JP2006157565A - Image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus comprising a web server function installed at a copying machine and a mechanism for operating the copying machine by a web browser at user's own device via a network, in order to avoid the occurrence of competition in operation even if a built-in control unit at the copying machine is used as an operating means as it is. <P>SOLUTION: An operation processor is provided for performing exclusive control so that competition may not occur. A command to be transmitted and received is controlled at the processor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus capable of connecting various external operation units.

  The copier has an operation unit, but the screen is small and difficult to operate. In order to assist this, a web server function is installed in the copier and a mechanism for operating with the web browser at hand of the user via the network has been realized, but this method only allows the user to operate on the PC. Because it is a premise, it can be displayed on the PC side only with the screen configuration generated in advance on the device side. Therefore, a function for displaying user input and results is included in the external operation unit, not in the device main body. Between the device and the external operation unit, input / output from the user and status information from the device are exchanged, and a display image is generated on the external operation unit side. In this way, various operation units can be provided to the user.

As another conventional example, Patent Document 1 can be cited.
JP 2002-359718 A

  However, such a mechanism is not suitable for making detailed settings for devices that exist for each model because there are too many types of data to be exchanged. Therefore, an operation unit provided in the device is also attached, but in this case, two or more operation units exist, and operation conflict occurs.

  Therefore, in this case, in an image processing apparatus including a plurality of operation units, a user operation is temporarily received and exclusive control is performed so as not to cause a conflict. An operation processing unit is provided, and a command transmitted and received there is controlled. Prevent the situation from occurring.

  As described above, by providing an operation processing unit that exclusively controls a plurality of operation units, even when operated by a plurality of operation units at the same time, control is performed so that the operation of the device is not affected. Contributes to stable operation.

Example 1
An overall configuration of a control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  A reader unit (image input device) 200 optically reads a document image and converts it into image data. The reader unit 200 includes a scanner unit 210 having a function for reading a document and a document feeding unit 250 having a function for transporting a document sheet.

  A printer unit (image output device) 300 conveys recording paper, prints image data as a visible image thereon, and discharges the recording paper out of the device. The printer unit 300 includes a paper feed unit 310 having a plurality of types of recording paper cassettes, a marking unit 320 having a function of transferring and fixing image data onto the recording paper, and sorting and stapling the printed recording papers. And a paper discharge unit 330 having a function of outputting to

  The control device 110 is electrically connected to the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300, and is further connected to a host computer via the network 400. The control device 110 controls the reader unit 200 to read image data of a document, and controls the printer unit 300 to output the image data to a recording sheet to provide a copy function. In addition, the image data read from the reader unit 200 is converted into code data and transmitted to the host computer via the network 400, the code data received from the host computer via the network 400 is converted into image data, A printer function for outputting to the printer unit 300 is provided.

  The operation unit 150 is connected to the control device 110 and includes a liquid crystal touch panel and buttons, and provides a user I / F for operating the image input / output device 100.

  The external operation unit 160 is connected to the control device 110 and displays image data written on a video memory having an operation unit 161 composed of a video memory, a display screen, buttons, etc. By transmitting the information that is operated, the user I / F for operating the image input / output device 100 is provided.

  The storage device 170 is connected to the control device 110 and is used to store image data, device setting information, and a device startup program.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300. The document feeding unit 250 of the reader unit feeds documents one by one on the platen glass 211 in order from the top, and discharges the documents on the platen glass 211 after the document reading operation is completed. When the document is conveyed onto the platen glass 211, the lamp 212 is turned on, and the movement of the optical unit 213 is started to expose and scan the document. The reflected light from the original at this time is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD) 218 by mirrors 214, 215, 216 and lens 217. In this way, the scanned image of the document is read by the CCD 218. Image data output from the CCD 218 is transferred to the control device 110 after being subjected to predetermined processing.

  The laser driver 321 of the printer unit 300 drives the laser light emitting unit 322, and causes the laser light emitting unit 322 to emit laser light corresponding to the image data output from the control device 110. The laser beam is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 323, and a latent image corresponding to the laser beam is formed on the photosensitive drum 323. A developer is attached to the latent image portion of the photosensitive drum 323 by a developing device 324.

  Then, at the timing synchronized with the start of laser light irradiation, the recording paper is fed from either the cassette 311 or the cassette 312 and conveyed to the transfer unit 325, and the developer adhered to the photosensitive drum 323 is transferred to the recording paper. To do. The recording paper on which the developer is placed is conveyed to the fixing unit 326, and the developer is fixed to the recording paper by the heat and pressure of the fixing unit 326. The recording paper that has passed through the fixing unit 326 is ejected by the ejection roller 327, and the paper ejection unit 330 bundles the ejected recording paper to sort the recording paper, or staples the sorted recording paper.

