JP2015073150A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A means for reducing the burden of setting work for a user is provided. An input unit for inputting user identifier information and setting information; a storage unit for storing past setting information as setting history information in association with the user identifier information; and a setting input by the user identifier and the input unit A setting information extraction unit that searches the setting history information based on the information to extract setting information having a high degree of relevance, and a notification unit that displays the setting information extracted by the setting information extraction unit. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that processes an image according to setting information.

  A conventional information processing apparatus accepts input of setting values of setting items by a user's operation, and preferentially displays a screen by guessing items to be set next by the user based on the input information and past setting history information. By displaying on the screen, the convenience of the user is improved. This information processing apparatus estimates the next item to be set by the user according to the setting frequency information performed by the user as the setting history information, and updates the estimation result every time a setting value input by the user is received. The latest estimation result is always displayed on the screen (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-152718 A

However, in the conventional technology, since the estimated setting item is performed for each setting item, it is necessary to perform setting input for each setting item even when setting a plurality of setting items, and there are a large number of setting items. When this is set, there is a problem that the user will be burdened with a large amount of setting work.
An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to reduce the burden of a user's setting work.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an input unit that inputs user identifier information and setting information, a storage unit that stores past setting information as setting history information in association with the user identifier information, and the user identifier and the input unit that input A setting information extraction unit that searches the setting history information based on the setting information and extracts setting information having a high degree of relevance; and a notification unit that displays the setting information extracted by the setting information extraction unit. Features.

  The present invention thus configured can reduce the burden on the user's setting work.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus in an Example Explanatory diagram of job submission information in the embodiment Explanatory drawing of the setting screen in the embodiment The flowchart which shows the flow of the login process in an Example The flowchart which shows the flow of the setting value input process in an Example Explanatory drawing which shows transition of the setting screen in an Example The flowchart which shows the flow of the setting log | history comparison process in an Example Explanatory drawing of the relevance calculation method in an Example

  Embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment.
1, an image processing apparatus 101 as an information processing apparatus includes a communication unit 102, a communication control unit 103, an operation panel 105, a panel control unit 106, a communication instruction recognition unit 104, and a panel instruction recognition unit 107. Instruction recognition unit 130, account management unit 108, job management unit 109, function management unit 110, scanner function unit 111, FAX function unit 112, medium access function unit 113, print function unit 114, Email Function unit 115, image processing 116, print processing 117, authority management unit 118, setting value management unit 119, log management unit 120, storage unit 121, scan processing 122, image processing 123, and setting A history storage unit 124, a setting history comparison unit 131 including a difference extraction unit 125 and an association degree calculation unit 126, a medium detection unit 127, It is more configuration. In this embodiment, the image processing apparatus 101 will be described as a multifunction machine.

  The communication unit 102 is equipped with a communication protocol, and performs communication processing with an external device using the protocol. The communication unit 102 corresponds to a window from an external device in the image processing apparatus 101 as in the operation panel 105. The communication unit 102 does not perform communication with contents spontaneously in the transfer of information, but operates under the instruction of the upper layer. Specifically, it includes global communication processing such as a network and a facsimile in addition to local communication processing such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) and IEEE1394. The communication unit 102 is mainly composed of hardware, and the software is composed of some micro programs. Note that the microprogram is obtained by substituting a part of the processing within the range realized by the hardware with a dedicated program downloaded to the hardware.

The communication control unit 103 operates the communication unit 102, transfers information received from the external device to an upper layer processing unit in the image processing apparatus 101, and transmits information received from the upper layer processing unit to the external device. Forward to.
The communication instruction recognition unit 104 is a processing unit in an upper layer of the communication unit 102, and performs processing of reception information transferred from the communication unit 102 and transmission of information generated during processing of reception information. Further, information requested from the job management unit 109, which is a processing unit of a higher layer, is also transmitted.

In the processing of the received information, a command as an instruction included in the received information is found, and the contents requested by the command are grasped by analyzing the command. When the content requested by the command is simple (for example, referring to or changing the setting value), or when the communication instruction recognizing unit 104 directly executes processing and is complicated (for example, printing) Since the dedicated processing is provided, the communication instruction recognition unit 104 transfers the command to the job management unit 109 and requests the processing. Further, the communication instruction recognition unit 104 requests authentication information from a higher-level device depending on a command to be processed. When the authentication information is transmitted from the higher-level device, the communication instruction recognition unit 104 performs authentication using the received authentication information. When the authority verification is successful, the job management unit 109 uses the user identifier transmitted from the higher-level device as an argument. Request processing.
Data transmission is performed by creating a command in a transmission command format and requesting it to the communication control unit 103. When the setting value of the authentication process existing in the setting value management unit 119 is OFF, the communication instruction recognition unit 104 does not perform the authentication process.

  The operation panel 105 is an input / output device directly connected to the image processing apparatus 101 via an internal bus interface. The output is performed by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel or LED (Light Emitting Diode), and there are various sizes of LCD panels, but those mounted on the image processing apparatus 101 are VGA (640 × 480 dots). Is the largest. Several LEDs are mounted, and each LED is turned on or off with a meaning. Input is performed from a button or the like provided on the operation panel 105. The operation panel 105 is mainly composed of hardware, and the software is composed of some micro programs.

