JP2002200817A - Display and image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select desired image recording conditions out of a plurality of registered image recording conditions while preventing repetition of intricate and troublesome setting operation of image recording conditions and to utilize the selected image recording conditions effectively. SOLUTION: Execution conditions obtained by combining and grouping conditions of a plurality of functions is stored in an execution conditions storing means. Using at least one function as a retrieval key, an execution conditions retrieving means retrieves execution conditions including a function stored in the execution conditions storing means and used as the retrieval key. A difference extracting means extracts a function other than that common to all execution conditions retrieved by the execution conditions retrieving means. An execution conditions displaying means displays a list of execution conditions retrieved by the execution conditions retrieving means and displays only a function extracted by the difference extracting means at the time of displaying a list.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device and an image recording device, and more particularly to an image recording device such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, etc., for selecting functions of the image recording device and setting execution conditions. The present invention relates to a display device for performing various operations and an image recording device capable of storing image recording conditions as execution conditions in advance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art While various types of image recording apparatuses such as copiers, facsimile machines, and printers have become increasingly sophisticated and multifunctional,
There is a tendency that the operation for setting the image recording condition by the user is complicated and the procedure of the operation is increased. Therefore, in such an image recording apparatus, when a user sets an image recording condition in which a plurality of functions are combined in order to execute a desired process, a function necessary for a display device included in the image recording apparatus is set. To display a menu screen for setting the functions, close the menu screen, and then display a menu screen for setting the next necessary function. This procedure usually increases as the number of functions to be combined increases, and the setting operation takes time.

[0003] Even when such a setting operation is performed and a process is executed in accordance with a desired image recording condition, a different process is executed after the execution of the process, or after the auto-clear function is activated, the past operation is performed. The information about the image recording conditions set in is lost. Therefore, when the processing is performed once and the processing is performed again under the same image recording condition, the setting operation must be performed again. If you are forced to repeat the setting operation in this way, for example,
When performing processing under image recording conditions consisting of multiple functions such as reduction, N-up, and copying of multiple copies, and then performing additional processing under the same image recording conditions due to lack of copies, etc. Setting is complicated and time-consuming.

There is an image recording apparatus having a so-called image recording condition registration function in which the setting of an image recording condition including a plurality of functions is registered in advance in order to eliminate such repetition of the setting. Also, in order to effectively use the image recording condition registration function, it is also required to register various image recording conditions regardless of the frequency of use. An image recording apparatus having a function of displaying a list of image recording conditions on a display device (see FIG. 8) has also been proposed.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional image recording apparatus, particularly, an image recording apparatus having an image recording condition registration function, the image recording condition registration processing must be performed in advance, and the image recording condition registration processing is frequently performed in advance. Although there is no problem with image recording conditions that are clearly used, it is troublesome to register all image recording conditions for processes for which it is unclear whether or not to use them again. On the other hand, such image recording conditions must be registered. For example, it may be necessary to repeat the setting operation.

On the other hand, in an image recording apparatus having a function of automatically registering image recording conditions that have been set once, each time the image recording conditions are set, the conditions are sequentially registered. Is registered. Therefore, although the trouble of registering the image recording conditions can be omitted, it is difficult to select a desired image recording condition from among a large number of registered and listed image recording conditions. Even if an image recording condition is registered with an appropriate name, it is difficult to set the name as a name from which the registered content can be easily inferred. It is difficult.

If the user finds out that the selected image recording conditions are not the desired ones after setting the image recording conditions or executing the processing, the user is required to confirm and re-set the settings or to re-select the image recording conditions. The execution must be redone.

Further, among the registered image recording conditions,
If there is no image recording condition that completely matches the desired image recording condition, the one closest to the desired image recording condition is detected,
Although a method of editing this can be considered, as described above, if the registered content cannot be grasped, it is difficult to determine which one is closest to the desired image recording condition. However, it is difficult to select a predetermined image recording condition.

