JP2016143322A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing reduction in working efficiency and leakage of information.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 10 comprises: a human sensor 51 which detects whether or not a user is at a prescribed position of an image forming apparatus body; a display part 20 which displays a prescribed screen; an image sensor 52 which captures an image of the user detected by the human sensor; a user specification part 42 which can specify a user on the basis of prescribed feature points of the image captured by the image sensor; and a display control part 41 which controls display to the display part on the basis of the specification result of the user specification part. The screen for the first user is turned into the erasure state when at least the user specification part specifies the second user different from the first user in the case where the first user is specified by the user specification part on the basis of the image captured by the image sensor and the screen for the first user is displayed on the display part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more specifically, an image forming apparatus including a human sensor that detects whether or not a user is at a predetermined position of a main body of an image forming apparatus, and a display unit that displays a predetermined setting screen. Relates to the device.

  The image forming apparatus includes, for example, a multi-function peripheral (MFP) having a plurality of functions such as copying, facsimile, scanner, and printing, and can be shared by a plurality of users when connected to the Internet or an intranet. . When the image forming apparatus is shared by a plurality of users, another user cannot operate while the user is operating. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of an image forming apparatus including a human sensor, and cancels or displays an authentication state when the user leaves the image forming apparatus based on a detection signal of the human sensor. The user input operation is allowed after the re-authentication procedure.

JP 2013-45315 A

  By the way, when an administrator or a service person operates the image forming apparatus, it often takes a bent posture on the spot or moves to the left side or right side of the image forming apparatus. Since a re-authentication procedure is required every time the human sensor deviates from the detection position, it is inconvenient for an administrator or service person. On the other hand, if the input to the operation screen is enabled without going through the re-authentication procedure, there arises a problem that the information of the administrator or service person may be leaked.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a reduction in work efficiency and information leakage.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first technical means of the present invention includes a human sensor that detects whether or not a user is at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus main body, and a display unit that displays a predetermined screen. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image sensor that captures an image of the user detected by the human sensor; and a user who can identify the user based on a predetermined feature point of the image captured by the image sensor And a display control unit that controls display on the display unit based on the identification result of the user identification unit, and the first user in the user identification unit based on the image captured by the image sensor. When the screen for the first user is specified and displayed on the display unit, when at least the user specifying unit specifies a second user different from the first user, the screen for the first user is specified. Whether the screen is the display Is obtained is characterized in that in the erased state.

  In the first technical means, when the screen for the first user is displayed on the display unit in the first technical means, after the first user is no longer detected by the human sensor, When the user specifying unit specifies the first user again, a screen for the first user is displayed on the display unit.

  A third technical means is the first or second technical means, wherein the predetermined feature point is at least one of a user's face, a color of clothes worn by the user, and a mark attached to the clothes. It is characterized by that.

  A fourth technical means is a memory for storing an operation history by the first user when the screen for the first user is erased from the display unit in any one of the first to third technical means. It further has a part.

  According to a fifth technical means, in any one of the first to fourth technical means, the display control unit displays a screen different from the screen for the first user when the second user is specified. It is characterized by being displayed on the part.

  A sixth technical means is the fifth technical means, wherein the different screen is a login screen.

  According to a seventh technical means, in the fifth technical means, the different screen is a screen for locking an input function by a user.

  According to the present invention, when a feature point of a second user different from the first user is extracted by the image sensor and it is determined that the second user is at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus main body, Since the screen is erased from the display unit, it is possible to prevent leakage of information related to the first user.

1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the operation part of FIG. It is a flowchart of the screen display process by this invention. It is a flowchart of the screen display process by this invention. It is explanatory drawing of a login screen and various setting screens. It is explanatory drawing of user recognition. It is explanatory drawing of the input lock screen by 2nd Embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation unit of FIGS. The image forming apparatus 10 includes, for example, an in-body discharge type image forming apparatus main body 10a. Above the apparatus main body 10a, an automatic document feeder (ADF) or a document reading unit 13 equipped with a document presser is mounted. Is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a paper discharge tray 10b is provided below the document reading unit 13, and printed paper can be easily taken out from the front or right side of the apparatus main body 10a. Note that the left side surface of the apparatus main body 10a is connected to the post-processing apparatus 50, and is sent out from the apparatus main body 10a when the user desires processing such as paper folding, stapling, or filing for printing. Each process can be performed on the printed paper.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a communication I / F 11, an operation unit 12, a document reading unit 13, an image processing unit 14, a printing unit 15, a storage unit 16, a control unit 17, and the like. Connected via bus.
The control unit 17 is configured to be able to communicate with an external device (not shown) via the communication I / F 11. The communication I / F 11 includes, for example, a FAX communication unit, an Internet communication unit, an infrared communication unit, and the like.

  The control unit 17 includes, for example, one or a plurality of CPUs (Central Processing Units) and the like, and loads various programs and data stored in, for example, the ROM of the storage unit 16 into the RAM. Execute. As a result, the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 10 can be controlled based on the content of instructions from the user while processing the data.

The document reading unit 13 is configured to be able to optically read a document set at a predetermined position, and an image of the read document is output to the image processing unit 14 via the control unit 17.
As shown in FIG. 3, the operation unit 12 is disposed, for example, on the front side of the document reading unit 13, and on the operation unit main body 12a, the liquid crystal display 22 and the transparent resistance film type touch panel described in FIG. An operation panel 20 having 21 and a hard key 23 using a contact point are provided. The operation panel 20 corresponds to the display unit of the present invention. A card reader (not shown) may be installed in the vicinity of the operation unit 12.

The touch panel 21 described in FIG. 2 is formed, for example, so as to overlap the display 22, and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for operating the image forming apparatus 10 is displayed on the operation panel 20.
For example, the image processing unit 14 performs various processes on the document data read by the document reading unit 13 to generate image data. The generated image data is output to the printing unit 15. The read document data and generated image data are stored in the input image area 31 of the storage unit 16.

The printing unit 15 is configured to execute printing by performing paper feeding, image formation, transfer, fixing, paper discharge, and the like, and prints image data from the image processing unit 14 on a sheet. If the printing unit 15 has a double-sided printing function, the image data of the document from the image processing unit 14 can be printed on the other side of the sheet as well as on one side.
The control unit 17 includes a display control unit 41 and a user authentication unit 42, for example.

The display control unit 41 can display a login screen for user authentication on the operation panel 20 such as a user number input field or a login name or password input field. As will be described later, various setting screens for operating the image forming apparatus 10 can also be displayed on the operation panel 20. The items of the various setting screens are stored in the operation history area 34 of the storage unit 16.
The user authentication unit 42 collates information input by the operation unit 12 or information obtained by reading a user-owned IC card, for example, with a card reader with user identification information stored in the user information area 32 of the storage unit 16. And the success or failure of login or the like is determined.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a human sensor 51 and an image sensor 52. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the human sensor 51 is installed at a predetermined position (for example, the front surface) of the apparatus main body 10a, is activated together with the image forming apparatus 10, and is generated from the human body such as a pyroelectric sensor. By detecting infrared rays, it can be detected whether or not the user is in front of the apparatus main body 10a. The human sensor may be an ultrasonic method that detects the rebound of vibration waves, or may detect transmitted light or reflected light of an LED light source.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the image sensor 52 is, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) installed in the vicinity of the operation panel 20, and is activated when the user touches the operation panel 20, for example, and the apparatus main body 10a. It is possible to take an image of the user who operates by looking through the operation panel 20 in front of The photographed image is output to the image processing unit 14 via the control unit 17, and feature points such as a face and clothes color are extracted. The extracted feature points are also stored in the user information area 32. Note that the feature points may be extracted from the face of the user, the color of the clothes worn by the user, the marks attached to the clothes, and further accessories (for example, glasses).

Further, the user authentication unit 42 can identify the user by face recognition or color recognition based on the feature points of the image captured by the image sensor 52. Therefore, the user authentication unit 42 corresponds to the user specifying unit of the present invention.
A commonly used method can be used for face recognition and color recognition. For example, standard face images and colors calculated from a large number of face images and colors are stored in the reference data area 33 of the storage unit 16 as reference data, and the faces and colors are recognized from the correlation values with the reference data. . And it is discriminate | determined with the information of the user information area | region 32 whether it is the same user.

In this way, if a user is specified using an image captured by an image sensor, a prior setting such as fingerprint authentication is unnecessary, which is convenient for the user.
The detection result by the human sensor 51 and the specific result by the user authentication unit 42 are output to the display control unit 41, and the display control unit 41 turns off the operation panel 20 and causes the operation panel 20 to display various setting screens.