  If double-sided recording is set, the recording paper is conveyed to the discharge roller 327, and then the rotation direction of the discharge roller 327 is reversed and guided to the refeed conveyance path 329 by the flapper 328. The recording sheet guided to the refeed conveyance path 329 is fed to the transfer unit 325 at the timing described above.

  The host 500 is connected to the image input / output device 100 via a network, a cable such as Centronics, or wirelessly, and can transmit and receive data while communicating with the controller unit 110.

  Next, the software structures and connection states of the control device 110 and the external operation unit 160 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control device 110 includes an overall control unit 401 that controls the operation of the entire device, a communication processing unit 403 that controls communication with the outside such as a network, a reader control unit 404 that controls the reader unit 200, and a printer that controls the printer unit 300. The software component includes a control unit 405 and a storage device control unit 406 that controls the storage device 170.

  The operation processing unit 402 receives device status information and the like from the overall control unit 401, and transmits user operation information. Also, the information is transmitted to and received from the external operation unit 160 via the communication processing unit 403. Further, a display screen of the operation unit 150 is created and displayed based on device status information or the like, or an operation performed by the user is received from the operation unit 150 as an input, and user operation information is generated. Further, exclusive control is performed based on the user operation information transmitted from the external operation unit 160 and the user operation information transmitted from the operation unit 150, and only necessary user information is transmitted to the overall control unit 401.

  The communication processing unit 403 transmits device status information sent from the operation processing unit 402 to the external operation unit 160 via a communication medium such as a network, or conversely, user operation information sent from the external operation unit 160 Is transmitted to the operation processing unit 402. In addition, communication between the overall control unit 401 and the outside is also performed.

  The reader control unit 404 controls the reader unit 200 in accordance with an instruction from the overall control unit 401. The printer control unit 405 controls the printer unit 300 in accordance with instructions from the overall control unit 401.

  The storage device control unit 406 controls the storage device 170 in accordance with instructions from the overall control unit 401.

  The inside of the operation unit 161 of the external operation unit 160 includes software elements of an operation processing unit 411 that controls transmission / reception of input / output of user operations, and a communication processing unit 412 that controls communication with the outside such as a network. .

  The user operation processing unit 411 displays the operation unit 161 based on the device status information transmitted from the control device 110 and the status information of the operation unit 161.

  A screen as shown in FIG. 7 is generated, stored in the video memory, and displayed. In addition, operation information input by operating the operation unit 161 by the user is acquired and transmitted to the control device 110.

  The communication processing unit 412 controls communication between the overall processing unit 410 and the control device 110 via a communication medium such as a network.

  Next, FIG. 6 and FIG. 6 show examples of commands and screens exchanged between the device and the operation unit when a liquid crystal panel capable of displaying about two lines of characters is mounted as the operation unit and the print operation is confirmed. 5 will be used for explanation.

  First, an initialization request (UIF_INIT 2001) is transmitted from the device body.

  Following this, the operation unit initializes the liquid crystal panel, and then returns a response UIF_INIT_ACK2002.

Further, since an inquiry about the configuration information of the operation unit (UIF_CONFIG_REQ | 2003) is transmitted from the device main body, the operation unit as a printer is displayed (UIF_STATUS_MODULE | 2004), and information indicating that there are few messages (UIF_CONFIG_MESGLVL 2006) is transmitted. When each information is received, a response is returned from the device body. (UIF_CONFIG_ACK)
The operations up to here are performed, and the operation unit displays a screen 1001 to indicate that it is ready to print.

If a print job is sent to the device, a message indicating the printer status is sent from the device body (UIF_STATUS_PRINT 2008). The operation unit that has received this returns a response after displaying the screen 1002. (UIF_CONFIG_ACK) |
When the print job ends and there are no more jobs to be processed, UIF_STATUS_PRINT | is transmitted and the display returns to the screen 1001.

  Next, FIG. 8 shows examples of commands and screens exchanged between the device and the operation unit when a liquid crystal touch panel of about 640 × 480 is mounted as an operation unit and a plurality of functions are used while switching the display. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, an initialization request (UIF_INIT 2101) is transmitted from the device body.

  Accordingly, the operation unit returns a response UIF_INIT_ACK2102 after initializing the liquid crystal panel.

