JP2020038465A - Operation device and program for operation - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an operation device and a program for operation which enable a user to easily recognize a start button, compared to a configuration where the start button is displayed in a fixed position.SOLUTION: A control unit controls a display so that an operation screen representing a plurality of operation items is displayed on the display via a display controller. When an operation item is operated, corresponding operation contents are displayed as a pop-up screen 60. When starting is possible by selecting an operation item in the pop-up screen 60, a start banner 64 is displayed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation device and an operation program.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses an operation unit having a touch-panel display unit, a function setting storage unit that stores default settings and user settings for each function, and an icon corresponding to each function displayed on the display unit. An image forming apparatus including a control unit that receives various touch operations on the icon has been proposed. Specifically, when the control unit detects that a pinch-out operation has been performed on the icon, the control unit refers to the function setting storage unit and acquires a change from the default setting for the function corresponding to the icon, and performs pinch-out. At a predetermined position near the operation position, a pop-up window indicating the change is displayed.

JP 2017-204189 A

  Since the start button is not displayed unless the pinch-out operation is performed, it is difficult for a user who is used to the conventional mechanical start button to recognize the start button displayed on the screen of the touch panel. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an operating device and an operating program that allow a user to easily recognize a start button as compared with a configuration in which a start button is displayed at a fixed position.

  The operation device according to claim 1, wherein the operation unit includes a touch-panel display unit that displays a predetermined operation item, and the operation unit performs the operation when the operation item displayed on the display unit is operated. A control unit that controls the display of the display unit to display a predetermined start button at a position close to the operated operation item, from a fixed start button set at a predetermined position of a screen configuration that displays items. ,including.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the control unit controls the display of the display unit to display the start button at a position corresponding to an operation position for the operation item. .

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, when the operation item above a half screen of the display unit is operated, the control unit displays the control information on an upper part of the screen of the display unit. A start button is displayed, and when the operation item below the screen half of the display unit is operated, the display of the display unit is controlled so that the start button is displayed at a lower part of the screen of the display unit.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the display of the display unit is further controlled so as to display an end operation unit for ending the display of the start button. .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the control unit terminates the display of the start button when the end operation unit, the start button, or the operation item is operated. The display on the display unit is further controlled so that

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the control unit prohibits the display of the start button until the application being operated can be started.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, when the operation of the operation item is not performed for a predetermined time or longer, the start button is provided. Is displayed on the display unit.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control unit displays the fixed start button at a predetermined position with respect to the operation item. The display on the display unit is further controlled.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to claim 8, further comprising a setting unit for setting whether or not to display the start button, wherein the control unit is configured to set the start button in accordance with the setting of the setting unit. Control the display of.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the control unit controls the display of the display unit such that the start button appears with a movement. .

  In an eleventh aspect based on the tenth aspect, the control unit further controls the display on the display unit such that the start button moves in a direction away from the operation item.

  An operation program according to a twelfth aspect causes a computer to function as a control unit in the operation device according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects.

  According to the operating device of the first aspect, it is possible to provide an operating device that allows the user to easily recognize the start button as compared with a configuration in which the start button is displayed at a fixed position.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the start button can be displayed at a position that is easy to understand for each operation position of the operation item, as compared with a configuration in which the start button is displayed at a fixed position.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the start button can be displayed at a position closer to the operation position as compared with a configuration in which the start button is displayed at a fixed position.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the start button is displayed at a position that is troublesome for the user, the display can be ended.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the display can be ended when the start button becomes unnecessary.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, it is possible to prevent a start button from which processing cannot be started from being displayed.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, when an operation item is selected by mistake, the operation item can be immediately re-selected as compared with the case where the start button is displayed immediately after the processing can be started. .

  According to the invention described in claim 8, the user can easily recognize the start button as compared with the case where only a single start button is displayed.

  According to the ninth aspect, the start button can be displayed according to the user's preference.

  According to the tenth aspect, the position of the start button can be easily recognized as compared with the case where the start button is simply displayed.