(First embodiment)
4 and 5 are flowcharts of the screen display process according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, an example in which the operation panel 20 is turned off based on the detection result by the human sensor 51 is assumed. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a login screen and various setting screens, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of user recognition.

First, when the human sensor 51 detects that the user is in front of the apparatus main body 10a (YES in step S10 in FIG. 4), the operation panel 20 displays a login screen, for example, the password shown in FIG. The input screen 60 is displayed (step S11 in FIG. 4).
Next, the user authentication unit 42 compares the input contents of the password with the user identification information stored in the user information area 32, and is a legitimate user (corresponding to a first user, for example, an administrator or a service person). When it determines (YES of step S12), it becomes a login success and progresses to step S13. If it is determined that the user is not an authorized user (NO in step S12), the process exits this flow.

  When the login is successful, the image sensor 52 acquires the image of the first user who is in front of the apparatus main body 10a, and the image processing unit 14 uses the image of the image sensor 52 to display the feature points such as the color of the first user's face and clothes. To extract. Further, the display control unit 41 causes the operation panel 20 to display a screen for the first user, for example, various setting screens 61 shown in FIG. 6B (step S13 in FIG. 4). Thereby, the first user can select various jobs.

The extraction result of the image processing unit 14 is stored in the user information area 32 as the personal information of the first user (step S14). In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the color of the image positioned on the upper side can be recognized as the face color, and the color positioned on the lower side can be recognized as the color of clothes.
Subsequently, for example, when the detection output of the human sensor 51 is switched from the presence to the absence (YES in step S15 in FIG. 4), it can be determined that the first user is no longer in front of the apparatus main body 10a. Thereby, for example, the display control unit 41 turns off the operation panel 20 and turns off the setting screen for the first user described with reference to FIG. In this case, the operation content by the first user is stored in the operation history area 34 of the storage unit 16 (step S16). If the operation history by the first user is stored, the operation can be started from the previous time at the next operation by the first user.

  Subsequently, when the detection output of the human sensor 51 is not present (NO in step S20 in FIG. 5), the detection output of the human sensor 51 is switched to be present, and the user is in front of the apparatus body 10a. When detected (YES in step S20), the image forming apparatus 10 is operated, for example, the operation panel 20 is not touched (NO in step S21), and then the detection output of the human sensor 51 is switched to none (step S20). NO), the operation panel 20 continues to be turned off (step S16 in FIG. 4). Even if the user comes to the front of the apparatus main body 10a, when the user does not operate the image forming apparatus 10 as in the case where the user takes out printed paper from the paper discharge tray 10b, for example, the first user Since it is not necessary to display the setting screen for the user on the operation panel 20, it is possible to prevent leakage of information about the first user.

  On the other hand, when the detection output of the human sensor 51 is switched, it is detected that the user is in front of the apparatus body 10a (YES in step S20 in FIG. 5), and the operation panel 20 is touched (in step S21). YES), the image sensor 52 acquires an image of the user who is in front of the apparatus main body 10a (step S22). The image processing unit 14 extracts feature points such as the user's face and clothes color from the image of the image sensor 52, and the user authentication unit 42 starts identifying the user. The extraction result is stored in the user information area 32.

  The user authentication unit 42 compares the image captured by the image sensor 52 with the information in the user information area 32, and determines whether or not the same person as the logged-in person (steps S23 and S24). Specifically, when it is determined that the person is logged in, that is, the first user (YES in step S24), the operation history by the first user is called from the operation history area 34 and directed to the first user. Is displayed on the operation panel 20 (step S25). If the user subsequently logs out (YES in step S26), the process exits this flow.

  On the other hand, when the user authentication unit 42 determines that the user is not the first user (NO in step S24), it is determined that a second user other than the first user is in front of the apparatus main body 10a. it can. In this case, the operation panel 20 continues to be turned off and, for example, the user logs out (step S27), and a screen different from the screen for the first user, for example, the password input screen 60 described in FIG. 20 (step S11 in FIG. 4).

As described above, when the feature point of the second user different from the first user is extracted by the image sensor and it is determined that the second user is in front of the image forming apparatus main body, the setting screen for the first user Is in an erased state from the operation panel 20 and information on the first user is not visible, and thus leakage of the information can be reliably prevented.
In addition, even when the first user deviates from the detection position of the human sensor as described above (YES in step S15 in FIG. 4), when the first user is specified again (YES in step S24 in FIG. 5). Since the setting screen for the first user is displayed on the operation panel 20 (step S25), the conventional re-authentication procedure becomes unnecessary, and the work efficiency can be prevented from being lowered.

  In the first embodiment, when the detection output of the human sensor 51 is switched to none (YES in step S15 in FIG. 4), the setting screen for the first user is deleted from the operation panel 20 and the first The operation history by the user is stored in the operation history area 34 (step S16). However, the operation history by the first user is stored in the operation history area 34 when the user authentication unit 42 determines that the user is not the first user and logs out (NO in step S24 in FIG. 5, S27). Also good.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an input lock screen according to the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, when the user authentication unit 42 determines that the user is not the first user, the user is logged out (NO in step S24 in FIG. 5, S27). However, instead of this logout, for example, a screen for locking the input function by the user may be displayed on the operation panel 20 as a screen different from the screen for the first user.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, an input lock screen 62 indicating “the first user is working” is displayed on the operation panel 20. Also in this case, the information regarding the first user is not visible, and thus information leakage can be reliably prevented.
The input lock screen 62 can be provided with a [unlock] key as shown in FIG. 8, and when the [unlock] key is touched, the lock state of the input function can be terminated. As a result, when the second user uses it, the locked state can be released and a desired job can be started quickly.

(Third embodiment)
Moreover, in the said embodiment, when the detection output of the human sensitive sensor 51 switches to nothing (YES of step S15 of FIG. 4), the setting screen for 1st users was deleted from the operation panel 20 (step S16). The setting screen for the first user may be deleted after the person search.
Specifically, even if the detection output of the human sensor 51 is switched to none (YES in step S15), the setting screen for the first user is continuously displayed. Then, when the human sensor is switched to the presence of the detection output, and then the person is searched from the image of the image sensor 52, it is determined that the user is not the logged-in first user. It is also possible to do. Until the second user is specified by the user authentication unit 42, the screen for the first user is not erased, and in this case as well, the conventional re-authentication procedure becomes unnecessary.

  In the above embodiment, the image processing unit 14 extracts the user's face and color feature points from the image of the image sensor 52. However, the image sensor captures the user's eyes and the image processing unit extracts the iris pattern. By doing so, the user authentication unit 42 may specify the user.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus, 10a ... Image forming apparatus main body, 10b ... Paper discharge tray, 11 ... Communication I / F, 12 ... Operation part, 12a ... Operation part main body, 13 ... Document reading part, 14 ... Image processing part, 15 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Printing part, 16 ... Memory | storage part, 17 ... Control part, 20 ... Operation panel, 21 ... Touch panel, 22 ... Display, 23 ... Hard key, 31 ... Input image area, 32 ... User information area, 33 ... Reference data area, 34 ... operation history area, 41 ... display control unit, 42 ... user authentication unit, 50 ... post-processing device, 51 ... human sensor, 52 ... image sensor, 60 ... password input screen, 61 ... various setting screens, 62 ... input Lock screen.

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus including a human sensor that detects whether or not a user is at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus main body, and a display unit that displays a predetermined screen,
An image sensor that captures an image of the user detected by the human sensor, a user identifying unit that can identify the user based on a predetermined feature point of the image captured by the image sensor, and a A display control unit that controls display on the display unit based on a specific result,
When the first user is specified by the user specifying unit based on the image captured by the image sensor and the screen for the first user is displayed on the display unit, at least the user specifying unit is the first user. An image forming apparatus, wherein when a second user different from the user is specified, the screen for the first user is in an erased state from the display unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
When the screen for the first user is displayed on the display unit and the user specifying unit specifies the first user again after the first user is no longer detected by the human sensor, An image forming apparatus, wherein the screen for the first user is displayed on the display unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
The image forming apparatus, wherein the predetermined feature point is at least one of a user's face, a color of clothes worn by the user, and a mark attached to the clothes. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image forming apparatus, further comprising a storage unit that stores an operation history by the first user when the screen for the first user is erased from the display unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
The display control unit, when specifying the second user, causes the display unit to display a screen different from the screen for the first user. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The image forming apparatus, wherein the different screen is a login screen. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the different screen is a screen for locking an input function by a user.

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