JP2012199625A - Image forming apparatus, image data output method, and image data output program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of facilitating an operation to select an output destination.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus includes: a radio communication part for performing communication with an output device existing within a predetermined range (S04); a device ability information acquisition part for acquiring, when the output device with which the radio communication part can perform communication exists (YES in S04), device ability information related to the output device (S07); a manuscript reading part for reading a manuscript and outputting image data (S02); an image formation part for forming the image of the image data on a recording medium (S14); an output form determination part for determining an output form which the output device can output, based on the acquired device ability information; an output form selection part for selectably displaying the determined output form and the output form for the image formation by the image formation part (S09); and an output part for outputting the image data in the output form which is selected between the selectably displayed output forms by a user (S13).

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image data output method, and an image data output program, and in particular, an image forming apparatus capable of wireless communication with a portable information device such as a mobile phone, an image data output method executed by the image forming apparatus, and The present invention relates to an image data output program.

  Some multifunction peripherals having a copying function for forming image data obtained by reading a document on a sheet can be connected to an external memory. In this multifunction device, image data obtained by reading a document can be stored in an external memory.

  For example, in JP-A-8-223345, when an external memory is connected, an image format of data stored in the external memory is identified, and image data obtained by scanning a document image is identified. A technique for converting to an image format and storing it is described. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-9419 describes a technique for transferring data to a transfer destination indicated by transfer destination information stored in advance in the external memory when the data cannot be stored in the external memory. Yes.

It is necessary to determine whether image data obtained by reading a document is to be imaged on a sheet or stored in an external memory before scanning the document. There is a problem that the operation of setting the output destination before scanning the document is complicated. For this reason, an image is often formed on a sheet by setting a document and pressing a start button.
JP-A-8-223345 JP 2009-9419 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that facilitates an operation of selecting an output destination.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image data output method that facilitates an operation of selecting an output destination.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image data output program that facilitates an operation of selecting an output destination.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, according to one aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes a wireless communication unit that communicates with an output device that exists in a predetermined range, and an output device that can wirelessly communicate with the wireless communication unit. A device capability information acquisition unit that acquires device capability information related to the output device, a document reading unit that reads a document and outputs image data, an image forming unit that forms an image of the image data on a recording medium, and an acquisition Output mode determining means for determining an output mode that can be output by the output device based on the determined device capability information, and an output mode selection for selectively displaying the determined output mode and the output mode for image formation by the image forming unit And output means for outputting image data in an output form selected by the user from among the output forms displayed in a selectable manner.

  According to this aspect, when there is an output device existing in a predetermined range, device capability information related to the output device is acquired, and based on the device capability information, an output form that can be output by the output device is determined and determined. The output form and the output form for forming an image are displayed so as to be selectable, and the image data is output in the output form selected by the user. For this reason, it is possible to select the output destination of the image data read from the original after the original is read. As a result, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that facilitates an operation of selecting an output destination.

  Preferably, the output form selection means calculates the first power consumption calculating means for calculating the first power consumption consumed by the output device for outputting in the determined output form based on the acquired device capability information; Second power consumption calculating means for calculating the second power consumption consumed by the device for output in the determined output form; power consumption display means for displaying the first power consumption and the second power consumption; including.

  According to this aspect, the first power consumption consumed by the output device and the second power consumption consumed by the own device are calculated and displayed based on the device capability information. For this reason, the user can determine the output destination by comparing the power consumption.

  Preferably, the first power consumption calculating unit includes an output time predicting unit that analyzes the image data and predicts a time for outputting the image data.

  According to this aspect, since the time for outputting the image data is predicted and the first power consumption is calculated, the first power consumption can be easily calculated.

  Preferably, when the output form is an image, the output time predicting means predicts a time for outputting the image data based on a ratio between the displayable size included in the acquired device capability information and the display size of the image data. To do.

  According to this aspect, when the output form is an image, the time for outputting the image data is predicted based on the ratio between the displayable size included in the device capability information and the display size of the image data. For this reason, the first power consumption can be easily calculated.

  Preferably, the output time predicting means includes a display size changing means for changing the display size of the image data according to the size of the characters included in the image data when the output form is an image and the image data includes characters. Including.

  According to this aspect, when the output form is an image and the image data includes characters, the display size of the image data is changed according to the size of the characters included in the image data, so that the characters can be recognized. The time for outputting the image data can be predicted based on the size displayed as the size, and the time close to the actual display time can be predicted.

  Preferably, the output time predicting means includes a counting means for counting the number of characters or words included in the image data when the output form is sound, and the time for outputting the image data based on the counted number of characters or words. Predict.

  According to this aspect, when the output form is sound, the time for outputting the image data is predicted based on the number of characters or the number of words included in the image data. For this reason, it is possible to easily predict the time for outputting the voice.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a format conversion means for converting the image data output by the document reading means into a format suitable for the output form selected by the output form selection means. The second power consumption calculation means determines the image data. The power consumed to convert to the specified format is calculated.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, an image data output method is an image processing method executed by an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes a wireless communication unit that communicates with an output apparatus existing in a predetermined range. A document reading unit that reads a document and outputs image data; and an image forming unit that forms an image of the image data on a recording medium. A step of acquiring device capability information relating to the device; a step of determining an output mode that can be output by the output device based on the acquired device capability information; and an output mode of forming an image with the determined output mode and image forming means And a step of outputting image data in an output form selected by the user from among the output forms displayed in a selectable manner. No.

  According to this aspect, since the output destination of the image data can be selected after reading the document, it is possible to provide an image data output method that facilitates the operation of selecting the output destination.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the image data output program is an image processing method executed by a computer that controls the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus communicates with an output apparatus existing in a predetermined range. There is an output device that includes a wireless communication unit that performs scanning, a document reading unit that reads a document and outputs image data, and an image forming unit that forms an image of the image data on a recording medium. In the case, the step of acquiring the device capability information related to the output device, the step of determining the output form that the output device can output based on the acquired device capability information, the determined output form and the image forming means In the step of displaying selectably the output form to form an image, and the output form selected by the user from the output forms displayed selectably, To execute the steps of outputting the image data, to the computer.

  According to this aspect, since the output destination of the image data can be selected after reading the document, it is possible to provide an image data output program that facilitates the operation of selecting the output destination.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an MFP. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an overview of functions of a CPU provided in an MFP. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a detailed structure of a 1st power consumption calculation part. It is a figure which shows an example of a selection screen. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a selection output process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a selection screen display process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a 1st power consumption calculation process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a 2nd power consumption calculation process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a format conversion process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, image forming system 1 includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 100, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) 301, and a mobile phone 303. The mobile phone 303 includes a smartphone.