  According to the eleventh aspect, it is possible to easily re-operate the operation item when re-operating, as compared with the case where the movement of the start button is stopped near the operation item.

  According to the operation program according to the twelfth aspect, it is possible to provide an operation program that allows the user to easily recognize the start button as compared with a configuration in which the start button is displayed at a fixed position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an electric system of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of an operation item screen, a pop-up screen, and a start banner displayed on a display. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a process performed by a control unit when operating the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a start banner is displayed at a position below a half screen of the display when the position of the operated operation item is below a half screen of the display. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a part of the flow of processing performed by the control unit when changing the position where the start banner is displayed according to the position of the operated operation item. It is a figure showing signs that a start banner is displayed so that it may accompany movement from the end of a screen.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an image forming apparatus will be described as an example. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a print function of receiving various data via a communication line such as a network and performing image forming processing based on the received data. The image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a reading function of reading an original to obtain image information representing the original, a copying function of copying an image recorded on the original on paper, and various data via a telephone line (not shown). It also has a facsimile function for transmitting and receiving data.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a document reading unit 52 at the top of the apparatus, and the image forming unit 24 is disposed below the document reading unit 52. The document reading section 52 includes a document transport section (not shown) inside the document cover 54. The document feeder sequentially pulls in the documents 56 placed on a document feeder 54 </ b> A provided on the document cover 54, conveys them onto a platen glass (not shown), and reads an image recorded on the document 56. Further, the document feeder discharges the document 56 for which the image reading has been completed onto a document discharge unit 54 </ b> B provided on the document cover 54.

  Further, the document reading unit 52 is provided with a user interface 22 for receiving various instruction operations by a user. The user interface 22 is provided with a display button for realizing the reception of an instruction operation by a software program, a touch panel display 22A for displaying various information, hardware keys 22B such as numeric keys, and the like. The user interface 22 is used as a display button on the display 22A or a hardware key 22B to set the number of copies to be used when setting the copy function, to set a magnification, and to use a facsimile function as a dial key of a telephone. Note that the hardware key 22B may be omitted.

  On the other hand, the image forming section 24 includes a paper feed storage section 58 in which sheets serving as recording media for image formation are stored. The image forming unit 24 takes out the sheets stored in the sheet storage unit 58 one by one and forms an image based on the image data on the sheet by, for example, an electrophotographic process. Further, the image forming unit 24 sequentially discharges the sheets on which the images have been formed onto a discharge unit (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an electric system of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a control unit as a control unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20A, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 20B, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20C. A unit 20 is provided. The CPU 20A controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 10. The RAM 20C is used as a work area when the CPU 20A executes various programs. The ROM 20B stores various control programs and various parameters in advance. In the image forming apparatus 10, each unit of the control unit 20 is electrically connected by a system bus 42.

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a hard disk drive (HDD) 26 that stores various data, application programs, and the like. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a display control unit 28 connected to the user interface 22 and controlling display of various operation screens and the like on the display 22A of the user interface 22. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 includes an operation input detection unit 30 connected to the user interface 22 and detecting an operation instruction input via the user interface 22. In the image forming apparatus 10, the HDD 26, the display controller 28, and the operation input detector 30 are electrically connected to the system bus 42. Note that, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, an example in which the HDD 26 is provided will be described.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a reading control unit 32 that controls an optical image reading operation by the document reading unit 46 and a document feeding operation by the document conveying unit; An image forming control unit 34 that controls processing and conveyance of the sheet to the image forming unit 24 by the conveying unit 25. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a communication line, and a communication line interface (communication line I / F) unit 36 for transmitting and receiving communication data to and from another external device such as a server connected to the communication line. An image processing unit 44 for performing image processing is provided. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a facsimile interface (facsimile I / F) unit 38 connected to a telephone line (not shown) and transmitting and receiving facsimile data to and from a facsimile apparatus connected to the telephone line. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a transmission / reception control unit 40 that controls transmission / reception of facsimile data via the facsimile interface unit 38. In the image forming apparatus 10, the transmission / reception control unit 40, the read control unit 32, the image formation control unit 34, the communication line interface unit 36, the facsimile interface unit 38, and the image processing unit 44 are electrically connected to the system bus 42. ing.

