JP2007006287A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of simultaneously setting functions registered in different programs through a simple procedure if different functions are registered in the programs, respectively. <P>SOLUTION: In an image forming apparatus including a so-called program function, a plurality of programs are selectable and control is performed to preferentially adopt a function with a high-priority setting value among functions stored in the programs. Namely, a function with a maximum setting value is adopted (step S1106/YES, step S1107) and set to the functions (step S1109). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a copying machine, a digital copying machine, a facsimile machine, a scanner device, a composite copying machine, and other image forming apparatuses capable of setting various functions.

  Recent image forming apparatuses such as copying machines (copiers) and facsimile machines have become multi-functional, and when performing copying or fax transmission, a plurality of functions are provided in accordance with a user's desired copy result or transmission method. It can be set. However, in order to set such a plurality of functions, it is necessary to set each function one by one, which complicates the operation procedure and increases the operation load on the user.

In order to cope with this, Patent Document 1 proposes a facsimile apparatus having a “program function”. This “program function” can set a plurality of functions at once by a simple procedure. In this facsimile machine, the setting contents of multiple functions are registered and saved in the nonvolatile memory as a "program", and the setting contents of the multiple functions registered in the program are collectively set by calling the program. can do. Since the program can be called by a simple procedure (one-touch or a procedure in accordance with it), the user can set a plurality of functions by a very simple operation.
Japanese Patent No. 2694435

  However, the above invention has the following problems. That is, in the program function currently used generally, when different functions are registered in different programs, the functions registered in the different programs cannot be set simultaneously with a simple procedure.

  For example, when registered in program 1 as “integrated printing ON, duplex printing ON, page printing OFF” and registered in program 2 as “aggregate printing OFF, duplex printing OFF, page printing ON (print color: red)” (that is, program) 1 is “collective printing + double-sided printing”, program 2 is “page printing (printing color: red)”), and the combined contents of program 1 and program 2 are “aggregate printing ON, “Double-sided printing ON, page printing ON (printing color: red)” cannot be easily set. In order to do this, in addition to programs 1 and 2, a program of “aggregate printing ON, double-sided printing ON, page printing ON (printing color: red)” is registered, or page 1 is called after calling program 1. It is necessary to manually set the print settings individually (or manually set the aggregate print and duplex print after calling the program 2).

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of simultaneously setting functions registered in different programs with a simple procedure for functions having different setting contents in a plurality of programs. The purpose is to do. For example, in the previous example, when program 1 and program 2 are selected and called, an image forming apparatus capable of setting “aggregate printing ON, duplex printing ON, page printing ON (print color: red)” with a simple procedure. It is.

  In order to achieve such an object, when a plurality of programs are selected and called, the present invention registers them in separate programs in a simple procedure by reflecting the setting contents with high priority in the function settings with priority. It is possible to set the functions that have been set at the same time.

  That is, the invention according to claim 1 is a program storage means for storing the setting contents of a plurality of functions set by a user as a program, and a function setting means for setting a function by calling a program stored by the program storage means. In the image forming apparatus, the program selection unit that selects the program and the function stored by the program selected by the program selection unit are controlled when the program is called. And a control means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the program selection unit can select two programs, and the control unit sets the set values of the functions stored in the two programs. A feature is that a function having a setting value with a high priority is adopted when they are different.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the program selecting unit can select a plurality of programs, and the control unit can store each function stored in the plurality of programs. When the setting values are different, a function having a setting value with the highest priority is adopted.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the program selecting unit can select one program, and the control unit selects the one program. In this case, the setting contents stored in the program are adopted.

  According to the present invention, when a plurality of programs are selected and called, the functions registered in different programs are simultaneously set in a simple procedure by reflecting the setting contents with high priority in the function settings with priority. It becomes possible to do.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same member and it is made to respond | correspond.

(Embodiment 1)
First, a function for registering and calling a plurality of functions in the image forming apparatus as a program will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of an operation panel 1 of an image forming apparatus having a large LCD (liquid crystal screen). It comprises an operation panel 1, a large LCD 2, a numeric keypad 3, a start key 4, an initial setting key 5, a program registration key 6, and a program key 7.

