JP4602837B2 - Image forming apparatus and preview display control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of displaying a preview and a preview display control method.

  In digital copiers, printers, faxes, network scanner systems, and image forming apparatuses thereof, images read from optical scanners and images input from the network are stored and saved, and the stored images can be printed later. Something that can be sent has been commercialized.

In addition, a preview of the stored image can be displayed before actual printing or transmission, and the contents can be confirmed in advance.
JP 2004-15475 A JP 2004-232684 A Japanese Patent No. 3563606 JP 2004-77616 A

  However, displaying a preview requires a lot of image processing, and the image processing may take a considerable amount of time. Then, there is no user operation until the preview is displayed.

  In this case, a problem occurs in the case of an image forming apparatus having a function of executing a predetermined process (process when no operation is performed) when a predetermined time (no operation time) elapses when there is no operation by the user. there is a possibility.

  For example, if the no-operation process is an initialization process for the screen content of a screen that displays a preview, the preview may not be displayed. If the no-operation process is a process for turning off the power of the image forming apparatus, the preview is not displayed.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus capable of displaying the preview of the image, the execution of the no-operation process until the preview is displayed causes a problem.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such problems, the present invention is capable of displaying an image preview, and in an image forming apparatus having a function of executing a no-operation process, an image forming apparatus that does not cause a problem with preview display. An object of the present invention is to provide a preview display control method.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a preview display means for displaying a preview of an image, a preview display instruction input means for inputting a preview display instruction for displaying a preview on the preview display means, and the preview. Is determined to be displayed on the preview display means, and when a predetermined time elapses from the time when it is detected that the non-operation state is detected, as a predetermined non-operation process, When no operation is performed to perform a plurality of processes of initializing display contents displayed by the preview display means, a process of shifting the operation mode of the image forming apparatus to the preheating mode, or a process of turning off the power of the image forming apparatus Processing execution means, and the no-operation processing execution means is configured to display the preview by the preview display instruction input means. A first determination means for determining whether or not an indication is input; and whether or not the preview display instruction is further displayed on the preview display means when the first determination means determines that the preview display instruction is input. and a second determination means for determining whether said when the preview by the second determining means is determined to have been displayed on the preview display unit, elapsed predetermined set before Ki予 Me time Then, the non-operation process is executed.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a preview display control method in an image forming apparatus capable of displaying an image preview, wherein a preview display instruction for displaying the preview is input from a user An instruction input stage, a preview display stage for displaying a preview of an image, and after it is determined that the preview is displayed in the preview display stage and are set in advance from the point in time when it is detected that there is no operation. When the predetermined time has elapsed, as a predetermined no-operation process, a process for initializing display contents displayed in the preview display stage, a process for shifting the operation mode of the preview display method to the preheating mode, or A non-operation-time process execution stage for executing a plurality of processes for turning off the power of the image forming apparatus, In the physical execution stage, it is determined that the preview display instruction is input in the preview display instruction input stage, and the preview display instruction is input in the first determination stage. A second determination step for determining whether or not the preview is displayed in the preview display step, and the second determination step determines that the preview is displayed in the preview display step. when the front after the lapse of the set predetermined time Me Ki予, and executes the no-operation process, respectively.

  According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus capable of displaying a preview of an image and having a function of executing processing when no operation is performed. Can provide.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a print unit 40, a paper feed unit 50, and a paper discharge unit 60. The image forming apparatus 100 includes these units.

  The document reading unit 10 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 11, a document table 12, a feed roller 13, a feed belt 14, a contact glass 16, and a document set detection sensor 17. Further, the optical scanning system includes an exposure lamp 21, a first mirror 22, a second mirror 23, a third mirror 24, a lens 25, and a CCD image sensor 26. The exposure lamp 21 and the first mirror 22 are not shown. The second mirror 23 and the third mirror 24 are fixed on a second carriage (not shown).

  The document reading unit 10 further includes a laser output unit 31, an imaging lens 32, and a reflection mirror 33. Inside the laser output unit 31, a polygon mirror that is rotated at a constant high speed by a laser diode that is a laser light source and a motor. Is installed.

  Although an electrical component is not shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 has a storage device that stores document image information converted by the CCD image sensor 26. The document image information is temporarily stored in the storage device. And is read out from the laser beam to modulate the light emitted from the laser diode. The modulated laser beam is deflected and scanned by a polygon mirror that rotates at a constant speed, passes through the imaging lens 32, is folded back by the reflection mirror 33, and is collected on the photosensitive drum 41 of the print unit 40.