  With the above configuration, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment executes access to the RAM 20C, the ROM 20B, and the HDD 26 by the CPU 20A. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 controls the display of information such as an operation screen and various messages on the display 22A of the user interface 22 via the display control unit 28 by the CPU 20A. The image forming apparatus 10 controls the operation of the document reading unit 46 and the document conveying unit via the reading control unit 32 by the CPU 20A. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 uses the CPU 20A to control the operation of the image forming unit 24 and the transport unit 25 via the image forming control unit 34, and to control the transmission and reception of communication data via the communication line interface unit 36. Execute each. In the image forming apparatus 10, the CPU 20A controls transmission and reception of facsimile data via the facsimile interface unit 38 by the transmission and reception control unit 40. Further, in the image forming apparatus 10, the CPU 20 </ b> A grasps the operation content on the user interface 22 based on the operation information detected by the operation input detection unit 30, and executes various controls based on the operation content.

  By the way, in the conventional image forming apparatus, a start button of a hard key is provided, and various processes are started by operating the start button. However, a soft button operated by displaying the start button on the touch panel display 22A or the like is used. May be placed. For users familiar with hard buttons, the displayed buttons are small, so the start button was difficult to understand.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the operation of the operation item displayed on the display 22A is performed, the operation item operated by the fixed start button set at a predetermined position of the screen configuration displaying the operation item is displayed. Control to display a start button at a position close to. Thus, the position of the start button is displayed in an easily understandable manner.

  For example, the control unit 20 performs control to display an operation screen for displaying a plurality of operation items as shown in the upper part of FIG. Here, for example, when the operation item of “Feature 6” shown in the upper part of FIG. 3 is operated, the corresponding operation content is displayed as a pop-up screen 60 as shown in the middle part of FIG. Then, when the operation item on the pop-up screen 60 is selected (“Setting1” is selected in FIG. 3) and the start is possible, a start banner 64 including a start button 62 is displayed as shown in the lower part of FIG. As a result, the start banner 64 is displayed more easily than the fixed start button 68.

  The start banner 64 is provided with an end operation unit 66 for closing the start banner 64, in addition to the start button 62. When the end operation unit 66 is operated, the start banner 64 is closed. .

  The start button 62 and the start banner 64 may be displayed by operating the user interface 22 and setting whether to display the start button 62 or the start banner 64.

  Next, a specific process performed by the control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of a process performed by the control unit 20 when operating the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. Note that the processing in FIG. 4 starts when a user performs a predetermined operation on the image forming apparatus 10.

  In step 100, the CPU 20A controls the display control unit 28 to display an operation item screen for performing an operation designated by the user on the display 22A, and proceeds to step 102.

  In step 102, the CPU 20A determines whether or not an operation for designating another operation item has been performed. In this determination, for example, it is determined whether or not the operation input detection unit 30 has detected an instruction from a user performing an operation other than the currently displayed operation item screen. If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step 100 to display another operation item screen. On the other hand, if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 104.

  In step 104, the CPU 20A determines whether an operation item has been designated. In this determination, it is determined whether or not the operation input detection unit 30 detects an operation by a user who selects an operation item from the displayed operation items. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 102 to repeat the above-described processing, and if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 106.

  In step 106, the CPU 20A controls the display control unit 28 to display a pop-up screen on the display 22A, and then proceeds to step 108. For example, the pop-up screen shown in the middle part of FIG. 3 is displayed over the operation item screen. The pop-up screen may be switched from the operation item screen and displayed. Further, a detailed item screen for displaying detailed operation items may be displayed instead of the pop-up screen.

  In step 108, the CPU 20A determines whether a return operation to the operation item screen has been performed. In this determination, it is determined whether or not the operation input detection unit 30 has detected the return operation. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 110, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 112. .

