JPH07131578A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display the picture pattern of guidance showing an operation method so that an operator can easily understand. CONSTITUTION:A case for changing the picture pattern of an icon into a picture pattern which is read by a read part 9 and a case for changing the picture pattern into a picture pattern received through MODEM 5 and NCU 6 can be selected at the time of an icon change operation. Thus, a parameter is initialized and it is selected by which icon change method the picture pattern is changed. To put it concretely, it is judged that an icon change by the picture pattern which is read is selected when an original picture is read by the read part 9, and the icon change operation is executed. Then, it is judged that the icon change operation by the received picture pattern is selected when the original picture is not read by the read part 9, and the icon change operation is executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine equipped with a display for displaying guidance indicating an operating method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional facsimile machines equipped with a display device can be classified into the following types.

(1) A display device for displaying characters indicating the operating state of the facsimile machine, and an operation key for fixed operation.

(2) A display having a character display and an image display for displaying guidance indicating the operating state and operating method of the facsimile apparatus, and a general-purpose key for performing a plurality of operations.

[0005]

However, in the conventional facsimile apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the wording of the guidance indicating the operating state and the operation method of the facsimile apparatus is difficult to understand or the guidance image is difficult to understand. There is a problem that the user's operation is complicated.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of displaying an image pattern of guidance indicating an operating method in an easy-to-understand manner for an operator. .

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a display means capable of displaying a guidance image pattern indicating an operating method, and an operator displaying the guidance image pattern displayed on the display means. Is provided with a selecting means and an operating means for performing an operation corresponding to the guidance selected by the selecting means.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the image pattern of the guidance indicating the operating method is selected by the operator through the selecting means, and the operation means performs the operation corresponding to the selected guidance. The image pattern of the guidance can be arbitrarily changed by the operator. as a result,
An image pattern that is easy for the operator to understand can be obtained, and good operability (man-machine interface) can be achieved.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a facsimile apparatus main body, and 2 is a CPU for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus. The CPU 2 is connected to a ROM 3 storing programs necessary for controlling the main body 1 and a RAM 4 used as a work area of the CPU 2 via a bus. Further, the CPU 2 is connected to the modem 5 and the gate arrays 8, 16 and 2 via the bus.
0 is connected and the operation is controlled by the CPU 2. The modem 5 modulates / demodulates a document image and control procedure data, and is connected to a line 7 via an NCU 6.
The NCU 6 holds the loop current of the line 7 and exchanges a line with a telephone (not shown). The NCU 6 is also connected to the gate array 8 and its operation is controlled by the gate array 8. On the other hand, the gate array 16 is connected to a reading unit 9 for reading an original image and an image recording unit 12 for outputting a copy of the image read by the reading unit 9, and these operations are controlled by the gate array 16. To be done. The reading unit 9 is composed of a CCD line sensor 10 and a reading motor 11, and the image recording unit 12 is composed of a recording head 113 and a recording motor.
0 and the recording head 13 directly, and the gate array 2
0 has an LED 17, a key switch 18, and a display 19
And are connected, and these operations are controlled by the gate array 20.

FIG. 2 shows the LED 17 and the key switch 1
8 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of an operation panel 21 having a display 8 and a display 19. In the figure, an LED 17 indicates the mode of the facsimile apparatus, and an LED 17a indicating a density mode for adjusting the transmission image data according to the density of the original to be transmitted, and whether the mode is the normal mode or the fine mode. And an LED 17c indicating a halftone mode used when transmitting an original having halftone. Further, the key switch 18 has a switch for turning on the LED 17 and a start / stop switch, as well as a function key 18a and a ten key 18b for performing a function operation described later. In addition, the display 19 displays an icon indicating an operation method by an image pattern. FIG. 3 shows an example of icons displayed on the display unit 19.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the numeric keypad 18b. When the keys "2", "4", "6" and "8" are pressed,
Display 19 in the direction corresponding to the arrow on each key
It has a function to move the upper pointing pointer,
It is used as a selection key to select the icon displayed in. For example, when the operator presses the key "2", the gate array 10 detects that the key "2" has been pressed and transmits the movement command information indicated by the key "2" to the CPU 2. An instruction pointer movement control program is stored in the ROM 3, and the instruction pointer is moved by the CPU 2 based on the program and the movement instruction information.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus having the above structure.