  A panel control unit 106 serving as a notification unit is a processing unit that controls the operation panel 105. The panel control unit 106 receives an instruction from an upper layer or a part of user operation information input from the operation panel 105, and switches display according to a predetermined rule. Further, if the operation input is a user operation input not to be processed, the panel control unit 106 directly notifies the input to the panel instruction recognition unit 107, which is a higher-level processing unit, and requests processing. Further, the panel control unit 106 converts information transferred from the upper layer processing unit into a bitmap format, and transfers the information to the operation panel 105 as a display instruction to the operation panel 105. In the present embodiment, the panel control unit 106 displays the setting information extracted by the setting history comparison unit 131.

The panel instruction recognition unit 107 receives a part of the user operation information notified via the operation panel 105 and the panel control unit 106 as input, and recognizes the instruction content from the user. The method of recognition is generally to display the provided service in a menu format, let the user select an item from the menu, recognize the selected content with the recognition unit, and execute the corresponding function. .
Functions include COPY (function for printing an image of a read original: copy), ScanToEmail (function for sending an image of a read original by attaching it to an e-mail), ScanToFAX (function for transmitting an image of a read original by facsimile) ) And other services that change the setting value.

When the content requested by the user's operation is simple (for example, referring to or changing the set value), the panel instruction recognition unit 107 directly executes the processing, and is complicated (for example, printing). In some cases, since a dedicated process for processing in a format generally called a job is provided, the panel instruction recognition unit 107 transfers operation information to the job management unit 109 and requests processing.
The panel instruction recognition unit 107 also performs processing for identifying attached information necessary for job execution from the input operation information. Attached information necessary for job execution is destination telephone number for facsimile transmission, destination mail address for e-mail transmission, resolution, color strength for printing, duplex / single-sided printing or printing The number of copies. Attached information necessary for executing this job will be described later as “job input information”.

  Further, the panel instruction recognition unit 107 requests authentication information from the user via the operation panel 105 and the panel control unit 106 depending on the operation information to be processed. When the authentication information is input by the user, the panel instruction recognition unit 107 performs authentication using the transferred authentication information. When the authority verification is successful, the job management unit 109 receives the user identifier input by the user as an argument. Request processing. This user identifier is used by the job management unit 109 to determine whether or not to permit job execution.

When the setting value of the authentication process existing in the setting value management unit 119 is OFF, the communication instruction recognition unit 104 does not perform the authentication process. In addition, the output (display) shows the progress of processing executed in the image processing apparatus 101, the content of the error, the value of the currently effective setting value, etc. via the operation panel 105 and the panel control unit 106. Do.
The instruction recognition unit 130 as an input unit includes a communication instruction recognition unit 104 and a panel instruction recognition unit 107, and inputs authentication information as user identifier information and a setting value as setting information.

  The account management unit 108 holds user authentication information used for authentication processing performed by the communication instruction recognition unit 104 and the panel instruction recognition unit 107. Here, the authentication process is performed by collating the first authentication information input from the outside with the second authentication information registered inside the image processing apparatus 101. Second authentication information is held. The authentication information is a user identifier for identifying a user. Examples of the user identifier include a numerical value, fingerprint information, iris (iris) information, etc. in addition to a user name and a password. The account management unit 108 also holds information constituting “job input information” to be described later in relation to the second authentication information.

  The job management unit 109 receives a job requested by the user, monitors the job status, and determines the end. When the job management unit 109 accepts a job, the job management unit 109 performs authority verification processing to check whether the job requester has the authority to execute the job. As a result of the authority collation process, if the job can be executed, the job management unit 109 attaches the user identifier collated as a requester of the job to the job. Note that in the case of a job submitted from an internal process such as a local print that is automatically activated, the job management unit 109 determines to execute the job without performing the authority verification process.

The job status is monitored whether the job processing is still waiting to be started, whether it is started and running, or whether it has started but has stopped due to an abnormality. Judgment of job termination is performed by monitoring whether the job has terminated normally, whether it ended abnormally, or what ended when it ended abnormally.
The job management unit 109 also performs a process of accepting and responding to a status inquiry for a job. Instructions other than monitoring for a job include job start, pause, cancel, resume, and the like, and the job management unit 109 also responds to these requests. Regarding the instruction for any job, the authority of the requester attached to the job is confirmed before execution, and if there is an authority, the instruction is executed, and if there is no authority, the execution of the instruction is rejected.

  The function management unit 110 manages each function unit held in the image processing apparatus 101. The function management unit 110 assigns functions according to instructions from the job management unit 109 and operates them. For example, in the case of ScanToEmail, the job management unit 109 is responsible for handling a job in a unit requested by the user, whereas the function management unit 110 individually manages Scan (Scan) processing and Email processing. . By managing each process individually in this way, various jobs can be realized by combining the processes, so the number of functions to be held and managed can be reduced, and control is easy. Become. In the present embodiment, the following processing is provided as a function.

A scanner function unit 111 as a reading unit controls a scanner that reads an image of a document, reads the image of the document, processes the document, and generates image data. The scanner function unit 111 includes a scan process 122 and an image process 123.
The scan processing 122 drives a scanner unit including an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) and an FB (Flat Bed) to read a user's document and acquire image data of the document.