  The print unit 40 includes a photosensitive drum 41, a developing unit 42, a transfer unit 43, a fixing unit 44, and a paper discharge unit 45. The surface of the photosensitive drum 41 is charged to a high potential by a charging charger (not shown).

  Laser light is deflected and scanned by the polygon mirror in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the direction in which the photosensitive drum 41 rotates.

  When main scanning is repeated at a predetermined cycle corresponding to the rotational speed and recording density of the photosensitive drum, the surface potential changes according to the intensity of the irradiated light, and corresponds to the density distribution of the document on the photosensitive drum 41. An electrostatic latent image is formed.

  The electrostatic latent image is developed by the toner of the developing unit 42 and transferred by the transfer unit 43 onto the transfer paper conveyed from the paper feeding unit 50.

  The paper feed unit 50 includes a first tray 51, a second tray 52, a third tray 53, a first paper feeder 54, a second paper feeder 55, a third paper feeder 56, and a vertical conveyance unit 57. .

  When a transfer paper of a predetermined size is designated by the user, a transfer paper tray of a specified size is selected, and the transfer paper of the specified size is conveyed from there to the transfer unit 43 via the paper feeding device and the vertical conveyance unit 57. The

  The transfer paper on which the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit 43 is conveyed to the fixing unit 44. The fixing unit 44 has a heating roller and a pressure roller (not shown), and the heating roller is preheated by a heater (not shown).

  The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by the toner being thermally fused while the transfer paper is sandwiched between these rollers and passed. The transfer paper on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the paper discharge unit 60 by the paper discharge unit 45.

  The paper discharge unit 60 includes a paper discharge tray 61 and a staple table 62 for discharging the conveyed transfer paper, a paper jogger 68, a stapler 69, and a staple completion paper discharge tray 71.

  The transfer sheet conveyed by the sheet discharge unit 45 is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 61 side via the transfer rollers 64 and 65 by switching the switching plate 63 downward.

  Then, by switching the switching plate 63 upward, the transfer sheet is discharged to the staple table 62 via the conveying roller 66. The transfer sheets discharged and stacked on the stapling table 62 are aligned by the paper alignment jogger 67 each time one sheet is discharged, and are bound by the stapler 68 upon completion of one copy.

  The group of transfer sheets bound by the stapler 68 is stored in the staple completion discharge tray 69 by its own weight. The paper discharge tray 61 has a configuration that can move at right angles to the transfer paper conveyance direction. Therefore, the paper discharge tray 61 can move at right angles to the transfer paper conveyance direction, and can easily sort the discharged copy paper.

  When forming an image on both sides of the transfer paper, the paper discharge unit 60 does not guide the transfer paper fed from each of the paper feed trays 51 to 53 to the paper discharge tray 61 side and switches the path. The branch claw 71 is set on the upper side. As a result, the transfer paper is switched back-inverted and is once stored in the duplex feeding unit 72.

  Thereafter, the transfer paper stocked in the double-sided paper feed unit 72 is fed again to the printing unit 40, and generation, development, transfer, and fixing of the electrostatic latent image are performed. Then, the transfer paper is guided to the paper discharge tray 61 by setting the branching claw 71 for switching the path to the lower side this time.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control system of the image forming apparatus. 2 shows a main controller 80, a display / operation unit 70, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 11, and an image processing unit (IPU) 90. Of these, the main controller 80 corresponds to preview display canceling means. The display / operation unit 70 corresponds to preview display instruction input means, preview display means, and preview display cancellation instruction means.

  The main controller 80 communicates with the display / operation unit 70, the automatic document feeder (ADF) 11, and the image processing unit (IPU) 90 to control the entire image forming apparatus.

  An image processing unit (IPU) 90 performs control such as writing an image into an image memory, and creating an image using the image stored in the image memory. The image processing unit (IPU) 90 is connected to an external storage device 98 such as a hard disk device 96, CD-R, or DVD. The hard disk device 96 corresponds to image storage means.

  The display / operation unit 70 includes an operation unit I / F 77, a touch panel 75, and keys 76. The operation unit I / F 77 is an interface with the main controller 80. The key 76 is a physical key such as a numeric keypad or a copy key. The display / operation unit 70 corresponds to preview display means and preview display instruction input means.

  The touch panel 75 is a touch panel capable of displaying information such as an image preview to the user. Specifically, the touch panel 75 displays a preview display instruction button in which a preview display instruction for displaying a preview on the touch panel 75 is input from the user.