  The MFP 100 is an example of an image forming apparatus, and includes a plurality of functions such as a scanner function, a printer function, a copy function, and a facsimile function. MFP 100 is connected to PDA 301 or mobile phone 303 by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and can communicate with PDA 301 or mobile phone 303.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the MFP. Referring to FIG. 2, MFP 100 includes a main circuit 101, ADF 10, document reading unit 20, image forming unit 30, paper feeding unit 40, post-processing unit 50, and operation panel 13.

  The ADF 10 automatically conveys a plurality of documents set on the document feed tray one by one to a predetermined document reading position set on the platen glass of the document reading unit 20, and the document reading unit 20 reads the document. The document whose image has been read is discharged onto a document discharge tray.

  The document reading unit 20 optically reads the document conveyed to the document reading position by the ADF 10 or the document placed on the document reading surface of the document reading unit 20 by the user. The document reading unit 20 includes a light source that irradiates light to a document and a photoelectric conversion element that receives light reflected from the document, and scans a document image corresponding to the size of the document. The photoelectric conversion element converts the received light into image data, which is an electrical signal, and stores it in the HDD 116 included in the main circuit 101 or outputs it to the image forming unit 30.

  The image forming unit 30 forms an image by a known electrophotographic method. The image forming unit 30 performs various types of data processing such as shading correction on the image data input from the document reading unit 20, and the image data after the data processing is processed. Based on this, an image is formed on the sheet conveyed by the sheet feeding unit 40. The paper feed unit 40 conveys the paper stored in the paper feed tray to the image forming unit 30.

  The post-processing unit 50 discharges the paper on which the image is formed. The post-processing unit 50 includes a plurality of paper discharge trays and includes a sorting unit, a punch hole processing unit, and a staple processing unit. The sorting unit sorts and outputs a plurality of sheets on which images are formed to a plurality of paper discharge trays. The punch hole processing unit opens a punch hole in the paper. The staple processing unit performs staple processing to collect a plurality of sheets on which images are formed.

  The main circuit 101 includes a CPU 111, a communication interface (I / F) unit 112, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 113, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 114, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) 115, and a large capacity. A hard disk drive (HDD) 116 as a storage device, a facsimile unit 117, a network I / F 118, a wireless communication unit 119, and an external storage device 120 on which a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) 120A is mounted; including. CPU 111 is connected to ADF 10, document reading unit 20, image forming unit 30, paper feeding unit 40, post-processing unit 50, and operation panel 13, and controls the entire MFP 100.

  The ROM 113 stores a program executed by the CPU 111 and data necessary for executing the program. The RAM 114 is used as a work area when the CPU 111 executes a program.

  Communication I / F unit 112 is an interface for connecting MFP 100 to another apparatus using a serial communication cable. The connection form may be wired or wireless.

  The facsimile unit 117 is connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and transmits facsimile data to the PSTN or receives facsimile data from the PSTN. The facsimile unit 117 stores the received facsimile data in the HDD 116 or outputs it to the image forming unit 30. The image forming unit 30 forms an image of facsimile data received by the facsimile unit 117 on a sheet. Further, the facsimile unit 117 converts the data stored in the HDD 116 into facsimile data, and transmits the facsimile data to a facsimile apparatus connected to the PSTN.

  A network I / F 118 is an interface for connecting the MFP 100 to a network. The CPU 111 can communicate with a personal computer connected to the network via the network I / F 118.

  The wireless communication unit 119 performs short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The wireless communication unit 119 has a limited communicable distance and can perform short-range wireless communication. Therefore, wireless communication unit 119 can communicate with a device existing within a predetermined distance from MFP 100. The wireless communication unit 119 performs wireless communication with the PDA 301 or the mobile phone 303 if the PDA 301 or the mobile phone 303 exists within a predetermined distance. When communication with the PDA 301 or the mobile phone 303 becomes possible, the wireless communication unit 119 communicates with the PDA 301 or the mobile phone 303 and outputs device identification information of the PDA 301 or the mobile phone 303 to the CPU 111.

  The external storage device 120 is loaded with a CD-ROM 120A. The CPU 111 can access the CD-ROM 120A via the external storage device 120, and can load a program stored in the CD-ROM 120A into the RAM 114 and execute it. Note that the program executed by the CPU 111 is not limited to the program stored in the CD-ROM 120A, but may be a program stored in another storage medium, a program stored in the HDD 116, or a network I / O. It may be a program written in the HDD 116 by another computer connected to the network via the F118.

  The storage medium for storing the program is not limited to the CD-ROM 120A, but an optical disc (MO (Magnetic Optical Disc) / MD (Mini Disc) / DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), IC card, optical card, mask ROM, A semiconductor memory such as an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) or an EEPROM may be used. In this case, the external storage device 120 may be a serial communication circuit that performs serial communication according to the USB (registered trademark) standard. In this case, specific examples of other recording media mounted on the external storage device 120 include a USB (registered trademark) memory incorporating the semiconductor memory and an external HDD device.

  The program here includes not only a program directly executable by the CPU 111 but also a source program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

  Operation panel 13 is provided on the upper surface of MFP 100 and includes a display unit 103 and an operation unit 105. The display unit 103 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display device or an organic ELD (Electroluminescence Display), and displays an instruction menu for a user, information about acquired display data, and the like. The operation unit 105 receives a user operation and outputs the received operation to the CPU 111. The operation unit 105 includes a touch panel arranged so as to be superimposed on the display unit 103. The touch panel is made of a transparent member, and is arranged so as to be superimposed on the display unit 103. When the user touches the touch panel with a finger, the touch panel detects the touched position as an instruction position and outputs the detected position to the CPU 111.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an overview of the functions of the CPU provided in the MFP. The functions of CPU 111 provided in MFP 100 shown in FIG. 3 are realized by CPU 111 when CPU 111 executes an image data output program stored in ROM 113, EEPROM 115, HDD 116, or CD-ROM 120A. Referring to FIG. 3, CPU 111 provided in MFP 100 includes an output device detection unit 51 that detects an output device existing within a predetermined range, and a device capability acquisition unit 53 that acquires device capability information from the detected output device. An image data acquisition unit 59 for acquiring image data, an output mode determination unit 55 for determining an output mode capable of outputting image data based on the device capability information, a determined output mode and an output mode for forming an image. The output form selection part 57 which displays so that selection is possible, the format conversion part 61 which converts the format of image data, and the output part 63 which outputs the format-converted image data with the output form selected by the user are included.

  The output device detection unit 51 controls the wireless communication unit 119 to detect an output device that exists within a predetermined range. Here, the output device includes a PDA 301 and a mobile phone 303. When the wireless communication unit 119 becomes communicable with either the PDA 301 or the mobile phone 303, the wireless communication unit 119 outputs device identification information of the device that has made communication possible. The output device detection unit 51 acquires device identification information output from the wireless communication unit 119. When acquiring the device identification information, the output device detection unit 51 detects the device specified by the device identification information as an output device existing within a predetermined range. When detecting the output device, the output device detection unit 51 outputs device identification information of the detected output device to the device capability acquisition unit 53. When there are a plurality of output devices in a predetermined range, the output device detection unit 51 detects each of the plurality of output devices. Here, a case where the output device detection unit 51 detects the PDA 301 and the mobile phone 303 as output devices will be described as an example.