  The large LCD 2 also operates as a touch panel, displays various screens, and can accept a key input when the user touches a button displayed in the screen. The numeric keypad 3 is used for setting the number of copies, and the start key 4 is used for starting a copying operation. The initial setting key 5 is a key for switching to an initial setting screen for performing each maintenance operation. The program registration key 6 and the program key 7 are keys related to the “program function”. The program registration key 6 is a key for registering and saving the setting contents of the function currently set in the program, and the program key 7 is And a key for performing an operation on a registered program such as calling a program.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which a function called “page printing” which is one of the “printing” functions is set as an example of the functions of the image forming apparatus.

  First, the (A) basic copy screen is usually displayed. Therefore, for example, when a “print” button in the touch panel is pressed, (B) a print screen is displayed. The function relating to printing can be set on the screen (B). For example, when the “page print” button in the touch panel is pressed on the screen of (B), the process proceeds to (C) the page print screen. When the “Close” button is pressed, the screen returns to (A).

  (C) On the page print screen, the print pattern, print position, and print color can be set as detailed settings for the page print function. The print patterns include “P1, P2”, “1/5, 2/5”, “−1 −, − 2”, etc., and the currently selected pattern “P1, P2” button is highlighted. Yes. When a button of another pattern that is not inverted is pressed, the button is inverted and the pattern is selected. Similarly for the print position and print color, the currently selected settings “upper right” and “black” are displayed. By pressing the “change” button located on the right, each setting change screen is displayed. Transition settings can be changed. An example of changing the print color will be described later. When the “SET” button is pressed, the page print function is set, and this time the screen moves to the print screen (B-2) (when page print is set). On the other hand, when the “Cancel” button is pressed, the screen returns to the screen (B) without setting the page printing function.

  (B-2) On the print screen (when page print is set), the “page print” button is colored (indicated by a slanted line in the figure) to indicate that the page print function is set. When the “Page Print” button is pressed on the screen (B-2), the screen shifts to the screen (C) again. When the “Close” button is pressed, (A-2) the screen moves to the basic copy screen (when page printing is set). Here, the “Print” button is used to indicate that the “Print” function has been set. Is colored.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of setting the “printing color” of the page printing function.

  When the “change” button on the right side of the print color is pressed on the (C) page print screen of FIG. 2, the process proceeds to (D) the print color screen. In the screen (D), selectable colors such as “black”, “red”, and “green” are displayed as print colors, and the currently selected “black” is highlighted. Other colors that are not inverted can also be selected. For example, when the “red” button is pressed, it is inverted and selected. When the “OK” button is pressed after “red” is selected, the screen shifts from (D-2) print color screen (when print color is set) to (C-2) page print screen (after changing the print color). On the screen (C-2), the selection of the print color is reflected, and the display changes from “black” to “red”. When the “change” button for the print color is pressed on the screen (C-2), the screen moves to the screen (D-2), and the print color can be selected again.

  In this way, even if one function is set, it is necessary to switch the screen by pressing the button several times. To set the details of the function or to set multiple functions, the operation procedure further increases. User operation is heavy. Therefore, a “program function” is installed to reduce this operation load.

  FIG. 4 shows a screen flow for program registration.

  When the program registration key 6 in FIG. 1 is pressed on the (A-2) basic copy screen (function set) after the function is set, the program storage area is empty and the program can be registered Shifts to (B) program name input screen. On the other hand, if there is no space in the program storage area and the program cannot be registered, a warning screen indicating that the program cannot be registered is displayed and the screen returns to (A-2). Also, when the “Cancel” button is pressed on the screen (B), the program registration is not executed and the screen returns to the screen (A-2).

  When the name of the program to be registered is input on the screen of (B) and the “setting” button is pressed, the setting contents of the function currently being set are registered and saved as a program. When registration and storage of the program are completed, a message indicating that registration has been completed is displayed, and the screen returns to (A-2).

  FIG. 5 shows a screen flow when a program is called.

  First, when (A) the program key 7 in FIG. 1 is pressed on the basic copy screen, if one or more programs have been registered, (B) the program menu screen is displayed. On the other hand, if no program has been registered and no program has been registered, a warning screen indicating that the program has not been registered is displayed, and the screen returns to screen (A). Further, even if the “Cancel” button is pressed on the screen (B), the screen returns to the screen (A).

  In the screen of (B), “call”, “name change”, “delete” buttons representing operations that can be performed on a registered program, and buttons indicating the names of registered programs (“page” in the figure). "Print (red)", "Double-sided + Combined", "For photo original", "50% reduction") are displayed.

  When the screen of (B) is displayed, the “call” button is highlighted at the beginning. When a program is selected at that time, that is, when the button on which the program name is displayed is pressed, the function registered with the program name is displayed. Recall the settings of. Then, a message indicating that the program has been called is set, and then (A-2) the basic copy screen (after calling the program) is displayed. On the screen (A-2), the same functions as when the program was registered are set. It should be noted that by pressing “Rename” or “Delete” on the screen of (B), the name of the registered program can be changed or deleted.

  Therefore, if you register a program for frequently used settings, the function setting can be completed by two operations of “program key press” and “program selection” for any complicated setting, and the operation load is reduced. It becomes possible to reduce considerably.

  Next, the program registration process and the program call process will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the number of functions that can be set by the user is N, and “function no.” Is “ It is assumed that numbers are assigned in order of “0”, “1”, “...”, “N−1”. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the program name and the setting value of each function are stored for one program. The program name is “name” and is a character string type variable for storing the program name. The setting value of each function is value, and is an array variable that stores the setting value of each function. The array value has N elements, and the function no. The set value of the function (function n) in which n is n is stored (n = 0 to N−1). Note that the set value is an integer, the set value is “0” when a certain function is not set, and the set value is “1” when set. That is, when the set value is 0, the function is “OFF”, and when the set value is 1, the function is “ON”.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the program registration process.

  After starting (step S801), the name of the program is stored in name (step S802). Next, first, n = 0 is set (step S803), and the setting value of the function n (that is, the setting value of the function having the function no. 0) is acquired (step S804), and the acquired setting value is set to the value of the program registration area. [N] is stored (step S805). Thereafter, the same processing is repeated until n = N−1 (step S806, step S807 / YES), and when n = N (step S807 / NO), the end is reached (step S808).

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the program call process.

  After starting (step S901), first, n = 0 is set (step S902), and the set value is read from value [n] (step S903). Then, the read set value is set in the function n (step S904). After that, the same processing is repeated until n = N−1 (step S905, step S906 / YES). When n = N (step S906 / NO), the end is reached (step S907). When “1” is set to the function n in the read setting value, the function is “ON”.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a case where a plurality of programs are selected and called will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 10 shows a flow of a screen for selecting and calling a plurality of programs. (A) The operation of pressing the program key 7 of FIG. 1 on the basic copy screen is omitted since it has been described with reference to FIG. 5, and (B) the operation of selecting a plurality of programs on the program menu screen will be described.

  When calling a plurality of programs on the screen of (B), the procedure is to select all the corresponding programs and then press the “call” button. As a result, a plurality of programs can be selected. For example, two programs “page printing (red)” and “double-sided + combined” can be selected (both buttons are pressed). Then, as shown in (B-2) program menu screen (after program selection), the buttons of the two selected programs are inverted. Therefore, when “call” is pressed, the setting contents of the function that is combined with the contents registered in the selected programs are set to the actual function, and after displaying a message that the program is called, (A− 2) Move to the basic copy screen (after calling the program).

  On the screen of (A-2), as a result of calling the program, the “print”, “double-sided”, and “combined” buttons are colored, but this is registered in the “page print (red)” program. This is because the printing-related functions are set, and the both-side and aggregation-related functions registered in the “duplex + aggregation” program are set.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing for calling the setting contents of a plurality of programs after selecting the plurality of programs. Here, let M be the number of selected programs. In addition, it is assumed that the stored content program [m] of the selected program is stored (m = 0 to M−1). The setting value of the function n of program [m] is program [m]. Value [n]. Note that the set value is an integer, the set value is “0” when a certain function is not set, and the set value is “1” when set.

