JP2005300731A - Operation display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operation display device which employs a liquid crystal display part, in which a display is made easy to see and easy to operate, without increasing the scale of a liquid crystal screen. <P>SOLUTION: The operation display device has the liquid crystal display part and is equipped with a sub-liquid crystal display part 7b which is used by being connected and attached to the device body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation display device including a liquid crystal display unit.

Recently, an operation panel used in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, a copier, or a multifunction machine has a liquid crystal screen. In order to avoid an increase in the size of the main body, this type of liquid crystal screen is generally used in a small size.
The liquid crystal screen is used for display of operation menu display, various setting operation display, error recovery display, and the like, and touch operation associated therewith, and a series of operations can be performed by page switching operation and scroll operation.
If the liquid crystal screen is enlarged, a large amount of information can be displayed. Therefore, a screen switching operation or the like becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved. However, the enlargement cannot be expected for the reasons described above. Moreover, since a large-sized liquid crystal screen is expensive, an apparatus will also become expensive.

As shown in the following document, a facsimile apparatus has been proposed in which an image displayed on a light-transmitting screen is projected onto a projection surface outside the apparatus so that the screen is easy to see. In particular, the facsimile apparatus employed in the literature is a portable type, and displays a received image on a projection surface instead of printing.
JP-A-8-204873

The present invention has been proposed in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an operation display device that employs a liquid crystal display unit that is easy to see and operate without increasing the size of the liquid crystal screen. Is to provide.
Especially in multi-function machines, simultaneous use by multiple users, such as facsimile transmission and printer output from a personal computer, is possible. In such simultaneous use, the LCD screen is used to display multiple functions. Sometimes I want to use it simultaneously as a screen. For example, if an error occurs during printer output, there is a case where it is desired to perform an emergency facsimile transmission or the like (with the guidance displayed) without restoring the error.
The present inventor has proposed a liquid crystal screen technology that can cope with such a multi-user function.

In order to achieve the above object, an operation display device according to claim 1 is a device having a main liquid crystal display unit, and includes a sub liquid crystal display unit that can be used by being connected to the device body. ing.
That is, the sub liquid crystal display unit has a structure that can be attached / detached to / from the main unit. The sub liquid crystal display unit may be provided as a retrofit optional device, or may be built in the device from the beginning so that it can be connected and added by a switch operation or the like.

  A second aspect of the present invention further includes a display control unit that displays an operation menu screen on one of the main and sub liquid crystal display units and a guidance screen when an abnormality occurs on the other.

  A third aspect of the present invention further includes a display control unit according to the first aspect, wherein the main and sub liquid crystal display units display information as one large screen.

The operation display device according to claim 1 has a configuration in which a sub liquid crystal display unit can be connected and added. If the sub liquid crystal display unit is connected when necessary, a large number of standard liquid crystal screens and sub screens can be connected. The amount of information can be displayed. As a result, the display is easy to see and operate, and the convenience is improved as a whole. Also, if you can remove it when you don't need it, you won't get in the way and don't get in the way.
In addition, if the sub liquid crystal display unit is provided as an optional device, for a user who does not need the sub liquid crystal display unit, only a main display unit is provided as a standard device, and a device that is not expensive in the conventional form. Can be provided.

  Since the operation menu screen is displayed on one of the main and sub liquid crystal display units and the guidance screen at the time of occurrence of an abnormality is displayed on the other, the one function can be used when a plurality of functions are used simultaneously. Even if an abnormality occurs, the guidance screen and the processing menu are displayed separately, so that other functions can be used even if the abnormality is left unattended.

  According to the third aspect, since the main and sub liquid crystal display units are displayed as one large screen, a large amount of information can be displayed simultaneously without switching pages or scrolling.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiment, an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine is shown as an example of the operation display device, but a single operation display device may be used.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an image forming apparatus F of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit composed of a CPU or the like for controlling the following units. The control unit 1 operates as a display control unit that performs display control on a main liquid crystal display unit 7a and a sub liquid crystal display unit 7b described later.
2 is an NCU that performs network control to the communication line L, 3 is a modem that modulates and demodulates signals for image data facsimile communication, 4 is an image storage unit that stores image data, 5 is variable data and setting data, etc. 6 is a ROM that stores a control program, 7 is an operation panel having a liquid crystal screen and operation switches, 7a and 7b are main and sub liquid crystal display units composed of a liquid crystal screen, and 8 is a document. A reading unit 9 that reads an image is a recording unit that outputs image data of a received document to a recording sheet.

