JP2746382B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, for transferring a copy image of an original to paper by exposing and scanning the original, and in particular, relates to the image forming apparatus. Related to operation management function.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus of this kind, almost all of various operation keys for achieving various functions of the apparatus are arranged and used on one operation panel. By operating these operation keys, various operation commands are issued.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in this type of conventional image forming apparatus, almost all of the operation keys are arranged on the operation panel, so that a user who uses only a specific operation key is not suitable for the user. However, there is a problem that other keys which do not know the operation method are displayed, which makes the operation complicated and erroneous operation is likely to occur.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an image forming apparatus in which the operation functions of the apparatus can be arbitrarily limited and used according to the range of use and purpose of the user. It is.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

As shown in this figure, the present invention is arranged in a predetermined position on an operation panel in an image forming apparatus for transferring a copy image of a document image to a sheet by exposing and scanning a document placed on a document table. Display means 101 capable of blocking operation keys other than the specific group, so that only the operation keys of the specific group corresponding to the use range of the user are visible out of the large number of operation keys. Operation means 102 provided corresponding to the keys to issue an operation command according to the operation keys
And a designation unit 103 for designating a specific group of operation keys according to the user's usage range, and controlling the operation unit 102 to function only with an operation command according to the specific group of operation keys designated by the designation unit 103 And specifying means 103
The image forming apparatus includes a user use range setting unit 104 that causes the display unit 101 to block operation keys other than the specific group specified by the specifying unit 103 so that only the operation keys of the specific group specified by the user can be viewed. Device.

As the display means 101 in the present invention, any means can be used as long as it can shield operation keys other than a specific group, and a transmissive liquid crystal display panel that normally transmits light entirely can be applied.

As the operation unit 102, a conventionally known operation device that operates the image forming apparatus according to a key operation from a touch panel provided corresponding to the operation key can be applied.

The designating unit 103 prepares several types of operation contents of a specific group corresponding to the use range of the user in an external memory such as a magnetic card, and prepares several types of operation contents. By reading the contents,
The operation key of a specific group according to the user's usage range may be specified, or the operation content of the specific group according to the user's usage range may be stored in an internal memory such as a ROM. The type of operation key may be stored, the operation content may be designated by key input, and the desired operation content may be read from the ROM, thereby designating a specific group of operation keys according to the user's usage range. For example, a non-volatile RAM or a magnetic storage medium such as a floppy disk can be applied as the storage of the operation content. For example, numerical keys provided on an operation panel of the image forming apparatus can be used as an instruction for operating contents by key input.

As the user use range setting means 104, generally, CP
It is convenient to use a microcomputer consisting of U, ROM, RAM, and I / O ports.

(E) Function According to the present invention, when the operation key of the specific group corresponding to the use range of the user is specified by the specifying means 103, the operation key of the specific group specified by the user use range setting means 104 Only the operation command corresponding to the specified group functions, and the operation keys other than the specified specific group are shielded so that only the specified group of operation keys can be viewed.

Therefore, by setting several types of operation key groups according to the use range and purpose of the user, the operation functions of the device and the display of operation keys can be arbitrarily set according to the use range and purpose of the user. It becomes possible to use it with restriction.

(F) Embodiment Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an entire embodiment of the present invention applied to a copying machine.

In the figure, 1 is a copying machine, and 2 is an operation panel. A display panel on which a plurality of operation contents are displayed is placed on the operation panel 2, and a transparent touch panel 3 is formed on an upper surface of the display panel. The user confirms the display of the operation contents on the display panel. By touching the display portion above, a desired operation command can be issued.

On the lower surface of the touch panel 3, a liquid crystal display panel capable of displaying only the operation content arbitrarily selected from the operation content displayed on the operation panel 2 is mounted.

Reference numeral 4 denotes an insertion slot into which the magnetic card 5 is inserted in the direction of arrow A shown by a dashed line. The magnetic card 5 stores operation contents arbitrarily selected from a plurality of operation contents displayed on the operation panel 2.

That is, for example, from various operation functions such as enlarged copy, reduced copy, and double-sided copy, only the function selected according to the use range and purpose of the user is stored.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a mounting table on which an original is mounted, 7 denotes a paper cassette for supplying paper, and 8 denotes a print key for starting copying.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the operation panel 2 shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a device of the copying machine 1 and 11 denotes a magnetic card 5
A user use range setting device for reading data from the device and determining the operation content stored therein;
Display / operation device for displaying operation contents on the screen, 13 is CP
It is a control device composed of a microcomputer consisting of U, ROM, RAM, and I / O ports.

The control device 13 operates only the operation command corresponding to the operation content determined by the user usage range setting device 11 among the operation contents operable from the display / operation device 12 to the device 10, and The display / operation device 12 is controlled so that the display content corresponds to the operation content.

Further, the control device 13 stores an operation content arbitrarily selected from a plurality of operation contents displayed on the operation panel 2, that is, an operation content comparable to the storage content of the magnetic card 5 as one.
One group is stored in plural groups.