  After the start (step S1101), first, n = 0 is set (step S1102), and program [0]. A setting value for value [n] is provisionally determined (step S1103). Next, m = 1 is set (step S1104), and program [m]. It is determined whether or not value [n] is the maximum value compared with the provisional set value. If it is the maximum value (step S1106 / YES), program [m]. Replace value [n] with the set value of the maximum value (step S1107). Thereafter, the same processing is performed until m = M−1 (step S1108, step S1105 / YES), and when m = M (step S1105 / NO), the set value that is the maximum value in the processing up to that point v is set to function n (step S1109). Subsequently, the above processing is performed until n = N−1 (step S1110, step S1111 / YES), and the setting value v that is the maximum value is set. When n = N (step S1111 / NO), the end is reached (step S1112).

  In the above flow, program [m]. The maximum setting value of value [n] (m = 0 to M−1) is set to v and is set to function n. By doing so, for example, if the first program is registered as “page printing ON, duplex printing OFF” and the second program is registered as “page printing OFF, duplex printing ON”, if both programs are called, Since the setting values that are turned on from OFF are prioritized for each function, as a result, the setting is “page printing ON, duplex printing ON”, and both settings of the two programs can be reflected. .

(Embodiment 3)
Further, a case where a single program is selected and called will be described with reference to FIG. In the program call operation of FIG. 5, the program can be called by two operations (“program key press”, “program selection”), whereas in the operation of FIG. 10, even when one program is called, the program is called three times. Operations are required ("program key press", "program selection", "call press"). Therefore, when there is no need to select a plurality of programs, the program can be called by the procedure shown in FIG.

  FIG. 12 shows a screen flow for switching the program mode. It is about whether to allow multiple selection of programs.

  When the initial setting key 5 in FIG. 1 is pressed on the basic copy screen, the screen moves to (A) the initial setting screen, and when the “program mode setting” button is pressed in (A), the screen proceeds to (B) the program mode setting screen. In the screen of (B), there are two buttons “Yes” and “No” for simultaneous selection of a plurality of programs, and one of them can be selected. Press the "No" button to select a single program. Then, the “end” button is pressed to return to the screen (A).

  When the setting on the screen of (B) is “Yes”, pressing the program key 7 of FIG. 1 on the copy basic screen brings up the operation screen of FIG. On the other hand, when the setting on the screen of (B) is “No”, when the program key 7 is pressed, the operation screen of FIG. 5 is displayed. In this case, a plurality of programs cannot be selected, but the operation procedure for calling the program is reduced once, and the functions registered in the program can be set immediately.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment alone, and various modifications are made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Implementation is possible.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an operation panel of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which functions of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention are switched and displayed. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which functions of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention are switched and displayed. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen and flow at the time of performing the program registration which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen and flow at the time of performing the program call which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the inside of a function table in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the preservation | save content of the program in the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the program registration which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the program call which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen and a flow when a program is called in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the program call which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen at the time of performing the program call which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Operation panel 2 Large LCD
3 Numeric keypad 4 Start key 5 Initial setting key 6 Program registration key 7 Program key

Claims (4)

In an image forming apparatus comprising: a program storage unit that stores setting contents of a plurality of functions set by a user as a program; and a function setting unit that calls a program stored in the program storage unit and sets a function.
Program selection means for selecting the program when calling the program;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls whether or not to adopt a function stored in the program selected by the program selection unit. The program selection means can select two programs,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit employs a function having a high priority setting value when the setting values of the functions stored in the two programs are different. The program selection means can select a plurality of programs,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit employs a function having a setting value with the highest priority when setting values of the functions stored in the plurality of programs are different. apparatus. The program selection means can select one program,
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the one program is selected, the control unit adopts setting contents stored in the program. 5.

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