JP2009134016A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problem: an image forming apparatus cannot display error, when the error occurs, in a state in which the error is classified for each spot and each cause of the error. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus, the content of the error which has occurred is analyzed to classify the error, and the error is displayed according to input by a user for each related functional part, or the error is classified according to whether it is caused by hardware or it is caused by software, or is classified for each user who start a job in which the error has occurred, so that the image forming apparatus selectively performs the error display. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique that enables error contents displayed on a display unit to be classified and selectively displayed when an error occurs in an image forming apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus called an MFP (Multi Functional Peripherals) has a plurality of functions such as copying, FAX transmission / reception, and file transfer. In such an image forming apparatus, since a plurality of functions are simultaneously processed in the system, there is a possibility that errors may occur simultaneously in each of a plurality of processes that do not occur in a single printer that originally has only a single function. . When multiple simultaneous errors occur, the system stops and displays the error that occurred on the display unit or utility of the external device. Is displayed only on screens and pages related to the functions affected by.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the conventional image forming apparatus 201 has a plurality of functions of a print function unit 211, a copy function unit 213, a fax function unit 215, a transfer function unit 217, and a storage function unit 219. . Further, each function display unit 220 for displaying these functions on the display panel unit has a print screen 221, a copy screen 223, a fax screen 225, and transfer screens corresponding to the five function units. There are five screens, a screen 227 and a storage screen 229, and a display screen of a system screen 231.

  When an error occurs in the image forming apparatus 201, only error items related to each function are displayed on the screen for each function, as shown in FIG.

  Therefore, when using the fax function, even if an error related only to printing occurs, it is impossible to grasp what kind of error has occurred by simply looking at the fax screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when an error occurs due to the transmission of a print request job described in an unsupported PDL (page description language), it responds to the print function unit 211 (FIG. 3). The error is displayed only on the print screen 221 (FIG. 2).

  Because of this error display function, the user can determine how many errors have occurred in the image forming apparatus, what kind of function these errors affect, and which job the error is related to. I could not recognize in detail what happened.

  As another prior art example, when notifying an error that has occurred in an image forming apparatus, a plurality of notification methods are provided for the notification method, and the user is allowed to select a desired notification method from among the plurality of notification methods. There is a method for providing convenience to the user (see Patent Document 1).

  However, this method only provides convenience for notification methods such as notification by sound, notification by LED (Light Emitting Diode) light, notification by display on the display panel, etc. Therefore, based on the content of the error that has occurred, for example, whether the error is caused by hardware or software cannot be classified and displayed to the user.

JP 2002-67455 A

  The problem to be solved is that when an error occurs in the image forming apparatus and an error is displayed on the display unit, the error is classified and the classified error is selectively displayed for each classification. It was a point that could not be done.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an error detection unit that detects occurrence of an error, an error analysis unit that analyzes and records the content of the generated error, an error classification unit that classifies the recorded error, and The main feature is that it has an error selection section that selects classified errors and a display section that displays the errors selected by the error selection section.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an error detection unit that detects occurrence of an error, an error analysis unit that analyzes and records the content of the generated error, an error classification unit that classifies the recorded error, and An error has occurred in a conventional image forming apparatus because the main feature is that it has an error selection unit that selects classified errors and a display unit that displays errors selected by the error selection unit. In this case, only errors related to the selected function (for example, copy function, print function, file transfer function, etc.) were displayed on the display unit. It became possible to display classified errors by user selection. For example, errors that occur in hardware (devices) can be selectively displayed, errors that occur in applications (software) can be selectively displayed, and errors that occur for each user can be selectively displayed. It became possible to make it. Therefore, the user can quickly grasp the state and cause of the error occurrence in the image forming apparatus, and it is possible to deal with the error accurately.

  When an error occurs in the image forming device, only the error related to the function selected in the display unit is displayed, and the error that caused the problem that the error was not grasped and handled efficiently The problem was solved by analyzing the contents and performing classification by a plurality of different methods so that the user can selectively display the classified errors.

[Constitution]
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 101 includes an error processing unit 120, an error detection unit 121, an error analysis unit 123, an error classification unit 127, an error selection unit 129, an image reading unit 131, an image processing unit 133, a print output unit 135, and a fax transmission / reception unit 137. , A user authentication unit 139, a user input unit 141 (input unit), a display unit 143, a document storage unit 145, an interface unit 147, and a document transfer unit 149.