  When the device identification information is input from the output device detection unit 51, the device capability acquisition unit 53 acquires the device capability information related to the output device, here the PDA 301 and the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information. The device capability acquisition unit 53 controls the wireless communication unit 119 to communicate with the PDA 301 and the mobile phone 303, respectively, and receive device capability information from the PDA 301 and the mobile phone 303, respectively. An application program for communicating with MFP 100 may be installed in each of PDA 301 and mobile phone 303.

  The device capability information includes the type and format of data that can be output, power consumption per unit time, data transfer speed, basic processing time, and the size and resolution of the display screen if the data type is an image. At least. The type of data indicates different characters, images, and sounds. The power consumption per unit time is the power consumption per predetermined unit when outputting data, and when the data type is an image, it is the power consumption when displaying one screen for a predetermined time. Is the power consumption when outputting sound for a predetermined time. The device capability acquisition unit 53 outputs a set of device identification information, data type, and format to the output form selection unit 57, and outputs a set of device identification information and power consumption to the output form selection unit 57.

  The format indicates a file format standardized for each of characters, images, and sounds. For example, for characters it is text. For images, PDF (Portable Document Format), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), and JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) are included. For audio, MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3), WAV (Waveform), WMA (Windows (registered trademark) Media Audio), RealAudio, and the like are included.

  Here, a case where the device identification information of the PDA 301 is “ΔPad” and the device identification information of the mobile phone is “□ phone” will be described as an example. Further, the device capability information of the PDA 301 includes a format “text” in which the data type indicates “character” and a format “PDF” in which the data type indicates “image”. As an example, the data type includes a format “text” indicating “character”, a format “PDF” indicating the data type “image”, and a format “MP3” indicating the data type “audio”. explain.

  The output form determination unit 55 determines an output form that can be output by the output device based on the set of the device identification information and the device capability information input from the device capability acquisition unit 53. The output form includes device identification information, data type, and format. When a plurality of sets of device identification information and device capability information are input from the device capability acquisition unit 53, the output mode determination unit 55 determines an output mode for each of the plurality of device identification information. For example, for the PDA 301 with the device identification information “Δpad”, since the device capability information includes “text” and “PDF”, the device identification information “Δpad” and the data type “character” are output. And a first output form having the format “text” and a second output form having the device identification information “Δpad”, the data type “image”, and the format “PDF”. For the mobile phone 303 having the device identification information “□ phone”, since the device capability information includes “text”, “PDF”, and “MP3”, the device identification information “□ phone” is output as an output form. , A third output form with data type “character” and format “text”, a fourth output form with device identification information “□ phone”, data type “image” and format “PDF”, and device The fifth output form having the identification information “□ phone”, the data type “voice”, and the format “MP3” is determined. The output form determination unit 55 outputs the determined output form to the output form selection unit 57. Here, the first to fifth output forms are output to the output form selection unit 57.

  The image data acquisition unit 59 controls the document reading unit 20 and acquires image data output by the document reading unit 20 reading the document. The image data acquisition unit 59 outputs the acquired image data to the output form selection unit 57 and the format conversion unit 61.

  The output form selection unit 57 adds a sixth output form for forming an image of image data on a sheet by the image forming unit 30 to the first to fifth output forms input from the output form determination unit 55, and The first to sixth output forms are displayed on the display unit 103 so that the user can select them, and the selection by the user is accepted.

  The output form selection unit 57 includes a first power consumption calculation unit 71, a second power consumption calculation unit 73, a power consumption display unit 75, and a selection reception unit 77. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 receives a set of device identification information and device capability information from the device capability acquisition unit 53, receives first to fifth output modes from the output mode determination unit 55, and acquires image data. Image data is input from the unit 59. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 performs image data based on the power consumption of the device capability information input from the device capability acquisition unit 53 for each of the first to fifth output modes determined by the output mode determination unit 55. The first power consumed to output the image data input from the acquisition unit 59 is calculated. The 1st power consumption calculation part 71 calculates the 1st power consumption consumed by an output device for every output form. Specifically, when the image data is output in the first to fifth output forms, the power consumed by the output device is calculated. Here, when outputting image data in the first to fifth output forms, the first power consumption is calculated by predicting the output time in the output device and multiplying the power consumption included in the device capability information of the output device. Is calculated.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the first power consumption calculation unit. Referring to FIG. 4, first power consumption calculation unit 71 includes a size changing unit 93 and a counting unit 95.

  When the output form includes “image” as the data type, the first power consumption calculation unit 71 predicts the time for the output device to display the image. The size changing unit 93 changes the display size of the image data when the image data includes characters. Specifically, the size changing unit 93 detects the size of the smallest character among the characters included in the image data. A value obtained by dividing the predetermined standard size by the minimum character size is determined as the magnification. The determined magnification is the display size of the image data when it is assumed that the image is enlarged or reduced until the character with the smallest size reaches the standard size in the output device. is there. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 determines a value obtained by rounding up the display size of the image data by the displayable size included in the device capability information to an integer, as the number of times of switching. When the displayable size of the output device is smaller than the display size of the reduced or enlarged image data, the number of times of switching becomes 2 or more. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 determines in advance a unit browsing time for the user to browse one screen displayed on the output device, and sets the browsing time obtained by multiplying the unit browsing time by the number of switching times as the output time of the image data. Calculate as

  The count unit 95 counts the number of characters when the image data includes characters. Specifically, the count unit 95 extracts a character area in which characters are represented from the image data, detects a character included in the character area, and counts the number of detected characters.

  When the output form includes “character” as the type of data, the first power consumption calculation unit 71 predicts the time for which the output device displays characters based on the number of characters that the output device can display at one time. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 determines a value obtained by rounding up the value obtained by dividing the number of characters counted by the counting unit 95 by the number of displayable characters included in the device capability information to an integer, as the number of times of switching. When the number of characters that can be displayed on the output device is smaller than the number of characters counted by the counting unit 95, the number of times of switching becomes a value of 2 or more. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 determines in advance a unit browsing time for the user to browse one screen displayed on the output device, and sets the browsing time obtained by multiplying the unit browsing time by the number of switching times as the output time of the image data. Calculate as

  When the output form includes “voice” as the data type, the first power consumption calculator 71 calculates the time for the output device to output the voice. The first power consumption calculation unit 71 predetermines a unit reproduction time for reproducing one character, and calculates a reproduction time obtained by multiplying the number of characters counted by the count unit 95 by the unit reproduction time as an output time of image data. As will be described later, when the output form includes “speech” as the data type, the image data is recognized, and voice data is generated by synthesizing the character-recognized characters. Here, the counting unit 95 counts the number of characters. However, when the detected character is an English character, the number of words may be counted. In this case, the unit reproduction time is a time for reproducing one word.