  In step 110, the CPU 20A closes the pop-up screen 60 displayed on the display 22A by controlling the display control unit 28, returns to step 102, and repeats the above processing.

  In step 112, CPU 20A determines whether an operation item has been designated. In this determination, the operation input detection unit 30 detects an operation specified by the operation item displayed on the pop-up screen, and determines whether the process can be started. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 102 to repeat the above-described processing, and if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 114. In the present embodiment, when an operation item on the pop-up screen is selected, it is determined that the application being operated can start processing.

  In step 114, the CPU 20A determines whether or not the processing of step 118 described later has already been performed and the start banner 64 is being displayed. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 116, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 120.

  In step 116, the CPU 20A determines whether or not the start banner 64 has been instructed to close or has been set to non-display. The determination is made as to whether or not the operation input detection unit 30 has already detected the instruction to close the start banner 64 by the end operation unit 66 after the completion of step 122 described later, or the setting to hide the start banner 64. Is determined in advance. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 118, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 120. Step 116 corresponds to a setting unit for setting whether or not the start button 62 is displayed.

  In step 118, the CPU 20A controls the display control unit 28 to display the start banner 64 on the display 22A and proceeds to step 120. Thereby, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the start banner 64 is displayed at a position closer to the operation item operated than the fixed start button 68, and the start button 62 is easily recognized. In the present embodiment, the display of the start banner 64 is prohibited until the application being operated can start processing by the determination in step 112, and the determination in step 112 is affirmed. 64 will be displayed. When displaying the start banner 64 in step 118, the start banner 64 may be displayed when no operation is performed for a predetermined time after the application being operated can start processing. In other words, the start banner 64 is not displayed immediately after the processing can be started, and the start banner 64 is displayed when the operation is not performed for a predetermined period of time. Quickly select an operation item.

  In step 120, the CPU 20A determines whether the start banner 64 is being displayed and the operation input detection unit 30 has detected an operation of the end operation unit 66. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 122, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 124.

  In step 122, the CPU 20A closes the start banner 64 displayed on the display 22A by controlling the display control unit 28, and proceeds to step 124. That is, since the display of the start banner 64 is ended, when processing of the operated operation item is started, the processing is started by operating the fixed start button 68.

  In step 124, the CPU 20A determines whether or not the operation input detecting unit 30 has detected a start operation. In this determination, it is determined whether the start button 62 of the start banner 64 or the fixed start button 68 displayed on the display 22A has been operated. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 125, and if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 126. When the start banner 64 is displayed, the display of the start banner 64 ends because the determination in step 124 is affirmed.

  In step 125, the CPU 20A determines whether or not the start banner 64 is being displayed. If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step 118 to repeat the above-described processing, and if the determination is negative, returns to step 102 to repeat the above-described processing.

  On the other hand, in step 126, CPU 20A executes a process corresponding to the selected operation item, and ends a series of processes.

  In the above-described embodiment, the start banner 64 is displayed at a position closer to the operation item being operated than the fixed start button 68. However, the display position of the start banner 64 depends on the position of the operated operation item. May be changed.

  For example, when the position of the operated operation item is above the half screen of the display 22A, the start banner 64 is displayed on the upper part of the display 22A (for example, the position above the half screen) as shown in FIG. I do. On the other hand, when the position of the operated operation item is below the half screen of the display 22A, the start banner 64 is displayed at the lower part of the display 22A (for example, below the half screen) as shown in FIG. I do. As a result, the start banner 64 is displayed at a position close to the operation item operated by the fixed start button 68, and the start button 62 is easily recognized.

  In this case, the control unit 20 performs the processing in FIG. 6 instead of step 118 in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a part of the flow of processing performed by the control unit 20 when the position at which the start banner 64 is displayed is changed according to the position of the operated operation item.

  That is, if the determination in step 116 is negative, the process proceeds to step 118A, in which CPU 20A determines whether the operated item is located above the half screen. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 118B, and if the result is negative, the process proceeds to step 118C.