The medium detection unit 127 detects the presence or absence of a document placed on one or both of the document tables provided on the ADF and FB. For example, the medium detection unit 127 detects that a medium is placed on the ADF. It is a sensor. In this embodiment, the medium detection unit 127 is a sensor that detects that a medium is placed on the ADF. However, the medium detection unit 127 is a sensor that is provided in both the ADF and the FB, and either the ADF or the FB. It is also possible to detect a placed document.
When the medium detection unit 127 detects that the medium is placed on the ADF, the scan processing 122 reads the document placed on the ADF and detects that the medium is not placed on the ADF. A document placed on the FB is read.

The image process 123 processes the image data acquired in the scan process 122. Examples of image data processing include density correction and gamma correction.
As described above, the scanner function unit 111 reads a document based on the presence / absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit 127.
The FAX function unit 112 controls facsimile reception and facsimile transmission, saves or transfers an image received by facsimile to a part designated by the job management unit 109, and transmits an image of the part designated by the job management unit 109 by facsimile. To do. However, the operation is performed only for the facsimile, and the operation is not changed by the previous and subsequent processes.

The medium access function unit 113 has a slot for mounting a portable medium to the image processing apparatus 101, and handles data in the loaded portable medium. The medium access function unit 113 performs a process of reading data from a portable medium and passing it to a subsequent process, and a process of writing the data passed from the previous process to the portable medium. However, the medium access function unit 113 performs an operation specialized for accessing a portable medium, and does not change the operation by itself before and after the subsequent process.
The portable medium is a storage medium that is not always mounted on the image processing apparatus 101, such as a USB memory, an SD card, or a compact flash (registered trademark), and is used for transporting data owned by the user. . The medium access function unit 113 also performs data storage processing on a storage medium fixedly installed in the image processing apparatus 101 or a storage medium connected to the image processing apparatus 101.

The print function unit 114 controls the printing mechanism and prints data provided from the function management unit 110. The print function unit 114 includes an image process 116 and a print process 117. The print function unit 114 performs print processing by using the image processing 116 and the print processing 117, but performs a concealed operation so that the image processing 116 and the print processing 117 are not conscious of the function management unit 110. Note that the print function unit 114 performs an operation specialized for printing only, and does not change the operation by the previous process.
In the image processing 116, the activation timing is controlled by the print function unit 114, and image processing is performed in the printing process. When the processing of the image processing 116 ends, the remaining steps in printing can be executed at the engine speed.

In the printing process 117, the start timing is controlled by the printing function unit 114, and an operation of actually fixing the image data on the paper in the printing process is performed. When the printing process 117 is completed, the printed paper is discharged to the paper discharge stacker.
The e-mail function unit 115 controls transmission / reception by e-mail, stores or transfers an image received by e-mail to a part given from the job management unit 109, and electronically sends an image of the part instructed by the job management unit 109. Send by email. However, an operation specialized for electronic mail is performed, and the operation is not changed by the previous and subsequent processes.
The authority management unit 118 determines a request that is permitted for a user who has been successfully authenticated. The authority management unit 118 is given a user identifier for identifying a user who has been successfully authenticated, and the authority management unit 118 returns the authority granted to the user based on the given user identifier.

The setting value management unit 119 manages setting values of the image processing apparatus 101, and accepts reading of setting values and changes in setting values. Since all the processes of the image processing apparatus 101 may use the setting value, the setting value management unit 119 may be accessed from all the processes. Further, the set value management unit 119 is used permanently, and can keep the stored contents even when the power is turned on again.
The log management unit 120 stores history data and job data each time a user operates the operation panel 105 and executes the job. The log management unit 120 saves data processed in a job as a log in addition to a normal job execution result.

Here, “job input information” will be described.
“Job submission information” is information added to a job when the user submits a job to the image processing apparatus 101. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, “user name”, “user affiliation” , “Year of service”, “Position”, “Submission job type”, “Setting value (destination address)”, “Setting value (file format)”, “Time when job is submitted”, etc. .

When a job is submitted, the user inputs “authentication job type”, “setting value” for each submitted job, etc., in addition to the first authentication information such as “user name” and “password”. “User name” and “password” are input information necessary for user authentication. Inside the image processing apparatus 101, the input information is checked to confirm that the user is authorized. For the authorized user, various information regarding the user is registered in the account management unit 108 in the image processing apparatus 101. For example, the user's “user affiliation”, “year of service”, “position”, and the like. Necessary information is added to the job submission information from the registered information of each user.
Furthermore, when a clock (real time clock) is mounted on the image processing apparatus 101 or when a network protocol for acquiring time from a time server is supported, “time when job is submitted” is also added.

  As described above, the “job input information” is a collection of various information related to job input. In this embodiment, the “input job type” represents the type of job that the user causes the image processing apparatus 101 to execute, such as copying, printing, FAX transmission, and Email transmission. “Setting value” is setting information necessary for performing a job of “Submitted job type”. For example, when “Submitted job type” is FAX transmission, it is necessary for performing facsimile transmission of a destination FAX number, image quality, and the like. The setting information. FIG. 2 shows an example of “job submission information” when Email transmission is selected as a job.

The storage unit 121 is a memory that stores various setting values, received data, and commands to be transmitted and received. Since all processes of the image processing apparatus 101 may use data stored in the storage unit 121, the storage unit 121 may be accessed from all processes. In addition, the storage unit 121 is used permanently, and can retain the stored contents even when the power is turned on again.
The setting history storage unit 124 as a storage unit associates setting values (that is, past setting values) when executing each function with user identifier information as setting history information for each function such as copy, scan, and FAX. It is to hold. Although the function overlaps with that of the storage unit 121, it is assumed that it is independent of the storage unit 121 because it is highly related to the difference extraction unit 125 and the relevance calculation unit 126 as the setting history comparison unit 131.

  Examples of information included in each setting history information include an execution user name, a setting value of each setting item, an execution date / time, a representative image, an apparatus location, an ADF paper setting state, a tray paper supply state, and the immediately preceding execution function. Etc. For example, every time the scanner function unit 111 reads an image of a document, the setting history storage unit 124 executes the presence / absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit 127 according to the ADF paper set state as document presence / absence information and the user's instruction. The immediately preceding execution function as function identification information for identifying the function is added to the setting history information and stored.

The setting history comparison unit 131 as a setting information extraction unit includes a difference extraction unit 125 and an association degree calculation unit 126, and is based on a user identifier, setting information input by the instruction recognition unit 130, document presence / absence information, and function identification information. The setting history information is searched to extract setting information and difference information having a high degree of relevance.
The difference extraction unit 125 compares the current input setting value of the user with each setting value of the setting history information stored in the setting history storage unit 124, and extracts the difference. The difference extraction unit 125 performs a comparison for each setting item, treats the setting item that does not match as a difference, extracts difference information from each setting history information, and displays the difference information to the panel instruction recognition unit 107. hand over.

The relevance calculation unit 126 compares the current input setting value of the user with each setting value of the setting history information stored in the setting history storage unit 124, and compares the input setting value input by the user with each setting history information. Relevance is calculated.
The relevance indicates the similarity between the input setting value input by the user and each setting history information. In this embodiment, the relevance is calculated from the consistency of the setting value and the consistency of the situation at the time of setting. Do. The setting history information is rearranged in the order of the relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit 126 and passed to the panel instruction recognition unit 107.

In the comparison between the input set value and the setting history information in the difference extraction unit 125 and the relevance calculation unit 126, filtering is performed based on the user name, the group name, and the like. In this embodiment, filtering is performed based on the user name. Shall.
In the image processing apparatus 101 configured as described above, a control unit configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like controls the overall operation based on a control program (software) stored in the storage unit 121.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
In this embodiment, the image processing apparatus executes copying, scanning, Email transmission, FAX transmission, and the like according to instructions from the operation panel and the upper apparatus according to preset setting values. While a set value is being input, a setting history highly relevant to the set value being input is displayed to assist the user in inputting the set value.

The operation will be described in three parts: “operation at login” performed by the image processing apparatus, “operation at the time of setting value input from the operation panel”, and “operation at the time of setting history comparison”. Note that in “operation when inputting a set value from the operation panel”, operations from a plurality of functions can be considered, but in the present embodiment, description will be given of operations during menu operation of the copy function.
First, a login process as an “operation at login” performed by the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1 according to a step represented by S in the flowchart showing the flow of the login process in the embodiment of FIG. In FIG. 4, a description will be given until the user operates the operation panel and authentication is successful.

  S1101: The panel control unit 106 accepts a user request input operation via the operation panel 105. There are roughly two means for a user to input a processing request to the image processing apparatus 101. The first is a means for inputting a processing request (command) from a host device such as a host computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) via a network or a communication line such as a USB cable. Ordinary printing using a printer driver from a PC, setting value changing using a utility from a PC, monitoring of a state using a WEB page, and the like are applicable. The second is a means for inputting a command from the operation panel 105. As a specific example, the operation panel 105 is operated to copy, scan and send Email, scan and transfer a file to an external server, FAX transmission, etc. Applies to what you do.

  The function of “print from portable medium” described in the present embodiment corresponds to the second means. First, the user inserts the portable medium owned by the user into a dedicated throttle of the image processing apparatus 101, and then performs the operation. According to the menu displayed on the panel 105, a print request from a portable medium, a read medium designation, a file to be printed, a print option designation are performed, and printing from the portable medium is performed. When the user makes the above-described designation using the operation panel 105, the panel control unit 106 controls the transition of the screen according to the user's input operation.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the authentication is performed after the processing request is input. However, the processing request may be input after the authentication is performed.
S 1102: The panel control unit 106 transfers the request input to the panel instruction recognition unit 107. The contents to be transferred are the above-described print request from the portable medium, designation of the read medium, designation of the file to be printed, designation of the print option, and the like. Note that, within the processing, a request for “print from portable medium” is made with a request identifier of “USB to Print”.

  S1103: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 reads the authentication setting value from the setting value management unit 119. The authentication setting value is a setting value that determines whether or not to perform authentication. In recent years, the running cost of consumables consumed by the printing unit of the image processing apparatus 101 is not so low, so there are cases where the user is limited due to cost reasons, and the image processing apparatus 101 may receive information such as Email transmission and FAX transmission. In some cases, the user may be limited in order to limit the outflow of information, such as having a transfer function or a function of copying a document.

The authentication setting value can be set by the user, but a role generally called an administrator is defined, and only that person has the authority to change the setting value. Defined by information.
S1104: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 confirms the authentication setting value. If the authentication setting value is set to “authenticate” (ON), the process proceeds to S1105 to perform authentication, and “no authentication” ( If it is set to “OFF”, this process is terminated.

S 1105: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 requests input of authentication information via the panel control unit 106. This authentication information is information for identifying a user who inputs a request on the operation panel 105. In the present embodiment, this authentication information will be described as authentication information A as first authentication information, and “user name” and “password” will be described as examples. “User name” and “password” are treated as a pair, “user name” is a disclosed value, and “password” is a private value. Since “user name” is an identifier of the user, duplicate registration cannot be performed, but “password” can be duplicated.
S 1106: Panel control unit 106 receives an input of authentication information A (“user name” and “password”) from the user via operation panel 105, and notifies authentication information A to panel instruction recognition unit 107.

S 1107: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 reads the registered authentication information from the account management unit 108. Since the authentication process is performed by comparing the registered authentication information with the authentication information input on the operation panel 105 when a request is input, the authentication information of a user permitted to be used is registered in the account management unit 108 in advance. There is a need.
In the present embodiment, authentication information registered in the account management unit 108 in advance is authentication information B as second authentication information. The authentication information B is the same as the authentication information A, but has a different meaning, and if the authentication information A is an answer written by the student, the authentication information B is a model answer sheet in which the correct answer is entered.

S1108: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 compares the authentication information A and the authentication information B. When it is determined that they match, the processing is terminated as successful authentication (login success), and when it is determined that they do not match, the authentication failure (login failure) This process ends.
If the authentication is successful (login is successful), the user who has input the request is recognized as a registered user, and processing for the input request is started. If the authentication fails (login fails), the request is input. Reject the entered request without admitting the registered user as a registered user.

  Next, the setting value input process in the “operation at the time of menu operation of the copy function” as a representative example as “the operation at the time of setting value input from the operation panel” is shown as a flow of the setting value input process in the embodiment of FIG. A description will be given with reference to FIG. This process is performed when the “set from history” operation button 32 is selected on the copy setting screen 31 shown in FIG.

  S1201: The panel control unit 106 inputs setting values on the copy setting screen 31 shown in FIG. 3A displayed on the operation panel 105 (for example, “Color” is “Color”, “Paper Size” is “A5”). When the “set from history” operation button 32 is selected, the setting value input by the user is notified to the panel instruction recognition unit 107, and the display of the setting history having a high degree of association is requested. In this embodiment, display of the setting history is requested by selecting the “set from history” operation button 32. However, when the degree of association exceeds a predetermined threshold, the setting history having a high degree of association is automatically displayed. May be requested.

S1202: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 notifies the setting history comparison unit 131 including the difference extraction unit 125 and the relevance calculation unit 126 of the input value of the setting value input by the user and the user name as the user information.
S1203: The setting history comparison unit 131 compares the setting value input by the user based on the input information of the setting value and the setting value input by the user (user input setting value) with the history setting value based on the matching items. The degree of association is calculated, and the setting history is sorted in descending order of the degree of association calculated. Details of the process for comparing the user input set value and the history set value will be described later.

S1204: The panel instruction recognition unit 107 receives the setting history sorted in the order of relevance from the setting history comparison unit 131 and the difference information between the setting history and the user input setting value, and sends the relevance degree to the operation panel 105 through the panel control unit 106. Instructs the display of higher setting history and difference information. The panel instruction recognizing unit 107 first instructs the display only for the setting history having the higher relevance level, but also instructs the display of the setting history having the lower relevance level according to the user's instruction.
S1205: The operation panel 105 displays a setting history screen composed of setting history and difference information with higher relevance according to the received instruction, and notifies the user. This setting history screen is, for example, the setting history screen 35 shown in FIG. 3B, and the setting history having the higher relevance level is displayed in the order of history (1), history (2), history (3).

  S1206: The operation panel 105 displaying the setting history screen accepts the user's input operation and requests the panel instruction recognition unit 107 to reflect the setting value of the setting history specified by the user through the panel control unit 106. For example, in the setting history screen 35 shown in FIG. 3B, a selection operation button 36 for selecting each setting value displayed, and an entire selection operation button 37 for selecting all setting values for each history (for example, history (3 ), When the entire selection operation button 37 is selected, all the setting values “double-sided setting: double-sided”, “enlargement ratio: 70%”, “resolution: 300 dpi” selected in the history (3) are selected) By accepting the operation and further accepting the operation of the setting reflection operation button 38 for reflecting the selected setting value, the operation panel 105 displays the setting history specified by the user to the panel instruction recognition unit 107 through the panel control unit 106. Requests reflection of the setting value.

S1207: The panel instruction recognizing unit 107 that has received an instruction to request the reflection of the setting value instructs the setting value management unit 119 to change the setting value.
S1208: The set value management unit 119 changes the set value in accordance with the set value change instruction, and further notifies the panel instruction recognition unit 107 of the change of the set value to be displayed.
S1209: The panel instruction recognizing unit 107 reflects the change of the setting value on the display screen, and instructs the operation panel 105 to display the screen on which the setting value has been changed through the panel control unit 106.

S1210: The operation panel 105 displays a screen on which the set value has been changed on the display unit, and ends this process.
As described above, the instruction recognition unit of the image processing apparatus 101 extracts the past setting history information highly relevant to the setting value input by the user by the setting history management unit and notifies the user of it. The user can easily perform the same or similar setting as the setting performed in the past, and can reduce the burden of the user's setting work when setting a large number of setting items.

Here, the setting screen on the copy menu screen according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to an explanatory diagram showing the transition of the setting screen in the embodiment of FIG.
FIG. 6A shows a copy menu screen as a home screen for the copy function displayed on the operation panel of the image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus has a plurality of functions such as copying, scanning, faxing, and printing, but the operation panel displays substantially the same operation screen. The copy menu screen is displayed when copying is performed, and various settings such as the number of copies, paper, print quality, and layout of the print page on the medium are possible. In this embodiment, color settings, Assume that the resolution, paper size, paper type, duplex setting, and enlargement ratio can be set.

  In the copy menu screen 61 shown in FIG. 6A, the color setting is set to “color” 61a and the paper size is set to “A5” 61b by the user's operation, and the resolution, paper type, duplex setting, and enlargement ratio are initial values. “600 dpi”, “plain paper”, “single side”, and “100%”. In this state, when the “set from history” operation button 61c on the copy menu screen 61 is selected, a setting history screen for displaying the setting history shown in FIG. 6B in descending order of relevance is displayed.

  In the setting history screen 62 shown in FIG. 6B, setting history information having a high degree of relevance is displayed with priority, and a setting having a high degree of relevance with the setting value input on the copy menu screen 61 shown in FIG. The histories 63, 64, and 65 are arranged in descending order and are displayed in order as history (1), history (2), and history (3). In each setting history, the setting time 63a, 64a, 65a (for example, 2 minutes before) and the representative images 63b, 64b, 65b (function implementation) so that the user can recognize when and what setting is made. Time images (for example, scanned images and printed images) are also displayed. The selection method of the representative image is arbitrary, but in this embodiment, an image obtained by reducing the first image at the time of copying is used as the representative image.

The setting histories 63, 64, and 65 are the difference between the current setting value (the setting value input by the user as the setting information and the initial value as the initial setting information) and the setting value of the setting history. The settings except for the setting values entered on the copy menu screen 61 are displayed as difference settings 63c, 64c, 65c so that the user can select desired setting values from the difference settings 63c, 64c, 65c, respectively. It has become.
The setting histories 63, 64, and 65 display the whole selection operation buttons 63d, 64d, and 65b. By selecting the whole selection operation buttons 63d, 64d, and 65b, the displayed difference settings 63c are displayed. , 64c, 65c can be collectively selected.

It should be noted that the setting values of other setting histories can be selected even after the entire selection is made, and each setting value can be selected from a plurality of setting histories. In addition, page move buttons are displayed at the left and right ends of the screen, and other setting histories (setting histories with lower relevance) can be displayed by pressing the page move buttons.
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the entire selection operation button 64d of the setting history 64 is selected, and “enlargement ratio: 70%” is selected from the difference setting 65c of the setting history 65. When the selection operation is accepted, FIG. A setting history screen 66 shown in (c) is displayed.

As described above, the setting time information and the representative image are notified to the user together with the past setting history information, so that the user can perform the setting while recalling the setting made in the past. This can be used as a reference for selection and prevent setting errors.
In addition, when setting values are selected and set from setting history information, a set item group of setting history information can be selected collectively, thereby simplifying various setting operations of the user.
Furthermore, since a desired setting value can be selected from a plurality of setting history information, the user can easily select a desired setting value from a plurality of past setting history information.

In the setting history screen 66 in which the selection operation shown in FIG. 6C is performed, “resolution: 300 dpi” and “paper type: cardboard” which are all setting values in the difference setting 64c of the setting history 64 are selected. In addition, a state in which “enlargement ratio: 70%” is selected from the difference setting 65c of the setting history 65 is displayed. When the setting reflection operation button 66a is selected in this state, the selected setting value is reflected in the current copy setting value, and a copy menu screen 67 shown in FIG. 6D is displayed.
In the copy menu screen 67 shown in FIG. 6D, “resolution: 300 dpi” 67a, “paper type: cardboard” 67b, and “enlargement ratio: 70%” 67c are displayed as selected setting values.

Next, the setting history comparison process for comparing the user input setting value and the history setting value will be described with reference to FIG. 1 according to the step represented by S in the flowchart showing the flow of the setting history comparison process in the embodiment of FIG. To do. This process is a process executed in S1203 of FIG.
S1301: The setting history comparison unit 131 of the image processing apparatus 101 reads the setting history information from the setting history storage unit 124, and extracts setting history information having the same user name and function (copy, scan, FAX, etc.). In the present embodiment, the setting history information is extracted based on the user name, but may be extracted based on the group name or the like.
S1302: The setting history comparison unit 131 compares the extracted setting history information with the user input setting value input by the user, and calculates the relevance and extracts the difference.

Here, the calculation of the degree of association and the extraction of the difference will be described with reference to FIG.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the setting items “color setting”, “resolution”, “paper size”, “paper type”, “double-sided setting”, and “magnification ratio” are set. In addition, the information of “ADF / FB”, “Previous execution function”, and “History number” are used to calculate the degree of association.

“ADF / FB” indicates whether or not a document is placed on the ADF, and “ADF” when a document is placed on the ADF, and “FB” when a document is not placed on the ADF. It becomes. Note that whether or not a document is placed on the ADF is detected by the medium detection unit 127 shown in FIG.
“Previous execution function” indicates a function that the user has executed in the past immediately before performing the function. For example, when the scan function has been executed in the past immediately before the copy function, the scan function is recorded.
“History number” indicates the newness of the setting history information, and the smaller the number, the more recent setting history information.

The relevance calculation unit 126 of the setting history comparison unit 131 performs “color setting”, “resolution”, “paper size”, “paper type”, “double-sided setting”, “enlargement ratio”, “ADF / FB”, “immediately before” Relevance function ”and“ history number ”are assigned weighting factors to calculate the relevance.
In this embodiment, the weighting factors of “color setting”, “resolution”, “paper size”, “paper type”, “double-sided setting”, and “enlargement ratio” are set to “1”, and “ADF / FB” and “ The weighting coefficient for the immediately preceding execution function is “0.5”, and the weighting coefficient for “history number” is “history number × −0.1”.

  The reason why the weight coefficient of “color setting”, “resolution”, “paper size”, “paper type”, “double-sided setting”, and “magnification ratio” is set to “1” is related to the user input setting value. This is because the weight coefficient of “ADF / FB” and “previous execution function” is set to “0.5” because the relevance to the user input setting value is lower than each setting item. Further, the reason that the weighting coefficient of “history number” is set to “history number × −0.1” is to give a weighting coefficient according to the new and old setting history information. This is because it is considered highly related to the value.

Each weighting factor is not limited to those described above, and may be changed as appropriate according to the use status and purpose of use of the image processing apparatus.
Next, the relevancy calculation processing performed by the relevance calculation unit 126 will be described.
In FIG. 8, a column 81 indicates “history number”, “color setting”, “resolution”, “paper size”, “paper type”, “double-sided setting”, “enlargement ratio”, “ADF / FB”, “immediately before”. "Execution function", "relevance", and "order". Note that x in (x) of the column 81 represents a weighting factor.

The column 82 indicates the user input setting value and the above-described “ADF / FB” and “previous execution function”. “Color setting” is changed to “Color”, “Paper size” is changed to “A5”, The setting items remain unchanged from the initial values, and “ADF / FB” becomes “ADF: set” indicating that the document is placed on the ADF, and the “execution function immediately before” is executed immediately before. “FAX” indicating that the function is a FAX function.
In the column 83, setting history information is arranged in order from the newest, and the setting values shown in the column 82 that match the user input setting values are hatched. Note that “ADF / FB” indicates that the document read in the setting history information is “ADF” or “FB”.

  Based on these pieces of information, the relevance calculation unit 126 calculates the relevance. For example, in the first column 83a of the column 83, the “history number” is “1”, the “color setting”, and the “paper size” match the user input setting values, and the document is placed on the ADF of the current image processing apparatus. Since “ADF / FB” matches, the weighting coefficient is 1 (color setting) +1 (paper size) +0.5 (ADF / FB) = 2.5, and the history number is Since “1”, 1 × −0.1 = −0.1 is added, and the degree of association is 2.4.

When the relevance of each installation history is calculated by the same calculation method, the relevance of the seventh column 83g is 2.3, the relevance of the fourth column 83d is 1.6, and the first column 83a is ranked first. The seventh column 83g is ranked second, and the fourth column 83d is ranked third.
As described above, the relevance calculation unit 126 takes into account past information highly relevant to the setting value input by the user in consideration of information indicating the newness of the setting history information, ADF / FB usage information, and immediately preceding execution function information. By extracting the setting history information, it is possible to extract past setting history information having high relevance with high accuracy for various uses.

Next, the difference extraction process performed by the difference extraction unit 125 will be described.
The difference extraction unit 125 sets the “history number”, “color setting”, “resolution”, “paper size”, “paper type”, “double-sided setting”, and “magnification” in the column 81 in FIG. Then, the user input setting value is compared with the setting history information, and setting items having different values are extracted as differences. For example, when the user input set value is compared with the setting history information in the fourth column 83d of the column 83, the “color setting” (color), “paper size” (A5), and “paper type” (plain paper) are the same. Therefore, “resolution” (300 dpi), “double-sided setting” (double-sided), and “enlargement ratio” (70%) excluding them are extracted as difference information.

Returning to the description of FIG.
S1303: The setting history comparison unit 131 sorts the setting history information in descending order of the degree of association.
S1304: The setting history comparison unit 131 notifies the sorted instruction history information and difference information between the setting history information and the user input setting value input by the user to the panel instruction recognition unit 107, and ends this processing.

As described above, in this embodiment, the instruction recognition unit of the image processing apparatus extracts past setting history information highly relevant to the setting value input by the user by the setting history management unit, and notifies the user of it. By doing so, the user can easily perform the same or similar setting as the setting performed in the past, and the burden of the user's setting work when setting a large number of setting items can be reduced.
In addition, the instruction recognizing unit uses the setting history management unit to check the relevance of the setting value input by the user in consideration of the information indicating the newness of the setting history information, the ADF / FB usage information, and the immediately preceding execution function information. By extracting high past setting history information, it is possible to extract past setting history information that is highly relevant to a wider variety of uses.

In addition, since the setting time information and the representative image are notified to the user together with the past setting history information, the user can perform the setting while recalling the setting made in the past, and the setting value can be selected. It is possible to prevent errors in settings.
In addition, when setting values are selected and set from setting history information, a set item group of setting history information can be selected collectively, thereby simplifying various setting operations of the user.
Furthermore, since a desired setting value can be selected from a plurality of setting history information, the user can easily select a desired setting value from a plurality of past setting history information.