  The first power consumption calculation unit 71 sets, as the first power consumption, a value obtained by multiplying the output time predicted for each output form by the power consumption per unit time included in the device capability information of the output device determined by the output form. The calculated first power consumption is output to the power consumption display unit 75. In addition, the first power consumption calculation unit 71 adds the first power consumption to the power consumption display unit 75 for an output mode in which the number of switching times calculated by the first power consumption calculation unit 71 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Output an inappropriate signal.

  Specifically, the first output form is device identification information “Δpad”, data type “character”, and format “text”. The value obtained by dividing the number of characters included in the image data by the number of displayable characters of the PDA 301 specified by the device identification information “Δpad” is rounded up to an integer is the number of times of switching. A value obtained by multiplying the number of switching times by the unit browsing time is the output time. Furthermore, the value obtained by multiplying the output time by the power consumption per unit time of the PDA 301 is the first power consumption for the first output form.

  The second output form is device identification information “Δpad”, data type “image”, and format “PDF”. When the image data includes characters, the size of the character having the smallest size among the characters included in the image data is detected, and a value obtained by dividing a predetermined standard size by the size of the smallest character is determined as the magnification. For example, when it is doubled, a value obtained by dividing the display size of the image data obtained by doubling the resolution of the image data by the displayable size of the PDA 301 specified by the device identification information “Δpad” is rounded up to an integer. The number of switching times. A value obtained by multiplying the number of switching times by the unit browsing time is the output time. Further, the value obtained by multiplying the output time by the power consumption per unit time of the PDA 301 is the first power consumption for the second output form.

  The third output form is device identification information “□ phone”, data type “character”, and format “text”. As in the first output mode, the value obtained by dividing the number of characters included in the image data by the number of characters that can be displayed on the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information “Δphone” is rounded up to an integer as the number of switching times. is there. A value obtained by multiplying the number of switching times by the unit browsing time is the output time. Furthermore, a value obtained by multiplying the output time by the power consumption per unit time of the mobile phone 303 is the first power consumption for the third output form.

  The fourth output form is device identification information “□ phone”, data type “image”, and format “PDF”. Similarly to the second output mode, when the image data includes characters, the size of the character having the smallest size among the characters included in the image data is detected, and a predetermined standard size is set to the smallest character size. The divided value is determined as the magnification. For example, when it is doubled, a value obtained by dividing the display size of the image data obtained by doubling the resolution of the image data by the displayable size of the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information “□ phone” is rounded up to an integer. Is the number of times of switching. A value obtained by multiplying the number of switching times by the unit browsing time is the output time. Further, the value obtained by multiplying the output time by the power consumption per unit time of the mobile phone 303 is the first power consumption for the fourth output form. Here, a case where the number of times of switching exceeds a threshold value in the fourth output form will be described as an example.

  The fifth output form is device identification information “□ phone”, data type “voice”, and format “MP3”. The reproduction time obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the unit reproduction time is the output time. A value obtained by multiplying the output time by the power consumption per unit time of the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information “□ phone” is the first power consumption for the fifth output form.

  The first power consumption calculation unit 71 uses the value obtained by multiplying the output time by the power consumption per unit time as the first power consumption. However, the power consumed by the output device to receive data is the first power consumption. You may make it add to electric power.

  The second power consumption calculation unit 73 receives a set of device identification information and device capability information from the device capability acquisition unit 53, receives first to fifth output modes from the output mode determination unit 55, and acquires image data. Image data is input from the unit 59. The second power consumption calculation unit 73 converts the image data input from the image data acquisition unit 59 into the first to fifth output modes for each of the first to fifth output modes determined by the output mode determination unit 55. The second power consumption consumed by MFP 100 for conversion to the data type and format determined by is calculated.

  Specifically, when the type of data determined by the output form is “image”, second power consumption calculation unit 73 is consumed by MFP 100 to convert the format of the image data to a format determined by the output form. Calculate power. Here, the format of the image data output from the image data acquisition unit 59 is a bitmap. The second power consumption calculation unit 73 stores in advance unit power consumption by format for converting bitmap data of a predetermined unit into each format, and a value obtained by multiplying the size of image data by the unit power consumption by format. Is the second power consumption.

  In addition, when the type of data determined by the output form is “character”, the second power consumption calculator 73 converts the image data into a text format by recognizing the character by performing optical character reading (OCR) processing. . Character recognition unit power consumption for recognizing one character by OCR processing is stored in advance, and a value obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the character recognition unit power consumption is defined as second power consumption.

  Further, when the data type determined by the output form is “speech”, the second power consumption calculation unit 73 recognizes the character by performing optical character reading (OCR) processing on the image data, and synthesizes the recognized character by speech synthesis. To convert to an audio data format. The unit power consumption for speech synthesis for synthesizing one character by speech synthesis processing is stored in advance, and the value obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the unit power consumption for character recognition is included in the image data. The sum of the number of characters to be multiplied by the unit power consumption for speech synthesis is defined as the second power consumption.

  Further, the second power consumption calculation unit 73 calculates the power consumed by the MFP 100 as the second power consumption when outputting the image data input from the image data acquisition unit 59 in the sixth output form. . The second power consumption calculation unit 73 stores in advance image formation power consumption per unit number when the image forming unit 30 forms an image of the image data, and image formation is performed according to the number of pages of the image data image. A value obtained by multiplying the power consumption is calculated as the second power consumption.

  The second power consumption calculator 73 outputs the second power consumption calculated for each of the first to sixth output modes to the power consumption display unit 75.

  The first output form is device identification information “Δpad”, data type “character”, and format “text”. A value obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the unit power consumption for character recognition is the second power consumption corresponding to the first output form.

  The second output form is device identification information “Δpad”, data type “image”, and format “PDF”. A value obtained by multiplying the size of the image data by the unit power consumption by format corresponding to the format “PDF” is the second power consumption corresponding to the second output form.

  The third output form is device identification information “□ phone”, data type “character”, and format “text”. A value obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the unit power consumption for character recognition is the second power consumption corresponding to the third output form, and the same value as the second power consumption corresponding to the first output form. It is.

  The fourth output form is device identification information “□ phone”, data type “image”, and format “PDF”. A value obtained by multiplying the size of the image data by the unit power consumption for each format corresponding to the format “PDF” is the second power consumption corresponding to the fourth output form, and the second consumption corresponding to the second output form. Same as electric power.

  The fifth output form is device identification information “□ phone”, data type “voice”, and format “MP3”. The sum of the value obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the unit power consumption for character recognition and the value obtained by multiplying the number of characters included in the image data by the unit power consumption for speech synthesis corresponds to the fifth output form. Second power consumption.

