JP2006253751A - Image forming apparatus and display control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which can display stored documents in thumbnails, and is provided with a display means for security documents, having restrictions on access and documents having no formed thumbnails. <P>SOLUTION: After documents obtained by reading image and stored have been displayed in a list (S21), when a thumbnail key on a screen is depressed to instruct switching to thumbnail display for displaying the contents of the stored documents (S22), if the thumbnail image of a document, having no restriction against access, has already been formed (NO in S24), a thumbnail image is displayed (S25). If a security document having restriction against access, an icon indicating an access unavailability factor is displayed, the thumbnail image will not be displayed (S26). In this case, authentication is obtained by password input for a security document, and the thumbnail image of this document is displayed. In addition, when the thumbnail image of a document is being produced, a blank is displayed and the thumbnail image is displayed at the time point, when the creation is completed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a display control method thereof, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a security function and a display function for stored documents and a display control method thereof.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-299394 shown in Patent Document 1 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-005480 shown in Patent Document 2, a document stored in an image forming apparatus is displayed as a thumbnail on an application on a client PC on a network. And the fact that the displayed thumbnail can be selected and printed.
JP 2004-299394 A JP 2004-005480 A

As described above, the means for displaying thumbnails of stored documents and performing printing while viewing the thumbnails is also described in Patent Document 1, but this is not an image forming apparatus but connected via a network. Display and printing on the client PC side.
However, recent image forming apparatuses have a high-performance GUI, and it is required that the same operation can be performed by an operation unit on the image forming apparatus.

  It is an object of the present invention to display thumbnails on a GUI on an image forming apparatus, and to provide a display unit for security documents with restricted access and documents for which thumbnail images have not been created.

  The first technical means displays means for reading image information of an original, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing the read image data and its attributes, and a thumbnail of the stored image data. In the image forming apparatus, the thumbnail image of the stored image data is displayed blank when the thumbnail image has not been created, and the thumbnail image is displayed after the thumbnail image creation is completed.

  The second technical means displays means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing the read image data and its attributes, and a thumbnail of the stored image data. In the image forming apparatus having the above-described means, the thumbnail image of the image data is not displayed when the image data having the access restriction attribute is inaccessible.

  The third technical means further includes means for displaying the attribute of the accumulated image data as an icon in the image forming apparatus described in the second technical means, and the cause of not displaying the thumbnail image is indicated by the icon. It is characterized by displaying.

  According to a fourth technical means, in the image forming apparatus described in the second or third technical means, a thumbnail image is displayed when the state is shifted to an accessible state by an authentication process represented by password input. Features.

  The fifth technical means displays means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing the read image data and its attributes, and a thumbnail of the stored image data. In the display control method of the image forming apparatus, the thumbnail image of the accumulated image data is displayed blank when the thumbnail image has not been created, and the thumbnail image is displayed after completion of the thumbnail image creation.

  The sixth technical means displays means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing the read image data and its attributes, and a thumbnail of the stored image data. In the display control method of the image forming apparatus having the above-described means, a thumbnail image of the image data is not displayed when the image data having the access restriction attribute is inaccessible.

  The seventh technical means further comprises means for displaying the attribute of the accumulated image data as an icon in the display control method of the image forming apparatus described in the sixth technical means, and the cause of not displaying the thumbnail image It is characterized by being displayed with an icon.

  In the display control method for an image forming apparatus described in the sixth or seventh technical means, an eighth technical means is configured to display a thumbnail image when the state is shifted to an accessible state by an authentication process represented by password input. It is characterized by displaying.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
First, it is possible to perform display operations even if thumbnail images are being created but not yet created, and if thumbnail images are created, they will be reflected, so operations that do not make the user feel stressed Parts can be provided.

  In addition, it is necessary not only to not perform operations such as printing for users who do not have access authority, but also to not display thumbnails. In this case, not only the thumbnail display but also the inaccessible factor is displayed with an icon, so that the user can understand what is not displayed.

  On the other hand, it is possible to display thumbnails by authenticating a user having access authority.