When the power of the facsimile apparatus is turned on, various parameters are initialized in step S1, and while in a loop of steps S2, S4, S6 and S8, a standby state is established in which a standby command is waited for. That is, in step S2, it is determined whether or not a command to perform a copy operation is input by the operator, and the answer is affirmative (YE
In the case of S), a predetermined copy operation is performed in step S3, and then the operation returns to the standby state. The answer is negative (N
In the case of O), the process proceeds to step S4, and it is determined whether or not a command for performing the transmission operation is input. If the answer to step S4 is affirmative (YES), a predetermined transmission operation is performed in step S5, and then the operation returns to the standby state. When the answer is negative (NO), it is determined in step S6 whether or not a command for performing the receiving operation is input, and the answer is affirmative (YE).
In the case of S), a predetermined receiving operation is performed and then the operation returns to the standby state. When the answer is negative (NO), the operator presses the function key 18a in step S8, or the icon indicating the function operation on the display screen shown in FIG. 3 is selected to perform the function operation. It is determined whether or not a command has been input, and if the answer is negative (NO), the process returns to the standby state, and steps S2 and thereafter are repeated. If the answer to step S8 is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to step S9, and after the function operation described below is performed, the process returns to the standby state.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the details of the function operation performed in step S9. In this embodiment, the user's telephone number registration operation, the operator's abbreviation registration operation, the time registration operation, and the display 1
A function operation of changing the image pattern of the icon displayed in 9 (hereinafter referred to as an icon changing operation) is performed. The function operation is the display 1 shown in FIG.
The operation is performed by the operator operating the key switch 18 to select an icon corresponding to each function operation shown on the display screen 9.

When the function operation is activated in step S8, the parameters are initialized in step S11, which function operation is selected is determined in steps S12 to S20, and the function operation is executed according to the operator's operation. It That is,
When it is determined in step S12 that the operator's telephone number registration operation has been selected, the registration operation is executed in step S13, and when it is determined that the operator's abbreviation registration operation has been selected in step S14, step S15. The abbreviation registration operation is executed.

If the answer to step S14 is negative (NO), the process proceeds to step S16. If it is determined in step S16 that the time registration operation is selected, step S16 is performed.
At 17, an image of guidance showing the operation method of the date / time registration operation is displayed on the display device 19, and the operator inputs time data according to the guidance to set or reset the time.

FIG. 8 shows the details of the determination operation performed in step S16. In the figure, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the time icon is selected from the images (icons) showing the function operation displayed on the display device 19. If the answer is affirmative (YES), the step is performed. The flag FJIKOKU is set to "1" to indicate that the time registration operation is performed in step S22, and step S1 is performed.
Proceed to 7.

In step S17, the time registration operation is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, first, the parameters are initialized in step S31, and then, in step S32, the icon indicating the operation procedure of the time registration operation is displayed on the display unit 19. Step S3
In 3, when the operator inputs the information to be registered according to the displayed icon, the input information is stored in the RAM 4 as time change information in step S34. In step S35, the changed time is displayed based on the information stored in the RAM 4, and the time registration operation ends. FIG. 10 shows an example of the display on the display 19 when the time registration information is input in step S33.

On the other hand, the answer to the step S21 is negative (N
In the case of O), the flag FJIKOKU is set to "0" to indicate that the time registration operation is not performed in step S23, and the time registration operation ends.

Returning to FIG. 6, when it is determined in step S18 that the icon changing operation is selected, the process proceeds to step S19, and the icon changing operation is executed. The icon changing operation is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, there may be a case where the image pattern of the icon is changed to the image pattern read by the reading unit 9 and a case where the image pattern is received via the modem 5 and the NCU 6. Therefore, after the initialization of the parameters is performed in step S41, which of the above-described icon changing methods is used in step S42 is selected. Specifically, when the reading unit 9 reads the document image, it is determined that the icon change based on the read image pattern is selected, and the icon change operation is executed in step S43. If the document image is not read by the reading unit 9, it is determined that the icon changing operation based on the received image pattern is selected, and the icon changing operation is performed in step S44.

The icon changing operation performed in steps S43 and S44 is performed according to the flow charts shown in FIGS. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the icon changing operation (step S43) based on the image pattern read by the reading unit 9.

When it is determined in step S42 that the icon change by the read image pattern is selected, the parameters are initialized in step S51, and the icon to be changed is selected by the operator in step S52. Then, in step S53, the new image original of the icon to be changed is read by the reading unit 9, and the read image is stored in the RAM 4 in step S54. In step S55, the icon selected in step S52 is switched to the image pattern stored in the RAM 4, and the icon changing operation ends.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the icon changing operation according to the received image pattern. When it is determined in step S42 that the icon changing operation based on the image pattern received is selected, initialization is performed in step S61, and the operator selects the icon to be changed in step S62. In step S63, it is determined whether or not the received image used as a new image pattern of the icon to be changed is stored in the RAM 4, and when the answer is negative (NO), the icon changing operation cannot be executed, so step S64 Then, an error is displayed on the display 19 and the icon changing operation ends in error. When the answer is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to step S64, the icon selected in step S62 is switched to the image pattern stored in the RAM 4, and the icon changing operation ends.

Returning to FIG. 6, steps S13 and S described above are performed.
When each function operation of S15, S17, and S19 is completed, it is determined in step S20 whether or not the operator has selected an icon for ending the function operation.
When the answer is affirmative (YES), the function operation is ended and the operation returns to the standby state of FIG. Also, step S
If the result is 20 (NO), the process returns to step S12,
Function operation is continued.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for explaining the details of step S1 in FIG. 5 described above. When the power of the main body 1 is turned on, the parameters are initialized in step S71, and the icon image to be displayed is selected in step S72. That is, the image data read from or received from the image original is RA as an optional image.
It is determined whether or not it is stored in M4, and when the option image is stored, the option icon is displayed in step S73. If no option image is stored, a (non-volatile) default icon is displayed in step S74.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image pattern of the icon for displaying the operation guidance is read by using the original image data reading function which is the basic function of the facsimile apparatus or the memory function of the received image data. Can be changed to the operator's preference and displayed in an image pattern that is easy for the operator to understand, so that the operation is not complicated and a good man-machine interface can be performed.

In the above-described embodiment, the ten key 18b is provided with the function of moving the pointing pointer when selecting the icon to be changed during the icon changing operation.
It goes without saying that a mouse may be connected and the pointing pointer may be moved by the mouse. FIG. 15 shows a schematic configuration of the facsimile machine in this case. The mouse controller IC 22 is connected to the CPU 2 via the bus and controls the mouse 23. When the operator moves the mouse, the movement information is detected by the mouse controller IC 22, and the detected movement information is sent to the CP via the bus.
Sent to U2. In such a configuration, the ROM 3 stores the mouse control program, and the CPU
2, the instruction pointer on the display 19 is controlled to move based on the mouse control program and the movement information.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a facsimile apparatus having a display for displaying an image indicating a communication image and a guidance indicating an operating method, the guidance displayed on the display is displayed. Since the selection means for the operator to select and the operation means for performing the operation corresponding to the guidance selected by the selection means are provided, it is possible to display an image pattern that is easy for the operator to understand. Furthermore, since the image pattern of the guidance selected by the selecting means can be changed,
The image pattern can be changed to the operator's preference to obtain a more understandable image pattern. Therefore, the complexity of the operation is eliminated, and a good man-machine interface can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an operation panel of the device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an icon displayed on the display shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining details of the numeric keypad shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the function operation of step S9 in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an icon displayed on a display unit during a function operation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of step S16 of FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing details of the time registration operation of step S17 of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display on the display device 19 during a time registration operation.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing details of the icon changing operation in step S19 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing details of step S43 in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of step S44 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing details of step S1 in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to a modified example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 CPU (Operating Means) 4 RAM (Memory Means) 5 Modem (Receiving Means) 6 NCU (Receiving Means) 9 Reading Part (Reading Means) 18a Function Keys (Selecting Means) 18b Numeric Keypad (Selecting Means) 23 Mouse (Selecting Means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A display unit capable of displaying an image pattern of guidance showing an operation method, a selection unit for an operator to select an image pattern of the guidance displayed on the display unit, and a selection unit selected by the selection unit. And an operating means for performing an operation corresponding to the guidance. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pattern of the guidance selected by the selecting means is changeable. 3. A reading device for reading a document image in which an operation method is described by a document pattern, and the document image read by the reading device is used as an image pattern of the guidance. Facsimile machine. 4. A receiving means for receiving image data and a storage means for storing the image data received by the receiving means, wherein the image data stored by the storing means is used as an image pattern of the guidance. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 5. A facsimile apparatus, wherein a basic image pattern is used before the change of the guidance image pattern and after the change-registered guidance image pattern is erased.