JP2022152963A - Electronic apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To allow a user immediately after using an electronic apparatus to clean portions touched by the user by the user himself/herself.SOLUTION: In an image forming apparatus 10, when a control unit 31 determines that a user is detected based on a detection output from a human sensor 25, the control unit determines portions of touch operations on a touch panel 23 based on a detection output from the touch panel 23, and after the completion of the use of the image forming apparatus 10 by the user, displays, on a screen of a display 21, the determined operation portions and a message to urge the user to clean the determined operation portions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic device and an image forming apparatus having a touch panel operated by a user, and more particularly to a technique for displaying an operation position of the touch panel on a display unit.

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus as an example of electronic equipment, an image reading device reads an image of a document, and an image forming unit forms the image of the document on recording paper. Further, the image forming apparatus is provided with a display unit for displaying a GUI (Graphical User Interface) and a touch panel arranged on the screen of the display unit. There is something to detect through.

Here, when an unspecified number of people use the image forming apparatus, some users do not want to carelessly touch the touch panel from a sanitary point of view.

For example, the display device described in Patent Document 1 includes a display unit and a touch panel provided on the screen of the display unit, and counts the number of touches of the touched area based on position information indicating the touched area of the touch panel, Areas where the number of touches exceeds a specified value are set as areas to be cleaned, the cleaning mode is set according to the user's instructions, the areas to be cleaned are displayed on the display screen, and frequently touched areas are cleaned. Allowing the area to be cleaned.

Further, the image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2 includes a liquid crystal display device and a touch panel provided on the screen of the liquid crystal display device, and counts the number of instruction operations and the number of wiping operations on the touch panel. The display mode of the liquid crystal display device is set to the normal mode or the cleaning mode based on the number of wiping operations, and the user is notified whether the touch panel is being cleaned.

Further, the display input device described in Patent Document 3 includes a display panel and a touch screen provided on the screen of the display panel, detects contact points on the touch screen, and detects the number of simultaneously detected contact points in advance. If it is equal to or greater than the set threshold, it means that the user is pressing a cloth or the like against the touch screen.

JP 2010-165174 A JP 2013-19932 A JP 2019-175305 A

However, in the case of an image forming apparatus used by an unspecified number of people, such as an image forming apparatus installed in a convenience store, a library, etc., an unspecified number of other people touch the touch panel. From the viewpoint of avoiding touching the touch panel, it is desirable that the user himself/herself cleans the portion of the touch screen touched by the user immediately after using the image forming apparatus.

In Patent Document 1, the cleaning mode is set according to the user's instruction. Therefore, unless the user instructs the cleaning mode, the cleaning mode is not set. not supported.

Further, in Patent Document 2, the display mode of the liquid crystal display device is set to normal mode or cleaning mode based on the number of instructing operations and the number of wiping operations. A panel cleaning mode is set to disable the operation on the touch screen when the image forming apparatus is pressed, but none of these modes support the cleaning of the touch screen by the user immediately after using the image forming apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable a user to clean the parts touched by the user immediately after using an electronic device.

An electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a motion sensor that detects a user using the electronic device, a display unit, a touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit and operated by the user, It is determined whether the user is detected by the human sensor, and if it is determined that the user is detected, the operation location on the touch panel is determined based on the detection output of the touch panel, and the user's operation is performed. and a control unit that causes the screen of the display unit to display the determined operation location and a message prompting cleaning of the determined operation location when use of the electronic device ends.

An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes the electronic device described above and an image forming section that forms an image on a recording medium.

According to the present invention, it is possible for the user to clean the part touched by the user immediately after using the electronic device.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of an image forming apparatus; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen of a display unit displaying a plurality of touch-operated rectangular areas on a touch panel and a message prompting cleaning of each rectangular area. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen of a display unit in which a plurality of touch-operated rectangular areas on a touch panel are displayed in a display color corresponding to the cumulative number of times of respective operations, and a message prompting cleaning of each rectangular area is displayed. 6 is a flow chart showing a control procedure for displaying on the screen of the display unit an operation location on the touch panel and a message prompting cleaning of the operation location. FIG. 5B is a flow chart showing a control procedure following FIG. 5A; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen of a display unit divided into a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in a matrix direction; It is a figure which shows the screen of the display part which shows completion|finish of cleaning.

An embodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of an electronic device according to the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is an MFP (composite machine) having multiple functions such as a copy function, a printer function, and a facsimile function. This image forming apparatus 10 includes an image reading section 11 and an image forming section 12 .