An embodiment relating to the configuration and operation of an image forming apparatus and its display control method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 8 show a schematic diagram of an image processing apparatus, a schematic diagram of an operation unit, and a block diagram as an embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of the present invention, an image forming apparatus is used as the image processing apparatus. Here, the image forming apparatus can be constructed as a network system as necessary.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a panel configuration diagram illustrating an example of an operation unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a liquid crystal touch panel of the operation unit illustrated in FIG. 2.
4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an internal configuration of an image processing unit (IPU) that configures the control unit of FIG. It is a block diagram. FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a software configuration that operates on the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a network configuration when the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is connected to the network. FIG. 8 is a timing chart for explaining the timing relationship of image signals for one page in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

First, the operation of the image forming apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described below. The document bundle placed on the document table 2 with the image surface of the document in the automatic document feeder (ADF) 1 is most depressed when the print key 34 on the operation unit 30 shown in FIG. A lower document is fed to a predetermined position on the contact glass 6 by a feeding roller 3 and a feeding belt 4.
Here, it has a counting function for counting up the number of documents when the feeding of one document is completed.

The fed original is read as image data of the original on the contact glass 6 by the reading unit 50, and the original that has been read is discharged by the feeding belt 4 and the discharge roller 5.
Thereafter, when the document set detector 7 detects that the next document is on the document table 2, it is fed onto the contact glass 6 in the same manner as the previous document.
Note that the feeding roller 3, the feeding belt 4, and the discharging roller 5 of the automatic document feeder (ADF) 1 are driven by a conveyance motor 26 shown in FIG.

The transfer papers stacked on the first tray 8, the second tray 9, and the third tray 10 are fed by the first paper feeding device 11, the second paper feeding device 12, and the third paper feeding device 13, respectively, and are conveyed vertically. The unit 14 is transported to a position where it abuts on the photoreceptor 15.
The image data read by the reading unit 50 is written on the photoconductor 15 by the laser from the writing unit 57 and passes through the developing unit 27 to form a toner image.

Then, the toner image on the photoconductor 15 is transferred while the transfer paper is conveyed by the conveyance belt 16 at the same speed as the rotation of the photoconductor 15.
Thereafter, the image is fixed by the fixing unit 17 and discharged to the finisher 100 of the post-processing apparatus by the paper discharge unit 18.

The finisher 100 of the post-processing device can guide the transfer paper conveyed by the paper discharge unit 18 of the main body toward the normal paper discharge roller 102 and toward the staple processing unit.
In the finisher 100 of the post-processing device, by switching the switching plate 101 upward, the sheet can be discharged to the normal discharge tray 104 side via the transport roller 103.

The normal paper discharge tray 104 is a paper discharge tray that can be moved back and forth.
The normal paper discharge tray 104 that can be moved back and forth moves back and forth for each original or each copy section sorted by the image memory, and sorts the copy paper that is simply discharged.

  On the other hand, in the finisher 100 of the post-processing apparatus, the transfer sheet can be transported to the staple table 108 via the staple transport rollers 105 and 107 by switching the switching plate 101 downward.

The transfer paper loaded on the stapling stage 108 is aligned by the paper jogger 109 every time one sheet is discharged, and is bound by the stapler 106 upon completion of partial copying.
The group of transfer sheets bound by the stapler 106 is stored in the staple completion discharge tray 110 by its own weight.

When images are formed on both sides of the transfer paper, the transfer paper fed from each of the paper feed trays 8 to 10 is not guided to the finisher 100 side, and the branching claw 112 for path switching is on the upper side. By setting, the paper is once stored in the double-sided paper feeding unit 111 via the double-sided paper feeding conveyance path 113.
After that, the transfer paper stocked on the double-sided paper feed unit 111 is re-fed from the double-sided paper feed unit 111 to transfer the toner image formed on the photoconductor 15 again, and the branching claw for switching the path. 112 is set on the lower side and is guided to the finisher 100 via the reverse paper discharge conveyance path 114.
As described above, when creating images on both sides of the transfer paper, the duplex feeding unit 111 is used.