  The controller 80 performs image processing on an image to be previewed by an image processing unit (IPU) 90, thereby generating a preview and displaying the preview on the touch panel 75. Further, the controller 80 corresponds to a no-operation-time processing execution unit that executes no-operation processing.

  Although not shown, the main controller 80 includes a CPU, a ROM that stores programs executed by the CPU, a RAM that stores various data, a timer that measures the current time, and the like. Using this timer, the no-operation time is measured.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the image processing unit. The A / D converter 81 converts the image signal from the CCD image sensor 26 into a digital signal. The shading correction unit 82 performs shading correction on the image converted into the digital signal.

  The MTF / γ correction unit 83 performs MTF / γ correction on the image. The corrected image is further enlarged or reduced by the scaling processing unit 84 in accordance with the scaling condition designated by the display / operation unit 70. The enlarged or reduced image is passed to the selector 85.

  The selector 85 switches the image destination to the writing γ correction unit 89 or the image memory controller 86. The image that has passed through the writing γ correction unit 89 is subjected to writing γ correction in accordance with the drawing conditions, and is sent to the writing unit. The image memory controller 86 and the selector 85 are configured to be able to input and output images in both directions.

  The image processing unit 80 also includes a CPU 88 that controls the image memory controller 86 and the original reading unit 10, and a ROM 91, RAM 92, and NV-RAM 93 that store programs and data thereof. The image memory controller 86 controls writing and reading of data in the image memory 87 according to instructions from the CPU 88.

  Here, the image sent to the image memory controller 86 is compressed by an image compression device in the image memory controller 86 and sent to the image memory 87. A limited image memory can be used effectively by compressing the image.

  Since the image memory 87 can store many original images at one time, for example, when using the sort function, the original images can be output in page order. Furthermore, a plurality of document images can be written into the image memory 87 in an area obtained by dividing the area of one transfer sheet of the image memory 87. As a result, consolidated copy is possible. In some cases, an image stored in an external storage device 98 such as a hard disk device 96 or a CD-R is read out via the SCSI controller 97 and used.

  The image in the image memory 87 is configured to be accessible from the CPU 88. For this reason, in addition to thinning processing, clipping processing, and the like, the image preview according to the present embodiment can be drawn and processed. This processing is performed by writing processing data in a register (not shown) in the image memory controller 86. The drawn image is stored in the image memory 87 again.

  The CPU 88 reads the image in the image memory 87 and transfers it to the display / operation unit 70 via the I / O port 94 so that a preview can be displayed. When displaying an image as it is, the screen display resolution of the display / operation unit 70 is low, so that the image is transferred after being subjected to a thinning process.

  The image memory 87 is a non-volatile memory such as the HDD 96, and can store the stored image as it is, and can specify and print the stored image at a later date.

  Hereinafter, specific processing contents will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. These flowcharts show processing from a state in which no operation is performed. The display / operation unit 70 is simply expressed as an operation unit. In each flowchart, the no-operation time is set to 60 seconds. However, the value of the no-operation time may be appropriately determined according to the content of the no-operation processing.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an auto-clear process in which the no-operation process initializes the content displayed by the operation unit. In step S101, the auto clear timer value is initialized. Next, in step S102, it is determined whether there is an operation on the operation unit. If there is no operation, it is determined in step S103 whether or not the auto-clear timer value is smaller than 60 seconds. This determination is a determination as to whether the no-operation time has elapsed.

  When the auto clear timer value is smaller than 60 seconds, the process of step S102 is performed again. If the auto-clear timer value is 60 seconds or longer, display contents are initialized in step S104.

  Returning to the process of step S102, if there is an operation on the operation unit, it is determined in step S105 whether the operation is an input of a preview display instruction. If the preview display instruction is not input, the process of step S101 is performed again.

  If the input is a preview display instruction, the process proceeds to step S106. Step S106 is a process that loops until a preview is displayed. Therefore, the no-operation process in step S104 is not executed until the preview is displayed. When the preview is displayed, the process of step S101 is executed. Note that the preview display processing is performed in, for example, a separate thread, and it is possible to determine whether the preview is displayed based on a message from the thread. The same applies to FIGS. 5 and 6 described below.

  Step S105 corresponds to the preview display instruction input stage. Step S104 corresponds to a no-operation processing stage.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing automatic pre-heat treatment in which the no-operation processing sets the operation mode of the image forming apparatus to the pre-heat mode. In step S201, the auto preheat timer value is initialized. Next, in step S202, it is determined whether there is an operation on the operation unit. If there is no operation, it is determined in step S203 whether or not the auto preheat timer value is smaller than 60 seconds.

