JP2015046752A - Information output device and information output method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multifunction printer 100 which encourages selection of a notification item key desired by a user, by removing useless key operation.SOLUTION: A multifunction printer 100 outputting the notice information of a notice item selected by a user, out of a plurality of notice items related to various reports of its own device, includes notice item display receiving means 402 for preferentially displaying a notice item key of many selection number selectably on a predetermined screen, based on a selection history indicating the history of notice items selected by the user, and output means 406 for preferentially outputting the notice information of notice item selected by the user through the screen, based on the selection history, and adding the selection number of notice item thus selected to the selection history.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information output device and an information output method, and more particularly to an information output device and an information output method that can delete unnecessary key operations and prompt a user to select a notification item key desired.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a communication apparatus such as an image forming apparatus and a facsimile apparatus, a technique for easily and reliably recognizing desired information among various information displayed on a display unit has been actively developed.

  For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-347680 (Patent Document 1) discloses a communication apparatus having a first storage unit that can store and hold image information, and a second storage unit that holds a registration service and a communication result. It is disclosed. This communication apparatus has at least display means capable of displaying during communication, registration service display, and communication result display, and display switching means capable of switching each display on the display means. Further, the display means includes an output means for outputting a communication display, a registration service display, and a communication result display to a document. As a result, the above information can be viewed as a document, and it is possible to save the user from having to display items one by one. In addition, during communication, only items required by the user can be selected from items such as stored originals, registration services, and communication results, and can be output as a document.

JP-A-5-347680

  Here, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when notification information such as a stored document, a registration service, and a communication result is displayed on the display screen during communication, notification information corresponding to one item is displayed on the display screen. When the user operates the same key for switching the display screen, notification information corresponding to other different items is displayed. Thereby, the user's key operation is unified so that the user can easily refer to the desired notification information.

  However, in the above-described method, predetermined notification information is displayed item by item. Therefore, when the user refers to the notification information of all items, it takes time and displays items that the user does not need to see. There is a problem.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, the user can select a predetermined item, display only the notification information corresponding to the item as information that the user wants to know, and output it as a document.

  However, when the user selects a desired item, if the desired item among the plurality of items exists at the end, the user repeats the key operation to display the notification information of the last item, and There is a problem that must be selected. In addition, when this desired item is an item common to users such as a serviceman and an administrator, for example, the user needs to repeat the key operation described above every time the user confirms the notification information. There is a problem that time is required and troublesome work due to useless key operations occurs.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an information output apparatus and an information output method that can delete a useless key operation and prompt a user to select a desired notification item key. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the information output device according to the present invention outputs notification information of a notification item selected by the user from among a plurality of notification items related to various reports of the own device. An information output apparatus that adopts the following configuration.

  That is, the information output device includes a notification item display accepting unit that preferentially displays a notification item key having a large number of selections on a predetermined screen based on a selection history indicating a history of the notification item selected by the user. Output means for preferentially outputting the notification information of the notification item selected by the user via the screen based on the selection history, and adding the selected number of the selected notification items to the selection history. It is characterized by providing.

  According to the information output device and the information output method of the present invention, it is possible to delete a useless key operation and prompt the user to select a notification item key desired by the user.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an overall configuration inside a multifunction peripheral according to the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the whole structure of the operation part which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the control system hardware of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart for showing the execution procedure of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A shows an example of an initial screen displayed on the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention (FIG. 6A), and FIG. 6B shows an example of a selection history table according to the embodiment of the present invention (FIG. 6B). is there. FIG. 7A shows an example of the notification item display screen displayed on the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention (FIG. 7A), and FIG. 7B shows an example of the selection notification item table of the embodiment of the present invention. )). The figure (FIG. 8 (A)) which shows an example of the notification item display screen displayed on the touch panel of embodiment of this invention, and an example of the notification item display screen displayed on the touch panel of embodiment of this invention are shown. It is a figure (FIG. 8 (B)). FIG. 9 shows an example of a report page according to the embodiment of the present invention (FIG. 9A), and FIG. 9B shows an example of a selection history table according to the embodiment of the present invention (FIG. 9B).