As described above, the image recording condition registration function is intended to reduce the burden of setting image recording conditions one by one. However, in order to actually use the image recording conditions, a search must be performed until a desired image recording condition is selected. There are several problems such as difficulty and editing complexity, and other than the specific image recording conditions, such as those whose registration contents are grasped in advance, are simply registered and are not used effectively at present. There is a problem that there is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and prevents a complicated and complicated setting operation of image recording conditions from being repeated, and selects a desired image recording condition from registered image recording conditions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device of an image recording apparatus and an image recording apparatus that can effectively use the image recording conditions.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for displaying a function of a device, selecting the function, and designating a desired condition to execute the condition of the device. A display device capable of performing the setting of: an execution condition storage unit that stores execution conditions grouped by combining conditions of a plurality of functions; and searching by using at least one function as a search key, An execution condition search means for searching for an execution condition including the function serving as the search key stored in the execution condition storage means; and an execution condition searched by the execution condition search means, other than a function common to all functions. A difference extracting means for extracting a function and a list of execution conditions searched by the execution condition searching means are displayed in a list, and at the time of this display, only the functions extracted by the difference extracting means are displayed. It is characterized by comprising an execution condition display means for displaying.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the execution condition storage means stores execution conditions obtained by combining conditions of a plurality of functions into groups, and the execution condition retrieval means stores at least one execution condition.
By searching for the two functions as search keys, the execution condition including the function as the search key stored in the execution condition storage unit is searched, and the execution condition searched by the execution condition search unit by the difference extraction unit is searched. Among the functions, the functions other than the functions common to all are extracted, and the execution conditions searched by the execution condition search means are displayed as a list by the execution condition display means. Display only the functions Therefore, the necessary execution condition can be easily detected from the execution conditions already stored in the execution condition storage means, and the setting operation does not require much time. In addition, even if the user is not accustomed to the setting operation of the execution condition, by selecting a desired execution condition from the stored execution conditions, it is possible to perform a process related to the complicated execution condition without going through a complicated setting operation. Can be performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the display device according to the first aspect, when a list of the execution conditions searched by the execution condition search means is displayed in a list, functions common to all of the execution conditions are put together. It is characterized by further comprising a common function display means for displaying.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the display device according to the first aspect, when the execution condition searched by the execution condition search means is displayed in a list,
By displaying functions common to all of the execution conditions, the function serving as a search key specified by the user becomes clear.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the display device according to the first or second aspect, the function displayed on the execution condition display means is displayed as an object comprising a character or graphic image indicating the function. The touch panel is characterized in that a function corresponding to the object is selected by touching or releasing the touch on the object. The function displayed as an object includes the function selected as the search key and other functions.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the display device according to the first or second aspect, the function displayed on the execution condition display means may be a character or graphic indicating the function. The setting operation is made clearer and easier by using a touch panel that is displayed as an object composed of an image and that selects a function corresponding to the object by touching or releasing the object.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the display device according to any one of the first to third aspects, when the execution condition is displayed by the execution condition display means, the execution condition is displayed in a column or a row. When the functions included in the execution conditions are common, the common functions are arranged so as to match the rows or columns between the execution conditions.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the display device according to any one of the first to third aspects, when the execution condition is displayed by the execution condition display means, When the execution conditions are displayed in columns or rows, and when the functions included in each execution condition are common, all the executions are performed by arranging the common functions so that the execution conditions match in rows or columns. Although not common to the conditions,
It is easy to compare functions common to several execution conditions, and it becomes easier for the user to select and set desired execution conditions.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the display device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the device is an image recording device.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the display device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the function of the image recording device can be set and operated by the display device. The setting operation of the user using the image recording apparatus can be easily performed, and the time required for the setting operation can be reduced.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus comprising a combination of a plurality of functions provided in the image recording apparatus and capable of storing in advance an image recording condition which is an execution condition of the image recording apparatus. The user selects at least one of the functions, extracts image recording conditions including the selected function, displays a list of the extracted image recording conditions, and excludes the selected function to remove the image recording conditions. Are displayed, among the functions included in the above, the functions other than the selected function are displayed.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus comprising a combination of a plurality of functions provided in the image recording apparatus and capable of storing in advance an image recording condition which is an execution condition of the image recording apparatus. Selecting at least one of the functions, extracting image recording conditions including the selected function, displaying a list of the extracted image recording conditions, excluding the selected function, Among the functions included in the recording condition, functions other than the selected function are displayed. Therefore, by selecting the displayed function, the necessary image recording conditions can be easily detected from the already stored image recording conditions, and the setting operation does not require much time. Even if the user is not accustomed to setting image recording conditions, selecting a desired image recording condition from the stored image recording conditions enables complicated image recording conditions without complicated setting operations. Can be executed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, when displaying a function other than the selected function, a common function is integrated from the function other than the selected function. It is characterized in that it is rearranged and displayed in the order of functions included in common so as to be displayed.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, when displaying a function other than the selected function, the function other than the selected function is used in common. Function to be displayed as one unit,
By rearranging and displaying the functions included in common, the functions common to the image recording conditions can be easily compared, and the desired image recording conditions can be more easily selected.