That is, for example, from various operation functions such as the above-described enlarged copy, reduced copy, and double-sided copy, the operation contents selected according to the use range and purpose of the user are grouped into one group. A plurality of groups set so that combinations of operation functions are different for each group are stored. And user use range setting device
Even when the magnetic card 5 is not read in 11, the address of the group is indicated by a number from the numeric key of the operation unit 2, so that the group is directly specified and the operation content of the group is read, and based on the operation content, It is possible to control the display / operation device 12 or to designate writing to the magnetic card 5 described later.

The user usage range setting device 11 sets the user usage range by setting the write mode from the display / operation device 12 to specify the address of the above-described group from the numeric keys, and controls the user usage range under the control of the control device 13. Can be written on the magnetic card 5.

 FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of the operation panel 2.

As described above, the operation panel 2 has a liquid crystal display panel that normally transmits light over the display panel, and a touch panel 3 formed thereon.

In the figure, 21 is a numeric key, 22 is a clear key, 23 is a zoom key, 24 is a special operation key, 25 is an edit mode key, and 26 is a marker processing key.

From the plurality of operation contents displayed on the plurality of operation keys, desired operation contents are arbitrarily selected in advance and stored in the magnetic card 5, and the magnetic card 5 is inserted from the insertion slot 4. This makes it possible to provide an operation panel in which only desired operation keys are displayed and only operation commands corresponding to the keys can be issued.

FIG. 5 shows a state where only the numeric key 21, the clear key 22, the zoom key 23, and the special key 24, that is, the double-sided copy key 24a among the display contents of the operation panel 2, are displayed. This is set, for example, when a user whose use range is relatively narrow uses the copying machine 1.

FIG. 6 shows a numeric key 21, a clear key 22,
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which only the special operation key 24 and the marker processing key are displayed, and is set, for example, mainly when a user who uses only the marker processing uses the copying machine 1.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which only the numeric key 21 and the clear key 22 are controlled to be displayed, and is set, for example, when the user who has the narrowest usage range uses the key.

The operation in such a configuration will be described below with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the control device 13 when the user usage range is set and written on the magnetic card 5.

First, the control device 13 determines whether or not the mode of the display / operation device 12 is the user use range setting mode (step 201). When the mode is the user use range setting mode, the number of the mode to be used, that is, the address of the group of the operation content stored in the control device 13 is input from the numeric key 21 (step 202). (Step 203), the user usage range is written on the magnetic card (step 204), and it is determined whether the scanning is completed (step 20).
Five).

If the mode is not the user use range setting mode in step 201, the reading process of the magnetic card 5 shown in FIG. 9 is performed.

In FIG. 9, first, when the magnetic card 5 is read (step 301), display contents are determined corresponding to the user use range (step 302), and display is performed (step 303).

Then, an operation input is performed by the user (step 304), various processes are executed by the copying machine 1 (step 305), and it is determined whether or not to change the mode (step 306). Performs a mode change process (step 307).

In this manner, the operation contents corresponding to the user's use range and purpose are stored in the magnetic card 5 in advance, so that the operation functions of the copier 1 and the corresponding operation contents can be stored according to the use range and purpose. Can be arbitrarily used.

(G) Effect of the Invention According to the present invention, when an operation key of a specific group is designated, the operation keys of the group other than the specific group are shielded,
Since only the operation command corresponding to the operation key of the specific group is made to function, for example, in the case of a beginner to use, an operation key that is not frequently used by a beginner is masked, or only a specific function is used. If used by the user, mask the keys other than those required for that particular function, such as by masking the user's usage range or purpose.
The operation function of the device and the display of the operation keys accompanying the device can be arbitrarily limited and used, whereby the device can be operated appropriately according to the user, and the user can operate the device in accordance with the display of the operation content. The device can be used reliably without erroneous operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an entire embodiment of the present invention applied to a copying machine, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of an operation panel, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation panel, FIGS. 5 to 7 are explanatory views showing examples of control states of the operation panel, FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copy machine, 2 ... Operation panel, 3 ... Touch panel, 4 ... Magnetic card insertion slot, 5 ... Magnetic card, 6 ... Original mounting table, 7 ... Paper cassette, 8 ... Print key, 10 ... equipment, 11 ... user use range setting device, 12 ... display / operation device, 13 ... control device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-62-27765 (JP, A) JP-A-59-72452 (JP, A) JP-A-1-118858 (JP, A) JP-A 64-64 91152 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image forming apparatus for transferring a copy image of a document image to a sheet by exposing and scanning a document placed on a document table, comprising: a plurality of operation keys arranged at predetermined positions on an operation panel; Display means capable of blocking operation keys other than the specific group, so that only the operation keys of the specific group corresponding to the use range of the user are visible, and provided in correspondence with the operation keys. An operation unit that issues an operation command according to an operation key, a designation unit that designates a specific group of operation keys according to a use range of a user, and only an operation command according to a particular group of operation keys designated by the designation unit The control unit is controlled so as to function, and the specific group specified by the specifying unit is set so that only the operation keys of the specific group specified by the specifying unit are visible. An image forming apparatus comprising: a user use range setting unit that blocks operation keys other than the above with the display unit.