 3
1 performs correction, processing, and editing on input image data.
The printer image processing unit 32 performs printer correction, resolution conversion, and the like on the print output image data. The image rotating unit 33 rotates image data. Image compression unit 34
Performs compression / expansion processing such as JPEG for multi-valued image data and JBIG, MMR, MH or the like for binary image data.

In the image processing apparatus 1 configured as described above, the document sheet is placed on the document tray 10 of the document feeder 11.
When the user operates the operation unit 5 to issue an instruction to start reading, the CPU 19 of the control unit 7
To read the original image. As a result, the original images are supplied one by one from the original feeder 11 to the scanner unit 3, illuminate the original images, scan the CCD line sensor (not shown), and convert the original images into electrical signals as raster image data. Convert.

The printer section 4 starts a printing operation in response to an instruction from the CPU 19 and outputs an image signal as output information. That is, the printer unit 4
CPU based on the control program stored in M21
19 comprehensively controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 26, reads input information from the scanner unit 5, and outputs the input information to the printer unit 4.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship between the operation unit 5 and the operation I / F unit 23. The operation I / F unit 23 has an input port 23a and an output port 23b. The input port 23a is connected to the various key groups 50 and the touch panel 13, and the output port 23b is connected to the LCD display unit 1.
2 and the LED unit 15.

Then, on the operation unit 5, the touch panel 1
3 and user input from various keys 50
The CPU 19 creates display screen data based on the acquired operation contents and a control program stored in the ROM 21, and obtains the output contents of the operation I / F unit 23. Output to the LCD display unit 12 via the port 23b.

The operation unit 5 has a touch panel 13
The display on the LCD display unit 12 is switched by performing an operation on the display screen, such as pressing the button, to specify an output destination device of the printed matter, and to display a paper selection screen corresponding to the output destination,
Input a desired paper size.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the image processing apparatus. The ROM 21 has a screen coordinate data storage area 25, an output data storage area 27, and a screen data storage area 32, and the RAM 20 has a device. The CPU 19 includes an input determination unit 24, a device information determination unit 26, a device data update unit 29, a screen forming unit 31, and a screen display unit 33.

When the user operates the touch panel 13, the coordinate information of the pressed position of the panel is input to the input determination unit 24. In the input determination unit 24, the coordinate information from the touch panel 13 and the screen coordinate data storage area 25
It is determined based on the coordinate data of each screen stored in the storage device that the designation of the output destination device or the instruction to display the paper size selection screen has been performed. When the output destination device is specified, the device information determination unit 26 is set to an automatic mode in which the output destination device is automatically specified, or is manually set to specify the output destination device manually. It is determined whether the mode has been set, the mode data is rewritten as necessary, and an output destination display screen including an output destination list is created. Also,
When an instruction to display a paper size selection screen is issued, the current output destination data is read from the output destination data storage area 27, and device data corresponding to the output destination data is read from the device data storage area 28. Create a paper selection screen corresponding to the device. Next, the screen forming unit 31 creates a display screen based on the screen information from the device information determination unit 26 and the actual screen data stored in the screen data storage area 32. Thereafter, the display screen created by the screen forming unit 31 is visually displayed on the LCD display unit 12 via the screen display unit 33.

The device data of the output device stored in the device data storage area 28 is updated to the latest data at any time by the device data updating unit 29.
That is, the device data updating unit 29 receives the device information of the device 30 (another image processing apparatus) connected to the network and the device information of the own device (local) as needed, and updates the device data of the output device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the image processing apparatus. The program is executed by the CPU 19 as needed.

In step S1, data of all output devices stored in the device data storage area 28 are read, and in step S2, a logical sum operation of the types of functions executable for all output devices is performed. Then, in step S3, a display screen for displaying only the function output based on the operation result of the logical sum operation obtained in step S2 is created,
In step S4, the display screen created in step S3 is displayed.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a display screen displayed according to the above control procedure. The display screen 12 has an output destination designation for designating which image processing apparatus outputs the read image data. It has a dialog display key 34 and an output destination display section 35 for displaying an actual output destination. As a result of a logical sum operation, a color / monochrome print switching key 36 for switching between color printing and monochrome printing is displayed. In the present embodiment, the output device display section 35 displays its own device (Local). When the output destination specification dialog display key 34 is pressed, an output destination specification dialog window is opened as shown in FIG.
First to third output destination designation fields 36a to 36c having status, output capability, and the like are displayed in a list format. In the present embodiment, the first output destination designation field 36a includes:
The own device (Local) which is a monochrome image processing device having an output capability of 32 ppm is displayed as an output destination candidate. Similarly, in the second output destination specification field 36b, devices on the network which are monochrome image processing apparatuses having an output capacity of 32 ppm are displayed as output destination candidates, and in the third output destination specification field 36c, the output capacity is displayed. A device on the network that is a 6 ppm color printer is displayed as an output destination candidate. Then, the user can explicitly specify the output destination by pressing each of the output destination specification fields 36a to 36c. And the OK key 37
When the button is pressed, the output destination designation dialog is closed and the output destination specified by the user is determined.

