JP2008092424A - Image processor and control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor and a control program capable of easily and quickly performing setting to a desired processing parameter. <P>SOLUTION: Intermediate custom setting is provided between user custom setting prepared corresponding to each user and factory default setting. Also, the intermediate custom setting is set by a manager or the like (can be a general user). The user prepares the user custom setting by changing the intermediate custom setting without preparing the user customer setting from the default setting. Thus, it is desirable to set a general purpose setting value corresponding to the utilization environment of the image processor or the like to the intermediate custom setting. Also, intermediate parameter setting can be utilized as the user custom setting as it is without a change like the user A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a control program.

  In companies, public offices, schools, and the like, an environment in which a plurality of users share and use an image processing apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral is constructed. In such an environment, since the image processing apparatus is used by a plurality of users, each user appropriately changes the processing setting information according to the application.

  In general, however, the factory settings are defaulted for the convenience of the vendor of the device manufacturer, so when changing the processing setting information to suit your application, there are many changes and complicated operations. It was necessary.

  Thus, for example, Patent Document 1 mentions a technique for changing the default setting for each mode switching. For example, the default setting of the image quality setting is changed between copying and scanning.

For example, Patent Document 2 mentions a technique for changing the default setting for each user. This is to provide an optimal operating environment for each user by changing the operating environment to be enabled for each user.
JP-A-6-152821 JP-A-2005-175530

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and a control program that can easily and quickly set desired processing setting information.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 is the first holding means for holding the first processing setting information registered by changing the setting with the processing setting information at the time of factory shipment as an initial value. And second holding means for holding second processing setting information corresponding to each registered user by changing the setting of the first processing setting information held in the first holding means as an initial value; Control means for performing various controls based on the second processing setting information held in the second holding means.

  The invention of claim 2 further comprises registration means for registering, in the first holding means, the first processing information whose setting has been changed using the factory default setting as the initial value. It has.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the second process corresponding to each user whose setting has been changed using the first process setting information held in the first holding means as an initial value. It further comprises registration means for registering setting information in the second holding means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first computer in which the computer built in the image processing apparatus is registered with the computer built in the image processing apparatus being changed and set with processing setting information at the time of factory shipment as an initial value. First holding means for holding process setting information, second processing setting information corresponding to each user registered by changing the setting of the first processing setting information held in the first holding means as an initial value The second holding means for holding the function, and the control means for performing various controls based on the second processing setting information held in the second holding means.

  According to the present invention, since it is possible to easily and quickly set the desired process setting information, convenience is improved. For example, when setting the processing setting information desired by the user, it is only necessary to change a part of the processing setting information.

  Also, for example, in an environment where color photographs are scanned frequently, if color, photo mode, etc. are set in the color settings of the processing setting information, the settings are changed to color settings each time scanning is performed. You don't have to.

  Embodiments of an image processing apparatus and a control program according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the case where the image processing apparatus is a multi-function machine having various functions such as copying, scanning, and faxing will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a printer, copying machine, fax, or the like. But it can be substituted.

  First, the basic concept of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the image processing apparatus, when performing some processing (for example, copying), setting of processing setting information (hereinafter referred to as processing parameters) such as paper size, density, operation mode (scan, copy, fax, etc.) is performed. There is a need.

  In general, the user changes the setting from the factory default setting to the processing parameter desired by the user and uses the image processing apparatus. However, there are many contents to be changed, and complicated work is required. Therefore, in the present invention, an intermediate custom setting is provided between a user custom setting created corresponding to each user and a factory default setting. The intermediate custom setting is set by an administrator or the like (may be a general user).

  The user does not create a user custom setting from the default setting, but creates a user custom setting by changing the intermediate custom setting. For this reason, it is desirable to set a general-purpose setting value according to the use environment of the image processing apparatus or the like as the intermediate custom setting. Note that the intermediate parameter setting may be used as it is as the user custom setting without changing the intermediate parameter setting as in the user A shown in FIG.

  Here, a configuration for realizing the basic concept of the present invention described in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of a schematic configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. The image processing apparatus 10 includes various functions such as copying, scanning, and faxing, and includes a user interface unit 11, an authentication unit 12, an image reading unit 13, an image forming unit 14, and a communication function. A unit 15 and a control unit 16 are provided.

  The user interface unit 11 includes an operator panel or the like that includes a display unit 11a that is a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and an input unit 11b that is an input device such as a cursor hard key or a numeric keypad. It functions as a user interface connecting the device 10. In addition, although the display part 11a in a present Example is restricted to the display of a character main body, it may be a graphical thing which can display a character, an animation, etc.

  The authentication unit 12 is composed of a card reader or the like, and fulfills a function of performing user authentication. In the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment, a case where the authentication unit 12 is provided to perform user authentication will be described. However, when user authentication is performed based on an input (user name, password) from the user interface unit 11, The authentication unit 12 may be omitted.

  The image reading unit 13 includes an illumination lamp, a lens, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and the like, and performs a function of optically scanning a document placed on a platen glass (document table) and reading the document.

  The image forming unit 14 includes a photosensitive drum, a transfer belt, a fixing device, and the like, and functions to form an image on a recording medium such as paper. In this embodiment, the case where the image forming unit 14 is configured by an electrophotographic method will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other methods (for example, an ink jet method) may be adopted. .

  The communication unit 15 includes a LAN (Local Area Network) board, a telephone line modular jack, and the like, and functions as a communication interface that connects the image processing apparatus 10 to an external apparatus or a public line network. It does not matter whether the communication in the communication unit 15 is wired or wireless.

  The control unit 16 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a program memory, a working memory, various ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), and the like, and fulfills a function of controlling the image processing apparatus 10 in an integrated manner. The above is the description of the various processing functions that constitute the image processing apparatus 10. In FIG. 1, for easy understanding of the description, a configuration that specifically realizes each processing function is illustrated, but this is only an example, and each processing function is realized by a configuration other than this. May be.

  Next, a part of the functional configuration of the control unit 16 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 16 includes, as various processing function units, a processing parameter registration unit 21, a default setting holding unit 22, an intermediate custom setting holding unit 23, a user custom setting holding unit 24, an authentication processing unit 25, and a processing parameter reading. A unit 26 and a main control unit 27 are provided.

  The processing parameter registration unit 21 has a function of registering processing parameters in accordance with an input operation from a user or the like via the input unit 11b. The processing parameter registration by the processing parameter registration unit 21 may be performed according to an input operation from a personal computer or the like connected via the communication unit 15.

  The default setting holding unit 22 has a function of holding processing parameters of factory default settings, and the intermediate custom setting holding unit 23 has a function of holding processing parameters of intermediate custom settings registered by an administrator, a user, or the like. The user custom setting holding unit 24 has a function of holding processing parameters for user custom settings registered by the user.

  The authentication processing unit 25 performs a function of performing user authentication based on user authentication information input from the authentication unit 12 or the like (which may be the input unit 11b). That is, the authentication unit 12 performs user authentication for the card holder based on the card information read from the card.

  The processing parameter reading unit 26 functions to read processing parameters. The processing parameter reading unit 26 reads the processing parameter when the intermediate custom setting is registered, but reads the factory default setting when the intermediate custom setting is not registered. become. Further, when user authentication is performed from the authentication unit 12 or the like and the user custom setting corresponding to the user is registered, the processing parameter is read out. When user authentication is performed, not only the processing parameters but also the address book corresponding to the user is read out simultaneously.

  The main control unit 27 performs a function of performing overall control of processing in the control unit 16. The main control unit 27 controls the operation of each unit based on the processing parameters read by the processing parameter reading unit 26. The above is the description of the various processing functions that constitute the control unit 16.

  Here, a method of creating the intermediate custom setting will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 show the outline of the user interface unit 11, FIG. 4 shows a color mode selection screen, FIG. 5 shows an image quality mode selection screen, and FIG. 6 shows an intermediate custom setting screen. Yes.

  When creating an intermediate custom setting from the color mode selection screen shown in FIG. 4, the items (color mode selection, full color, gray scale, black and white) displayed on the display unit 11a are displayed on the display unit 11a using the cursor hard key. Various settings are selected and determined by moving the selection left and right. Moreover, it is possible to move to setting of another item by pressing the up / down key.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the down button is pressed with full color selected, an image quality mode selection screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. When “character” is selected on this screen, the set value of the image quality mode selection is set or changed. In this way, the same operation is repeated for other processing parameters. Finally, when the user moves to the intermediate custom setting screen shown in FIG. 6 and selects “YES” with the cursor hard key, the desired intermediate custom setting is obtained. It will be created and registered.