The photoconductor 15, the conveyance belt 16, the fixing unit 17, the paper discharge unit 18, and the development unit 27 are driven by a main motor 25 shown in FIG. 4, and each of the paper feeding devices 11 to 13 drives the main motor 25. Transmission is driven by first to third paper feed clutches 22 to 24 shown in FIG.
Further, the vertical conveyance unit 14 is driven to transmit the drive of the main motor 25 by the intermediate clutch 21 shown in FIG.

Next, the panel configuration of the operation unit shown in FIG. 2 will be described.
2 includes at least a liquid crystal touch panel 31, a numeric keypad 32, a clear / stop key 33, a print key 34, a preheat key 35, a reset key 36, an initial setting key 37, a copy key 38, and a copy server key 39. The liquid crystal touch panel 31 displays function keys, the number of copies, and a message indicating the state of the image forming apparatus.

By pressing an initial setting key 37 of the operation unit 30, the initial state of the image forming apparatus can be arbitrarily customized.
For example, it is possible to set a paper size stored in the image forming apparatus or arbitrarily set a state set when a copy function mode clear key is pressed.
It is also possible to select applications that are preferentially selected when there is no operation for a certain period of time, setting the transition time to low power according to the International Energy Star Plan, and transitioning to auto-off / sleep mode It is also possible to set the time to perform.

When the preheating key 35 is pressed, the image forming apparatus shifts from the standby state to the power reduction state, and is set to a preheating state in which the fixing temperature is lowered or the display of the operation unit 30 is turned off.
The preheating state means the “low power state” referred to in the International Energy Star Program.
In order to cancel the preheating state, the off state / sleep state, and shift to the standby state, the preheating key 35 is pressed again.

By pressing the copy key 38, the copy function can be used.
The copy server key 39 is used when the copy server application is started and image data that has already been stored is edited (copy mode setting, printing, and deletion). The display example of the liquid crystal touch panel 31 of the operation unit 30 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the screen when the copy server key 39 is pressed.
Details of the operation of the copy server application will be described later.

As shown in the display example of FIG. 3, the operator touches any key (for example, “document reading”) displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 31 to indicate a selected function (for example, “document reading”). Turns black.
Further, when it is necessary to specify details of a function (for example, in the case of printing conditions), a setting screen for detailed functions is displayed by touching the corresponding key (for example, “printing conditions”).
In addition, since the liquid crystal touch panel 31 uses a dot display, it is possible to graphically perform an optimal display at that time.

Next, the configuration of the control unit of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the control unit illustrated in FIG. 4, the main controller 20 controls the entire image forming apparatus.
The main controller 20 includes an operation unit 30 that controls display of the liquid crystal display 31 to the operator and functions setting input by operating the various keys 32 to 39 from the operator, control of the scanner, writing control of the document image to the image memory, A distributed control device such as an image processing unit (IPU) 49 that controls image formation from the image memory, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 1 that automatically feeds a document by the conveyance motor 26 and the document set detector 7, etc. It is connected.
Each distributed control device and the main controller 20 exchange machine states and operation commands as necessary.
A main motor 25 and various clutches 21 to 24 necessary for paper conveyance and the like are also connected to the main controller 20.

Returning to FIG. 1, the operation from reading the original to writing the image of the image forming apparatus will be further described.
The reading unit 50 includes a contact glass 6 on which an original is placed and an optical scanning system. The optical scanning system includes an exposure lamp 51, a first mirror 52, a lens 53, a CCD image sensor 54, and the like. .
The exposure lamp 51 and the first mirror 52 are fixed on a first carriage (not shown), and the second mirror 55 and the third mirror 56 are fixed on a second carriage (not shown).
When reading a document image, the first carriage and the second carriage are mechanically operated at a relative speed of 2: 1 so that the optical path length does not change.
This optical scanning system is driven by a scanner drive motor (not shown).