  In the following, an embodiment of an information output apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. In addition, the following embodiment is an example which actualized this invention, Comprising: The thing of the character which limits the technical scope of this invention is not. Moreover, the alphabet S added before the number in a flowchart means a step.

<Information output device>
An information output apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is, for example, an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, details of each part not directly related to the present invention are omitted.

  Note that the image forming apparatus of the present invention corresponds to, for example, a printer, a scanner alone, or a multifunction machine including a printer, a copy, a scanner, a fax machine, and the like, and includes a copy function, a scanner function, a facsimile function, a printer function, and the like. Function as an image forming apparatus.

  The operation of the MFP 100 (MFP: Multi Function Peripheral) when using the copy function will be briefly described below.

  First, when the user uses the multifunction machine 100, the document is placed on the document table 101 provided on the upper surface of the casing. Subsequently, the user uses the operation unit 102 (operation panel) provided in the vicinity of the document table 101 to input setting conditions related to image formation from the operation screen of the operation unit 102. When the user presses a start key provided on the operation unit 102, the multifunction peripheral 100 starts image formation (print processing).

  Next, in the image reading unit 103, the light emitted from the light source 104 is reflected by the document placed on the document table 101. The reflected light is guided to the image sensor 108 by the mirrors 105, 106, and 107. The guided light is photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 108, and image data corresponding to the original is generated.

  An image forming unit 109 forms a toner image based on the image data. The image forming unit 109 is provided with a photosensitive drum 110. The photosensitive drum 110 rotates in a predetermined direction at a constant speed, and around the charger drum, the exposure unit 112, the developing unit 113, the transfer unit 114, the cleaning unit 115, and the like, in that order from the upstream side in the rotation direction. Is arranged.

  The charger 111 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 110. The exposure unit 112 irradiates the charged surface of the photosensitive drum 110 with a laser based on the image data to form an electrostatic latent image. The developer 114 forms a toner image by attaching toner to the formed electrostatic latent image. The formed toner image is transferred to a recording medium (for example, paper, sheet) by the transfer device 114. The cleaning unit 115 removes excess toner left on the surface of the photosensitive drum 110. A series of these processes is executed by rotating the photosensitive drum 110.

  The sheets are conveyed from a plurality of paper feed cassettes 116 provided in the multi function peripheral 100. When the sheet is conveyed, the sheet is pulled out from any one of the sheet feeding cassettes 116 to the conveyance path by the pickup roller 117. Each sheet cassette 116 stores sheets of different paper types, and the sheets are fed based on setting conditions relating to image formation.

  The sheet pulled out to the conveyance path is fed between the photosensitive drum 110 and the transfer device 114 by the conveyance roller 118 and the registration roller 119. When the sheet is fed, the toner image is transferred to the sheet by the transfer unit 114 and conveyed to the fixing device 120.

  When the sheet on which the toner image is transferred passes between a heating roller and a pressure roller provided in the fixing device 120, heat and pressure are applied to the toner image, and the visible image is fixed on the sheet. The The amount of heat of the heating roller is optimally set according to the paper type, and the fixing is performed appropriately. The visible image is fixed on the sheet and the image formation is completed, and the sheet is guided to the path switching unit 121 by the conveyance roller 118.

  In the path switching unit 121, the sheet is guided to the sheet discharge tray 122 provided on the side surface of the casing unit or the casing through the sheet discharge port 123 according to a switching instruction from the multifunction peripheral 100. To the in-body tray 124 provided in the body cylinder. The sheets are stacked and stored on the paper discharge tray 122 or the in-body tray 124. Through the above procedure, the housing unit of the multifunction peripheral 100 provides a copy function to the user.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the operation unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. The user uses the operation unit 102 to input setting conditions for image formation as described above, and to confirm the input setting conditions. When the setting conditions are input, a touch panel 201 (operation panel), a touch pen 202, and operation keys 203 provided in the operation unit 102 are used.