In this embodiment, the image processing apparatus has been described as a multifunction peripheral. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus, a scanner apparatus, or a printer may be used.
Further, although the information processing apparatus has been described as an image processing apparatus, the communication unit 102, the communication control unit 103, the communication instruction recognition unit 104, the operation panel 105, the panel control unit 106, the panel instruction recognition unit 107, Account management unit 108, authority management unit 118, setting value management unit 119, log management unit 120, storage unit 121, scan processing 122, image processing 123, setting history storage unit 124, difference extraction unit 125 and a degree-of-association calculation unit 126, and a host computer (such as a personal computer) that is communicably connected to a multifunction device including the medium detection unit 127 may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image processing apparatus 102 Communication part 103 Communication control part 104 Communication instruction recognition part 105 Operation panel 106 Panel control part 107 Panel instruction recognition part 108 Account management part 109 Job management part 110 Function management part 111 Scanner function part 112 FAX function part 113 Medium Access function unit 114 Print function unit 115 Email function unit 116 Image processing 117 Print processing 118 Authority management unit 119 Setting value management unit 120 Log management unit 121 Storage unit 122 Scan processing 123 Image processing 124 Setting history storage unit 125 Difference extraction unit 126 Related Degree calculation unit 127 Medium detection unit 130 Instruction recognition unit 131 Setting history comparison unit

Claims (17)

An input unit for inputting user identifier information and setting information;
A storage unit for storing past setting information as setting history information in association with the user identifier information;
A setting information extraction unit that searches the setting history information based on the user identifier and the setting information input by the input unit and extracts setting information having a high degree of association;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a notification unit that displays setting information extracted by the setting information extraction unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A medium detector for detecting the presence or absence of a document placed on one or both of an automatic document feeder and a document table provided on a flat bed;
A reading unit that reads a document based on the presence or absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit;
The storage unit stores the presence / absence of a document detected by the medium detection unit as document presence / absence information added to the setting history information every time the reading unit reads an image of the document,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, the setting information input by the input unit, and the document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit, and extracts setting information having a high degree of association. An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The storage unit stores function identification information for identifying a function executed according to a user instruction,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, the setting information input by the input unit and the function identification information, and extracts setting information having a high degree of association. Processing equipment. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The storage unit stores function identification information for identifying a function executed according to a user instruction,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, the setting information input by the input unit, the document presence / absence information, and the function identification information, and extracts setting information having a high degree of association. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.
A medium detector for detecting the presence or absence of a document placed on one or both of an automatic document feeder and a document table provided on a flat bed;
A reading unit that reads a document based on the presence or absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit;
The storage unit stores the presence / absence of a document detected by the medium detection unit as document presence / absence information added to the setting history information every time the reading unit reads an image of the document,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, setting information input by the input unit, document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit, and document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit. An information processing apparatus that extracts setting information having a high degree of association. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the setting information extraction unit compares the setting information input by the input unit with the setting history information, and calculates the degree of association based on a matching item. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6,
A medium detector for detecting the presence or absence of a document placed on one or both of an automatic document feeder and a document table provided on a flat bed;
A reading unit that reads a document based on the presence or absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit;
The storage unit stores the presence / absence of a document detected by the medium detection unit as document presence / absence information added to the setting history information every time the reading unit reads an image of the document,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, the setting information input by the input unit and the document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit,
The setting information input by the input unit and the document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit are compared with the setting history information, and the relevance is calculated based on matching items. Processing equipment. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6,
The storage unit stores function identification information for identifying a function executed according to a user instruction,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, the setting information input by the input unit and the function identification information,
An information processing apparatus, wherein the setting information and the function identification information input by the input unit are compared with the setting history information, and the degree of association is calculated based on a matching item. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7,
The storage unit stores function identification information for identifying a function executed according to a user instruction,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, the setting information input by the input unit, the document presence / absence information, and the function identification information,
The setting information input by the input unit, the information on the presence / absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit, and the function identification information are compared with the setting history information, and the relevance is calculated based on the matching items. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8,
A medium detector for detecting the presence or absence of a document placed on one or both of an automatic document feeder and a document table provided on a flat bed;
A reading unit that reads a document based on the presence or absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit;
The storage unit stores the presence / absence of a document detected by the medium detection unit as document presence / absence information added to the setting history information every time the reading unit reads an image of the document,
The setting information extraction unit searches the setting history information based on the user identifier, setting information input by the input unit, document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit, and document presence / absence information detected by the medium detection unit. And
The setting information input by the input unit, the information on the presence / absence of the document detected by the medium detection unit, and the function identification information are compared with the setting history information, and the relevance is calculated based on the matching items. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 10,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the setting information extraction unit assigns a weighting coefficient to each item and calculates the degree of association. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the setting information extraction unit assigns the weighting coefficient according to whether the setting history information is new or old, and calculates the degree of association. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
The notification unit preferentially displays the setting information having a high degree of association on a display unit. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the notification unit displays a difference between the setting information and initial setting information input by the input unit and the setting information extracted by the setting information extraction unit on a display unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14,
The said notification part displays the said difference on a display part so that selection is possible, The information processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15,
The said notification part displays the said difference on a display part so that selection is possible collectively. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16,
The notification unit displays the setting information together with a representative image and a setting time on a display unit.

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