  The power consumption display unit 75 receives the first power consumption for each of the first to fifth output modes from the first power consumption calculation unit 71, and for each of the first to sixth output modes from the second power consumption calculation unit 73. The second power consumption is input. The power consumption display unit 75 generates a selection screen for selecting one of the first to sixth output forms and displays it on the display unit 103. A selection screen is a screen which displays the 1st-6th output form so that selection is possible, and is a screen which displays the 1st power consumption and the 2nd power consumption for every 1st-6th output form. In addition, the power consumption display unit 75 displays a message “not recommended” for the output form in which an inappropriate signal is input together with the first power consumption from the first power consumption calculation unit 71, here the fourth output form. Display with format.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the selection screen. Referring to FIG. 5, selection screen 201 includes an “output form” item and an “power consumption (mWh)” item. The item “output form” includes an item “output destination device” and an item “format”. Device identification information is displayed in the “output destination device” item, and the converted format is displayed in the “format” item. The item “power consumption (mWh)” includes an item “device”, an item “MFP”, and an item “total”. The “device” item displays the first power consumption, the “MFP” item displays the second power consumption, and the “total” item displays the sum of the first power consumption and the second power consumption. Is displayed.

  In the selection screen 201 shown in FIG. 5, in the first line, the device identification information “Δpad” in the first output form, the format “text”, the first power consumption “2”, and the second power consumption “10” are displayed. , A total of “12” is displayed, and the state in which the first output form is selected is indicated by highlighting the device identification information “Δpad” and the format “text”.

  In the second line, the device identification information “Δpad”, the format “PDF”, the first power consumption “2”, the second power consumption “30”, and the total “32” in the second output form are displayed. In the third line, the device identification information “□ phone”, the format “text”, the first power consumption “6”, the second power consumption “10”, and the total “16” in the third output form are displayed.

  In the fourth line, the device identification information “□ phone” in the fourth output form, the format “PDF (not recommended)”, the first power consumption “10”, the second power consumption “30”, and the total “40” Is displayed. The format item includes the message "Not recommended". This is because the number of screen switching times is a predetermined number or more.

  In the fifth line, device identification information “□ phone”, format “MP3”, first power consumption “12”, second power consumption “40”, and total “52” in the fifth output form are displayed. In the sixth line, device identification information “MFP” in the sixth output form, format “hard copy (paper)”, second power consumption “100”, and total “100” are displayed. In the sixth output mode, since no data is output by the device, no first power consumption is displayed.

  The user can know the power consumed by each of the MFP and the output device and the total power from the selection screen, and select one of the first to sixth output forms with reference to the power consumption. can do.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the selection receiving unit 77 receives an operation of selecting one of the first to sixth output forms displayed on the selection screen. The selection receiving unit 77 outputs the output form selected from the first to sixth output forms to the format conversion unit 61 and the output unit 63.

  The format conversion unit 61 receives image data from the image data acquisition unit 59 and an output form from the output form selection unit 57. The format conversion unit 61 converts the image data input from the image data acquisition unit 59 into data having a format determined by the output mode input from the output mode selection unit 57, and outputs the converted data to the output unit 63. .

  When the first output form and the third output form are selected, the format is “text”. The format conversion unit 61 converts the image data of the format “bitmap” into data of the format “text” by performing character recognition processing, and outputs the converted data of the format “text” to the output unit 63.

  When the second output form and the fourth output form are selected, the format is “PDF”. The format conversion unit 61 converts image data of the format “bitmap” into data of the format “PDF”, and outputs the converted data of the format “PDF” to the output unit 63.

  When the fifth output form is selected, the format is “MP3”. The format conversion unit 61 converts the image data of the format “bitmap” into data of the format “text” by performing character recognition processing, and synthesizes the converted data of the format “text” by voice synthesis, thereby converting the format “text”. MP3 "data is converted, and the converted format" MP3 "data is output to the output unit 63.

  When the sixth output form is selected, the format is “hard copy (paper)”. The format conversion unit 61 outputs the image data of the format “bitmap” to the output unit 63.

  The output unit 63 receives the converted data from the format conversion unit 61 and the output form from the output form selection unit 57. The output unit 63 outputs the data input from the format conversion unit 61 to the output device specified by the device identification information included in the output mode input from the output mode selection unit 57. The output unit 63 includes an image formation control unit 79 and a data transmission unit 81.

  When the device identification information included in the output form input from the output form selection unit 57 specifies the MFP 100, the image formation control unit 79 controls the image forming unit 30 and receives the image data input from the format conversion unit 61. The image is output to the image forming unit 30 and the image forming unit 30 forms an image of the image data. When the device identification information included in the output form input from the output form selection unit 57 does not specify the MFP 100, the data transmission unit 81 controls the wireless communication unit 119 so that the data input from the format conversion unit 61 is The information is transmitted to the output device specified by the device identification information included in the output form input from the output form selection unit 57.

  The first output form is device identification information “Δpad” and format “text”. When the first output form is selected, the data transmission unit 81 transmits the data of the format “text” input from the format conversion unit 61 to the PDA 301 specified by the device identification information “Δpad”, and the wireless communication unit Via 119.

  The second output form is device identification information “Δpad” and format “PDF”. When the second output form is selected, the data transmission unit 81 transfers the data of the format “PDF” input from the format conversion unit 61 to the PDA 301 specified by the device identification information “Δpad”, and the wireless communication unit Via 119.

  The third output form is device identification information “□ phone” and format “text”. When the third output form is selected, the data transmission unit 81 wirelessly transmits the data of the format “text” input from the format conversion unit 61 to the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information “□ phone”. It transmits via the communication part 119.

  The fourth output form is device identification information “□ phone” and format “PDF”. When the fourth output form is selected, the data transmission unit 81 wirelessly transmits the data of the format “PDF” input from the format conversion unit 61 to the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information “□ phone”. It transmits via the communication part 119.

  The fifth output form is device identification information “□ phone” and format “MP3”. When the fifth output form is selected, the data transmission unit 81 wirelessly transmits the data of the format “MP3” input from the format conversion unit 61 to the mobile phone 303 specified by the device identification information “□ phone”. It transmits via the communication part 119.

  In the sixth output form, an image of image data is formed on a sheet by the image forming unit 30. When the sixth output form is selected, the image formation control unit 79 outputs the image data input from the format conversion unit 61 to the image formation unit 30 and causes the image formation unit 30 to form an image of the image data. .

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of selection output processing. The selective output process is a process executed by the CPU 111 when the CPU of the MFP executes an image data output program stored in the ROM 113, the EEPROM 115, the HDD 116, or the CD-ROM 120A. Referring to FIG. 6, CPU 111 determines whether a copy instruction has been accepted. If the user presses a button for selecting a copy function included in the operation unit 105 and then presses a start key, a copy instruction is accepted. The process waits until a copy instruction is accepted (NO in step S01). If a copy instruction is accepted (YES in step S01), the process proceeds to step S02.

  In step S02, the document is scanned. The user causes the document reading unit 20 to read the document placed on the reading surface of the ADF 10 or the document reading unit 20, and obtains image data that the document reading unit 20 reads and outputs the document.

  In step S03, “0” is set to the variable n. The variable n is a variable for counting the number of output devices carried by the user. In step S04, it is determined whether an output device has been detected. The wireless communication unit 119 is controlled to determine whether there is a device with which the wireless communication unit 119 can communicate. The wireless communication unit 119 is capable of short-range wireless communication, and a range in which wireless communication is possible is determined in advance. For this reason, a device that can communicate with wireless communication unit 119 is determined as an output device carried by a user who operates MFP 100. If a device capable of communicating with the wireless communication unit 119 is permanently installed in the vicinity of the MFP 100, the device is registered in the MFP 100 in advance, and even if communication is possible, the device is not detected as an output device. Good. If one or more output devices are detected, the process proceeds to step S05. If not, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the image forming unit 30 forms an image with the image data acquired in step S02, and the process ends.

  In step S05, one of the one or more output devices detected in step S04 is selected as a processing target. In the next step S06, the variable n is incremented, and the process proceeds to step S07. In step S07, device capability information is acquired from the output device selected as the processing target in step S05. In the next step S08, it is determined whether there is an output device that is not selected as a processing target. If there is an unselected output device, the process returns to step S05; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S09.

  In step S09, a selection screen display process is executed, and the process proceeds to step S10. Although details of the selection screen display process will be described later, one or more output forms can be determined based on the output device detected in step S04 and the device capability information obtained in step S07, and one or more output forms can be selected. This is a process for displaying a simple selection screen. Here, a case where the selection screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed will be described as an example.

  In step S10, it is determined whether or not one of the one or more output forms displayed on the selection screen has been selected. The process waits until the output form is selected (NO in step S10). If the output form is selected (YES in step S10), the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S11, it is determined whether or not the start button has been pressed. If the start button is pressed, the process proceeds to step S12. If not, the process returns to step S10. In step S12, a format conversion process is executed, and the process proceeds to step S13. Although details of the format conversion process will be described later, this is a process of converting the format of the image data acquired in step S02. In step S13, the data whose format has been converted in step S12 is output in the output form selected in step S10.

  When the first output form on the first line of the selection screen 201 shown in FIG. 5 is selected, image data of the format “bitmap” is converted into data of the format “text” by performing character recognition processing. Then, the data of the converted format “text” is transmitted to the PDA 301 of the device identification information “ΔPad”.

  When the second output form on the second line of the selection screen 201 is selected, the image data of the format “bitmap” is converted into data of the format “PDF”, and the converted data of the format “PDF” The information is transmitted to the PDA 301 with the device identification information “ΔPad”.

  When the third output form on the third line of the selection screen 201 is selected, the image data of the format “bitmap” is converted into data of the format “text” by performing character recognition processing, and the converted format The data “text” is transmitted to the mobile phone 303 having the device identification information “□ phone”.

  When the fourth output form on the fourth line of the selection screen 201 is selected, the image data of the format “bitmap” is converted into data of the format “PDF”, and the converted data of the format “PDF” The device identification information “□ phone” is transmitted to the mobile phone 303.

  When the fifth output form on the fifth line of the selection screen 201 is selected, the image data of the format “bitmap” is converted into data of the format “text” by performing character recognition processing, and the converted format By synthesizing the “text” data, it is converted into data of the format “MP3”, and the converted data of the format “MP3” is transmitted to the mobile phone 303 of the device identification information “□ phone”.

  When the sixth output form on the sixth line of the selection screen 201 is selected, image data of the format “bitmap” is output to the image forming unit 30 and an image of the image data is formed on a sheet.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of the selection screen display process. The selection screen display process is a process executed in step S09 of the selection output process shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 7, in step S <b> 21, each variable is initialized by setting “0” to variable m and “1” to variable k. The variable m is a variable for specifying the output device to be processed, and the variable k is a variable for specifying the output form.

  In the next step S22, it is determined whether or not the variable m is equal to the variable n. The variable n is a variable used in the selective output process shown in FIG. 6, and the number of output devices is set. When the number of output devices to be processed is equal to the number of detected output devices, the variable m is equal to the variable n. If variable m is equal to variable n, the process proceeds to step S34; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S23.

  In step S23, the variable m is incremented, and the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, the device capability information of the mth output device is acquired. In the next step S25, a format is selected based on the device capability information. If the m-th output device can output data in a plurality of formats, one of the plurality of formats is selected.

  In step S26, the kth output form is determined. The kth output form includes device identification information of the mth output device, the format selected in step S25, and the type of data in that format.

  In the next step S27, a first power consumption calculation process is executed. Although details of the first power consumption calculation process will be described later, this is a process of calculating the power consumed by the mth output device when data is output in the kth output form. In the next step S28, a second power consumption calculation process is executed. Although details of the second power consumption calculation process will be described later, this is a process of calculating the power consumed by the MFP 100 when outputting data in the k-th output form.

  In the next step S29, it is determined whether or not the number of times of switching is greater than or equal to a threshold value Th. The number of times of switching is the number of times calculated as the number of times the screen is switched in the m-th output device in the first power consumption calculation process executed in step S27. If the number of switching times is equal to or greater than threshold value Th, the process proceeds to step S30. If not, step S30 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S31. In step S30, the display of the message “not recommended” is set for the kth output form, and the process proceeds to step S31. This is because, in the m-th output device, if all the data cannot be output unless the screen is switched a number of times equal to or greater than the threshold Th, the operation becomes complicated.

  In step S31, the kth output form and the power consumption are displayed on the display unit 103. Specifically, a selection screen is displayed on the display unit 103, and the device identification information, format, first power consumption, second power consumption, and second power included in the kth output form are displayed on the selection screen. The total of 1 power consumption and 2nd power consumption is displayed. If the message display setting has been made in step S30, a “not recommended” message is displayed.

  In the next step S32, the variable k is incremented, and the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, it is determined whether there is a format that has not yet been selected as a processing target in step S25 among the data formats that can be output by the m-th output device. If such a format exists, the process returns to step S25, and if not, the process returns to step S22.

  When the process proceeds from step S22 to step S34, the process from step S23 to step S33 is performed on all of the n output devices detected in step S04 of the selective output process, and (k−1) pieces of output devices are executed. The first power consumption and the second power consumption for the output form and each of the (k−1) output forms are calculated. In step S34, image formation by the MFP is set as the kth output form, and the process proceeds to step S35. In step S35, the second power consumption calculation process is executed as in step S28, and the process proceeds to step S36. In step S36, as in step S31, the kth output form and the power consumption are displayed on the display unit 103, and the process returns to the selective output process. Specifically, the selection screen is displayed on the display unit 103. The device identification information included in the kth output form, in this case, the MFP, the format “hard copy (paper)”, and step S35 are displayed on the selection screen. The second power consumption calculated from the above is displayed.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of the first power consumption calculation process. The first power consumption calculation process is a process executed in step S27 of FIG. Here, referring to FIG. 7, when step S27 is executed, the k-th output form is determined in step S26. That is, the first power consumption calculation process is performed by the m-th output device included in the k-th output mode when data is output in the k-th output mode based on the k-th output mode. First power consumption to be consumed is calculated.