  The touch panel 201 has both a function for inputting setting conditions and a function for displaying the setting conditions. That is, by pressing a key in the screen displayed on the touch panel 201, a setting condition corresponding to the pressed key is input.

  A display unit (not shown) such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is provided on the back surface of the touch panel 201, and the display unit displays an operation screen such as the initial screen, for example. A touch pen 202 is provided in the vicinity of the touch panel 201. When the user touches the touch pen 201 with the tip of the touch pen 202, a sensor provided under the touch panel 201 detects the touch destination.

  Further, a predetermined number of operation keys 203 are provided in the vicinity of the touch panel 201, and for example, a ten key 204, a start key 205, a clear key 206, a stop key 207, a reset key 208, and a power key 209 are provided.

  Next, the configuration of the control system hardware of the multifunction peripheral 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control system hardware of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present invention. However, details of each part not directly related to the present invention are omitted.

  The control circuit of the MFP 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 304, a driver 305 corresponding to each drive unit, and an operation. The units 306 (102) are connected by the internal bus 307.

  The CPU 301 uses, for example, the RAM 303 as a work area, executes a program stored in the ROM 302, the HDD 304, and the like, and based on the execution result, data and instructions from the driver 306 and the operation unit 307, key 1 is transmitted and received, and the operation of each drive unit shown in FIG. 1 is controlled.

  Also, each means (shown in FIG. 4) described later other than the drive unit is realized by the CPU 301 executing a program. The ROM 302, the HDD 304, and the like store programs and data for realizing each means described below.

<Embodiment of the present invention>
Next, the configuration and execution procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the multifunction machine of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for showing the execution procedure of the present invention.

  First, when the user turns on the power of the multifunction device 100, the multifunction device 100 is activated, and the display receiving unit 401 displays an initial screen (operation screen) on the touch panel 201 (FIG. 5: S101).

  On the initial screen 600, as shown in FIG. 6A, a predetermined message “Can copy” 601 is displayed, and a function item key 602 for inputting setting conditions such as a copy function, A report key 603 for outputting various report pages is displayed so as to be pressed.

  Here, for example, when the user presses the report key 603 (FIG. 5: S102 YES), the display receiving unit 401 receives the pressing of the report key 603 and notifies the notification item display receiving unit 402 to that effect. To do. Upon receiving the notification, the notification item display accepting unit 402 displays a notification item with a large selection number on a predetermined screen based on the selection history indicating the history of the notification item selected by the user.

  Any method may be used for the notification item display receiving unit 402 to display the notification items preferentially on a predetermined screen. For example, first, the notification item display receiving unit 402 selects the selection history storage unit. The selection history table stored in 403 is referred to (FIG. 5: S103).

  In the selection history table 604, as shown in FIG. 6B, the page item 605 indicating the type of various report pages, the notification item 606 belonging to the page item, and the notification item 606 are selected (pressed) by the user. ) Is stored in association with the number of selections 607 indicating the number of times.

  Here, the page item 605 includes, for example, a status page indicating various setting value information that can be set from the status of the multifunction device 100 (the amount of remaining toner, etc.) and a system menu on a predetermined page (document), Service status page showing information such as memory size, option installation, installation status, etc. on a predetermined page, network status page showing network information such as MAC address, TCP / IP, etc. on a predetermined page, jam occurrence history and service call An event log indicating information such as an occurrence history on a predetermined page, a maintenance report indicating information on firmware installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 on a predetermined page, and the like.

  The notification item 606 includes a toner remaining amount indicating the remaining amount of toner, a charging counter indicating the current total charging counter, and a decrease amount of toner in a predetermined period (for example, the most recent day) in the status page. About the amount of decrease in toner to be displayed and the total number of charging counters, counter information of each department indicating the charging counter of each department, counter increasing amount indicating the amount of increase of the charging counter for a predetermined period (for example, the most recent day), and copying Copy setting information indicating the setting conditions, scan setting information indicating the setting conditions for scanning, facsimile setting information indicating the setting conditions for facsimile, and the like. The notification item 606 includes a memory size indicating the capacity of installed memory, option information indicating details of options installed in the multifunction device 100, and details of software installed in the multifunction device 100 in the service status page. The installation situation etc. to show are mentioned. The notification item 606 includes network information indicating details of the network, address information indicating details of addresses used in the network, and the like in the network status page. The notification item 606 includes a jam occurrence history indicating a paper jam occurrence history, a service call occurrence history indicating a user's use of a service call, and the like in the event log. The notification item 606 includes firmware information indicating details of firmware version information and the like in the maintenance report. Note that the selection number 607 is set to an initial value “1” for each notification item 606.

  Now, referring to the selection history table 604, the notification item display accepting unit 402 acquires the notification item 606 having a large selection number 607 for each page item 605, and based on the acquired notification item 606, the touch panel 201. A notification item display screen is displayed above (FIG. 5: S104).

  On the notification item display screen 700, as shown in FIG. 7A, a predetermined message “Please select a notification item to be output as a report page” 701 is displayed, and each page item 702 is displayed. A notification item key 703, a switching key 704 for displaying a notification item key that is not currently displayed, an output key 705 for outputting a report (document printing), and a cancel key 706 are displayed in a pressable manner.

  Here, the notification item display accepting unit 402 preferentially displays the notification item key 703 having a larger selection number 607 in a place on the screen that is easy for the user to select than the notification item key having a smaller selection number 607. To do.

  Specifically, the notification item display accepting unit 402 displays the notification item keys 703 having a large selection number 607 in order from the vicinity of the corresponding page item 702 in a predetermined direction (for example, the horizontal direction), and the selection number 607. The notification item key with a small number can be displayed by operating the switching key 704. At this time, since the selection numbers 607 corresponding to the respective notification item keys 702 are all initial values, the respective notification item keys 703 are displayed in the order stored in the selection history table 604 first.

  As a result, the user can easily select the notification item key 703 having a large selection number 607 selected in the past. Therefore, conventionally, for example, every time the user displays the notification item display screen 700, the user has to repeatedly operate the switching key 704 and press the desired notification item key 703. In the present invention, when the notification item display screen 700 is displayed, the notification item key 703 having a large number of selections 607 selected in the past is first displayed preferentially, and thus the above key operations can be deleted. It becomes.

  Now, while looking at the notification item display screen 700, the user presses a notification item key 703 (for example, a “billing counter” key) desired to be described on the report page displayed second ( FIG. 5: S105 YES), the notification item display accepting means 402 accepts pressing (selection) of the notification item key 703 (FIG. 5: S106).

  The display form when the notification item key 703 is selected may be any display form. For example, the notification item display accepting unit 402 selects a check box provided in the vicinity of the notification item key 703. Change from off to on.

  The notification item display accepting unit 402 notifies the selection notification item selection unit 404 to that effect, and the selection notification item selection unit 404 should be selected in relation to the selected notification item. It is determined whether there is a selection notification item as an item (FIG. 5: S107).

  The selection notification item selection unit 404 may use any method for determining whether or not the selection notification item exists, for example, as follows. That is, first, the selection notification item selection unit 404 refers to the selection notification item table stored in the selection notification item storage unit 405.

  In the selection notification item table 707, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the notification item 708 described above and the notification item 708 are selected, it is better to select the selection notification item. 709 are stored in association with each other.

  Here, “counter information for each department” and “counter increase amount” are associated with the “billing counter” of the notification item 708 of the selection notification item table 707 as the selection notification item 709. This makes it easier to compare departments by checking "counter information for each department" together with "billing counters", and it is easier to understand which department is using how much of all accounting counters. . Also, by confirming the “counter information for each department” together with the “charge counter”, it becomes possible to know the recent increase amount and trend of the charge counter.

  In addition, “firmware information” is associated with the “jam occurrence history” and “service call occurrence history” of the notification item 708 of the selection notification item table 707 as the selection notification item 709. This makes it easier to grasp which firmware version has a jam or the like.

  The “toner remaining amount” in the notification item 708 of the selection notification item table 707 is associated with “toner reduction amount” as the selection notification item 709. Thereby, it becomes possible to know the recent toner reduction amount and trend.

  In addition, “scan setting information” and “facsimile setting information” are associated with the “copy setting information” in the notification item 708 of the selection notification item table 707 as the selection notification item 709. This makes it possible to grasp the details of the setting information of each device. Even if the notification item 708 is “scan setting information” or “facsimile setting information”, the setting information of different devices is stored in association with each other.

  In this way, the notification item 709 associated with the notification item 708 is assigned a notification item of notification information that is useful when it is derived from the notification item 708 and output on the report page. The selection notification item 709 is within the range of the notification item 708.

  Here, the selection notification item selection unit 404 compares the notification item (“charging counter”) received earlier with the notification item 708 in the selection notification item table 707 and notifies the selection item in the selection notification item table 707. In 708, it is determined whether or not the received notification item exists.

  As a result of the determination, if the received notification item does not exist in the notification item 708 of the selection notification item table 707, the selection notification item selection unit 404 determines that the selection notification item does not exist (FIG. 5). : S107 NO), the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the received notification item exists in the notification item 708 of the selection notification item table 707 as a result of the determination, the selection notification item selection unit 404 determines that the selection notification item exists (see FIG. 5: S107 YES), a selection notification item 709 (for example, “counter information for each department”, “counter increase amount”) corresponding to the notification item (“charging counter”) existing in the selection notification item table 707 is acquired. . The selection notification item selection unit 404 selects (accepts) the selection notification item 709, assuming that the acquired selection notification item 709 is selected by the user (FIG. 5: S108).

  As a result, in response to the user's selection of the notification item, the selection notification item that should be selected, in other words, the selection notification item that should be output (displayed and output) is automatically selected. Management of the machine 100 is facilitated, and convenience is improved.

  Here, there may be a case where the user confirms or cancels the selection of the selection notification item automatically selected by the selection notification item selection unit 404. Therefore, in the present invention, the selection notification item selection unit 404 corresponds to the selection of the selection notification item 709 (FIG. 5: S108) and displays the notification item display screen via the notification item display reception unit 402. Then, the automatically selected selection notification item is displayed (FIG. 5: S109).

  On the notification item display screen 800, as shown in FIG. 8A, a balloon display 801 indicating a predetermined message “Counter information of each department, counter increase amount (election notification item) has been selected” is displayed. It is displayed in a pop-up format for a predetermined time. Since the selection notification item displayed on the balloon display 801 is displayed by operating the switching key 802, the balloon display 801 is displayed on the switching key 802 in order to prompt the user to operate the switching key 802. Displayed in the vicinity.

  For example, if the user who has confirmed the balloon display 801 presses the switching key 802 corresponding to the page item “status page”, the notification item display receiving unit 402 receives the pressing of the switching key 802, and Referring to the selection history table 604, corresponding to the page item “status page”, notification items (“counter information of each department”, “counter increase amount”) not yet displayed on the notification item display screen 800 are displayed. Get and display.

  On the notification item display screen 803, as shown in FIG. 8B, a notification item key 804 (“counter information of each department”, “counter increase amount”) that has not been displayed is switched and displayed. Here, since the displayed notification item key 804 corresponds to the selection notification item accepted earlier, the check box provided in the vicinity of the notification item key 804 is changed to the ON state and displayed. Thereby, the user can confirm that the selection notification item is automatically selected.

  Also, for example, if the user presses the notification item key 804 in which the check box is on, the notification item display reception unit 402 receives the pressing of the notification item key 804 and turns the on state off. Change to As a result, for example, if the user feels that the automatically selected election notification item is unnecessary, it is possible to cancel the selection of the election notification item by a key operation in the same manner as a normal notification item. Become.

  When the user confirms the selection of the desired notification item while viewing the notification item display screen 803 and presses the output key 705, the notification item display reception unit 402 causes the output key 705 to be displayed. Page items that correspond to the notification items that have been selected so far (for example, “Billing counter”, “Counter information of each department”, “Counter increment”), and so on (here, only “Status page”) Is notified to the output means 406. Upon receiving the notification, the output unit 406 outputs the notification information of the notification item preferentially for each page item selected by the user based on the selection history (FIG. 5: S111).