[0025]

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

As shown in FIG. 1, an operation panel type display device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a user interface unit 12, a display control unit 18 for controlling the display of the user interface unit 12, and an image recording condition. An image recording condition storage unit 20 serving as an execution condition storage unit to store the image recording conditions stored in the image recording condition storage unit 20 and an image recording condition management unit 22 functioning as an execution condition search unit and a difference extraction unit. Contains.

The user interface unit 12 comprises a display unit 14 as an execution condition display unit and a common function display unit, and an input unit 16. The display unit 14 is a so-called touch panel, and displays buttons as objects composed of images of characters and graphics indicating functions of the image recording apparatus to which the operation panel type display device 10 is connected, and the user's finger is put on these buttons. The user can perform various operations such as establishment of the function or cancellation of designation, setting of image recording conditions, and the like. Also, the designated function, the contents of the set image recording conditions, and the like are displayed.

The input unit 16 manages input and output to and from the buttons displayed on the display unit 14. When a button indicating a function / item is touched by a user's finger or the like, the input unit 16 designates or designates the function. Display control unit 18 outputs a signal for canceling
Send to

The display control unit 18 is provided with the image recording condition management unit 2
2 and the image recording condition management unit 22
In accordance with the signal transmitted from the input unit 16, an instruction to search and select necessary image recording conditions and information on the image recording conditions is prompted. The display control unit 18 is connected to the device control unit 24 of the image recording apparatus, and transmits to the device control unit 24 the setting information on the image recording conditions transmitted from the image recording condition management unit 22. In the image recording condition storage unit 20,
Image recording conditions for processes that have already been performed are sequentially stored, and image recording conditions that are expected to be frequently used can be set and stored in advance.

The image recording condition management unit 22 includes the display control unit 1
8, that is, information about a predetermined image recording condition or image recording condition from each image recording condition stored in the image recording condition storage unit 20 in accordance with a signal from the input unit 16 received via the display control unit 18. As shown in FIG. 2, an image recording condition search unit 30, an image recording condition difference extracting unit 32, an image recording condition obtaining unit 34, and an image recording condition setting unit 36 are provided. ing.

More specifically, the image recording condition search unit 30
Is used to search for a predetermined image recording condition. For example, an image recording including a function set as a search key from an image recording condition stored in the image recording condition storage unit 20 using a designated function as a search key Search for a condition. The image recording condition difference extracting unit 32 extracts functions other than those commonly included in all the functions included in the image recording conditions searched by the image recording condition searching unit 30. In other words,
Extract only the remaining functions excluding the function specified as the search key. Then, a list of the searched image recording conditions and a list of the functions extracted by the image recording condition difference extracting unit 32 are generated together with the list, and the generated list is transmitted to the display control unit 18.

The list is transmitted from the display control unit 18 to the display unit 14. On the display unit 14, the listed image recording conditions are displayed in a list as buttons. The functions extracted by the condition difference extraction unit 32 are also displayed as buttons, and by touching the buttons, the image recording conditions in the list can be selected. At this time, the display unit 14 can also display a function designated as a search key, that is, a function common to all searched image recording conditions (FIG. 3).
reference).

The image recording condition acquiring section 34 acquires information on the image recording condition selected from the input section 16 and
Based on this information, a predetermined image storage condition is read from the image storage condition storage unit 20. The image recording condition setting unit 36
Based on the selected and read image recording conditions, setting processing such as transmitting an execution instruction of various functions included in the selected image recording conditions to the device control unit 24 of the image recording apparatus via the display control unit 18 I do.

4 to 6 show display examples of the display unit 14.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of operation when selecting and setting an image recording condition in the operation panel type display device 10. Hereinafter, the operation (setting operation) of the operation panel type display device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the display example of the display unit in FIGS.