  Next, operations in the image processing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. First, the operation when registering user custom settings in the processing parameter registration unit 21 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the description will be made assuming that the intermediate custom setting has already been registered.

  In this process, first, the processing parameter reading unit 26 reads the intermediate custom setting from the intermediate custom setting holding unit 23 (step S101). Then, this is displayed on the display unit 11a.

  The user who refers to this creates the user custom setting by changing the intermediate custom setting via the input unit 11b (step S102). When the created user instructs registration, the processing parameter registration unit 21 registers the created processing parameter in the user custom setting holding unit 24 (step S103).

  Here, when creating a user custom setting for another user (YES in step S104), the process returns to step S101, and the processing parameter reading unit 26 reads the intermediate custom setting again. When the creation of the user custom setting is finished (NO in step S104), this process is finished as it is.

  Next, the operation when the processing parameter reading unit 26 reads the processing parameter will be described with reference to FIG.

  The processing parameter reading unit 26 first determines whether or not the authentication in the authentication unit 12 and the authentication processing unit 25 has been completed. If the user has been authenticated (YES in step S201), it is next determined whether or not the user custom setting corresponding to the user is held in the user custom setting holding unit 24. If the result of this determination is that there is a user custom setting corresponding to the user (step S202), the process parameter reading unit 26 reads the user custom setting (step S203), and the process ends. However, if there is no user custom setting corresponding to the user (NO in step S202), or if it is determined in step S201 that user authentication has not been performed (NO in step S201), the processing parameter reading unit 26 determines whether the intermediate custom setting is held in the intermediate custom setting holding unit 23.

  If there is an intermediate custom setting (YES in step S204), the process parameter reading unit 26 reads the intermediate custom setting (step S205), and the process ends. If there is no (NO in step S204), the default setting is read by the processing parameter reading unit 26 (step S206), and the process ends.

  Although the above is an example of typical embodiment of this invention, this invention is not limited to the Example shown to the said and drawing, It can implement suitably deform | transforming within the range which does not change the summary. .

  For example, you may comprise so that the process demonstrated in the said Example may be implemented with the control program installed in the computer. This control program can be provided not only by communication means such as a network but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

  Further, the processing parameters include setting values such as an operation policy in addition to the paper size and density, the operation mode (copy, fax, etc.), and the like.

  The image processing apparatus and the control program of the present invention can be applied to an image processing apparatus and a control program that is executed by a computer built in the image processing apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the basic concept of this invention. It is a figure which shows a part of schematic structure of the image processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows a part of functional structure of the control part 16 shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the production method of an intermediate custom setting (the 1). It is a figure explaining the production method of an intermediate custom setting (the 2). It is a figure explaining the production method of an intermediate custom setting (the 3). It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement at the time of registering a user custom setting. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement at the time of reading a process parameter.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image processing apparatus 11 User interface part 11a Display part 11b Input part 12 Authentication part 13 Image reading part 14 Image formation part 15 Communication part 16 Control part 21 Processing parameter registration part 22 Default setting holding part 23 Intermediate custom setting holding part 24 User custom Setting holding unit 25 Authentication processing unit 26 Processing parameter reading unit 27 Main control unit

Claims (4)

First holding means for holding first processing setting information registered by changing the setting of processing setting information at the time of factory shipment as an initial value;
Second holding means for holding second processing setting information corresponding to each registered user by changing the setting of the first processing setting information held in the first holding means as an initial value;
An image processing apparatus comprising: control means for performing various controls based on the second processing setting information held in the second holding means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a registration unit that registers the first processing information whose setting has been changed using the factory default setting as an initial value in the first holding unit. Registration means for registering, in the second holding means, the second processing setting information corresponding to each user whose setting has been changed using the first processing setting information held in the first holding means as an initial value; The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A computer built into the image processing device
First holding means for holding the first processing setting information registered by changing the setting of the processing setting information at the time of factory shipment as an initial value;
Second holding means for holding second processing setting information corresponding to each registered user by changing the setting of the first processing setting information held in the first holding means as an initial value;
A control program for functioning as a control means for performing various controls based on the second processing setting information held in the second holding means.

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