  Any method may be used for the output unit 406 to output the notification information. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, the output unit 406 provides notification information of the selected notification item. Are collected from each part of the multifunction peripheral 100, and based on the selection history table 604 described above, a notification item 902 (“charging counter”, “charging counter”, "Counter information for each department" and "Counter increment" are preferentially placed at the top. Then, the output means 406 may provide notification information 903 (for example, “charging counter”) of the arranged notification items 902 (“charging counter”, “counter information of each department”, “counter increment”). Edit (list) the MFP 100 model information “AAA”, copy counter information “1222”, scan counter information “1104”, facsimile counter information “550”, etc., and create one report page 900 Then, the data is imaged and printed as a report page.

  As a result, the user can acquire a report page in which only the notification information of the notification item selected by the user is edited as a printed matter, so that the user can check various information of the multifunction peripheral 100 by checking it. It becomes possible. In addition, the notification information of the notification item that is frequently selected by the user is preferentially output (printed) first, and the user can immediately confirm it, thereby improving the convenience for the user.

  Further, since the notification information of the selection notification item is also edited on the report page by automatically selecting the selection notification item, the user can derive and confirm the notification item selected by the user. It is also possible to check the notification information of good selection notification items. Accordingly, it is possible to check various information of the multifunction peripheral 100 without omission.

  For example, when the notification information 903 of the notification item 902 belonging to each of the plurality of page items 901 is edited, the notification information 903 of the notification item 902 of each page item 901 is edited on a predetermined report page. Various kinds of information can be collected on one report page, and it is not necessary to form images on separate report pages, so that it is possible to reduce paper and toner to be used.

  By the way, when the output unit 406 edits and outputs the notification information 903 of the selection notification item 902 (“counter information of each department”, “counter increase amount”), the selection notification in the selection notification item table 707 is output. The selection notification item 709 is output in the vicinity of the notification item 708 (“charging counter”) corresponding to the item 709.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the output unit 406 displays the selection notification item 902b (“each department” corresponding to the notification item 902a immediately below the selected notification item 902a (“charging counter”). ”Counter information” and “counter increase amount”), the notification information 903 of each notification item 902a, 902b is edited and output and displayed.

  Thereby, for example, when the user selects a plurality of notification items 902a, the output unit 406 simply edits and outputs the report pages in the order of the number of selections by the user, and each notification item 902a, The relationship with the selection notification item 902b selected corresponding to the notification item 902a becomes unknown. Therefore, the output means 406 switches the display order of each notification item 902a and selection notification item 902b, and combines the selected notification item 902a and the selection notification item 902b selected corresponding thereto. When the user confirms the report page, it is possible to grasp the contents at a glance and make the contents easy to understand.

  When the output unit 406 completes outputting the notification information, the number of selected notification items is added to the user selection history (FIG. 5: S112).

  Any method may be used for the output unit 406 to add the selection number of the selected notification items to the selection history of the user. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 406 refers to the selection history table 604 and compares the selected notification item (“charging counter”) with the notification item 606 of the selection history table 604. When the output unit 406 matches, the output unit 406 adds the selection number “1” selected earlier to the selection number 607 corresponding to the notification item 606 of the matching selection history table 604, and the selection number The total number is changed from “607” to “2”.

  Thereby, when the user selects a notification item and a report page is output based on the selected notification item, the number of selected notification items is added to the user selection history. Therefore, when a subsequent user prints a report, the notification item can be displayed in a form reflecting the above-described selection of the notification item of the user.

  Here, when the output unit 406 adds the selected number of the selected notification items to the user selection history, the selection number of the selection notification items automatically selected by the user's selection of the notification items is also determined by the user. The selection notification item may be added to the selection history, but the selection of the selection notification item is an automatic selection of the MFP 100. Therefore, the selection of the selection notification item is preferably not added to the selection history of the user. .

