JP2009113210A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which enables starting of an operation from a desired operation starting screen, reflecting detailed setting values of the printer by a simple operation. <P>SOLUTION: When a user presses down a manual printing key of an operation part 7 on a desired operation screen displayed on a displaying part 6, code information of the operation start screen and detailed setting values coded by a coding part 2 is attached to a manual, and printed by a printing part 9 to a recording paper. The manual is read by a reading part 8. The code information printed to the manual is analyzed by a code analyzing part 3. The detailed setting values are changed on the basis of the obtained result, and the desired operation starting screen is displayed on the displaying part 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus capable of omitting operations by printing an operation method accompanied by an operation procedure setting code as a manual and reading a manual with a setting code.

  A conventional printing apparatus has a guide function for displaying a handling method and an operation method on a panel serving as a user interface provided in the printing apparatus, and a user operates a key of the printing apparatus according to a guide on the panel. To achieve the desired function. In addition, there is one that simply shows an operation method to a user by printing an operation method based on a guide screen displayed on a panel as a manual (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Also, there is a method of reducing the number of key operations by storing detailed print setting information set from the panel in a storage medium, and reading and reproducing the set information. (For example, Patent Document 2)
JP 2004-034410 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-327716

  However, in the method of performing an operation with reference to a printed manual as in Patent Document 1, the number of operations itself for realizing a desired function by the user has not decreased. Furthermore, in recent printing apparatuses, not only simple printing but also various advanced functions such as photo layout designation printing from a memory card, sticker paper printing, and photographing information printing have been promoted. For this reason, key operations are becoming more complicated, and there is a problem that when an unfamiliar user operates, it is difficult to obtain an operation procedure error or an operation method, and many functions cannot be used effectively. It was.

  Further, since an expensive storage medium having a limited capacity is used as a means for storing desired detailed setting information, the cost of the printing apparatus increases as the number of setting information to be stored increases. There are also problems.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is desired to reduce the number of operations by omitting key operations and operation screens during operation from setting information recorded on low-cost recording paper. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of simply executing functions.

  In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: a display unit capable of displaying images and characters; display means for displaying an operation method on the display unit as a guide screen; and a desired operation start screen. Setting means for setting, setting means for setting a desired detailed setting value, coding means for converting the operation start screen and the detailed setting value into code information, and details of the operation method displayed on the guide screen A printing unit for printing the code information converted by the coding unit on the recording paper; a reading unit for reading the code information printed on the recording paper; and a code analysis unit for analyzing the read code information; And a means for reproducing the detailed setting value based on the analysis result of the code information and making a screen transition to the desired operation start screen.

  According to the present invention, a user who is accustomed to operating a high-performance printing apparatus accompanies a manual with a desired operation start screen and code information obtained by encoding detailed setting values, and records them on a recording sheet as a manual with operation procedure setting codes. Print. On the other hand, an unfamiliar user can start the operation from the operation start screen based on the code information by reading the manual with the operation procedure setting code using the reading means, so the operation in the middle can be omitted and the number of operations can be reduced. This makes it easier to operate while viewing the manual. At this time, since the detailed setting value necessary for printing is also included in the code information, an unfamiliar user does not need to perform complicated detailed setting operations.

  Further, compared to the conventional method of storing the setting information in the storage medium, the recording paper is less expensive and there is no limit on the number of storage, so that it is possible to store an infinite number of desired operation procedure setting codes.

Example 1
As an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) having a plurality of functions such as a scanning function and a printing function will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an MFP showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The CPU 1 is an MFP system control unit that controls each unit of the MFP.

  The encoding unit 2 converts the operation start screen and detailed setting value information set by the user into code data, as will be described later.

  The code analysis unit 3 analyzes and digitizes the data encoded by the encoding unit 2.

  The ROM 4 stores an MFP system control program, and the CPU 1 executes various operations related to the MFP based on the control program stored in the ROM 4.

  The RAM 5 stores image data and current setting values.

  The display unit 6 displays screens such as operation methods and device states.

  The operation unit 7 includes keys for the user to perform operations for realizing each function according to the screen displayed on the display unit 6.

  The reading unit 8 reads the code and image and inputs them to the CPU 1.

  The printing unit 9 prints the code and input image data on a recording sheet.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the display unit 6 and the operation unit 7 in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the display unit 6 displays a screen of function contents, operation methods, selection items, and the like necessary for realizing a function desired by the user. The operation unit 7 is an arrangement diagram of each key. 701 is a start key, 702 is a setting key for making detailed settings, 703 is an up / down / left / right key, 704 is a manual print key with a setting code, 705 is a manual reading key with a setting code, 706 is an OK key for determining options, etc. Reference numeral 709 denotes a mode selection key.

  In the MFP configured as described above, the user presses the manual print key 704 on the screen during operation displayed on the display unit 6. By this operation, the screen information during the operation and the current detailed setting value are converted into code information by the encoding unit 2, and the code is attached to the manual describing the operation method and printed on the recording paper by the printing unit 9. And get the manual with the operating procedure setting code.

  Thereafter, the manual with the operation procedure setting code is placed on the document table, and the manual reading key 705 is pressed. When the pressing of the reading key is detected, the code information is read by the reading unit 8, and the code data is analyzed by the code analyzing unit 3, thereby omitting the operation intermediate screen and setting operation until the manual print key 704 is pressed, It is possible to reduce the number of key operations.