The document image is read by the CCD image sensor 54, converted into an electrical signal, and processed.
The writing unit 57 is composed of a laser output unit 58, an imaging lens 59, and a mirror 60. Inside the laser output unit 58, a polygon mirror (polygon) that rotates at a constant high speed by a laser diode and a motor as a laser light source. Mirror).
The laser beam output from the writing unit 57 is applied to the image forming photoconductor 15.
Although not shown in FIG. 1, a beam sensor for generating a main scanning synchronization signal is disposed at a position where a laser beam near one end of the photoconductor 15 is irradiated.

Next, the operation of the image processing unit (IPU) 49 that processes the document image converted into the electrical signal by the CCD image sensor 54 will be described with reference to FIG.
An electrical signal (original image signal) obtained by photoelectrically converting the reflection of light emitted from the exposure lamp 51 by the CCD image sensor 54 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 61.
The image signal converted into the digital signal is subjected to shading correction by the shading correction unit 62 and then subjected to MTF correction, γ correction, and the like by the image processing unit 63.

  Thereafter, in the selector 64, the input image data is switched and supplied to the scaling circuit 77 or the image memory controller 65 via the print composition unit 71. The image signal that has passed through the zoom circuit 77 is enlarged or reduced in accordance with the zoom ratio and sent to the writing unit 57.

  On the other hand, the image signal that has passed through the image memory controller 65 is stored in the image memory 66. Here, the image memory controller 65 and the selector 64 are configured to be able to input and output image signals in both directions.

The IPU 49 also includes a CPU 68 for setting the image memory controller 65 and the like and controlling the reading unit 50 and the writing unit 57, and a ROM 69, a RAM 70, and an NV-RAM 74 for storing programs and data thereof.
Further, the CPU 68 can write and read data in the image memory 66 via the image memory controller 65.

Although not clearly shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the image data input from the reading unit 50, the IPU 49 also receives image data supplied from the outside via the I / O port 67, such as a personal computer. It has a function capable of selecting input / output of a plurality of data so that image data input from the data processing apparatus can be processed.
In the present invention, the image forming apparatus is connected to the network via the I / O port 67, and a TCP / IP communication protocol that is prevalent as a standard Internet protocol is used as the communication means. It is done.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, for example, a network configuration as shown in FIG. 7 is possible, and between the image forming apparatuses A, B, and C and the image processing apparatuses a, b, and c connected to the network. In addition to enabling transmission / reception of images, machine configuration information and operation status of each apparatus, control commands such as remote output commands, and setting commands are also transmitted / received.

In FIG. 5, an image sent as an original image from the selector 64 to the image memory controller 65 is sent to the image memory 66 after the image data is compressed by an image compression device in the image memory controller 65.
Here, the reason for compressing the image is that data of 256 gradations corresponding to the maximum image size can be written in the image memory 66 as it is, but the result is that the image memory 66 is used very much with one original image. Therefore, the limited area of the image memory 66 can be used effectively by performing image compression.

As a result, since a large amount of document image data can be stored in the image memory 66 at a time, the document image data stored in the image memory 66 can be output in page order as a sorting function.
In this case, when the image is output, the document image image data in the image memory 66 is output while being sequentially expanded by the image expansion device in the memory controller 65. Such a function is generally called “electronic sort”.

In addition, by using the function of the image memory 66, it is also possible to sequentially read a plurality of document images into an area obtained by further subdividing the area of one transfer sheet in the image memory 66.
For example, four original images are sequentially written in a four-divided area of one transfer paper in the image memory 66, so that the four originals are combined into a single transfer paper image and integrated into a copy output. Can be obtained.
Such a function is generally called “aggregate copy”.

The image in the image memory 66 is configured to be accessible from the CPU 68.
Therefore, the contents of the image memory 66 can be processed, and for example, image thinning processing, image clipping processing, and the like can be performed.
In the case of processing, the data stored in the image memory 66 can be processed by writing data into the register of the image memory controller 65. The processed image is held in the image memory 66 again.

The image memory 66 is divided into a plurality of areas according to the size of the image data to be processed, and the image data can be input / output simultaneously.
In order to enable input and output of image data to each divided area in parallel, the interface with the image memory controller 65 is connected by a plurality of read and write sets, for example, two sets of address / data lines. ing.
Thus, an operation of outputting (reading) an image from the area 2 while inputting (writing) the image to the area 1 is possible.