  Each functional unit will be described below.

  The error processing unit 120 is a functional unit for processing an error that has occurred in the image forming apparatus 101. Basically, the occurrence of an error is detected, the error content is analyzed, and an error is output. The functional units of the error processing unit will be described below.

  The error detection unit 121 detects the occurrence of an error.

  The error analysis unit 123 analyzes the content of the error detected by the error detection unit 121, specifies the location where the error occurred, the cause of the error, and the like and records them.

  The error classification unit 127 classifies the error content analyzed by the error analysis unit 123 based on the error occurrence location and the error content. For example, classification based on the functions of printing, copying, faxing, file transfer, and document storage, classification based on whether the cause of error is hardware or software, and the job in which an error has occurred And classify for each activated user.

  The error selection unit 129 indicates which classification item of which classification method of the classified error is displayed by the user input by the user input unit 141 among the errors classified by the error classification unit 127. select. Of the errors occurring according to the selection, the error of the corresponding selection item is output to the display unit 143 and displayed.

  The image reading unit 131 is a functional unit that has a scanner that reads a document sheet and converts a document image into electronic data.

  The image processing unit 133 is a functional unit that converts image data sent in PDL (page description language) and other various formats into an image data format that the print output unit 135 can directly drive.

  The print output unit 135 is a functional unit that has a print engine and prints the print data converted by the image processing unit 133 on paper.

  A FAX transmission / reception unit 137 is a functional unit that performs transmission / reception of a fax via a public line, the Internet, or the like.

  A user authentication unit 139 authenticates a user who uses the image forming apparatus 101. Only authenticated users can launch jobs and keep a record of which users have launched each job.

  The user input unit 141 (input unit) has an operation button and a touch panel on the display panel, and is an input unit for the user to operate and set the image forming apparatus. Further, when the error contents are classified and displayed when an error occurs, the user receives an input of selection of a classification method and selection of a classification item.

  The display unit 143 has a display panel and displays the apparatus status of the image forming apparatus and information necessary for the setting operation. Further, when an error occurs, the selected error item among the classified errors is displayed.

  The document storage unit 145 manages the document storage function of the image forming apparatus 101, and stores the document sent from the external device and the document data read by the image reading unit 131.

  The interface unit 147 is a functional unit that exchanges with an external device and a network. The interface unit 147 is connected to an external image forming apparatus, a host computer, a server device, or the like through the interface unit 147 to transmit and receive data.

  The document transfer unit 149 manages the document transfer function of the image forming apparatus 101, and transfers a document sent from an external device and document data read by the image reading unit 131 to an external image forming device, a host computer, or a server device. It is a function to do.

[flowchart]
The flow of operations from the occurrence of an error to error classification / selection and display will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  When an error occurs in the image forming apparatus 101, the error detection unit 121 detects the occurrence and the operation of the flowchart of FIG. 5 starts.

  S11: The error analysis unit 123 acquires information on the generated error from each function unit, specifies the error occurrence location and the error content, and records them.

  S13: The error classification unit 127 determines whether the error analyzed by the error analysis unit 123 is for each related functional unit, a hardware cause, a software cause, or a job that caused an error. Tag related items such as users and classify errors.

  S15: The user input unit 141 receives items for classifying error items and selection items thereof according to user input (details will be described later in FIG. 8).

  S17: The error selection unit 129 selects an error of a necessary item and transmits it to the display unit 143 by the method selected in S15, and the display unit 143 displays the selected error.

  S19: Select whether to continue the error display or end the display. When the error display is continued, the operation is shifted to S15 and the operation from the selection of the error classification is repeated. When the display is terminated, the operation is terminated.

  Thereafter, the user performs an error recovery operation in accordance with the error display on the display unit 143 to return the image forming apparatus to the normal operation state.

[Classification method]
Next, a specific example of error classification will be described.

  First, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention has the printing function, copying function, fax function, transfer function, storage function, and system function as shown in FIG. Categorize to display only errors related to. After the error is classified into each functional operation, the user selects which functional operation to display the error. The selection is not limited to selecting only a single function, but may be a plurality of free combinations or a method of selecting all.