  If the auto preheat timer value is less than 60 seconds, the process of step S202 is performed again. When the auto preheating timer value is 60 seconds or longer, a process for shifting to the preheating mode is performed in step S204.

  Returning to the process of step S202, if there is an operation on the operation unit, it is determined in step S205 whether the operation is an input of a preview display instruction. If the preview display instruction is not input, the process of step S201 is performed again.

  If the input is a preview display instruction, the process proceeds to step S206. Step S206 is a process that loops until a preview is displayed. Accordingly, the no-operation process in step S204 is not executed until the preview is displayed. When the preview is displayed, the process of step S201 is executed.

  Step S205 corresponds to the preview display instruction input step. Step S204 corresponds to a no-operation processing stage.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an auto-off process in which the no-operation process turns off the power of the image forming apparatus. In step S301, the auto-off timer value is initialized. Next, in step S302, it is determined whether there is an operation on the operation unit. If there is no operation, it is determined in step S303 whether the auto-off timer value is smaller than 60 seconds.

  If the auto-off timer value is smaller than 60 seconds, the process of step S302 is performed again. If the auto-off timer value is 60 seconds or longer, power-off processing is performed in step S304.

  Returning to the process of step S302, if there is an operation on the operation unit, it is determined in step S305 whether the operation is an input of a preview display instruction. If the preview display instruction is not input, the process of step S301 is performed again.

  If the input is a preview display instruction, the process proceeds to step S306. Step S306 is a process that loops until a preview is displayed. Therefore, the no-operation process in step S304 is not executed until the preview is displayed. When the preview is displayed, the process of step S301 is executed.

  Step S305 corresponds to the preview display instruction input stage. Step S304 corresponds to a no-operation processing stage.

  As shown in the processing in the flowchart described above, in an image forming apparatus that can display a preview of an image and has a function of executing processing when no operation is performed, processing when no operation is performed when displaying the preview Therefore, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus and a preview display control method that do not cause any trouble in the display of the preview.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a control system of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a block block diagram of an image processing unit. It is a flowchart which shows an auto clear process. It is a flowchart which shows auto pre-heat processing. It is a flowchart which shows an auto-off process.

Explanation of symbols

70 Display / Operation Unit 75 Touch Panel 76 Key 77 Operation Unit I / F
80 Main controller 87 Image memory 88 CPU
91 ROM
92 RAM
93 NV-RAM
94 I / O port 90 IPU
96 hard disk device 98 external storage device

Claims (2)

Preview display means for displaying a preview of the image;
A preview display instruction input means for inputting a preview display instruction for displaying a preview on the preview display means from a user;
If it is determined that the preview has been displayed on the preview display means and a predetermined time has elapsed since it was detected that there was no operation, a predetermined non-operation process There is no need to execute a plurality of processes for initializing the display content displayed by the preview display means, for shifting the operation mode of the image forming apparatus to the preheating mode, or for turning off the power of the image forming apparatus. And an operation processing execution means.
The no-operation processing execution means
A first determination unit that determines whether or not the preview display instruction is input by the preview display instruction input unit; and when the preview display instruction is input by the first determination unit, Second judging means for judging whether or not a preview is displayed on the preview display means, and when the second judging means judges that the preview is displayed on the preview displaying means, after a lapse of set predetermined time Me Ki予, an image forming apparatus and executes the no-operation process, respectively. A preview display control method in an image forming apparatus capable of displaying an image preview,
A preview display instruction input step in which a preview display instruction for displaying the preview is input from a user;
A preview display stage for displaying a preview of the image;
If it is determined that the preview has been displayed in the preview display stage and a predetermined time has elapsed since it was detected that there was no operation, a predetermined non-operation process A plurality of processes for initializing display contents displayed in the preview display stage, a process for shifting the operation mode of the preview display method to the preheating mode, and a process for turning off the power of the image forming apparatus. A no-operation process execution stage,
The no-operation processing execution stage includes:
A first determination step of determining whether or not the preview display instruction is input in the preview display instruction input step; and a step of determining that the preview display instruction is input in the first determination step. A second determination step for determining whether or not a preview is displayed in the preview display step, and when it is determined in the second determination step that the preview is displayed in the preview display step, after a lapse of set predetermined time Me Ki予, preview display control method and executes the no-operation process, respectively.

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