JP2007268739A - Consumption article information displaying device, image forming device, and consumption article information displaying method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make information regarding the replacement of a consumption article easily recognizable by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The consumption article information displaying device is constituted by having a storage means, a judging means, and a displaying means. In this case, the storage means stores consumption articles and categories to which the consumption articles belong while correlating them. The judging means judges whether a residual amount or a consumption amount after the replacement of the consumption article has reached a specified value. The displaying means divides the display region into respective categories when it is judged that the residual amount or the consumption amount after the replacement of either one of consumption articles has reached the specified value, and displays the information regarding the replacement of the consumption article of which the residual amount or the consumption amount after the replacement has reached the specified value in the display region corresponding to the category to which the consumption article belongs. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for displaying information related to replacement of consumables.

  There is known an image forming apparatus having a function of notifying information regarding replacement of consumables. For example, in the case of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the remaining amount of toner and the driving time of the photosensitive drum are observed, and when the remaining amount and the driving time reach predetermined values, information regarding replacement of consumables is displayed. Display on a liquid crystal panel. For example, “Please replace the black toner cartridge.”, “The time to replace the photosensitive drum is approaching”, etc. are displayed.

  In such a display, when there are a plurality of items to be displayed, they are displayed as a list. When the display area is insufficient, the display content is divided into a plurality of pages and displayed by switching the page to be displayed or scrolling the display content. However, when the amount of information increases, the user may overlook some of the displayed contents. Depending on the type of consumables, the user may experience great inconvenience. For example, consumables are classified into ones that are exchanged by the user (user exchanges) and ones that are requested to be exchanged by service engineers (engineer exchanges). In the displayed information, information on the user replacement product and information on the engineer replacement product are mixed, and if the user overlooks the information on the engineer replacement product, the image forming apparatus eventually becomes inoperable. Even if a user who notices that the operation is disabled contacts the service engineer, it takes a considerable time for the operation of the image forming apparatus to recover, and during that time, the user cannot use the image forming apparatus. .

Various techniques for notifying the user of information related to the state of the image forming apparatus have been proposed. For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, items representing the remaining amount of consumables and device malfunction are classified in advance according to their importance, and the color of the display area is varied according to the classification. To display. Furthermore, priorities of a plurality of items belonging to the same classification are determined in advance, and when a plurality of items are displayed, the display is switched every predetermined time in an order according to the priorities. This makes it easy to recognize the classification of the display contents, and allows the user to appropriately determine the order of handling.
JP 2002-287572 A

However, if the technique of Patent Document 1 is used, when a plurality of items are displayed, the items displayed every predetermined time are switched, and thus the user may miss a part of the information.
The present invention has been made under the above-described background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows a user to easily recognize information related to replacement of consumables.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention relates to a storage unit that stores consumables and categories to which the consumables belong, and the remaining amount of the consumables or the usage amount after replacement reaches a predetermined value. A determination unit that determines whether or not the display area is displayed for each category when the determination unit determines that the remaining amount of the consumables or the usage amount after replacement has reached a predetermined value. Consumables comprising display means for displaying information on replacement of consumables that have been divided and whose remaining amount or usage amount after replacement has reached a predetermined value in a display area corresponding to the category to which the consumables belong An information display device is provided.
According to the present invention, when any remaining amount of consumables or usage after replacement reaches a predetermined value, the display area is divided into categories, and the remaining amount or usage after replacement reaches a predetermined value. Information regarding the replacement of the consumables reached is displayed in the display area corresponding to the category to which the consumables belong.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to make it easier for a user to recognize information related to replacement of consumables.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine.
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the copying machine 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The control unit 4 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 44, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 45, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 46. The ROM 45 stores an IPL (Initial Program Loader). The storage unit 5 is a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk device. The storage unit 5 stores an OS (Operating System) program and the like and also stores data input from the outside. The CPU 44 controls the operation of each part of the copier 1 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 5. The RAM 46 is used as a work area when the CPU 44 executes a program.

The instruction input unit 41 includes a liquid crystal panel 39 and a keyboard 40. By using these, the user can input instructions to the copying machine 1. The liquid crystal panel 39 displays an image representing a menu. Further, the liquid crystal panel 39 includes a sensor for specifying an area touched by the user on the liquid crystal panel 39. The liquid crystal panel 39 displays information representing the state of the copying machine 1. The information indicating the status is information relating to replacement of consumables provided in the copying machine 1, for example. This point will be described later. The keyboard 40 includes start, stop, and reset keys and a numeric keypad. The instruction input by the instruction input unit 41 is sent to the CPU 44, and the CPU 44 controls the copying machine 1 in accordance with the sent instruction.
A communication interface (hereinafter referred to as communication I / F) 48 is connected to a communication line (not shown), and mediates data exchange between the copying machine 1 and an external computer device.

  The image input unit 12 is a scanner device that optically reads a document and generates image data. The original placed on the platen glass 2 is irradiated with light from the light source 13, and the reflected light is processed by the optical system 3. The reflected light is received by the light receiving unit 17 via the mirrors 14, 15 and 16. Then, the image processing unit 18 converts the reflected light into an electric signal, and generates raster image data representing an image of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black based on the electric signal.

The image output unit 6 includes image forming engines 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K, a transfer belt 8, and the like.
The image forming engines 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K form toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), respectively. Since the configuration of each image forming engine is common, only the image forming engine 7Y will be described here.
The image forming engine 7Y includes a charging device 21Y, an exposure device 19Y, a developing device 22Y, a transfer device 25Y, and the like around the photosensitive drum 20Y.

The charging device 21Y charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 20Y that is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A to a predetermined potential.
The exposure device 19Y is a ROS (Raster Output Scanner) that irradiates the photosensitive drum 20Y with an exposure beam LB. The exposure device 19Y receives the raster image data supplied from the image input unit 12, and generates an exposure beam LB based on the raster image data. The surface of the photosensitive drum 20Y charged to a predetermined potential is deflected and scanned with the exposure beam LB. On the surface of the photoreceptor drum 20Y, the potential of the portion irradiated with the exposure beam LB is reduced to a predetermined level. In this way, an electrostatic latent image based on the raster image data is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 20Y.

The developing device 22Y visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 20Y. The toner cartridge 23Y contains yellow toner, and a predetermined amount of toner is supplied to the developing device 22Y. The developing device 22Y supplies the toner to the surface of the photosensitive drum 20Y and adheres it to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image.
The transfer belt 8 is stretched around rollers 26, 27, 28, and 29, and is circulated and driven in the direction of arrow B. Below the photosensitive drum 20Y, a transfer device 25Y is provided so as to sandwich the transfer belt 8, and a predetermined voltage is applied. The toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 20Y is transferred to the surface of the transfer belt 8 (primary transfer) by the action of an electric field generated by a voltage applied to the transfer device 25Y.
The cleaner 24Y removes the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 20Y.

  The above is the configuration of the image forming engine 7Y. In the image forming engines 7M, 7C, and 7K, toner images corresponding to the respective colors are formed and transferred onto the transfer belt 8 in an overlapping manner. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish the image forming engines 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K, they are simply referred to as the image forming engine 7. Similarly, for other components, the Y, M, C, and K notations are omitted when it is not necessary to distinguish between Y, M, C, and K.

A recording sheet 10 for forming an image is accommodated in the paper feed tray 9. When a full-color toner image is formed on the surface of the transfer belt 8, the paper feed roller 33 is driven to rotate, and the recording sheets 10 are sent out one by one. The fed recording sheet 10 is conveyed along a conveyance path 36 by roller pairs 34, 35, and 37.
A predetermined voltage is applied to the transfer roller 30. The transfer belt 8 is circulated and driven in the direction of arrow B, and in synchronization with the toner image formed on the surface thereof approaching the vicinity of the transfer roller 8, the transfer roller 30 passes through the transfer belt 8 with a predetermined pressure contact force. Are pressed against the roller 29 to form a nip. Then, the recording sheet 10 enters this nip. The toner image on the transfer belt 8 is transferred onto the surface of the recording sheet 10 (secondary transfer) by the action of an electric field and a nip pressing force due to a voltage applied to the transfer roller 30.
The recording sheet 10 to which the toner image is transferred is guided to the fixing device 11 by the roller pair 31. In the fixing device 11, the recording sheet 10 is pressed and heated to fix the toner image on the surface of the recording sheet 10. The recording sheet 10 on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the paper discharge tray 32.

Next, the consumable table will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a collar of the consumables table. The consumables table is stored in the storage unit 5.
In the consumables table, consumables and categories to which the consumables belong are associated and written. In the present embodiment, the “category” indicates whether the consumable is a user replacement or an engineer replacement. In the figure, “0” represents an engineer replacement product and “1” represents a user replacement product.

  The user replacement item is a consumable item for which the user himself / herself performs an exchange operation. In the example of FIG. 2, each color toner is a user replacement item. On the other hand, an engineer replacement item is a consumable item for which a user requests an engineer to perform a replacement operation. In the example of FIG. The drum cartridge contains the photosensitive drum 20 in a case, and can be easily replaced by pulling out and inserting the entire case from the image forming engine 7. The toner collection bottle is a bottle that stores the toner removed from the photosensitive drum 20 by the cleaner 24 (not shown). The charge corotron is the charging device 21, and the fuser unit is the fixing device 11.

The above categories are mainly categorized according to the difficulty level of exchange work. For example, the toner can be easily replaced as compared with other consumables. In addition, the frequency of replacement of toner is higher than that of other consumables. Therefore, in general, the user purchases a spare toner cartridge and stores it in a place where it can be taken out immediately.
On the other hand, consumables other than toner are relatively difficult to replace. In some cases, it may be necessary to adjust the relevant parts for replacement. Therefore, it is desirable that a service engineer who has acquired the knowledge about the structure of the copying machine 1 and who has received a predetermined training should do it.

  Generally, when a user uses a copying machine, a contract regarding a maintenance mode is made between the user and a manufacturer or an agent. One of the elements that determine the maintenance mode is the above category classification. Generally, as described above, categories are classified according to the difficulty level of the exchange work. On the other hand, the replacement frequency of specific consumables other than the toner may be high depending on the usage form of the user. In such a case, the category may be determined according to the exchange frequency. The category classification is also related to the area where the copying machine 1 is installed. For example, depending on the educational level and customs of the country or region, the user may or may not be skilled in handling the machine. In such a case, you may make it define a category classification according to the area.

  In the consumables table, consumables and display-required flags are written in association with each other. The required display flag is a flag indicating whether or not it is necessary to display information regarding each consumable. In FIG. 2, “0” indicates that there is no need to display and “1” indicates that it is necessary to display. The initial value of the display flag required is “0”.

The required display flag is rewritten with the following configuration. For example, a sensor for measuring the remaining amount of toner stored in the toner cartridge 23 is provided, and a signal indicating the remaining amount of toner is output at regular time intervals. In addition, a sensor for measuring the amount of toner contained in the toner recovery bottle is provided, and a signal representing the amount of toner is output at regular time intervals. Further, the CPU 44 integrates the usage amount, that is, the driving time after the photosensitive drum 20, the charging device 21, and the fixing device 11 are replaced. The storage unit 5 stores a threshold value for the remaining amount of each consumable and a threshold value for the usage amount after replacement. The CPU 44 compares the remaining amount or usage amount with a threshold value for each consumable item at regular time intervals. Then, when the remaining amount or usage amount of any of the consumables reaches a threshold value, the CPU 44 rewrites the display required flag to “1”. When the consumable item is replaced, the CPU 44 rewrites the display required flag to “0”.
Note that the threshold in this embodiment is not a value at which consumables are unusable, but is set with a margin so that it can be used to some extent even if the threshold is exceeded.

<Operation>
Next, the operation of the copying machine 1 will be described. Here, the copier 1 is powered on, and the CPU 44 is executing a program. In the following description, the main subject of operation is the CPU 44.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the copying machine 1.

First, in step A01, the CPU 44 determines at regular time intervals whether the remaining amount of each consumable or the usage amount after replacement has reached a threshold value. If the remaining amount of any consumable or the usage amount after replacement reaches the threshold value, the process proceeds to step A02.
In step A02, the CPU 44 rewrites the necessary display flag of the consumables table to “1” for the consumables whose remaining amount or usage after replacement has reached the threshold value.

In step A03, the CPU 44 refers to the consumables table, and extracts the consumables having the required display flag “1”. For the extracted consumables, text data is generated according to the category of each consumable and displayed on the liquid crystal panel 39.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed in step A03. As shown in the figure, the display area of the liquid crystal panel 39 is divided into a “maintenance requested consumable” column and an “other consumable” column. The maintenance request consumable is the engineer replacement described above. Other consumables are the above-mentioned user replacement items. In this example, the remaining amount of the drum cartridge (C), the fuser unit, the magenta toner (M), and the staple dust box has reached the threshold value or the usage amount after replacement. Among them, the drum cartridge (C) and the fuser unit are displayed in the maintenance request replacement item column, and the magenta toner (M) and the staple dust box are displayed in the other replacement item column. In the maintenance request replacement item column, “replacement time” is displayed in the status item. This means that the replacement time is approaching. “Replacement required” is displayed in the column of other replacement items. This is a display prompting the user to exchange. For the status item, for example, “Please ask a service engineer” or “Replace with a new product” may be displayed.

When the information about the consumable item is displayed as described above, the user takes note of the content and touches “Close” to return to the normal display. Then, a service engineer is requested for maintenance request consumables. Replace other consumables with spares.
Further, after the user returns to the normal display by touching “Close”, the liquid crystal panel 39 or the keyboard 40 may be operated to redisplay the information on the consumables at an arbitrary timing.

The above is the description of the operation of the copying machine 1.
According to the present invention, the display area is divided for each consumable category, and information related to the replacement of consumables is displayed in the display area corresponding to the consumable category. It becomes easy to do.
Moreover, since the category is determined by the difficulty level of the consumable item replacement operation, it is possible to prevent oversight of information related to the replacement of the consumable item having a high difficulty level of the replacement operation.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The difference of the second embodiment from the first embodiment is that a plurality of combinations in which the correspondence relationship between consumables and categories is different from each other are written in the consumables table, and any one of the plurality of combinations is designated. The information regarding the replacement of consumables is displayed based on the designated combination. Hereinafter, this point will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the consumables table in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, three patterns having different correspondences between consumables and categories are written in the consumables table. Pattern 1 is the same as the example of the first embodiment. In the pattern 2, in addition to the toner, a toner collection bottle, a charge corotron, and a fuser unit are set as user-replaceable products. In pattern 3, all consumables are set as engineer replacements.

  These patterns are provided for the following reasons. In general, when a user uses a copying machine, a contract for a maintenance contract is made between the user and a manufacturer or an agent. In the contract, regarding the replacement of consumables, it is determined to what extent an engineer replacement is made. Pattern 1 is the most common example, and the category is determined by the difficulty level of the exchange work. On the other hand, the replacement frequency of specific consumables other than the toner may be high depending on the usage form of the user. In such a case, the category may be determined according to the exchange frequency. Pattern 2 is an example. In the case of a user who is unfamiliar with handling electronic devices, an engineer may be requested to replace all consumables. Pattern 3 is an example.