The image memory 66 may be provided with a hard disk (HD) 75 in order to store a lot of image data. By using the hard disk 75, an external power source is unnecessary, and the feature that an image can be retained permanently can be obtained.
Therefore, when a plurality of standard documents (format documents) are read and held by a scanner, the hard disk 75 is generally used.
In this case, at the time of writing and reading, in order to absorb the difference in processing speed with respect to image formation from the main body and image writing from the scanner, it is temporarily stored in the image memory 66 and processed.
Further, when data from an image storage device such as the hard disk 75 is sent to the writing unit 57, it is temporarily stored in the image memory 66 and sent to the writing unit 57.

Here, the CPU 68 controls all the input / output of the scanner image, the transfer image from the I / O port 67 and the image to be sent to the writing unit 57 between the image memory 66 and the hard disk 75 of the image storage device. The image memory controller 65 determines the image path.
That is, when the CPU 68 determines input and output of image data, the image memory controller 65 connected to the CPU 68 can switch the flow of images.

Here, an image signal for one page in the selector 64 will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 8, a frame gate signal (/ FGATE) represents an effective period of one page of image data in the sub-scanning direction, and switching of the selector 64 is controlled in synchronization with the cycle of the frame gate signal (/ FGATE). Is done.
The main scanning synchronization signal (/ LSYNC) is a main scanning synchronization signal for each line, and the image signal becomes valid at a predetermined clock after this signal rises.
A signal indicating that the image signal in the main scanning direction is valid is a line gate signal (/ LGATE).

These signals are synchronized with a pixel synchronization signal, that is, a pixel clock (VCLK), and data of 8 bits per pixel (256 gradations) is transmitted for one cycle of VCLK.
In this embodiment, the writing density on the transfer paper is 400 dpi, and the maximum number of pixels is 4800 pixels for main scanning and 6800 pixels for sub-scanning.
In this embodiment, the image data becomes a white image as the gradation is closer to 255.
The print function is performed after the image memory 66 as shown in the print composition unit 71 in FIG. 5, and printing is performed for each transfer sheet.

As shown in FIG. 6, the function of manipulating stored images already stored in the image storage device such as the hard disk 75 exists as a copy server application 82 and can be activated in the same row as the copy application 81 and the printer application 83. , Each can operate independently.
In FIG. 6, the operation unit controller 85, peripheral device controller 86, image forming apparatus controller 87, image reading apparatus controller 88, and memory unit 89 that are shared resources are arbitrated by the system controller 84.

Each application 81, 82, 83 can write operation screen information on a virtual screen provided by an operation unit that operates via the operation unit controller 85 and the input / output control unit 90.
The operation unit expands the screen information of the virtual screen of the operation unit owner application instructed from the system controller 84 to the real screen.

  Next, as an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, an operation of starting the copy server application 82 and displaying a list of documents already stored in the image storage device such as the image memory 66 and the hard disk 75 will be described with reference to FIG. Description will be made sequentially using the display screen examples of FIGS. 9 to 12 and the flowcharts of FIGS. In addition, about the example of a display screen of FIGS. 9-12, it has limited and displayed only the information required for the following description among each display information shown to the schematic diagram of FIG.

Example 1
First, the operation of switching from the list display screen shown in FIG. 9 to the thumbnail display screen shown in FIG. 10 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
Here, the screen of FIG. 9 displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 31 is a list of documents already stored in an image storage device such as the image memory 66 or the hard disk 75 in a list format.
The stored documents are displayed in a list format as shown in FIG. 9 (step S1), and the “thumbnail” key on this screen is pressed to instruct switching from the stored document list display to the thumbnail display. (Step S2). As a result, a process for switching to the thumbnail format as shown in FIG.