When the power of the image recording apparatus having the operation panel type display device 10 is turned on, the user can set and select the image recording conditions for executing the desired processing by first using a search key. Select the function that becomes That is, first, in step 100, a registered job selection screen is displayed on the display unit 14 (see FIG. 3). Next, the processing proceeds to step 102, where it is determined whether or not the function selection button 40 displayed on the registration job selection screen has been pressed. If it is determined that the function selection button 40 has been pressed, the processing proceeds to step 104. If it is determined that the button has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step 118. Whether the function selection button 40 has been pressed or not is determined, when the function selection button 40 is touched by the user's finger or the like, a signal indicating that the function selection button 40 has been touched is input to the input unit 16. This is performed by being transmitted to the display control unit 18 via the display control unit 18.

Subsequently, in step 104, step 1
When the function selection button 40 is pressed in 02, a function selection screen is displayed on the display unit 14 (see FIG. 4). The function selection screen displays a list of buttons for various functions provided in the image recording apparatus, and the displayed function can be selected by touching the button. Then, in step 106, it is determined whether a desired function serving as a search key has been selected. If the desired function has been selected, the process proceeds to step 108, where the desired function is selected. If it is determined that no selection has been made, the operation of step 106 is continued. In the display example of FIG. 4, the sheet size, the direction of the document, and the double-sided / single-sided button are selected.

In step 110, it is determined whether the setting button 42 has been pressed. If it is determined that the setting button 42 has not been pressed, step 1
The operation of step 10 is continued, and if it is determined that the setting button 42 has been pressed, desired functions are set in step 112, and information on these set functions is signaled by the input unit 16 and input. It is transmitted from the unit 16 to the display control unit 18.

Further, the close button 4 in step 114
It is determined whether or not button 6 has been pressed, and the close button 4
If No. 6 has not been pressed, the operation of step 114 is repeated, and if it is determined that the close button 46 has been pressed, the flow proceeds to step 116 to redisplay the registered job selection screen on the display unit 14 ( Step 11)
Move to 8.

In step 118, it is determined whether the search button 44 has been pressed. If it is determined that the search button 44 has not been pressed, step 100
And the above operation is repeated. If it is determined that the search button 44 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 120, where it is determined whether a function serving as a search key has been selected. If the result of determination in step 120 is that a function serving as a search key has not been selected, step 1
The operation of step 20 is repeated, and when the function serving as the search key is selected, the process proceeds to step 122.

In step 122, information on the function serving as the selected search key is stored in the image storage condition management unit 22.
Sent to Here, the setting of the paper size, the direction of the original, and the duplex / single-sided function selected on the function selection screen of FIG. Then, based on the transmitted information, the image recording condition search unit 30 displays the function selection screen first and uses the selected function as a search key,
The image recording condition storage unit 20 retrieves an image recording condition including the function. The searched image recording conditions are transmitted to the image recording condition difference extracting unit 32, and the process proceeds to step 124.

In step 124, a list of the image recording conditions searched by the image recording condition difference
An image recording condition list including a list of functions included in all image recording conditions, that is, a list of buttons other than the function designated as the search key, is generated, and the generated list is displayed by the display control unit 18. Send to In step 126, the transmitted list is further transmitted to the display unit 14 via the display control unit 18, and displayed on the display unit 14 as a registration job selection screen (see FIG. 5).

Note that the registration job selection screen shown in FIG.
It corresponds to FIG. 4 and is the search key specified in FIG.
For paper size, document orientation, and duplex / single-sided settings,
These are displayed as common items in the common function display column 48 at the upper right of FIG. Then, only the serial number buttons 50 of a plurality of image recording conditions, which are the search results, and the functions of the respective image recording conditions that are not common among all the image recording conditions are displayed as the function setting buttons 52.

Image recording conditions can be set based on the displayed list. At step 128, it is determined whether or not the image recording conditions have been selected. If it is determined that the image recording condition has not been selected, the operation of step 128 is repeated. If it is determined that the image recording condition has been selected, the process proceeds to step 130. When the user touches the serial number button 50 relating to the desired image recording condition, the image recording condition is selected. In FIG. 6, the third one in which the punch function and the enlargement function are set is selected.

