JP2022156533A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus which a user can operate without touching a place touched by an unspecified number of persons.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 100 comprises a plurality of functions including at least a copy function, and includes a display unit 11, an imaging unit 7, and a control unit 60. The display unit 11 displays that a hand sign representing a specific form of person's fingers is associated with a specific function out of the plurality of functions. The imaging unit 7 captures an image of a form of user's fingers. The control unit 60 controls the image forming apparatus so as to execute the specific function if the captured form of his or her fingers matches the hand sign.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

The electronic device system described in Patent Literature 1 accepts a user's gesture operation on a touch panel.

JP 2016-143116 A

The electronic device system described in Patent Literature 1 requires the user to operate by tracing the touch panel.

However, due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection in recent years, people's concept of hygiene has increased, and there is a tendency to avoid places that are touched by an unspecified number of people.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be operated without a user touching a place that is touched by an unspecified number of people.

An image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions including at least a copying function, and has a display section, an imaging section, and a control section. The display unit displays that a hand sign indicating a specific shape of a person's fingers is associated with a specific function among the plurality of functions. The imaging unit captures an image of the shape of the user's fingers. The control unit performs control such that the specific function is executed when the imaged shape of the finger matches the hand sign.

According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus that can be operated without the user touching a place that is touched by an unspecified number of people.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence table memorize|stored in a memory|storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of a display of a touch panel. It is a figure which shows the state of non-contact operation by a user.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

An image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having these functions. An embodiment in which the image forming apparatus 100 is a monochrome MFP will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a reading section 1, a feeding section 2, a conveying section 3, an image forming section 4, a fixing section 5, a discharge section 6, and a camera 7. Prepare.

A reading unit 1 reads an image of a document G. FIG. The reading unit 1 generates image data from the read image. The feeding section 2 accommodates a plurality of sheets S and feeds the sheets S to the conveying section 3 . The sheet S is made of paper or synthetic resin, for example. The transport section 3 includes a plurality of pairs of transport rollers and transports the sheet S to the image forming section 4 .

The image forming unit 4 forms a toner image on the sheet S by electrophotography. The image forming section 4 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a replenishment device, a transfer device, a cleaning device, and a static elimination device. The toner image indicates an image of the document G, for example. The fixing section 5 heats and presses the toner image to fix the toner image onto the sheet S. As shown in FIG. The conveying portion 3 conveys the sheet S on which the toner image is fixed to the discharging portion 6 . The discharge unit 6 discharges the sheet S to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100 .

The camera 7 captures the shape of the fingers of the user M standing in front of the image forming apparatus 100 . The camera 7 is, for example, a still camera that acquires still image data at regular time intervals. The camera 7 may be a movie camera that acquires moving image data. The camera 7 corresponds to an example of the "imaging unit".

Next, the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the image forming apparatus 100 further includes an operation section 10 , a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory 20 , a communication section 50 , a control section 60 and a storage section 70 .

The operation unit 10 is both an input device and a display device for various user operations. The operation unit 10 includes, for example, a touch panel 11 and a plurality of push buttons. The touch panel 11 corresponds to an example of a "display unit".

The USB memory 20 is a removable storage medium. The USB memory 20 stores image data and the like.

The communication unit 50 is connected to an external device via a communication line. The control section 60 is connected to a communication line via the communication section 50 . Communication lines include, for example, telephone lines and LANs (Local Area Networks).

The storage unit 70 includes a storage device and stores data and computer programs. The storage unit 70 includes a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) 71 .

Control unit 60 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and controls each component of image forming apparatus 100 by executing a computer program stored in storage unit 70 .

The image forming apparatus 100 has a copy function, a FAX (facsimile) function, a SEND function, a scan function, a BOX function, and a USB function. The copy function is a function in which the image forming section 4 forms an image of the document G on the sheet S based on the image data of the document G read by the reading section 1 . The FAX function is, for example, a function in which the image forming section 4 forms an image on the sheet S based on image data received by the communication section 50 via a telephone line. The SEND function is a function for the communication unit 50 to transmit image data accumulated in the HDD 71 via the LAN. The scanning function is a function of writing the image data of the document G read by the reading unit 1 into the HDD 71, for example. The BOX function is a function of sorting image data for each user and accumulating them in the HDD 71 . The USB function is, for example, a function of writing image data to the USB memory 20 .