  Here, the thumbnail display example of FIG. 10 shows a case where the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is six, and the thumbnails are sequentially displayed from the upper left to the right in correspondence with the document order of the list format of FIG. When it reaches the right end, it moves to the left end of the next line and sequentially displays it in the right direction. The thumbnails of documents 1, 2, and 3 are displayed from the upper left to the right, and then from the lower left to the right. Thumbnails of documents 4, 5, and 6 are displayed.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 10, description will be made assuming that the lower right document 6 is a document for which a thumbnail image has not yet been created.
As shown in FIG. 10, if the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is 6, the thumbnail display update of the documents 1 to 6 is performed by loop processing (step S3).
At this time, it is determined whether or not a thumbnail image of the display target document has been created (step S4). If it has been created (YES in step S4), a thumbnail image is displayed (step S5). On the other hand, if it has not been created yet (for example, NO in step S4), the display process is not performed and the display is blank.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, thumbnail images are displayed for the documents 1, 2, and 4, but thumbnails are not displayed for the uncreated document 6. Note that the documents 3 and 5 are security documents with access restrictions applied. At this stage, the documents 3 and 5 are not displayed as thumbnail images indicating the document contents, but are icons (“key” marks) that indicate an inaccessible factor. Only displayed. The handling of this security document will be described later.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a case where a thumbnail image that has not been created for the lower right document 6 is created will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Through the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 13, on the screen switched to thumbnail display as shown in FIG. 10 (step S11), it is assumed that the creation of the thumbnail image of the document 6 in which the thumbnail image has not been created is completed (step S11). Step S12).

If the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is 6 as shown in FIG. 10, the thumbnail display update of the documents 1 to 6 is performed by loop processing as in the case of FIG. 13 (step S13).
At this time, it is determined whether or not the thumbnail image of the display target document has been created (step S14), and if it has been created (YES in step S14), the thumbnail image is displayed (step S15). On the other hand, if it has not been created yet (for example, NO in step S14), the display process is not performed and the display is blank. However, in this case, since thumbnail images have been created for all six display target documents, as shown in FIG. 11, thumbnail images indicating the document contents are displayed for all display target documents other than the security document. .

(Example 2)
Next, the operation of switching from the list display screen shown in FIG. 9 to the thumbnail display screen shown in FIG. 11 will be described with a focus on the flowchart of FIG. Here, the flowchart of FIG. 15 shows a case where it is not possible to switch from a list format to a thumbnail display for a security document with access restrictions.

As in the flowchart of FIG. 13, first, the accumulated documents are displayed on the screen in a list format as shown in FIG. 9 (step S21). Here, the documents in which the “key mark” is displayed at the left end of the document in the list format of FIG. 9, that is, the documents 3, 5, 7, and 8 are security documents with access restrictions.
Next, by depressing the “thumbnail” key on this screen, switching from the stored document list display to the thumbnail display is instructed (step S22). As a result, processing for switching to the thumbnail format as shown in FIG. 11 for the accumulated document is started.

  Here, the thumbnail display example of FIG. 11 shows the case where the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is six as described above, and corresponds to the list-format document order of FIG. Are displayed in order, and when reaching the right end, it moves to the left end of the next line and sequentially displays in the right direction. The thumbnails of documents 1, 2, and 3 are displayed from the upper left to the right direction. Thumbnails of documents 4, 5, and 6 are displayed from the lower left to the right.

  Of the six documents displayed as thumbnails on the first screen, document 3 and document 5 are security documents with restricted access as described above, and in an unauthenticated state, restricted access documents. Further, the following description will be made on the assumption that thumbnail images have been created for all documents.

  If the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is 6 as shown in FIG. 11, the thumbnail display update of the documents 1 to 6 is performed by loop processing as in the case of FIG. 13 (step S23).

  At this time, unlike FIG. 13, since it is assumed that all thumbnail images of the display target document have been created, it is next determined whether or not the display target document is a document for which access restriction is imposed (step S24). ). If the document has no access restriction (NO in step S24), a thumbnail image is displayed (step S25). On the other hand, in the case of a document with access restrictions (YES in step S24), an icon indicating an inaccessible factor is displayed instead of a thumbnail indicating the document content, and a thumbnail indicating the document content is not displayed (step S24). S26). In this case, since thumbnail images have been created for all six display target documents, as shown in FIG. 11, thumbnail images indicating the document contents are displayed for all display target documents other than the security document. On the other hand, an icon (“key” mark) indicating an inaccessible factor is displayed for the documents 3 and 5 that are restricted in access.