The multi-function device F sequentially encodes the image data read by the reading unit 9 and then temporarily stores the image data in the image storage unit 4, and then via a modem 3 and the NCU 2 to a facsimile machine (not shown) at the other end. On the other hand, when the image data is received, the received image data is accumulated in the image storage unit 4, sequentially read and decoded, and the facsimile transmission / reception basic function for printing out by the recording unit 9, and the image data read by the reading unit 8 Is provided on the recording paper by the recording unit 9.
As described above, the device F of the present invention includes the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b in addition to the main liquid crystal display unit 7a. The sub liquid crystal display unit 7b has a structure that can be connected and added to the main unit F. The main liquid crystal display unit 7a is standard equipment, whereas the sub liquid crystal display section 7b is optional equipment. .

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a connection form of the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b.
The main device F is provided with a connection portion (not shown) for connecting the sub liquid crystal display portion 7b, and the connection portion C of the sub liquid crystal display portion 7b is connected to the main body to form an integral liquid crystal display portion. ing.
In the example of FIG. 2, the sub liquid crystal display unit 7 b can be connected to the main liquid crystal display unit 7 a that is horizontal to the ground while standing slightly obliquely, but is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, it may be possible to connect to the front (operator side) of the operation panel 7. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the operation panel portion.

As described above, since the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b can be mounted, a single liquid crystal display unit can be formed by the main and the sub, and a large amount of information can be displayed simultaneously. In addition, not only a single function operation menu screen is displayed on both display units, but also different types of information such as a facsimile operation menu on one side and a copy operation menu on the other side are displayed. May be.
In particular, if the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b is adjacent to the main liquid crystal display unit 7a or is additionally connected in the vicinity of the main display unit 7a, the user can see the display more easily and operate.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing still another connection form of the sub liquid crystal display unit.
As shown in the figure, the operation panel 7 is large enough to be equipped with two liquid crystal display portions 7a and 7b. As an option, a sub liquid crystal display unit can be additionally connected to the sub space.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the display control operation for the main and sub liquid crystal display units of the facsimile apparatus F.
In this example, when the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b is connected, the operation menu screen and the like are displayed as one large screen by combining the main and sub, and when not connected, the main display unit 7a is displayed. (101 to 103).

  A display switching mode switch may be provided to determine whether the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b is connected or not. That is, in this case, as long as the display switching mode switch is not in the option display mode, no display is displayed on the sub side even if the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b is connected.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another example of the display control operation for the liquid crystal display unit.
In this example, when the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b is connected, both the two liquid crystal display units 7a and 7b are set as one large display screen, and an operation screen such as a menu screen of various functions is displayed. When it occurs, the screen display is switched to display the operation screen on the main side and the guidance screen for abnormality notification and recovery operation on the sub side (201 to 205). If an error occurs when the sub liquid crystal display unit 7b is not connected, the operation screen is turned off when the error occurs and the display is switched to guidance display (201, 206 to 208).

  In other words, the two liquid crystal display units are assigned to different roles and can display different screens. For this reason, in a multi-function device that can be used simultaneously by multiple users, print error guidance is displayed on one display unit. While displaying the menu screen on the other side, a facsimile transmission operation, an image reading operation, and the like can be performed. In other words, other functions can be used with the abnormality left unattended.

  Other usage modes include simultaneous display of the previous screen and the current screen, enlarged display of the screen, and display of a dedicated maintenance screen (maintenance personnel carry a sub LCD screen and connect when performing maintenance operations on the device). is there.

  In the above, two types of main and sub are illustrated, but a plurality of sub liquid crystal display units may be connected.

In the above embodiment, the display control of the main and sub liquid crystal display units is performed by the control unit of the image forming apparatus main body, but may be performed by the operation panel side. That is, the operation panel in this case includes a display control unit, a main liquid crystal display unit, and a sub liquid crystal display unit that can be additionally connected.
In this way, the operation panel can be used in combination with other electronic devices as a single device to which an optional liquid crystal display unit can be connected.

It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of the operation display apparatus of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the connection form of a sub liquid crystal display part. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the other example of the connection form of a sub liquid crystal display part. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the further another connection form of a sub liquid crystal display part. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the display control operation | movement with respect to the main liquid crystal display part of this invention apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of the display control operation | movement with respect to a liquid crystal display part.

Explanation of symbols

F Image forming device (operation display device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display control part 7 Operation panel 7a Main liquid crystal display part 7b Sub liquid crystal display part

Claims (3)

An operation display device having a main liquid crystal display unit,
An operation display device including a sub liquid crystal display unit which can be used by being connected to the device main body. In claim 1,
An operation display device further comprising a display control unit for displaying an operation menu screen on one of the main and sub liquid crystal display units and a guidance screen when an abnormality occurs on the other. In claim 1,
An operation display device further comprising a display control unit configured to display the main and sub liquid crystal display units as one large screen.

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