In step 130, it is determined whether the setting button 42 has been pressed. If the setting button 42 has not been pressed, the operation of step 130 is repeated. If the setting button 42 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 132, where image recording conditions are set. That is, the fact that the third image recording condition selected earlier is selected and information on the image recording condition are transmitted to the image recording information management unit 22 via the display control unit 18,
The image recording condition setting unit 36 of the image recording condition management unit 22
An instruction to set each function of the image recording device is transmitted to the device control unit 24, each function of the image recording device is set, and this routine ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a necessary image recording condition can be easily detected from existing image recording conditions, and a user who does not understand the configuration of the function setting menu, Even a user who is unfamiliar with the setting operation of the image recording apparatus can select a desired image recording condition from the past image recording conditions to process complicated image recording conditions without complicated setting operations. Can be performed.

Further, by registering various image recording conditions in advance, it is possible to execute processing in accordance with the already registered image recording conditions without performing complicated setting operations. Image recording conditions can be used effectively.

Further, even when a large number of image recording conditions are registered, by performing a search using a function designated by the user as a search key, only image recording conditions including the designated function can be searched. . Furthermore, by displaying only the different functions except for the functions specified from the search result, that is, the functions commonly included in the searched image recording conditions, it is easy to compare the differences between the image recording conditions, It becomes easier to select recording conditions.

In addition, since the functions included in common are not displayed on the display unit, the number of functions to be displayed is reduced depending on the selection method of the search key, even if the image recording condition is a complicated combination of a plurality of functions. Thus, comparison between image recording conditions can be easily performed without scrolling or switching to the next screen, and desired image recording conditions can be easily and quickly selected.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, a complicated and complicated execution condition setting operation is prevented from being repeated, a desired execution condition is selected from registered execution conditions, and the execution condition is made effective. There is an excellent effect that can be used for.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an operation panel type display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image recording condition management unit of the operation panel display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a display on a display unit of the operation panel display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display on a display unit of the operation panel display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display on a display unit of the operation panel display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a display on a display unit of the operation panel display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation when selecting and setting an image recording condition in the operation panel type display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display on a display unit of a conventional operation panel type display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 operation panel type display device 12 user interface unit 14 display unit 16 input unit 18 display control unit 20 image recording condition storage unit 22 image recording condition management unit 30 image recording condition search unit 32 image recording condition difference extraction unit 34 image recording condition acquisition Part 36 Image recording condition setting part 40 Function selection button 42 Setting button 44 Search button 46 Close button 48 Common function display field 50 Serial number button 52 Function setting button

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Tose 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. In-house F-term (reference) 2C061 AP03 AP04 AR03 CQ04 CQ05 CQ34 2C087 AB01 BB03 BD02 BD53 CB15 CB18 2C187 AE01 2H027 EE08 FA35 FA40 FC03 GA20 GA32 GA34 GA45 GA56 GB14 5C062 AA05 AB20 AB23 AB42 AC06 BA

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A display device capable of displaying a function of a device, setting the execution condition of the device by selecting the function, and designating a desired condition. An execution condition storage unit that stores execution conditions grouped by combining conditions, and an execution including the function set as the search key stored in the execution condition storage unit by searching at least one function as a search key. An execution condition search unit for searching for a condition, a difference extraction unit for extracting functions other than a function common to all of the execution conditions searched by the execution condition search unit, and a search performed by the execution condition search unit. A display comprising a list of execution conditions and an execution condition display means for displaying only the functions extracted by the difference extraction means at the time of this display. Location. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: displaying a list of execution conditions searched by said execution condition search means, wherein said common function display means collectively displays functions common to all of said execution conditions. The display device according to claim 1. 3. A function displayed on the execution condition display means is displayed as an object composed of a character or graphic image indicating the function, and a function corresponding to the object is selected by touching or releasing the object. 2. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein
Or the display device according to claim 2. 4. When the execution condition is displayed by the execution condition display means, the execution condition is displayed in a vertical or horizontal row, and when each function included in each execution condition is common, the common function is executed. The display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display device is arranged so as to coincide with a horizontal row or a vertical column. 5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the device is an image recording device. 6. An image recording apparatus comprising a combination of a plurality of functions provided in an image recording apparatus and capable of storing in advance an image recording condition which is an execution condition of the image recording apparatus. At least one is selected, an image recording condition including the selected function is extracted, a list of the extracted image recording conditions is displayed, and a function included in the image recording condition is excluded by excluding the selected function. An image recording apparatus for displaying a function other than the selected function. 7. When displaying functions other than the selected function, the functions other than the selected function are rearranged and displayed in the order of the functions included in common so as to integrally display the common functions. 7. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: