JP2013008177A - Display controller and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display controller capable of suppressing a case in which confirmation of a message by a user becomes insufficient, when a dialog box including the message is displayed on a display unit and contents of the message of the dialog box is confirmed by the user.SOLUTION: In a display controller, a liquid crystal display part 11 lengthens display time of a dialog box DB with the number of the letters of the message increasing.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control device and an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus including an operation panel as a display control apparatus is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). The image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a copying machine, and an operation panel accepts an instruction to start copying from a user.

  By the way, the operation panel of a general image forming apparatus displays a dialog box including a message for calling attention on the display unit when it is necessary to call the user some attention. For example, when an error occurs during execution of a job such as copying, the operation panel displays a dialog box including a message indicating that an error has occurred on the display unit.

JP 2006-119176 A

  The content of the message included in the dialog box varies widely, and the number of characters of the message increases or decreases depending on the content of the message. In other words, there are messages (messages with a large number of characters) in which the reading time by the user is long, and messages (messages with a small number of characters) in which the reading time by the user is not so long.

  However, normally, the operation panel stops displaying the dialog box on the display unit after a certain time has elapsed since the dialog box was displayed on the display unit, regardless of the content of the message (number of characters in the message). That is, the display time of a dialog box including a message with a large number of characters is the same as the display time of a dialog box including a message with a small number of characters. Therefore, when the operation panel displays a dialog box that contains a message with a large number of characters on the display unit, the operation panel stops displaying the dialog box on the display unit while the message confirmation by the user is insufficient. May end up.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. When a dialog box including a message is displayed on the display unit and the user confirms the content of the message in the dialog box, It is an object of the present invention to provide a display control device and an image forming apparatus that can suppress insufficient confirmation.

  In order to achieve the above object, a display control apparatus of the present invention includes a display unit that displays a dialog box including a message, and a storage unit that stores the message. The display unit extends the display time of the dialog box as the number of characters in the message increases.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, the display unit increases the display time of the dialog box as the number of characters in the message increases. That is, when displaying a dialog box including a message (message having a large number of characters) that increases the reading time by the user, the display unit increases the display time of the dialog box. As a result, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience that the message confirmation by the user is insufficient due to the short display time of the dialog box.

  For example, when the language of the message is changed (for example, when the language of the message is changed from Japanese to English), the number of characters in the message may increase or decrease. That is, there are cases where the number of characters in the message after changing the language increases even though the number of characters in the message before changing the language is small. In this case, according to the configuration described above, the display unit lengthens the display time of the dialog box according to the number of characters in the message. Therefore, if the number of characters in the message whose language has been changed increases, the message whose language has been changed accordingly. Increase the display time of the dialog box that contains Therefore, even if the number of characters of the message whose language has been changed increases, it is possible to prevent the user from confirming the message insufficiently.

  According to the above configuration, the display time of the dialog box depends on the number of characters in the message, so there is no need to determine the display time of the dialog box for each message in advance.

  In the above configuration, preferably, the display unit stops displaying the dialog box while performing an animation display that gradually changes the display of the dialog box from the entire display to the partial display, and the number of characters in the message increases. Along with this, the transition speed when the display is stopped when the display of the dialog box is changed from the display of all parts to the display of part is increased. If comprised in this way, when stopping the display of the dialog box containing a message with many characters, it can suppress that a user has the erroneous recognition that the processing speed of an apparatus is falling. .

  In the above configuration, the display unit preferably completes the dialog box display by performing an animation display that gradually changes the display of the dialog box from a partial display to a full display, and the number of characters in the message increases. Accordingly, the transition speed at the time of display when the display of the dialog box is changed from partial display to full display is increased. If comprised in this way, when displaying the dialog box containing a message with many characters, it can suppress that a user has the erroneous recognition that the processing speed of an apparatus has fallen.

  In the above-described configuration, more preferably, the display unit counts the blanks in the message as characters if blanks are included in the message. If comprised in this way, the display time of a dialog box can be changed easily. For example, by intentionally inserting a blank in a message, the display time of a dialog box including the message can be extended.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the above-described display control device. If configured in this way, when a dialog box including a message is displayed on the display unit and the content of the message in the dialog box is confirmed by the user, it is possible to prevent the user from confirming the message insufficiently. be able to.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when a dialog box including a message is displayed on the display unit and the content of the message in the dialog box is confirmed by the user, the confirmation of the message by the user becomes insufficient. It is possible to obtain a display control device and an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing the above-described problem.

1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus including a display control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The top view of the display control apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention Schematic diagram showing an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which showed the message display area of the dialog box displayed on the display control apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which showed an example of the message of the dialog box displayed on the display control apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which showed an example of the message of the dialog box displayed on the display control apparatus shown in FIG. The figure for demonstrating the animation at the time of the display stop of the dialog box displayed on the display control apparatus shown in FIG. The figure for demonstrating the animation at the time of the display stop of the dialog box displayed on the display control apparatus shown in FIG. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement (Operation | movement when displaying a dialog box and stopping the display of a dialog box) of the display control apparatus shown in FIG. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement (operation | movement when displaying a dialog box) of the display control apparatus shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is, for example, a tandem color multifunction peripheral, and can execute a plurality of types of jobs such as copying, printing, scanning, and faxing. In order to execute these types of jobs, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an operation panel 101, an image reading unit 102, and an engine unit (a paper feeding unit 103, a conveyance path 104, an image forming unit 105, an intermediate transfer unit 106, a fixing unit). Unit 107 and double-sided conveyance path 108).

  The operation panel 101 functions as a display control device, and is disposed, for example, at a location indicated by a broken line in FIG. The operation panel 101 is provided with a liquid crystal display unit 11 (corresponding to a display unit) as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal display unit 11 displays menus and soft keys for performing various settings, and also displays messages indicating device status and the like. The user can perform various settings by pressing a soft key displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11. The liquid crystal display unit 11 takes a form in which the display surface is covered with a touch panel. Thereby, when the soft key displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is pressed by the user (when the touch panel is pressed), the coordinates of the pressed position can be detected based on the output of the touch panel.

  The operation panel 101 is provided with hard keys such as a numeric keypad 12 and a start key 13. The numeric keypad 12 is a hard key for accepting a setting instruction that requires numerical input from the user. The start key 13 is a hard key for receiving an instruction to start execution of various jobs from the user.

  Further, the operation panel 101 is provided with hard keys such as a copy key 14, a transmission key 15, and a box key 16. When the copy key 14 is pressed by the user, soft keys and messages necessary for using the copy are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11. When the transmission key 15 is pressed by the user, soft keys and messages necessary for using the scanner and fax are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11. When the user presses the box key 16, soft keys and messages necessary for using the box are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11. A box is a job for storing image data or the like in a predetermined storage area called a box (for example, a folder provided in a storage unit 113 described later).

  Returning to FIG. 1, the image reading unit 102 reads a document and forms image data of the document. Although not shown, the image reading unit 102 is provided with optical system members such as an exposure lamp, a mirror, a lens, and an image sensor. The image reading unit 102 irradiates a document placed on the contact glass 21 with a beam, and A / D converts the output value of each pixel of the image sensor that receives the reflected beam of the document, thereby converting the image data. Generate. Accordingly, printing can be performed based on the image data obtained by the original reading operation by the image reading unit 102 (copy). In addition, image data obtained by a document reading operation by the image reading unit 102 can be stored (scanner). Note that when the original is read by the image reading unit 102, the original placed on the contact glass 21 can be pressed by the original cover 22.

  The paper feed unit 103 includes a plurality of cassettes 31 that store paper P as recording media, and supplies the paper P stored in the plurality of cassettes 31 to the conveyance path 104. In addition, the paper feed unit 103 is provided with a pickup roller 32 that pulls out the stored paper P, a separation roller pair 33 for suppressing double feeding of the paper P, and the like.

  The conveyance path 104 conveys the paper P inside the apparatus. More specifically, the paper P supplied from the paper supply unit 103 passes through the intermediate transfer unit 106 and the fixing unit 107 in this order by the conveyance path 104 and is guided to the discharge tray 109. The conveyance path 104 is provided with a pair of registration rollers 41 for waiting the paper P in front of the intermediate transfer unit 106 and feeding it to the intermediate transfer unit 106 in time.

  The image forming unit 105 forms a toner image based on image data. The image forming unit 50 for four colors (an image forming unit 50Bk that forms a black toner image, an image that forms a yellow toner image) The image forming unit 50Y includes an image forming unit 50C that forms a cyan toner image, an image forming unit 50M that forms a magenta toner image, and the exposure device 5. The image forming units 50Bk, 50Y, 50C, and 50M form toner images of different colors, but all have basically the same configuration. Therefore, in the following description, symbols (Bk, Y, C, and M) representing each color are omitted.

  Each of the image forming units 50 includes a photosensitive drum 1, a charging device 2, a developing device 3, and a cleaning device 4, as shown in FIG.

  Each photosensitive drum 1 carries a toner image on its outer peripheral surface, has a photosensitive layer on its outer peripheral surface, and is supported so as to be rotatable in the circumferential direction. Each charging device 2 charges the corresponding photosensitive drum 1 with a constant potential. Each developing device 3 stores a developer of a corresponding color and supplies toner to the corresponding photosensitive drum 1. Each cleaning device 4 cleans the corresponding photosensitive drum 1. Then, the outer peripheral surface of each photosensitive drum 1 is exposed by the exposure device 5. Thereby, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of each photosensitive drum 1.

  Although not shown, the exposure apparatus 5 includes a semiconductor laser element, a polygon mirror, a polygon motor, an Fθ lens, a reflection mirror, and the like. Note that one set of the constituent members of the exposure apparatus 5 may be provided for each color image forming unit 50. Alternatively, only one set of the semiconductor laser element, the Fθ lens, and the reflection mirror is provided for each color image forming unit 50, and the polygon mirror and the polygon motor are provided in the image forming unit 50 for two colors (or four colors). May be shared.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the intermediate transfer unit 106 performs the secondary transfer onto the paper P after receiving the primary transfer of the toner image from the image forming unit 105. The intermediate transfer unit 106 includes at least an intermediate transfer belt 61 and primary transfer rollers 62Bk, 62Y, 62C, and 62M assigned to the image forming units 50, respectively. The primary transfer rollers 62Bk, 62Y, 62C, and 62M sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 61 with the corresponding image forming unit 50 (specifically, the photosensitive drum 1) and also transfer voltage (transfer bias). ) Is applied.

  The intermediate transfer unit 106 also includes a driving roller 63 and a driven roller 64. The driving roller 63 and the driven roller 64 stretch the intermediate transfer belt 61 together with the primary transfer rollers 62Bk, 62Y, 62C, and 62M. For this reason, when the driving roller 63 is driven to rotate, the intermediate transfer belt 61 circulates and moves.

  Further, the intermediate transfer unit 106 includes a secondary transfer roller 65. The secondary transfer roller 65 sandwiches the intermediate transfer belt 61 between the drive roller 63 and a transfer voltage (transfer bias) is applied.

  The toner images formed by the image forming units 50 are sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 61 by the primary transfer rollers 62Bk, 62Y, 62C, and 62M to which a transfer voltage is applied. Is done. That is, the full color toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 61. Thereafter, the toner image primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 61 is secondarily transferred to the paper P by the secondary transfer roller 65 to which a transfer voltage is applied.

  The intermediate transfer unit 106 also includes a belt cleaning device 66. The belt cleaning device 66 cleans the intermediate transfer belt 61 after the secondary transfer of the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 61 to the paper P.

  The fixing unit 107 heats and presses the toner image secondarily transferred onto the paper P to fix it. The fixing unit 107 includes a fixing roller 71 having a built-in heat source, and a pressure roller 72 that is pressed against the fixing roller 71. Then, the sheet P on which the toner image is secondarily transferred passes between the fixing roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 and is heated and pressed. As a result, the toner image is fixed on the paper P.

  The paper P passes through the fixing unit 107 and is then discharged to the discharge tray 109. Thereby, the image forming process is completed.

  The duplex conveyance path 108 enables duplex printing. The double-sided conveyance path 108 branches off from the conveyance path 104 on the downstream side of the fixing roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 and merges with the conveyance path 104 on the upstream side of the registration roller pair 41. In the double-sided conveyance path 108, a switching claw 81 disposed at a branch point with the conveyance path 104, a discharge port 109a connected to the discharge tray 109, and a discharge roller pair 82 that can be switched between forward and reverse rotations. , And a conveyance roller pair 83 that conveys the paper P is provided.

  When performing duplex printing, the switching claw 81 is in a position to close the duplex conveyance path 108 and guides the paper P sent from the fixing unit 107 to the discharge tray 109. Further, the discharge roller pair 82 first rotates forward to discharge a part of the paper P to the discharge tray 109. Thereafter, the discharge roller pair 82 rotates in the reverse direction before the paper P completely passes through the discharge roller pair 82. At this time, the switching claw 81 rotates in a direction to open the double-sided conveyance path 108. As a result, the sheet P printed on one side is guided to the duplex conveyance path 108.

  The sheet P guided to the duplex conveyance path 108 is conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 83 and reaches the upstream side of the registration roller pair 41. Then, it is sent again from the intermediate transfer unit 106 to the fixing unit 107. At this time, since the front and back of the paper P are reversed, the secondary transfer process and the fixing process are performed on the back surface (unprinted surface) of the paper P. Then, the paper P on which double-sided printing is completed is discharged to the discharge tray 109.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a main control unit 110. The main control unit 110 includes a CPU 111 and an image processing unit 112 which are central processing units. The main control unit 110 includes an operation panel 101, an image reading unit 102, an engine unit (a paper feeding unit 103, a conveyance path 104, an image forming unit 105, an intermediate transfer unit 106, a fixing unit 107, and a double-side conveyance path 108). It is connected. The main control unit 110 performs control and calculation of each unit based on various programs and data stored in the storage unit 113. The main control unit 110 may be divided into a main control unit that performs overall control and image processing, and an engine control unit that controls on / off of a motor that rotates the image forming and various rotating bodies.

  The storage unit 113 includes a volatile storage device such as a ROM 113a, a RAM 113b, and an HDD 113c, and a nonvolatile storage device. Various programs and data stored in the storage unit 113 are stored in the ROM 113a and expanded in the RAM 113b.

  The programs stored in the storage unit 113 include a plurality of application programs for executing a plurality of types of jobs, for example, a copy application for executing a copy, a print application for executing a print, and a scanner. Examples include a scanner application for executing, a fax application for executing a fax, and a box application for executing a box. Various applications other than the applications corresponding to these basic jobs may be stored.

  The main control unit 110 is connected to the communication unit 114. The communication unit 114 is communicably connected to the external computer 200 via a network (or a cable), for example. Thus, printing can be performed based on the image data transmitted from the computer 200 (printing). Further, the image data obtained by the original reading operation by the image reading unit 102 can be transmitted to the computer 200 (scanner). Further, for example, a modem or the like may be incorporated in the communication unit 114. In this case, fax communication can be performed with the external fax machine 300 via a network such as a telephone line (fax).

  The operation panel 101 connected to the main control unit 110 has a display control unit 19. The display control unit 19 includes a CPU, an IC, and the like, and controls the display operation of the liquid crystal display unit 11. Further, when a soft key displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11 (touch panel) is pressed by the user, the display control unit 19 receives the output of the touch panel and specifies the coordinates of the pressed position. As a result, the position (selected soft key) pressed by the user on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is specified. Note that data such as a table indicating the correspondence between the output of the touch panel and the coordinates of the pressed position is stored in the storage unit 20, for example.

  In addition, the operation panel 101 receives a setting value setting instruction regarding a job to be executed from the user when various jobs are executed. Specifically, taking copy as an example, a setting screen (such as a setting key or a message as a soft key) for accepting a setting value setting instruction related to copying when the user presses the copy key 14 is displayed on a liquid crystal display. Displayed on the unit 11. As a result, the user instructs the operation panel 101 to set a setting value relating to copying while looking at the setting screen (a setting key as a soft key displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11 or a numeric keypad 12 as a hard key). Can be set by pressing.

  Data for displaying the setting screen on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is stored in the storage unit 20, for example. The display control unit 19 reads out data corresponding to the setting screen to be displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11 from the storage unit 20 based on an operation performed on the operation panel 101 by the user, Display the setting screen.

  There are many setting items that can be set when executing various jobs. For example, the setting items that can be set when executing copying include paper selection, reduction / enlargement, density, duplex / split, page aggregation, sort / sort, document size, document set orientation, document size mixed loading, paper discharge destination, staple , Color selection, Original image quality, Eco print, Hue adjustment, Color balance, Sharpness, Ground color adjustment, Anti-blurring, Saturation, Margin, Continuous reading, Automatic image rotation, Job end notification, Document name input, Priority printing, And interrupt copying. In addition, there are many setting items that can be set for execution of jobs other than copying.

  The operation panel 101 displays a start key as a soft key on the liquid crystal display unit 11 in order to accept a job start instruction from the user after the user finishes setting the setting values for the job to be executed. Thereby, the user can start the execution of the job in which the set value is set by pressing the start key as a soft key displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11. Alternatively, the job execution is also started when the user presses the start key 13 as a hard key.

  Here, when the job is executed, the setting value may not be set correctly, or a paper jam or out of toner may occur. In this case, the display control unit 19 causes the liquid crystal display unit 11 to display a dialog box DB (see FIGS. 5 to 7) including a message indicating that an error has occurred in order to make the user recognize that an error has occurred. The display control unit 19 displays the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 when it is necessary to alert the user not only when an error occurs but also for the user.

  The message display area of the dialog box DB is divided into, for example, four display areas A1 to A4 as shown in FIG. 5, and a space for one line is assigned to each of the display areas A1 and A4. Spaces for six lines are allocated to the display areas A2 and A3, respectively. For example, when a half-width character having a character size of 18 points (pt) is used, a message combining up to 32 characters can be included in each of the display areas A1 and A4. Furthermore, each of the display areas A2 and A3 can include a message that combines a maximum of 192 characters (32 characters per line).

  When the main control unit 110 determines that it is necessary to alert the user when the image forming apparatus 100 is being used by the user, the display control unit 19 Based on the instruction, the liquid crystal display unit 11 displays a dialog box DB including a message in at least one of the display areas A1 to A4. For example, as a dialog box DB including a message, a dialog box DB1 using three display areas A1 to A3 (see FIG. 6), a dialog box DB2 using only the display area A2 (see FIG. 7), and the like. is there.

  The character string data of the message in the dialog box DB is stored in advance in the storage unit 20 (or the storage unit 113), for example. Then, the display control unit 19 reads character string data in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 110 from the storage unit 20 and causes the liquid crystal display unit 11 to display a dialog box DB including a message corresponding to the character string data.

  The liquid crystal display unit 19 stops displaying the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 when a predetermined time has elapsed after the dialog box DB is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11. The display area A5 at the bottom end of the dialog box DB is provided with a soft key SK (for example, a character string “OK”) for accepting stoppage of display of the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 from the user. Key). For this reason, even if the predetermined time has not elapsed after the dialog box DB is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11, the user presses the soft key SK to display the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11. The display can be forcibly stopped.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, in order to increase the commercial value of the apparatus, animation display is performed when the display of the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is stopped. The dialog box DB1 in FIG. 6 will be specifically described as an example. As shown in FIG. 8, the display control unit 19 displays the dialog box DB1 when the display of the dialog box DB1 on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is stopped. Is gradually transitioned from a partial display to a partial display, and then the display of the dialog box DB1 is completely stopped. When such animation display is performed, for example, the display of the dialog box DB is stopped over several hundred milliseconds to several seconds. Therefore, when the animation display is performed, the display of the dialog box DB is not stopped instantaneously.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which the display of the dialog box DB gradually disappears from the lower side to the upper side. For example, the display of the dialog box DB gradually disappears from the upper side to the lower side. You may make it go, and you may make it disappear gradually from both upper and lower sides. Further, the display of the dialog box DB may gradually disappear from at least one of the right side and the left side. Further, the display of the dialog box DB may gradually disappear from the multi-direction (for example, four directions, eight directions, etc.) side. Alternatively, the display of the dialog box DB may disappear like a mosaic.

  By the way, the number of characters (message amount) of the message in the dialog box DB increases or decreases depending on the content of the message. For example, comparing the dialog box DB1 shown in FIG. 6 with the dialog box DB2 shown in FIG. 7, the number of characters in the message in the dialog box DB1 is larger than the number of characters in the message in the dialog box DB2. Therefore, the time required for checking the message in the dialog box DB1 is longer than the time required for checking the message in the dialog box DB2.

  Here, for example, it is assumed that the display time of the dialog box DB (the time when the dialog box DB is fully open) is constant regardless of the number of characters in the message. That is, it is assumed that the display times of the dialog boxes DB1 and DB2 are the same. Note that the display time of the dialog box DB is the time for displaying all parts of the dialog box DB, and during animation display (when the display of the dialog box DB is changed from displaying all parts to displaying partly). (Middle) time is not included.

  In this case, even if the message (message with a small number of characters) in the dialog box DB2 can be confirmed by the user before the display time ends, the message (message with a large number of characters) in the dialog box DB1 is sufficient for the user. There is a risk that the display time will end before the user confirms. If the display time of the dialog box DB is set to be relatively short, the display time of the message in the dialog box DB2 may end before the user sufficiently confirms the message.

  Further, for example, when the display of the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is stopped, regardless of the number of characters in the message, the speed at which the display of the dialog box DB is changed from the full display to the partial display (below) For the sake of convenience, it may be referred to as a transition speed when display is stopped). In other words, it is assumed that the transition speeds when the display of each of the dialog boxes DB1 and DB2 is stopped are the same.

  In this case, if the transition speed at the time of the stop is set to be relatively slow, the processing speed of the image forming apparatus 100 decreases when the display on the liquid crystal display unit 11 of the dialog box DB1 including a message with a large number of characters is stopped. May be received by the user. If the transition speed at the time of stopping the display is set to be slower, the processing speed of the image forming apparatus 100 decreases when the display on the liquid crystal display unit 11 of the dialog box DB2 including a message with a small number of characters is stopped. May be received by the user.

  In order to eliminate these two inconveniences, in the present embodiment, when the display control unit 19 displays the dialog box DB including the message on the liquid crystal display unit 11, the display control unit 19 obtains the message from the character string data stored in the storage unit 20. Determine the number of characters.

  Then, the display control unit 19 sets the display time of the dialog box DB according to the number of characters of the message so that the display time of the dialog box DB becomes longer as the number of characters of the message increases. Specifically, the display control unit 19 performs the display operation of the liquid crystal display unit 11 so that the display time of the dialog box DB1 including a message with a large number of characters is longer than the display time of the dialog box DB2 including a message with a small number of characters. To control. That is, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the display time of the dialog box DB as the number of characters in the message increases.

  Furthermore, when the display control unit 19 stops the display of the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 (the display of the dialog box DB is gradually changed from the full display to the partial display), the number of characters in the message is increased. The transition speed at the time of display stop is set according to the number of characters of the message so that the transition speed at the time of display stop increases as the number increases. Specifically, the display control unit 19 is configured so that the transition speed when the display of the dialog box DB1 including a message with a large number of characters is stopped is faster than the transition speed when the display of the dialog box DB2 including a message with a small number of characters is stopped. Controls the display operation of the liquid crystal display unit 11. In other words, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the transition speed when the display is stopped as the number of characters in the message increases.

  As an example, as shown in FIG. 9, when 100 ms has elapsed since the start of the display stop, the display areas A3 to A5 disappear with the display areas A1 and A2 remaining in the dialog box DB1. On the other hand, for the dialog box DB2, only the display area A5 disappears, leaving the display areas A1 to A4. Then, when 200 ms has elapsed since the start of the display stop, the lower part of the display area A2 disappears further for the dialog box DB1, and only the display area A4 disappears further for the dialog box DB2.

  Below, with reference to FIG. 10, operation | movement when displaying dialog box DB and stopping display of dialog box DB is demonstrated.

  First, it is assumed that the user is using the image forming apparatus 100 (operation panel 101) at the start of the flow of FIG. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 (operation panel 101) at the start of the flow of FIG. 10 is executing a job such as copying based on a user instruction, or a setting value setting instruction regarding the job to be executed is received from the user. Accepted.

  The flow in FIG. 10 starts when the main control unit 110 determines that it is necessary to alert the user when the image forming apparatus 100 is being used by the user (for example, a job) When the setting value is not set correctly or when a paper jam or out of toner occurs). In other words, when the display control unit 19 displays the dialog box DB including the message on the liquid crystal display unit 11 based on an instruction from the main control unit 110, the flow of FIG.

  Note that even if the image forming apparatus 100 is not used by the user, the main control unit 110 may determine that it is necessary to call the user some attention (for example, an error occurred while receiving fax data). Etc.). Also in this case, the flow of FIG. 10 starts.

  In step S1, when the display control unit 19 receives from the main control unit 110 a display instruction on the liquid crystal display unit 11 for a message that calls the user some attention, the display control unit 19 Character string data is read from the storage unit 20, and the number of characters in the message for which a display instruction is received is determined.

  In step S2, the display control unit 19 sets the display time of the dialog box DB according to the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction. Then, the display control unit 19 stores the set display time in the storage unit 20. Note that the display time of the dialog box DB is the time for displaying all parts of the dialog box DB, and during animation display (when the display of the dialog box DB is changed from displaying all parts to displaying partly). (Middle) time is not included.

  Here, for example, the storage unit 20 stores in advance display times per unit character (for example, per character to a dozen characters). Then, the display control unit 19 sets the display time of the dialog box DB including the message that has received the display instruction, based on the display time per unit character and the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction.

  As an example, when the dialog box DB1 shown in FIG. 6 is compared with the dialog box DB2 shown in FIG. 7, the number of characters in the message in the dialog box DB1 is larger than the number of characters in the message in the dialog box DB2. Therefore, the display time of the dialog box DB1 is longer than the display time of the dialog box DB2.

  However, the display time of the dialog box DB is not long without an upper limit. That is, the upper limit value of the display time of the dialog box DB is set in advance and stored in the storage unit 20. The display control unit 19 prevents the display time of the dialog box DB from exceeding the upper limit value.

  In step S <b> 3, the display control unit 19 sets the transition speed when the display is stopped according to the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction. Then, the display control unit 19 causes the storage unit 20 to store the set transition speed when the display is stopped. The transition time when the display is stopped is the time during which the animation display is performed when the display of the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is stopped, and the display of the dialog box DB is stopped. The time required to completely stop the display of the dialog box DB.

  For example, the storage unit 20 stores in advance the transition speed when the display is stopped per unit character (for example, per character to about a dozen characters). Then, the display control unit 19 determines the transition speed at the time of display stop of the dialog box DB including the message that has received the display instruction, based on the transition speed at the time of display stop per unit character and the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction. Set.

  As an example, when the dialog box DB1 shown in FIG. 6 is compared with the dialog box DB2 shown in FIG. 7, the number of characters in the message in the dialog box DB1 is larger than the number of characters in the message in the dialog box DB2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the transition speed when the display of the dialog box DB1 is stopped is faster than the transition speed when the display of the dialog box DB2 is stopped.

  As described above, the display control unit 19 sets the display time of the dialog box DB and the transition speed when the display is stopped based on the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction. At this time, if the display control unit 19 (and the liquid crystal display unit 11 controlled by the display control unit 19) includes a blank in the message that has received the display instruction, the display control unit 19 Is counted as a character.

  In step S <b> 4, the display control unit 19 causes the liquid crystal display unit 11 to display a dialog box DB including a message that has received a display instruction.

  Thereafter, in step S5, the display control unit 19 sets the display time of the dialog box DB including the message that has received the display instruction in the set time stored in the storage unit 20 (the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction in step S2). It is determined whether or not the display time of the dialog box DB set in accordance with is reached. If the display time of the dialog box DB including the message for which the display instruction has been received has reached the set time, the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if the display time of the dialog box DB including the message receiving the display instruction has not reached the set time, step S5 is performed until the display time of the dialog box DB including the message receiving the display instruction reaches the set time. Repeat the judgment operation.

  When the process proceeds to step S6, the display control unit 19 is based on the set speed stored in the storage unit 20 (the transition speed at the time of display stop set according to the number of characters of the message that received the display instruction in step S3). The display of the dialog box DB including the message for which the display instruction has been received is gradually transitioned from the full display to the partial display. In step S7, the display control unit 19 finally stops the display on the liquid crystal display unit 11 of the dialog box DB including the message that has received the display instruction.

  In the present embodiment, not only when the display of the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11 is stopped, but also when the dialog box DB is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11, an animation display according to the number of characters of the message is displayed. Is going. That is, when the display control unit 19 displays the dialog box DB on the liquid crystal display unit 11, the display of the dialog box DB is gradually changed from a partial display to a full display. At this time, as the number of characters in the message increases, the display control unit 19 increases the transition speed at the time of display (the speed at which the display of the dialog box DB is changed from partial display to full display). The transition speed at the time of display is set according to the number of characters in the message. That is, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the transition speed during display as the number of characters in the message increases.

  Below, with reference to FIG. 11, operation | movement when displaying dialog box DB is demonstrated.

  The flow in FIG. 11 starts when the main control unit 110 determines that it is necessary to alert the user when the image forming apparatus 100 is being used by the user. That is, when the display control unit 19 displays a dialog box DB including a message on the liquid crystal display unit 11 based on an instruction from the main control unit 110, the flow of FIG.

  In step S11, when the display control unit 19 receives from the main control unit 110 a display instruction to the liquid crystal display unit 11 for a message that calls the user some attention, the display control unit 19 displays the message that received the display instruction. Character string data is read from the storage unit 20, and the number of characters in the message for which a display instruction is received is determined.

  In step S12, the display control unit 19 sets the transition speed at the time of display according to the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction. The display control unit 19 stores the set transition speed at the time of display in the storage unit 20. The transition speed at the time of displaying the dialog box DB is a time during which the animation display is performed when the dialog box DB is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 11, and the display of the dialog box DB is completely changed from a partial display. This is the time required for transition to the minute display.

  For example, the storage unit 20 stores in advance the transition speed at the time of display per unit character (for example, per character to about a dozen characters). Then, the display control unit 19 sets the transition speed at the time of displaying the dialog box DB including the message that has received the display instruction, based on the transition speed at the time of display per unit character and the number of characters of the message that has received the display instruction. .

  In step S13, the display control unit 19 displays the display instruction based on the set speed stored in the storage unit 20 (transition speed at the time of display set in accordance with the number of characters of the message that received the display instruction in step S12). The display of the dialog box DB including the received message is gradually transitioned from partial display to full display. In this way, the display control unit 19 finally completes the display on the liquid crystal display unit 11 of the dialog box DB including the message that has received the display instruction.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the display time of the dialog box DB as the number of characters in the message increases. That is, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the display time of the dialog box DB when displaying the dialog box DB including a message (message having a large number of characters) that increases the reading time by the user. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience that the message confirmation by the user is insufficient due to the short display time of the dialog box DB.

  For example, when the language of the message is changed (for example, when the language of the message is changed from Japanese to English), the number of characters in the message may increase or decrease. That is, there are cases where the number of characters in the message after changing the language increases even though the number of characters in the message before changing the language is small. In this case, in this embodiment, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the display time of the dialog box DB in accordance with the number of characters in the message. Therefore, if the number of characters in the message whose language is changed increases, the language is changed accordingly. The display time of the dialog box DB including the message is increased. Therefore, even if the number of characters of the message whose language has been changed increases, it is possible to prevent the user from confirming the message insufficiently.

  In the present embodiment, the display time of the dialog box DB is in accordance with the number of characters in the message, so there is no need to determine the display time of the dialog box DB for each message in advance.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the transition speed when the display is stopped as the number of characters in the message increases. Thereby, when the display of the dialog box DB including a message having a large number of characters is stopped, it is possible to prevent the user from having an erroneous recognition that the processing speed of the apparatus is slow.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the liquid crystal display unit 11 increases the transition speed during display as the number of characters in the message increases. Thereby, when displaying the dialog box DB including a message with a large number of characters, it is possible to suppress the user from having an erroneous recognition that the processing speed of the apparatus is slow.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the liquid crystal display unit 11 counts a blank in the message as a character if a blank is included in the message. Thereby, the display time of dialog box DB can be changed easily. For example, by intentionally inserting a blank in the message, the display time of the dialog box DB including the message can be extended.

  It should be thought that embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration and restrictive at no points. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the description of the above-described embodiment but by the scope of claims for patent, and further includes meanings equivalent to the scope of claims for patent and all modifications within the scope.

11 Liquid crystal display (display)
20 storage unit 100 image forming apparatus 101 operation panel (display control apparatus)

Claims (5)

A display for displaying a dialog box containing a message;
A storage unit for storing the message,
The display control device, wherein the display unit extends the display time of the dialog box as the number of characters of the message increases.   The display unit stops the display of the dialog box while performing an animation display in which the display of the dialog box is gradually transitioned from a partial display to a partial display, and as the number of characters of the message increases, The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus increases the transition speed when the display is stopped when the display of the dialog box is changed from the display of all parts to the display of parts.   The display unit completes the display of the dialog box by performing an animation display in which the display of the dialog box is gradually changed from a partial display to a full display, and the number of characters of the message increases. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein a transition speed at the time of display when the display of the dialog box is changed from partial display to full display is increased.   The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit counts a blank in the message as a character if a blank is included in the message.   An image forming apparatus comprising the display control device according to claim 1.

Images