  Referring to FIG. 8, CPU 111 branches the process depending on the type of data determined by the kth output form (step S41). That is, if the data type is “image”, the process proceeds to step S42. If the data type is “character”, the process proceeds to step S49. If the data type is “speech”, the process proceeds to step S53. .

  In step S42, it is determined whether or not there is a character in the image data. If there is a character in the image data, the process proceeds to step S43; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S45. In step S45, “1” is set in the display magnification Mag, and the process proceeds to step S46. In step S43, the character size having the smallest size among the characters existing in the image data is extracted. In step S44, the display magnification Mag is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S46. Here, the standard character size is stored in advance, and the value obtained by dividing the standard character size by the minimum character size extracted in step S43 is set as the display magnification Mag.

  In step S46, the display size Sd of the image data is acquired. Then, the displayable size Sp is acquired from the device capability information of the m-th output device (step S47). The displayable size Sp is the maximum image size that can be displayed at a time by the m-th output device. In the next step S48, a value obtained by multiplying the display size Sd of the image data by the display magnification Mag is divided by the displayable size Sp is set as the number of times of switching. When the value obtained by multiplying the display size Sd by the display magnification Mag is divided by the displayable size Sp includes a small number, the value rounded up to an integer is set as the number of times of switching.

  On the other hand, in step S49, the number of characters Cn indicating the number of characters included in the image data is extracted. Then, the number Cp of displayable characters is acquired from the device capability information of the mth output device. The displayable character count Cp is the maximum value of the number of characters that can be displayed at a time by the m-th output device. In the next step S50, the number of times of switching is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S52. The number of times of switching is a value obtained by dividing the number of characters Cn extracted from the image data by the number of displayable characters Cp. When the value obtained by dividing the number of characters Cn by the number of displayable characters Cp includes a small number, a value rounded up to an integer is set as the number of switching times.

  In step S52, a value obtained by multiplying the unit browsing time by the number of times of switching calculated in step S48 or step S51 is set as the output time, and the process proceeds to step S55. The unit browsing time is a value determined in advance as the time for browsing one screen.

  On the other hand, in step S53, the number of characters Cn indicating the number of characters included in the image data is extracted. In step S54, a value obtained by multiplying the unit reproduction time by the number of characters Cn extracted in step S53 is set as the output time, and the process proceeds to step S55. The unit reproduction time is a value determined in advance as the time for reproducing one character.

  In step S55, a value obtained by multiplying the output time calculated in step S52 or step S54 by the reference power consumption is set as the first power consumption, and the process returns to the selection screen display process. The reference power consumption is a value included in the device capability information of the mth output device, and is the power consumed by the mth output device per unit time.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of the second power consumption calculation process. The second power consumption calculation process is a process executed in step S28 and step S35 in FIG. Here, with reference to FIG. 7, when step S <b> 28 is executed, the k-th output form is determined in the previous step S <b> 26. That is, the second power consumption calculation process executed in step S28 calculates the second power consumption consumed in MFP 100 when data is output based on the kth output form. When step S35 is executed, image formation is set to the k-th output form in the previous step S34. That is, the second power consumption calculation process executed in step S35 calculates the second power consumption consumed in MFP 100 when image formation is set in the kth output form.

  Referring to FIG. 9, in step S <b> 61, CPU 111 determines whether or not the type of data determined by the k-th output form is “image”. If the type of data determined by the output form is “image”, the process proceeds to step S62; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S66.

  In step S62, the unit-specific power consumption corresponding to the format included in the kth output form is acquired. The unit power consumption by format is a value stored in advance as power consumed for converting bitmap data of a predetermined unit into a target format. For example, if the target format is “PDF”, the unit power consumption by format for PDF is the power consumed to convert the bitmap data of a predetermined unit into the PDF format.

  In step S63, a value obtained by multiplying the size of the image data by the unit power consumption by format acquired in step S62 is set as the second power consumption, and the process proceeds to step S64.

  In step S64, it is determined whether monochrome conversion is necessary. It is determined whether or not it is defined in the device capability information of the output device specified by the device identification information included in the kth output form that a monochrome image can be output but a color image cannot be output. If monochrome conversion is necessary, the process proceeds to step S65; otherwise, step S65 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S66. In step S65, the second power consumption calculated in step S63 is set to a value obtained by adding the monochrome processing power consumption stored in advance as the power consumed for monochrome processing, and the process proceeds to step S66. .

  In step S66, it is determined whether or not the type of data determined by the kth output form is “character”. If the type of data determined by the output form is “character”, the process proceeds to step S67; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S70.

  In step S67, the unit power consumption for character recognition is acquired. The unit power consumption for character recognition is a value stored in advance as power consumed to recognize one character. In step S68, the number Cn of characters included in the image data is extracted. In step S69, a value obtained by multiplying the number of characters Cn by the unit power consumption for character recognition is set as the second power consumption, and the process proceeds to step S70.

  In step S70, it is determined whether or not the type of data determined by the kth output form is “voice”. If the type of data determined by the output form is “voice”, the process proceeds to step S71; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S75.

  In step S71, the unit power consumption for character recognition is acquired. In the next step S72, the unit power consumption for speech synthesis is acquired. The unit power consumption for speech synthesis is a value stored in advance as the power consumed to synthesize one character speech. In step S73, the number Cn of characters included in the image data is extracted. Then, a value obtained by multiplying the number of characters Cn by the sum of the unit power consumption for character recognition and the unit power consumption for speech synthesis is set as the second power consumption, and the process proceeds to step S75.

  In step S75, it is determined whether or not image formation is set for the kth output form. If image formation is set as the output form, the process proceeds to step S76; otherwise, the process returns to the selection screen display process. In step S76, the number of pages of image data is acquired. Then, a value obtained by multiplying the number of pages by the power for image formation is set as the second power consumption, and the process returns to the selection screen display process. The image forming power consumption is a value stored in advance as power consumed by the image forming unit 30 to form an image of one page.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of format conversion processing. The format conversion process is a process executed in step S12 of FIG. With reference to FIG. 6, the output form is selected in step S10 before step S12 is executed. Therefore, the format conversion process shown in FIG. 10 is a process of converting the image data according to the output form selected by the user. Referring to FIG. 10, in step S81, the format is acquired. The format included in the output form selected by the user is acquired.