  Next, another classification example shown in FIG. 6 will be described. In this example, an error is classified into an error (260) generated by an application (software) or an error (270) generated by a device (hardware). Examples of errors (260) generated by software include a processing error (263) such as a job processing error and an authentication error (265) such as a user information error. Also, examples of errors (270) generated by hardware include a paper jam error (273), an error in opening a cover (275), and an error (277) in which a necessary fax device does not exist.

  FIG. 7 describes error classification for each user. The user authentication unit 139 manages which user has started a job being performed in the image forming apparatus 101. When an error occurs in the image forming apparatus 101, the generated error is classified and displayed for each user who started the job.

[Example of error classification / selection / display]
FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a screen for classifying, selecting, and displaying an error after an error has occurred.

  When error classification is not performed, as shown in FIG. 8A, the highest priority error is displayed on the error display screen. Errors are prioritized for each error that occurs and the error that is determined to be the most important is displayed.

  Next, screen operations in the case of classifying and displaying errors will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the selection button “Function Sort” for classifying the error is selected on the error display screen of FIG. 8B, the classification type candidates “Device (hardware)”, “Application ( Software) ”and“ User Account (per user) ”are displayed. Here, for example, when “Device (hardware)” is selected, as shown in FIG. 8D, a detailed screen about errors occurring in the hardware is displayed in text. If the error information (user ID, etc.) is displayed on the screen and the error that occurred in the selected item cannot be displayed on one screen, a move button to the next screen is displayed, and all the errors are displayed by moving to another screen. It is possible to grasp.

  Further, in addition to the method of displaying an error by text as shown in FIG. 8D, it is possible to use the graphic display screen shown in FIG. 9 so that it can be grasped more intuitively. FIG. 9 shows a display example of the error classification in FIG. A graphic display is shown for the case where all of the errors shown in FIG. 6 are a paper jam error (273), a cover open error (275), and a required fax device does not exist (277). The thing is FIG. In the upper part of the screen of FIG. 9, there is a display indicating that the item selected by classification is hardware (960), and the error location that has occurred on the icon of the image forming apparatus at the center of the screen is indicated by a star. A description of each item of the star error has been added on both sides of the icon as shown in Cover Open Error (975), Paper Jam Error (973), Fax Device Non-Existence Error (977). It is.

[Effect of Example]
According to the image forming apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention, when an error occurs, the error can be classified and the selection item can be displayed, so that the user can quickly and accurately grasp the occurrence state of the error. This makes it possible to perform error cancellation processing efficiently.

[Others]
In the embodiment of the present invention, an image forming apparatus generally called a multi-function machine having five functions of a print function, a copy function, a fax function, a transfer function, and a storage function has been described as an example. Needless to say, the present invention is applicable not only to the configuration but also to an image forming apparatus having a simpler configuration having only a printing function and a copying function, for example. Further, in addition to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus having a more complicated functional configuration such as an image forming apparatus further including a post-processing device and having a post-processing function.

It is a figure of each function part and display part for every function of the image forming apparatus of a prior art example. It is explanatory drawing of the display about an error generation in the display part for every function of the image forming apparatus of a prior art example. It is an example of an error occurrence (non-corresponding PDL reception) in an image forming apparatus of a conventional example and an explanation of the display. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (Embodiment 1). FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an operation when an error occurs in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (Embodiment 1). FIG. 3 is an example of error classification in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (Embodiment 1). FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of error classification for each user in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (first embodiment); (Example 1) which is a figure which shows the example of operation of classification | category / selection in an error occurrence screen. It is an example of the display screen by the graphic of an error generation (Example 1).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image forming apparatus 120 Error processing part 121 Error detection part 123 Error analysis part 127 Error classification part 129 Error selection part 141 User input part (input part)
143 Display

Claims (3)

An error detector that detects the occurrence of an error;
An error analysis unit that analyzes and records the content of the error that has occurred;
An error classification unit for classifying the recorded errors;
An error selector for selecting the classified errors;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays an error selected by the error selection unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Having an input unit that accepts input from the user;
The image forming apparatus, wherein the error selection unit selects an error based on a selection input by the user through an input unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
Whether the error classification unit classifies each error according to the functional unit in which the error has occurred, or whether the error is caused by hardware or software. Alternatively, the image forming apparatus is classified according to the starting user of the job in which the error has occurred, or classified according to a free combination thereof.

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