As described above, in the present embodiment, only functions that can be executed by other image processing apparatuses are displayed on the operation screen based on the operation result of the OR operation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen displayed by the above control procedure.
This is the case where the color / monochrome print switching key 36 is unnecessary, and therefore, the color / monochrome print switching key 36
Is not displayed. In this example, the output destination display unit 3
5 is displayed as AUTO (automatic), indicating that the output destination is automatically specified based on the function information. Then, when the output destination designation dialog display key 34 is pressed,
A display screen 12 (output destination specification dialog window) as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed, and a monochrome image processing device is displayed as an output destination device in the first to third output destination specification fields 38a to 38c.

As described above, in this example, unnecessary functions (color / monochrome print switching key) in all devices are not displayed on the display screen. When the OK key 39 is pressed, the output destination designation dialog is closed. The output destination specified by the user is determined.

As described above, conventionally, the display of executable functions of all output destination devices and the non-display of non-executable functions have not been distinguished from each other. It is necessary to set the functions in consideration of the state of all output destinations, which makes the setting complicated and easily causes erroneous setting. Is determined and the function setting screen and setting keys are changed, so that the user does not have to be particularly aware of the current output destination specification Can be listed, and a desired function can be set from the list. As a result, the function that the user actually needs can be easily displayed, and the operability of the function setting on the display screen can be improved. .

[0043]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, an image processing apparatus in which a plurality of image input / output devices are connected via a predetermined communication network, and only the currently settable functions are displayed on a display screen. And the operability of the function setting on the display screen can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of an operation unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a control unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship between an operation unit and an operation I / F unit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed by the control method of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a display screen displayed when an output destination designation dialog display key is pressed in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen displayed by the control method of the present invention.

11 is a diagram of a display screen displayed when an output destination designation dialog display key is pressed in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing apparatus 12 LCD display part (display means) 13 Touch panel (designation means) 19 CPU (function information acquisition means, calculation means) 20 RAM (storage means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/00 EF term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 AQ05 AQ06 CQ04 CQ24 CQ34 HJ07 HQ01 5B021 AA01 BB10 EE03 EE05 5B089 HA06 JB22 KA03 KB04 LB01 LB12 5C062 AA05 AA35 AB20 AB22 AB23 AB53 AC05 AE15 5E501 AA06 BA05 CA05 CB02 CB05 CC06 EA05 EA10 EB01 EB05 FA03 FA08

Claims (12)

[Claims] An image processing apparatus having an image input / output function and connected to a plurality of output devices via a predetermined communication network, wherein function information held by all output devices on the predetermined communication network including its own device is stored. Function information acquiring means for acquiring, display means for displaying function information of the output destination device, and computing means for performing a logical sum operation on the function information acquired by the function information acquiring means, wherein the display means An image processing device for visually displaying only the function information obtained by the arithmetic means. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing all the function information obtained by said function information obtaining means. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a designation unit for explicitly designating an output destination device from all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the own device.
An image processing apparatus as described in the above. 4. Designation means for automatically designating an output destination device based on function information obtained by a calculation result of the calculation means from all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the own device. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 5. A control method of an image processing apparatus having an image input / output function and connected to a plurality of output devices via a predetermined communication network, wherein all output devices on the predetermined communication network including the own device have the output device. A function information acquisition step of acquiring function information, and a display step of displaying function information of the output destination device,
A calculating step of performing a logical sum operation on the function information obtained in the function information obtaining step, wherein the display step visually displays only the function information obtained in the calculation step. Method. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein all the function information obtained in the function information obtaining step is stored in a storage unit. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a designation step of explicitly designating an output destination device from all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the own device. Control method. 8. A designating step of automatically designating an output destination device based on function information obtained by a calculation result of the calculation means from all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the own device. The control method for an image processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein 9. An image processing system in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses having an image input / output function are connected via a predetermined communication network, wherein the image processing apparatuses are all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the image processing apparatus. A function information acquiring unit for acquiring function information of the output device, a display unit for displaying function information of the output destination device, and an arithmetic unit for performing a logical sum operation on the function information acquired by the function information acquiring unit. An image processing system, wherein the display means visually displays only the function information obtained by the calculation means. 10. The image processing system according to claim 9, further comprising storage means for storing all function information obtained by said function information obtaining means. 11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said image processing apparatus has a designating means for explicitly designating an output destination device from all output devices on a predetermined communication network including its own device. Or the image processing system according to claim 10. 12. A designating means for designating an output destination device automatically based on function information obtained by a calculation result of the calculation means from all output devices on a predetermined communication network including the own device. The image processing system according to claim 9, wherein the image processing is performed.