Furthermore, since an inquiry about the configuration information of the operation unit (UIF_CONFIG_REQ | 2103) is transmitted from the device main body, the operation unit as a copy is displayed (UIF_STATUS_MODULE | 2104), and information indicating that there are many messages (UIF_CONFIG_MESGLVL 2106) is transmitted. When each information is received, a response is returned from the device body. (UIF_CONFIG_ACK)
The exchange up to this point is performed, and the operation unit displays a screen 1010 indicating that it can be copied.

  By pressing a button 1011-1014 at the top of the screen, a screen for each function is displayed. For example, when a box button 1012 is pressed, information (UIF_CONFIG_MODULE 2108) indicating that an operation unit as a mail box is displayed is transmitted.

  Thereafter, when a command (UIF_STATUS_REQ 2110) for acquiring a mailbox list is sent to the device, information is sent one by one from the device (UIF_STATUS_BOX_LIST), and a box screen (not shown) is displayed.

  Next, examples of commands and screens exchanged between the device and the operation unit when a large-screen LCD touch panel of 1280 x 1024 or larger is installed as the operation unit and multiple functions are used while switching the display. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 9.

  First, an initialization request (UIF_INIT 2101) is transmitted from the device body. Accordingly, the operation unit returns a response UIF_INIT_ACK2102 after initializing the liquid crystal panel.

In addition, since the device main unit sends an inquiry about the configuration information of the operation unit (UIF_CONFIG_REQ | 2103), the operation unit for all functions is displayed (UIF_STATUS_MODULE | 2104), and the message contains a large amount of information (UIF_CONFIG_MESGLVL 2106). When the information is received, a response is returned from the device body. (UIF_CONFIG_ACK)
In the box and print, a list of boxes and a print job history are displayed, and these are requested from the device (2208-2219).

  The operation unit performs the exchange so far, and the operation unit displays a screen 1020 on which the state of all functions can be confirmed on one screen.

  Next, an example of a screen when a multi-window function that can open a plurality of windows and an operation unit that can be operated with a mouse is mounted will be described with reference to FIG.

  Basically, it is almost the same as the screen of FIG. 9, and after performing the same exchange as FIG. 10, the screen is displayed as one window for each function. These windows can be operated with respect to the object selected by the mouse pointer 1035.

  Next, the operation unit 150 is used when the external operation unit 160 is operated on a device equipped with a liquid crystal touch panel with a large screen of 1280x1024 or more as the external operation unit 160 and a liquid crystal touch panel of about 640x480 as the operation unit 150. The processing flow that becomes impossible will be described with reference to the screen examples of FIGS. 7, 9, and 12 and the communication example of FIG.

  When the user presses “START” on the screen 1031 to start copying in the external operation unit in FIG. 9, the first request (UIF_JOB_START 3001) in FIG. 13 is transmitted from the external operation unit to the operation processing unit 402. The operation processing unit confirms the internal state, confirms that there is no request from another operation unit, transmits the request to the overall processing unit 401, and changes the internal state to “processing”.

  In this state, when the operation unit 150 tries to start copying in the same manner, the internal state is “processing”, so that the user cannot operate as shown in FIG. 12, and a message 1111 is displayed. Urge the user to wait.

  When copying is started, information indicating that copying is in progress (UIF_STATUS_COPY | 3003) is transmitted from the overall control unit, and is transferred to the external operation unit as it is.

  When copying is completed, information that the copying is completed (UIF_STATUS_COPY | 3005) is transmitted from the overall control unit, so that it is transferred to the external operation unit as it is, and the screen of FIG. 12 is returned to FIG. Change to Medium.

  FIG. 4 is an external operation unit software block diagram.

System block diagram. FIG. Controller block software block diagram. External operation unit software block diagram. Operation unit screen. Communication example. Operation unit screen. Communication example. Operation unit screen. Communication example. Operation unit screen. Operation unit screen. Communication example.

Claims (7)

  Exclusive of image reading means, control means for controlling equipment, first operation unit for input / output of user operation, second operation unit, first operation unit and second operation unit connected by communication medium An image processing apparatus having an operation unit exclusive control means and an image output means for performing control.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium is a network.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium is a serial cable such as RS-232C, USB, or IEEE1394.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium is a parallel cable such as IEEE1284.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external operation unit includes a liquid crystal touch panel and buttons.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external operation unit includes a liquid crystal screen.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external operation unit includes a multi-window system.

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