(Example 3)
Next, an operation different from that in FIG. 15 for switching from the list display screen shown in FIG. 9 to the thumbnail display screen shown in FIG. 11 will be described with a focus on the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 16 is an operation that enables display of a thumbnail display indicating the document contents of a security document that is restricted in access after the stored document is switched from the list format to the thumbnail format, for example, according to the flowchart of FIG. An example is shown.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 16, for example, by executing the flowchart of FIG. 15, first, the accumulated document is displayed on the screen in a thumbnail format as shown in FIG. 11 (step S31). Here, in the thumbnail-format screen display of FIG. 11, as described above, the documents 3 and 5 are security documents that are restricted in access and are in an unauthenticated state. Instead of, an icon ("key" mark) indicating an inaccessible factor is displayed.

  Therefore, the user selects a security document to be displayed as a thumbnail, for example, the document 5 (step S32), and performs an authentication operation such as inputting a password for the document 5, thereby completing the authentication (step S33). .

  Here, the thumbnail display example of FIG. 11 shows the case where the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is six as described above, and corresponds to the document order of the list format of FIG. Are displayed in order, and when reaching the right end, it moves to the left end of the next line and sequentially displays in the right direction. The thumbnails of documents 1, 2, and 3 are displayed from the upper left to the right direction. Thumbnails of documents 4, 5, and 6 are displayed from the lower left to the right.

  If the number of thumbnails that can be displayed on one screen is 6 as shown in FIG. 11, the thumbnail display update of the documents 1 to 6 is performed by loop processing as in FIG. 15 (step S34).

  At this time, as in FIG. 15, since it is assumed that all thumbnail images of the display target document have been created, it is next determined whether or not the display target document is a document whose access is restricted (step S35). . If the document has no access restriction (NO in step S35), a thumbnail image is displayed (step S36). On the other hand, in the case of a document with access restrictions (YES in step S35), an operation different from that in FIG. 15 is performed. That is, among the security documents of the display target document, the document 5 is in an authenticated state in step S34.

  Therefore, it is first determined whether or not the document is an authenticated security document (step S37). If the document is an authenticated security document such as document 5 (YES in step S37), a document with an access restriction is applied. For example, an icon (“key” mark) is displayed at the left end (step S38), and the process proceeds to step S36 to display a thumbnail image indicating the document content. On the other hand, in the case of an unauthenticated security document such as document 3 (NO in step S37), an icon indicating an inaccessible factor is displayed instead of a thumbnail indicating the document content, and a thumbnail indicating the document content is displayed. No (step S39).