  Hereinafter, in the MFP configured as described above, a printing procedure of a manual with an operation procedure setting code, a reading procedure of a manual with an operation procedure setting code, and an operation procedure after reading will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS.

  First, a procedure for printing a manual with an operation procedure setting code will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure in which the user instructs manual printing with an operation procedure setting code for layout printing according to this embodiment. FIG. 5 is an operation screen flow in this embodiment.

  When the MFP is turned on, it starts in copy mode. After startup, the user presses the memory card mode key 709 (S301), transitions to the memory card mode start screen, and operates the left / right key 703 to move the cursor to function C as shown on the operation screen 601 (S302). Then, the OK key 706 is pressed. Next, on the transition destination screen, the left and right keys 703 are similarly operated to move the cursor to the function C4 as shown in the operation screen 602 (S303), and the OK key 706 is pressed. Furthermore, when C4b is selected by performing the same operation as described above on the operation screen 603 (S304), the screen transitions to the operation screen 604. On the operation screen 604 after the transition, the desired pasting method is selected by operating the up / down key 703 (S305), and the OK key 706 is pressed to transition to the operation screen 605. The operation screen 605 after the transition is a screen for selecting an image read from the memory card with the left and right keys 706 and pasting the image according to a desired layout (S306). After pasting the image, the print start key 701 is pressed (S307), and a printed matter arranged in a desired layout is acquired from the printing unit 9 (S308). The above-described flow is a normal layout printing flow in this embodiment.

  On the other hand, when the operation screen 605 is an operation start screen desired by the user, the user presses the manual print key 704 (S309). Next, during the flow from S301 to S306, it is selected whether the detailed setting by pressing the setting key 702 has been completed (S310). If the setting has not been completed, the screen transitions to a detailed setting screen 606 for paper size, paper type, print quality, etc. (NO in S310). On the setting screen 606, various detailed settings are made (S311), and the OK key 706 is pressed to proceed to the next processing. The same processing is also performed when YES is selected in S310. Thereafter, the encoding unit 2 converts the information of the setting values set on the operation screen 605 and the detailed setting screen 606 when the manual print key 704 is pressed into code information. After code conversion, obtain manual data on the operation method, attach the converted code information to the manual data, obtain the manual with the operation procedure setting code as shown in Fig. 6 from the printing unit 9 (S312), and process Exit. However, in the above embodiment, the operation screen 605 is the operation start screen desired by the user, but the manual print key 704 can be pressed on any screen other than the operation screen 605. In this case as well, any one of the operation screens in the middle of the operation and the detailed setting values are encoded and printed. Thereafter, by reading a manual with an operation procedure setting code, it is possible to change to a desired operation start screen and detailed setting values.

  The manual configuration shown in FIG. 6 includes an operation method 621 for the function selected by the user, a completed example 622 that can be realized by the selected function, and an operation procedure setting code necessary for recognizing the operation screen and setting values. is there.

  Next, a procedure for reading a manual with an operation procedure setting code and an operation procedure after reading will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for reading a manual with an operation procedure setting code and instructing layout printing according to this embodiment.

  The user places the manual with the operation procedure setting code described above on the manuscript table of the MFP (S401), and presses the manual reading key 705 (S402). When it is detected that the manual reading key 705 has been pressed, the reading unit 8 starts a reading operation and reads the setting code 623. The operation procedure setting code read by the code analysis unit 3 is analyzed, and an operation start screen based on the analysis result is displayed on the display unit 6. In this case, the screen of the operation screen 605 when the manual print key 704 is pressed is displayed (S403), and the detailed setting is automatically changed to the previous setting value. However, after that, the user operates the desired left / right key 703 to select an image, pastes the image with the OK key 706 (S403), and presses the start key 701 to obtain the desired printed matter.

  The code of the operation procedure setting code used in the above embodiment can be a code represented by a bar code symbol and a QR code. However, a configuration using codes other than these codes may be used.

  The reading unit used in the above embodiment may be a reading unit such as a scanner or a barcode reader. However, the reading unit is not limited to these reading units.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the method for coding the detailed print settings has been described. However, if the user desires, the detailed settings may not be coded, and only the information on the investigation start screen may be coded.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the printing of the manual with the operation procedure setting code from the operation unit and the display unit of the MFP has been described. However, it may be configured so that it can be printed by an instruction from the host computer via the interface.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a system outline of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the external appearance of the display part 6 and the operation part 7 in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the printing procedure of the manual with an operation procedure setting code in one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which reads the manual with an operation procedure setting code in one Example of this invention, and performs layout printing. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the screen according to the operation procedure in one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a manual with an operation procedure setting code in one Example of this invention.

Claims (1)

A display unit capable of displaying images and characters;
Display means for displaying an operation method as a guide screen on the display unit;
A setting means for setting a desired operation start screen;
A setting means for setting a desired detailed setting value;
Coding means for converting the operation start screen and the detailed setting value into code information;
Printing means for printing on recording paper accompanied by the code information converted by the coding means in details of the operation method displayed on the guide screen;
Reading means for reading the code information printed on the recording paper;
Code analysis means for analyzing the read code information;
Reproducing the detailed setting value based on the analysis result of the code information, and a screen transition to the desired operation start screen,
A printing apparatus comprising:

Images