The image reading unit 11 has an imaging device (such as a CCD sensor) that optically reads an image of a document, and converts an analog output of this imaging device into a digital signal to generate image data representing the image of the document. be done.

The image forming section 12 forms an image represented by the image data on recording paper, and includes an image forming unit 3M for magenta, an image forming unit 3C for cyan, an image forming unit 3Y for yellow, and an image forming unit 3Y for black. image forming unit 3Bk. In each of the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk, the surface of the photoreceptor drum 4 is uniformly charged, the surface of the photoreceptor drum 4 is exposed, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 4. is formed, the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 4 is developed into a toner image, and the toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 4 is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 5 . Thereby, a color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 5 . This color toner image is secondarily transferred onto the recording paper P transported through the transport path 8 from the paper feeding unit 14 in the nip area N between the intermediate transfer belt 5 and the secondary transfer roller 6 .

Thereafter, the recording paper P is heated and pressurized by the fixing device 15 , the toner image on the recording paper P is fixed by thermocompression, and the recording paper P is discharged to the discharge tray 17 through the discharge roller 16 .

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an image reading unit 11, an image forming unit 12, a display unit 21, an operation unit 22, a touch panel 23, a human sensor 25, and a storage unit. 28 and a control unit 29 . These components are enabled to send and receive data or signals to and from each other through the bus.

The display unit 21 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, or the like.

The operation unit 22 includes physical keys such as a numeric keypad, an enter key, and a start key. The operation unit 22 receives various instructions according to user's operations.

A touch panel 23 is arranged on the screen of the display unit 21 . The touch panel 23 is a touch panel of a so-called resistive film type, capacitive type, or the like, and detects a contact (touch) of a user's finger or the like on the touch panel 23 together with the contact position, and outputs a detection signal indicating the coordinates of the contact position. is output to a later-described control section 31 of the control unit 29 or the like.

A human sensor 25 is a known sensor that detects a person in front of the image forming apparatus 10 . For example, the human sensor 25 is an infrared sensor that detects infrared rays emitted from the human body.

The storage unit 28 is a large-capacity storage device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores various application programs and various data.

The control unit 29 includes a processor, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). The control unit 29 functions as a control unit 31 and a billing unit 32 by executing the control program stored in the ROM or storage unit 28 by the processor.

The control unit 31 comprehensively controls the image forming apparatus 10 . The control unit 29 is connected to the image reading section 11, the image forming section 12, the display section 21, the operation section 22, the touch panel 23, the human sensor 25, the storage section 28, and the like. The control unit 31 controls the operation of these components and transmits/receives signals or data to/from these components.

The control unit 31 serves as a processing unit that executes various processes required for image formation by the image forming apparatus 10 . Also, the control unit 31 has a function of controlling the display operation of the display unit 21 .

Further, the control unit 31 accepts operation instructions input by the user based on detection signals output from the touch panel 23 or operations of physical keys of the operation unit 22 . For example, the control unit 31 receives an instruction corresponding to a touch operation on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 through the touch panel 23 .

The control unit 31 also receives the detection output from the human sensor (infrared sensor) 25, and detects the presence or absence of a person based on whether or not the detection output is equal to or greater than a preset threshold.

The billing unit 32 calculates the printing fee required for printing the document image based on the number of sheets of recording paper on which the document image is recorded, color or monochrome. The billing unit 32 also calculates the amount received from the user and the remaining amount by subtracting the printing fee (the usage fee of the image forming apparatus 10) from the amount. This printing fee is collected from the user through a coin vendor or the like (not shown). Note that the coin vendor constitutes a part of the image forming apparatus 10 .

In the image forming apparatus 10 configured as described above, for example, a user sets a document on the image reading unit 11 and operates the GUI displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 through the touch panel 23, or operates the operation unit 22. When instructed to execute a copy job by an operation, the control section 31 accepts the instruction, causes the image reading section 11 to read an image of the document, and causes the image forming section 12 to print this image on recording paper.

Here, when the image forming apparatus 10 is used by an unspecified number of people, some users do not want to carelessly touch the touch panel from a sanitary point of view. In this case, it is desirable that the user himself/herself cleans the portion touched by the user on the touch panel 23 of the image forming apparatus 10 .

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10, the human sensor 25 is provided in the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 10 and arranged around the display section 21 and the operation section 22, as shown in FIG. When the user stands in front of the image forming apparatus 10 to operate the touch panel 23 and the operation section 22 provided on the screen of the display section 21, the human sensor 25 detects the user. At this time, the control unit 31 receives a detection output indicating that a person has been detected from the human sensor 25 . Based on the detection output, the control unit 31 determines that the user of the image forming apparatus 10 is detected by the human sensor 25 .

At this time, when the user performs a touch operation on the GUI or the like displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 in order to execute a copy job or the like, the control unit 31 performs the touch operation on the touch panel 23 based on the detection output from the touch panel 23. judge the location of Furthermore, the control unit 31 determines a rectangular area including this operation location, and counts the number of operations n for each determined rectangular area. Then, when the use of the image forming apparatus 10 by the user ends, the control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display the determined rectangular area and a message prompting cleaning of the determined rectangular area.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display a plurality of rectangular regions S11, S12, . Let This prompts the user viewing the display to clean the rectangular areas S11, S12, . . . For example, the user wipes the rectangular regions S11, S12, . This allows the user to clean the touch panel 23 of the image forming apparatus 10 by the user immediately after using the image forming apparatus 10 .

Further, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the rectangular area has been wiped based on the detection output of the touch panel 23 . Then, when the detection output from the human sensor 25 indicates that the user has not been detected, that is, when the user has left, the control unit 31 determines that the user has not wiped. Determines whether there are remaining rectangular areas. The control unit 31 calculates the cumulative number N obtained by accumulating the operation number n of the rectangular area with the previously counted operation number n of the rectangular area for each rectangular area that has not been wiped by the user.

The control unit 31 accumulates at least one rectangular area that has not been wiped and at least one rectangular area that has not been wiped when the cumulative number N of any rectangular area is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value S. The screen of the display unit 21 displays the number of times N and a message prompting cleaning of the operation location. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display a plurality of rectangular regions S21, S22, . It is changed according to N and displayed. That is, the display color of each of the rectangular areas S21, S22, . Furthermore, the control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display a message M2 prompting cleaning of the rectangular areas S21, S22, . This prompts the administrator who sees the display to clean the rectangular areas S21, S22, . . . For example, the administrator wipes the rectangular regions S21, S22, . This enables the administrator to clean the touch panel 23 even if the user does not clean the touch panel 23 immediately after use.

Next, a control procedure for displaying on the screen of the display unit 21 an operation location on the touch panel 23 and a message prompting cleaning of the operation location as described above will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B . do.

The control unit 31 causes the display unit 21 to display an initial screen (GUI), waits for the insertion of a fee to a coin vendor (not shown) (S101 "No"), and outputs the detection output from the human sensor 25. It is determined whether or not the detected output is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value (S102 "No"). That is, the control unit 31 waits until the detection output of the human sensor 25 indicates that the user has been detected.

When the user comes in front of the image forming apparatus 10 and inserts an appropriate amount of money into the coin vendor, the user is detected by the human sensor 25 . At this time, the detection output of the human sensor 25 becomes equal to or higher than the threshold. Billing unit 32 of image forming apparatus 10 receives a notification indicating the amount of money inserted from the coin vendor. At this time, the control unit 31 of the image forming apparatus 10 receives a notification indicating the amount of money inserted into the coin vendor (S101 "Yes"), and determines that the detection output of the human sensor 25 has exceeded the threshold. It is determined that the user in front of the image forming apparatus 10 has been detected (S102 "Yes").

Here, it is assumed that the user sets a document on the image reading unit 11 and touches the initial screen (GUI) displayed on the display unit 21 to input, for example, a copy job through the touch panel 23 . At this time, the control unit 31 causes the display unit 21 to display a GUI for inputting various settings related to the copy job. Then, the user operates the GUI displayed on the display unit 21 to input instructions for print setting information such as the number of copies of the document to be printed and color or monochrome through the touch panel 23, and operates the start key of the operation unit 22. and input a copy execution instruction. At this time, the control unit 31 causes the image reading unit 11 to read the image of the document according to the operation of the start key, and causes the image forming unit 12 to form the image of the document on recording paper according to the copy execution instruction. .

Based on the print setting information specified by the user, the billing unit 32 calculates the permissible number of sheets of recording paper that can be printed with the fee that the user puts into the coin vendor. Each time it is formed, the printing charges up to this point are calculated. Further, the billing unit 32 calculates the remaining number of sheets by subtracting "1" from the allowable number of sheets, and calculates the printing fee required for printing the remaining number of sheets. Further, the billing unit 32 subtracts the printing fee up to this point from the inserted amount, and calculates the balance payable by the user as the printing fee. When the balance becomes less than the printing fee required for printing the remaining number of sheets, the control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display a message prompting an additional fee to be charged. The billing unit 32 receives a notification indicating the amount of additional money from the coin vendor when the user has inserted additional money into the coin vendor, and determines the allowable number of coins according to the amount of additional money indicated by this notification. increase.

The coin vendor is also provided with a return button for instructing the return of the balance. When the user presses the return button, the coin vendor returns the balance, and the remaining charge "0" is displayed on the coin vendor's display unit. The billing unit 32 receives notification from the coin vendor indicating the remaining charge of "0". When the billing unit 32 receives a notification from the coin vendor indicating that the remaining charge is "0", the control unit 31 terminates the copy job.

In this way, the user inserts the fee into the coin vendor, operates the GUI displayed on the display unit 21 through the touch panel 23 to input a copy execution instruction, and causes the image forming apparatus 10 to execute the copy job. Each time the control unit 31 determines a touch operation on the touch panel 23, the control unit 31 determines the position of the touch operation on the touch panel 23 based on the detection output of the touch panel 23, and determines a rectangular area including the position of the touch operation, i. A rectangular area is determined (S103). For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the surface of the touch panel 23 is divided in advance into a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in a matrix. The control unit 31 determines a rectangular area including the position of the touch operation (rectangular area subjected to the touch operation) from the plurality of rectangular areas.

Furthermore, the control unit 31 counts the number of touch operations n for each rectangular area (S104).

Then, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the return button of the coin vendor has been pressed (S105), and through the touch panel 23, determines whether or not the end button displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 has been touched. Determine (S106). The end button is an image displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 by the control unit 31 in order to input an instruction to end the use of the image forming apparatus 10 and operated by the user to input the instruction.

Here, the control unit 31 determines that the return button of the coin vendor has not been pressed (S105 "No"), and that the end button displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 has not been touched. If determined (S106 "No"), each time a touch operation on the touch panel 23 is determined, the touch-operated rectangular area is determined (S103), and the number n of touch operations on the rectangular area is counted for each rectangular area ( S104) is repeated.

When ending the use of the image forming apparatus 10 , the user presses the return button of the coin vendor or touches the end button displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 . At this time, the control unit 31 determines that the return button of the coin vendor has been pressed (S105 "Yes"), or determines that the end button displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 has been touched ( S106 "Yes"). In these cases, the control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display the rectangular area determined in S103 and a message prompting cleaning of each rectangular area (S107). For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of rectangular areas S11, S12, .

As a result, for example, when the user sees the message M1, the user presses a cloth or the like against the screen of the display unit 21 and moves it back and forth to wipe the rectangular areas S11, S12, . are removed from the rectangular areas S11, S12, . . .

Based on the detection output received from the touch panel 23, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the swipe operation crossing the rectangular areas has been performed one or more times for each of the rectangular areas S11, S12, . When determining that the swipe operation has been performed one or more times, the control unit 31 determines that the rectangular area has been wiped with a cloth or the like (S108). The control unit 31 erases the display indicating the wiped rectangular area from the screen of the display unit 21, and initializes the operation count n of the wiped rectangular area to "0" (S109). In addition, when the controller 31 counts the cumulative number N of wiped rectangular areas, the cumulative number N is also initialized to "0".

When determining whether a swipe operation has been performed, the control unit 31 checks whether there is a rectangular area in which the swipe operation has not been performed (a rectangular area that has not been wiped, that is, a rectangular area that continues to be displayed on the screen of the display unit 21). Along with the determination (S110), it is determined whether or not the detection output of the human sensor 25 is less than the threshold value, that is, whether or not the user is gone (S111). When it is determined that there is a user (S110 "Yes") and when it is determined that there is a user (S111 "No"), the processes of S108 to S111 are repeated.

When the user performs a swipe operation on all the rectangular areas displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 (when the user wipes all the rectangular areas), the control unit 31 determines whether the unwiped rectangular areas are It is determined that it is gone (S110 "No"). The control unit 31 causes the display unit 21 to display a message M3 as shown in FIG. 7 showing gratitude for cooperation in cleaning the touch panel 23 for a certain period of time of about 3 seconds (S112). Thereafter, the control unit 31 causes the display unit 21 to display a normal screen (for example, an initial screen) without displaying the message M3. After this, the processing shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B ends.

On the other hand, while the control unit 31 determines that there is a rectangular area that has not been wiped ("Yes" in S110), the detection output from the human sensor 25 is less than the threshold, and the user is no longer present. If yes (S111 "Yes"), for each rectangular area that has not been wiped, the operation count n of the rectangular area is added to the cumulative number N of the rectangular area (S113), and the cumulative number N of the rectangular area is updated. . Then, the control unit 31 hides the display indicating the rectangular area that has not been wiped and the message M1 on the screen of the display unit 21 (S114).

Then, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the cumulative number N of rectangular regions that have not been wiped is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value (for example, 10) S (S115). Here, when the control unit 31 determines that the accumulated count N is not equal to or greater than the threshold value S (S115 “No”), it causes the display unit 21 to display a normal screen (for example, an initial screen). After this, the processing shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B ends.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the user stands in front of the image forming apparatus 10, the user is detected by the motion sensor 25, and every time the user touches the GUI displayed on the screen of the display unit 21, the user is detected. Then, a rectangular area touched on the screen (touch panel 23) of the display unit 21 is determined. Further, the number of operations n is counted for each determined rectangular area, and when the user finishes using the image forming apparatus 10, the determined rectangular area and a message M1 prompting cleaning of the determined rectangular area are displayed. It is displayed on the screen of the unit 21 . Then, when the user wipes the rectangular area displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 with a cloth or the like, the display indicating the wiped rectangular area is hidden from the screen of the display unit 21, and the wiped rectangular area is hidden. The region operation count n and cumulative count N are initialized to "0".

Also, if the user is not detected by the motion sensor 25 and there is a rectangular area that has not been wiped after the user has left, the number of operations n for each rectangular area that has not been wiped is the accumulated number of times for that rectangular area. N is added to update the accumulated count N of the rectangular area. Therefore, even though the image forming apparatus 10 is repeatedly used by a plurality of users, if the touch panel 23 is not sufficiently cleaned by the user, the cumulative number of times N of the rectangular regions increases and becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value S. can be

In such a case, the control unit 31 determines that the cumulative count N of any rectangular area has reached or exceeded the threshold value S (S115 "Yes"). The control unit 31 causes the screen of the display unit 21 to display at least one rectangular area that has not been wiped, a cumulative number N of the at least one rectangular area that has not been wiped, and a message prompting cleaning of the operation location (S116). . For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of rectangular areas S21, S22, . , . . . are displayed on the screen of the display unit 21.

Then, the control unit 31 prohibits the image forming apparatus 10 from accepting a job (S117). If there is a job being executed, the control unit 31 continues and terminates this job, and then prohibits acceptance of a new job.

After that, when the administrator sees the message M2, he or she presses a cloth or the like against the screen of the display unit 21 and moves it back and forth to wipe the rectangular areas S21, S22, . are removed from the rectangular areas S21, S22, . . . Here, it is assumed that the administrator has performed a swipe operation on the screen of the display unit 21 .

Based on the detection output of the touch panel 23, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the swipe operation crossing the rectangular areas has been performed one or more times for each of the rectangular areas S21, S22, . When the control unit 31 determines that the swipe operation has been performed one or more times, it determines that the rectangular area has been wiped with a cloth or the like (S118). The control unit 31 hides the display indicating the wiped rectangular area from the screen of the display unit 21, and initializes the cumulative number N of wiped rectangular areas to "0" (S119).

Further, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the rectangular area in which the cumulative number of times N is greater than or equal to the threshold value S has been wiped (S120). When the control unit 31 determines that this rectangular area has not been wiped (S120 "No"), the processing of S118 to S120 is repeated. Further, when the control unit 31 determines that the rectangular area with the accumulated count N equal to or greater than the threshold value S has been wiped (S120 "Yes"), the control unit 31 hides each rectangular area and the message M2 from the screen of the display unit 21. (S121), and acceptance of the job by the image forming apparatus 10 is permitted (S122). After this, the processing shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B ends.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, each rectangular area and the message M2 are not hidden from the screen of the display unit 21 until the rectangular area in which the cumulative count N is equal to or greater than the threshold value S is wiped, and the cumulative count is When the rectangular areas where N is greater than or equal to the threshold value S are wiped, each rectangular area and the message M2 are immediately hidden from the screen of the display unit 21 . Since each rectangular area is displayed in a display color corresponding to the respective accumulated number N, the administrator can determine which rectangular area has the accumulated number N equal to or greater than the threshold value S, and the other rectangular areas are displayed first. After wiping, the determined rectangular area is wiped last, so that all rectangular areas are wiped, or the determined rectangular area is wiped first, and job acceptance is promptly permitted. be able to.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the user ends the use of the image forming apparatus 10, the message M1 prompting the user to clean the touch-operated rectangular area on the touch panel 23 and the rectangular area is displayed on the screen of the display unit 21. It is possible for the user who has just used the image forming apparatus 10 to clean the portion on the screen of the display unit 21 touched by the user himself/herself.

Further, in this embodiment, for each rectangular area that has not been wiped, the number of operations n for the rectangular area is added to the cumulative number N of the rectangular area. Since the reception of the job by the forming apparatus 10 is prohibited and the rectangular area that has not been wiped and the message M2 prompting the cleaning of the rectangular area are displayed on the screen of the display unit 21, there is a possibility that the touch panel 23 will be cleaned. Contribute to improvement.

It should be noted that in the above embodiments, one embodiment of the electronic device is described as an image forming apparatus, but this is only an example, and other electronic devices such as ticket vending machines, car navigation systems, medical devices, etc. It may be an electronic device.

Also, the configuration and processing of the above embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 are merely examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the configuration and processing.

10 Image forming apparatus 11 Image reading unit 12 Image forming unit 21 Display unit 22 Operation unit 23 Touch panel 25 Human sensor 28 Storage unit 29 Control unit 31 Control unit 32 Billing unit

Claims (12)

A human sensor that detects users using electronic devices,
a display unit;
a touch panel provided on the screen of the display unit and operated by the user;
It is determined whether the user is detected by the human sensor, and if it is determined that the user is detected, the operation location on the touch panel is determined based on the detection output of the touch panel, and the user's operation is performed. and a control unit that causes the screen of the display unit to display the determined operation location and a message prompting cleaning of the determined operation location when use of the electronic device ends. The control unit determines whether or not a swipe operation has been performed on the determined operation location based on a detection output of the touch panel in a state where the user is detected by the human sensor, and determines whether the swipe operation has been performed. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the swipe operation has been performed, of the determined operation locations, the operation location where the swipe operation has been performed is erased from the screen of the display unit. 2. When the user is no longer detected by the motion sensor, the control unit erases the determined operation location and a message prompting cleaning of the determined operation location from the screen of the display unit. Item 3. The electronic device according to item 2. 4. The control unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit determines the operation location on the touch panel based on the detection output of the touch panel, and counts the number of times the operation location is operated for each of the determined operation locations. electronics. The control unit calculates, for each operation location where the swipe operation has not been performed, an accumulated number obtained by accumulating the counted operation frequency of the operation location with the previously counted operation frequency of the operation location. 4. When the number of swipe operations reaches or exceeds a preset threshold value, the screen of the display unit displays an operation location where the swipe operation has not been performed, an accumulated number of times of the operation location, and a message prompting cleaning of the operation location. The electronic device described in . The control unit determines whether or not a swipe operation has been performed on an operation position where the swipe operation has not been performed based on the detection output of the touch panel, and if it determines that the swipe operation has been performed, the swipe operation is performed. 6. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the operation points that have not been cleared and the accumulated count of the operation points are erased from the screen of the display unit. The control unit causes the screen of the display unit to display, on the screen of the display unit, an operation location where the swipe operation has not been performed, a cumulative number of times of the operation location, and a message prompting cleaning of the operation location. is prohibited, and based on the detection output of the touch panel, it is determined whether or not a swipe operation has been performed on the operation location where the cumulative number of times is equal to or greater than the threshold, and the operation in which the cumulative number is equal to or greater than the threshold 7. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein acceptance of a job by said electronic device is permitted when it is determined that said swipe operation has been performed on a location. 8. The controller according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the display color of the operation location is changed according to the cumulative number of times of the operation location, and the cumulative number of times of the operation location is displayed on the screen of the display unit. The electronic device described in . an electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 8;
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium. further comprising a billing unit for calculating a balance obtained by subtracting a usage fee for the image forming apparatus from the amount received from the user;
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the control unit determines that the use of the image forming apparatus has ended when the balance calculated by the charging unit reaches 0 yen. further comprising a return button operated by the user to instruct refund of the balance;
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit determines that the use of the image forming apparatus is finished also when the return button is operated. a termination button operated by the user to input an instruction to terminate the use of the image forming apparatus;
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the control unit determines that the use of the image forming apparatus has ended when the end button is operated.

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