  As a result of the above processing, the thumbnail display screen shown in FIG. 11 is switched to the display screen shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, since thumbnail images have been created for all six display target documents, thumbnail images indicating document contents are displayed for all display target documents other than the security document, as in FIG. Among the security documents 3 and 5 that are restricted in access, for the authenticated security document 5, a thumbnail image indicating the document content is displayed together with an icon indicating the security document that is restricted in access, and the unauthenticated security document 3 is displayed. Is displayed with an icon ("key" mark) indicating the inaccessible factor.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a panel configuration diagram illustrating an example of an operation unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a liquid crystal touch panel of the operation unit illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an internal configuration of an image processing unit (IPU) configuring the control unit of FIG. 4. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a software configuration that operates on the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration when an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a network. FIG. 6 is a timing diagram for explaining a timing relationship of image signals for one page in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example in which accumulated documents are displayed on a screen in a list format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example in which an accumulated document is displayed on a screen in a thumbnail format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example in which an accumulated document is displayed on a screen in a thumbnail format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing still another example in which an accumulated document is displayed on a screen in a thumbnail format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of switching the display of the accumulated document list format to the thumbnail format and displaying the thumbnail image in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example of an operation for switching the display of the stored document list format to the thumbnail format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 10 is a flowchart showing still another example of an operation of switching the display of the stored document list format to the thumbnail format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 10 is a flowchart showing still another example of an operation of switching the display of the stored document list format to the thumbnail format in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic document feeder (ADF), 10 ... 3rd tray, 100 ... Finisher, 101 ... Switching plate, 102 ... Normal discharge roller, 103 ... Conveyance roller, 104 ... Normal discharge tray, 105 ... Staple conveyance roller, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 106 ... Stapler, 107 ... Staple conveyance roller, 108 ... Staple stand, 109 ... Jogger, 11 ... 1st paper feeder, 110 ... Staple completion paper discharge tray, 111 ... Double-sided paper feed unit, 112 ... Branch nail, 113 ... Double-sided Incoming conveyance path, 114... Reverse discharge conveyance path, 12... Second paper feeding device, 13... Third paper feeding device, 14 .. Vertical conveyance unit, 15. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Paper discharge unit, 2 ... Document base, 20 ... Main controller, 21 ... Intermediate clutch, 22 ... First paper feed clutch, 23 ... Second paper feed clutch, 24 3rd paper feed clutch, 25 ... main motor, 26 ... transport motor, 27 ... developing unit, 3 ... feed roller, 30 ... operation section, 31 ... liquid crystal touch panel, 32 ... numeric keypad, 33 ... clear / stop key, 34 ... Print key, 35 ... Preheating key, 36 ... Reset key, 37 ... Initial setting key, 38 ... Copy key, 39 ... Copy server key, 4 ... Feed belt, 49 ... Image processing unit (IPU), 5 ... Discharge roller 50 ... Reading unit, 51 ... Exposure lamp, 52 ... First mirror, 53 ... Lens, 54 ... CCD image sensor, 55 ... Second mirror, 56 ... Third mirror, 57 ... Writing unit, 58 ... Laser output unit, 59 ... Imaging lens, 6 ... Contact glass, 60 ... Mirror, 61 ... A / D converter, 62 ... Shading correction unit, 63 ... Image 64: selector, 65 ... image memory controller, 66 ... image memory, 67 ... I / O port, 68 ... CPU, 69 ... ROM, 7 ... document set detector, 70 ... RAM, 71 ... print composition unit, 74 ... NV-RAM, 75 ... Hard disk (HD), 77 ... Scaling circuit, 8 ... First tray, 81 ... Copy application, 82 ... Copy server application, 83 ... Printer application, 84 ... System controller, 85 ... Operation unit Controller 86, peripheral device controller 87, image forming apparatus controller 88, image reading apparatus controller 89, memory unit 9, second tray 90, input / output control unit

Claims (8)

Image forming device having means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing read image data and its attributes, and means for displaying thumbnails of stored image data In the device
An image forming apparatus, wherein a thumbnail image of accumulated image data is displayed blank when it has not been created, and the thumbnail image is displayed after completion of the creation of the thumbnail image. Image forming device having means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing read image data and its attributes, and means for displaying thumbnails of stored image data In the device
An image forming apparatus, wherein thumbnail images of image data are not displayed in an inaccessible state with image data having an access restriction attribute.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for displaying the attribute of the accumulated image data as an icon, and displaying the cause of not displaying the thumbnail image as an icon. .   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a thumbnail image is displayed when the state is shifted to an accessible state by an authentication process represented by password input. Image forming device having means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing read image data and its attributes, and means for displaying thumbnails of stored image data In the device display control method,
A display control method for an image forming apparatus, wherein a thumbnail image of accumulated image data is displayed blank when it has not been created, and a thumbnail image is displayed after completion of the creation of the thumbnail image. Image forming device having means for reading image information of a document, operation means for inputting operation settings for image reading, means for storing read image data and its attributes, and means for displaying thumbnails of stored image data In the device display control method,
A display control method for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that thumbnail images of image data are not displayed in an inaccessible state with image data having an access restriction attribute.   7. The display control method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means for displaying the attribute of the accumulated image data as an icon, and displaying the cause of not displaying the thumbnail image as an icon. Display control method for an image forming apparatus.   8. The display control method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a thumbnail image is displayed when the state is shifted to an accessible state by an authentication process represented by password input. Display control method.