  In step 118B, the CPU 20A displays the start banner 64 above the screen half of the display 22A, returns the process, and proceeds to step 120 described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the operated operation item is operated on the pop-up screen for “Feature 6” above the screen half of the display 22A, the operation item of FIG. As shown in the lower part, a start banner 64 is displayed.

  On the other hand, in step 118C, the CPU 20A displays the start banner 64 below the half screen of the display 22A, returns the process, and proceeds to step 120 described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the operated operation item is operated on the pop-up screen for “Feature 9” below the screen half of the display 22A, the operation item is displayed at a position below the screen half. 5, a start banner 64 is displayed.

  Alternatively, the start banner 64 may be displayed according to the left and right positions instead of the upper and lower positions on the screen. Specifically, when the touch operation is performed on the right side of the screen half, the start banner 64 and the start button 62 are displayed on the right side of the screen half. On the other hand, when the touch operation is performed on the left side of the screen half, the start banner 64 and the start button 62 are displayed on the left side of the screen half.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the start banner 64 is displayed when an operation item is operated, but various methods may be applied to the display of the start banner 64. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the start banner 64 may be displayed so as to appear with a movement from the end of the screen (for example, the upper part in FIG. 7). In this case, the start banner 64 may appear from the end of the screen and may be displayed so as to move to a position near the operated operation item. Alternatively, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 7, after moving to a position near the operated operation item as shown in the middle part, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 7, the start banner 64 is displayed so as to move in the direction away from the operation item. Is also good. This makes it easier for the user to recognize the start button 62 included in the start banner 64.

  In the above embodiment, the fixed start button 68 is always displayed on the screen. However, the fixed start button 68 need not always be displayed. For example, the fixed start button 68 may move with the operation item by scrolling the screen of the operation item or the like, and may be hidden.

  Further, the processing performed by the image forming apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment may be processing performed by software, processing performed by hardware, or processing combining both. Further, the processing performed by each unit of the image forming apparatus 10 may be stored in a storage medium as a program and distributed.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it goes without saying that other various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Reference Signs List 10 image forming apparatus 20 control unit 22 user interface 22A display 28 display control unit 30 operation input detection unit 62 start button 64 start banner 66 end operation unit 68 fixed start button

Claims (12)

An operation unit having a touch-panel display unit that displays a predetermined operation item,
When the operation of the operation item displayed on the display unit is performed, a fixed start button set at a predetermined position of a screen configuration displaying the operation item is located at a position closer to the operated operation item. A control unit for controlling the display of the display unit to display a predetermined start button,
Operating device including.   The operation device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls display of the display unit so as to display the start button at a position corresponding to an operation position of the operation item.   The control unit displays the start button at the top of the screen of the display unit when the operation item above the screen half of the display unit is operated, and performs the operation below the screen half of the display unit. The operation device according to claim 2, wherein when the item is operated, the display of the display unit is controlled so that the start button is displayed at a lower portion of the screen of the display unit.   The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit further controls the display on the display unit to display an end operation unit for ending the display of the start button.   5. The control unit according to claim 4, wherein the control unit further controls the display on the display unit so as to end the display of the start button when the end operation unit, the start button, or the operation item is operated. Operating device.   The operation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control unit prohibits the display of the start button until the application being operated can be started.   7. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the display unit to display the start button when the operation of the operation item is not performed for a predetermined time or more. Operating device.   The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control unit further controls display of the display unit so as to display a fixed start button at a predetermined position for the operation item. Further comprising a setting unit to set the presence or absence of the display of the start button,
The operation device according to claim 8, wherein the control unit controls display of the start button according to a setting of the setting unit.   The operation device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls display of the display unit such that the start button appears with movement.   The operating device according to claim 10, wherein the control unit further controls the display on the display unit such that the start button moves in a direction away from the operation item.   An operation program for causing a computer to function as a control unit in the operation device according to claim 1.