  As a result, only the number of notification items selected by the user with his / her hand is reflected in the user's selection history, so the notification items are displayed preferentially in the order of the number of selections selected purely by the user. It becomes possible.

  On the other hand, since the selection notification item is related to the notification item selected by the user as described above, if the selection number of the selection notification item is reflected in the selection history of the user, the notifications related to each other Since the number of items selected increases and only a plurality of notification items related to a predetermined item (for example, “billing counter”) are easily displayed with priority, it is inconvenient for a user who wants to print a report page of various items. It becomes.

  Note that, based on the selection history table 604 described above, when the notification item display receiving unit 402 displays a notification item key for subsequent users, the “charging counter” key is given priority among the notification item keys. Next, “toner remaining amount” and the like are displayed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the notification item display accepting unit 402 displays the notification item key having a large number of selections on a predetermined screen so as to be preferentially selectable based on the selection history indicating the history of the notification item selected by the user. And, based on the selection history, output the notification information of the notification item selected by the user via the screen preferentially first, and adding the selection number of the selected notification item to the selection history And means 406.

  As a result, it is possible to delete a useless key operation and prompt the user to select a desired notification item key.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the output unit 406 outputs the report page as a printed matter, but other configurations may be used. For example, the output unit 406 may be configured to display and output the report page on a display unit such as a touch panel.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the notification item display screen is displayed when the report key 603 displayed on the initial screen is pressed. However, other configurations may be used. For example, prepare a transition key to the system screen in the initial screen, switch to the system screen by pressing the transition key, display a report key in the system screen, and press the report key The notification item display screen may be displayed.

  In the information output apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the case where the information output apparatus is applied to the multifunction peripheral 100 has been described. However, various image forming apparatuses that require information output, various image processing apparatuses, various image processing apparatuses, various image display apparatuses, Even when applied to various measuring devices, various operating devices, etc., the same effects can be obtained.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the MFP 100 is configured to include each unit. However, a program that realizes each unit may be stored in a storage medium, and the storage medium may be provided. In this configuration, the multifunction device 100 reads the program, and the multifunction device 100 implements the respective units. In that case, the program itself read from the recording medium exhibits the effects of the present invention. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a method for storing the steps executed by each means in a hard disk.

  As described above, the information output apparatus and the information output method according to the present invention are useful not only for multifunction peripherals but also for scanners, copiers, printers, etc., and by deleting unnecessary key operations, notification items desired by the user This is effective as an information output device and an information output method capable of prompting selection of a key.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 MFP 102 Operation part 401 Display reception means 402 Notification item display reception means 403 Selection history storage means 404 Selection notification item selection means 405 Selection notification item storage means 406 Output means

Claims (4)

An information output device that outputs notification information of a notification item selected by a user among a plurality of notification items related to various reports of the own device,
A notification item display accepting means for displaying a notification item key having a large number of selections on a predetermined screen based on a selection history indicating a history of the notification item selected by the user, so as to be preferentially selectable;
Output means for preferentially outputting the notification information of the notification item selected by the user via the screen based on the selection history, and adding the selection number of the selected notification item to the selection history; An information output device comprising: When a predetermined notification item key is selected by the user, it is determined whether there is a selection notification item that is a notification item that should be selected in relation to the selected notification item, and the selection notification item The information output device according to claim 1, further comprising selection notification item selection means for selecting the selection notification item when there is a selection notification item. The information output device according to claim 2, wherein, when outputting the notification information of the notification item, the output unit outputs a selection notification item selected corresponding to the selected notification item in the vicinity of the selected notification item. . An information output method of an information output device that outputs notification information of a notification item selected by a user among a plurality of notification items related to various reports of the own device,
Based on the selection history indicating the history of the notification item selected by the user, a step of displaying a notification item key with a large selection number on a predetermined screen so that it can be preferentially selected;
A step of preferentially outputting the notification information of the notification item selected by the user via the screen based on the selection history, and adding the number of selections of the selected notification item to the selection history. An information output method comprising:

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