  In this embodiment, when the copier 1 is installed under the user, the service engineer sets the copier 1 to use one of the three patterns according to the content of the maintenance contract. . As a result, it is possible to display information related to replacement of consumables in a pattern desired by the user.

<Modification>
The present invention is not limited to the form described above, and can be implemented in various forms. For example, the embodiment described above can be modified as follows.

  The order of consumables belonging to the same category may be determined in advance, and information may be displayed side by side according to this order. For example, the order of consumables belonging to the same category is written in advance in the consumables table. When displaying a plurality of consumables belonging to the same category, the items are arranged and displayed according to the order written in the consumables table. In this way, for example, it is possible to display a consumable item with a high urgency in the upper stage, or display an upper part in a longer time required for replacement work. Will be able to.

  The order of consumables belonging to the same category may be rewritten. In this way, the display order can be determined according to the user's preference. Further, when the replacement frequency of consumables changes due to a change in the user's usage mode, the display order can be determined according to the replacement frequency.

  The display area may not be divided when all of the consumables whose remaining amount or usage amount after replacement has reached a predetermined value belong to the same category. In this way, useless display can be avoided.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine has been described. However, the present invention is suitable for various image forming apparatuses such as a printer and a facsimile. The present invention is also suitable for various electronic devices equipped with consumables.

2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the copying machine 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the collar of a consumables table. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the copying machine 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the image displayed. It is a figure which shows the example of a consumables table.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copy machine, 4 ... Control part, 44 ... CPU, 45 ... ROM, 46 ... RAM, 5 ... Memory | storage part, 41 ... Instruction input part, 39 ... Liquid crystal panel, 40 ... Keyboard, 48 ... Communication interface, 12 ... Image Input unit 6 ... Image output unit 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K Image forming engine 8 Transfer belt 20Y Photoconductor drum 21Y Charging device 19Y Exposure device 22Y Development device 25Y Transfer Device: 9 ... paper feed tray, 10 ... recording sheet, 11 ... fixing device, 32 ... discharge tray.

Claims (11)

Storage means for storing consumables and categories to which the consumables belong in association with each other;
A determination means for determining whether the remaining amount of the consumables or the usage amount after replacement has reached a predetermined value;
When the determination means determines that the remaining amount of the consumables or the usage amount after replacement reaches a predetermined value, the display area is divided into categories, and the remaining amount or usage amount after replacement And a display means for displaying information on replacement of the consumable that has reached a predetermined value in a display area corresponding to the category to which the consumable belongs.   The consumable information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category is determined by a difficulty level of the consumable replacement work.   The consumable information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category is determined by a replacement frequency of the consumables.   The consumable information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category is determined according to a maintenance mode of the consumable.   The consumable information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category is determined according to an installation area. The storage means stores a plurality of combinations in which the correspondence relationship between the consumables and the category is different from each other,
Designating means for designating any one of a plurality of combinations stored in the storage means;
The consumable information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays information related to replacement of the consumables based on the combination designated by the designation unit. Order storage means for storing the order of consumables belonging to the same category in association with the consumables;
The consumable information display apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the display unit displays information related to replacement of the consumables in accordance with a rank stored in the rank storage unit.   8. The consumable information display device according to claim 7, further comprising rewriting means for rewriting the stored contents of the rank storage means.   9. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein the display unit does not divide the display area when all of the consumables whose remaining amount or usage amount after replacement has reached a predetermined value belong to the same category. Consumables information display device described in 1. A consumable information display device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image output unit that includes a consumable and forms an image on a recording sheet based on image data. A determination step of determining whether or not the remaining amount of consumables or the usage amount after replacement has reached a predetermined value;
When it is determined in the determination step that any remaining amount of the consumables or usage after replacement has reached a predetermined value, the display area is divided into categories to which the consumables belong, and the remaining amount or replacement A consumable information display method comprising: a display step of displaying information related to replacement of consumables whose use amount has reached a predetermined value in a display area corresponding to a category to which the consumables belong.

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