  In the next step S82, it is determined whether or not the type of data included in the output form selected by the user is “image”. If the data type is “image”, the process proceeds to step S83; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S86. In step S83, it is determined whether monochrome conversion is necessary. Judgment is made based on whether or not it is defined in the device capability information of the output device of the device identification information included in the output form selected by the user that a color image cannot be output. If monochrome conversion is necessary, the process proceeds to step S84; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S85.

  In step S84, the image data is converted into monochrome image data. In the next step S85, the image data is converted into data of the format acquired in step S81, and the process proceeds to step S86.

  In step S86, it is determined whether or not the type of data included in the output form selected by the user is “character”. If the type of data is “character”, the process proceeds to step S87; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S88. In step S87, image data is character-recognized, data having a format “text” is generated, and the process proceeds to step S88.

  In step S88, it is determined whether or not the type of data included in the output form selected by the user is “voice”. If the data type is “voice”, the process proceeds to step S89; otherwise, the process returns to the selective output process. In step S89, the image data is character-recognized to generate data with the format “text”. Then, the data having the format “text” is synthesized by speech to generate the speech data having the format acquired in step S81, and the process returns to the selective output process.

  As described above, in image forming system 1 according to the present embodiment, MFP 100 relates to each of PDA 301 and mobile phone 303 when PDA 301 and mobile phone 303 exist as output devices in a range where wireless communication unit 119 can communicate. The device capability information is acquired, and based on the device capability information, the output forms that can be output by each of the PDA 301 and the mobile phone 303 are determined, and the determined output forms and the output forms that the MFP 100 forms are selectable. The screen is displayed, and the image data is output in the output form selected by the user. For this reason, it is possible to select the output destination of the image data read from the original after the original is read.

  Also, based on the device capability information, the first power consumption consumed by the output device and the second power consumption consumed by the MFP 100 are calculated and displayed on the selection screen. For this reason, the user can determine the output destination by comparing the power consumption.

  Further, since the first power consumption is calculated by analyzing the image data and predicting the time for outputting the image data, the first power consumption can be easily calculated.

  Furthermore, when the output form is an image, the time for outputting the image data is predicted based on the ratio between the size that can be displayed by the output device and the display size of the image data, which is included in the device capability information. Power consumption can be easily calculated.

  Further, when the output form is an image and the image data includes characters, the display size of the image data is changed according to the size of the characters included in the image data. Since the time for outputting the image data is predicted based on the size at which the image data is displayed in a size capable of recognizing characters, a time close to the time actually displayed on the output device can be predicted.

  Furthermore, when the output form is sound, the reproduction time for outputting the image data is predicted based on the number of characters or the number of words included in the image data, so that the time for outputting the sound can be easily predicted.

  Further, when the image data obtained by reading the document is converted into a format suitable for the output form selected by the user, the power consumed for converting the image data into the determined format is consumed by the own device. Is calculated as the second power consumption. For this reason, the precision which estimates 2nd power consumption can be improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, MFP 100 has been described as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, an image data output method and an image data output method for causing MFP 100 to execute the processes illustrated in FIGS. Needless to say, the invention can be understood as an image data output program to be executed by the CPU 111 to be controlled.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system, 10 ADF, 13 Operation panel, 20 Original reading part, 30 Image forming part, 40 Paper feed part, 50 Post-processing part, 51 Output device detection part, 53 Device capability acquisition part, 55 Output form determination part, 57 output form selection unit, 59 image data acquisition unit, 61 format conversion unit, 63 output unit, 71 first power consumption calculation unit, 73 second power consumption calculation unit, 75 power consumption display unit, 77 selection reception unit, 79 image Formation control unit, 81 data transmission unit, 93 size change unit, 95 count unit, 100 MFP, 101 main circuit, 103 display unit, 105 operation unit, 100 MFP, 111 CPU, 112 communication I / F unit, 113 ROM, 114 RAM, 115 EEPROM, 116 HDD, 117 facsimile unit, 118 network I / F unit, 119 wireless communication unit, 12 External storage device, 120A CD-ROM, 112 wireless communication unit, 117 a facsimile unit, 119 wireless communication unit, 120 an external storage device, 201 selection screen, 301 PDA, 303 mobile phones.

Claims (9)

Wireless communication means for communicating with an output device existing in a predetermined range;
If there is an output device capable of wireless communication with the wireless communication means, device capability information acquisition means for acquiring device capability information related to the output device;
An original reading means for reading an original and outputting image data;
Image forming means for forming an image of the image data on a recording medium;
Based on the acquired device capability information, an output form determining means for determining an output form that can be output by the output device;
Output form selection means for selectively displaying the determined output form and the output form for image formation by the image forming means;
And an output unit that outputs the image data in an output form selected by the user from among the output forms displayed in a selectable manner. The output form selection means is a first power consumption calculation means for calculating a first power consumption consumed by the output device to output in the determined output form based on the acquired device capability information; ,
Second power consumption calculating means for calculating a second power consumption consumed by the own device to output in the determined output mode;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a power consumption display unit that displays the first power consumption and the second power consumption.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first power consumption calculation unit includes an output time prediction unit that analyzes the image data and predicts a time for outputting the image data.   When the output form is an image, the output time predicting means outputs the image data based on a ratio between a displayable size included in the acquired device capability information and a display size of the image data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:   When the output form is an image and the image data includes characters, the output time prediction unit changes the display size of the image data according to the size of the characters included in the image data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a unit. The output time predicting means includes a counting means for counting the number of characters or words included in the image data when the output form is a sound,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a time for outputting the image data is predicted based on the counted number of characters or words. Format conversion means for converting the image data output by the document reading means into a format suitable for the output form selected by the output form selection means, the second power consumption calculation means comprising the image data The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power consumed to convert to the determined format is calculated. An image processing method executed by an image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes: a wireless communication unit that communicates with an output device existing in a predetermined range;
An original reading means for reading an original and outputting image data;
Image forming means for forming an image of the image data on a recording medium,
When there is an output device capable of wireless communication by the wireless communication means, obtaining device capability information related to the output device; and
Determining an output form that can be output by the output device based on the acquired device capability information; and
Displaying the determined output form and the output form for image formation by the image forming means in a selectable manner;
Outputting the image data in an output form selected by the user from among the output forms displayed in a selectable manner. An image processing method executed by a computer that controls an image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes: a wireless communication unit that communicates with an output device existing in a predetermined range;
An original reading means for reading an original and outputting image data;
Image forming means for forming an image of the image data on a recording medium,
When there is an output device capable of wireless communication by the wireless communication means, obtaining device capability information related to the output device; and
Determining an output form that can be output by the output device based on the acquired device capability information; and
Displaying the determined output form and the output form for image formation by the image forming means in a selectable manner;
An image data output program for causing the computer to execute the step of outputting the image data in an output form selected by the user from among the output forms displayed in a selectable manner.

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