Next, a correspondence table between hand signs and functions stored in the storage unit 70 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence table stored in the storage unit 70. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first hand sign H1 is associated with the copy function, the second hand sign H2 is associated with the FAX function, and the third hand sign H3 is associated with the SEND function. The fourth hand sign H4 is associated with the scan function, the fifth hand sign H5 with the BOX function, and the sixth hand sign H6 with the USB function. A first hand sign H1 through a sixth hand sign H6 each indicate a particular shape of a person's fingers.

Next, the display of the touch panel 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display on the touch panel 11. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the touch panel 11 displays a first icon 81, a second icon 82, a third icon 83, a fourth icon 84, a fifth icon 85, and a sixth icon 86. ing. The first icon 81 includes a first display showing the first hand sign H1 and a second display showing the copy function, and displays that the first hand sign H1 is associated with the copy function. The second icon 82 includes a first display showing the second hand sign H2 and a second display showing the FAX function, and displays that the second hand sign H2 is associated with the FAX function. The third icon 83 includes a first display showing the third hand sign H3 and a second display showing the SEND function, and displays that the third hand sign H3 is associated with the SEND function. The fourth icon 84 includes a first display showing the fourth hand sign H4 and a second display showing the scanning function, indicating that the fourth hand sign H4 is associated with the scanning function. The fifth icon 85 includes a first display showing the fifth hand sign H5 and a second display showing the BOX function, and displays that the fifth hand sign H5 is associated with the BOX function. The sixth icon 86 includes a first display showing the sixth hand sign H6 and a second display showing the USB function, and displays that the sixth hand sign H6 and the USB function are associated.

Next, the non-contact operation by the user M will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how the user M performs a non-contact operation.

As shown in FIG. 5, user M standing in front of image forming apparatus 100 refers to the display on touch panel 11 shown in FIG. make the shape of For example, when the user M intends to use the FAX function, the user M makes the same finger shape as the second hand sign H2 associated with the FAX function. The camera 7 images the finger shape of the user M within the imaging range R. When the control unit 60 determines that the imaged finger shape matches the second hand sign H2, the control unit 60 refers to the correspondence table of FIG. do.

According to the embodiment, there is provided an image forming apparatus 100 that can be operated without the user M touching the touch panel 11 that is touched by an unspecified number of people.

Note that the image forming apparatus 100 may include a motion sensor. Only when the motion sensor detects the user M, the touch panel 11 displays the icon shown in FIG. 4 and the camera 7 is activated.

Moreover, it is desirable that the first to sixth icons 81 to 86 displayed on the touch panel 11 as shown in FIG. 4 also respond to touch operations.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 5, when the second hand sign H2 is used to select the FAX function, it is preferable that the second hand sign H2 is excluded from options on the detailed setting screen of the FAX function. . This is to prevent erroneous selection in detailed settings.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various aspects without departing from the gist of the present invention. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all components shown in the embodiments. In order to facilitate understanding, the drawings mainly show each component schematically, and the number of each component shown in the figure may differ from the actual number for convenience of drawing preparation. Also, each component shown in the above embodiment is an example and is not particularly limited, and various modifications are possible within a range that does not substantially deviate from the effects of the present invention.

In the embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is electrophotographic. However, the invention is not so limited. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 may be an inkjet system.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in the field of image forming apparatuses.

7 Camera (imaging unit)
10 operation unit 11 touch panel (display unit)
60 control units 81 to 86 icons 100 image forming apparatuses H1 to H6 hand signs

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions including at least a copying function,
a display unit for displaying that a hand sign indicating a specific shape of a person's fingers is associated with a specific function among the plurality of functions;
an imaging unit for imaging the shape of a user's fingers;
an image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that performs control such that the specific function is executed when the captured shape of the finger matches the hand sign. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display unit displays icons including a first display showing said hand sign and a second display showing said specific function. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of functions further includes a facsimile function and a scan function.

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