JP4683335B2 - Multifunction machine and its operation stop method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to cancellation of an operation of a multi-function peripheral, and particularly to cancellation according to a user instruction on a touch panel.

  In a multifunction device having multiple functions, for example, a plurality of operations such as facsimile transmission, printout, and reading can be performed in parallel. Even in such a parallel operation, the user can know which operation is being executed from the display screen, the display lamp, etc., and if it is necessary to stop the operation, press the stop key for that operation. Etc.

  However, for example, when facsimile transmission and printout are performed in parallel, and the user wishes to cancel facsimile transmission, the user may intuitively press the “stop key”. To cancel the facsimile transmission, it is actually necessary to press the “fax cancel key”. If the “stop key” is pressed in this way, the printout is canceled and the facsimile transmission to be canceled is mistakenly left as it is. In particular, when you are in a hurry, such as when you want to cancel transmission, there is no room to confirm the stop key for the operation you want to cancel, or you may press the wrong key too quickly.

An object of the present invention is to allow a user to intuitively and accurately select a function whose operation is to be stopped by using a touch panel of a multi-function peripheral (claims 1 to 3 ).

According to the present invention, in a multi-function peripheral that displays a function in operation as an image of a touch panel, an operation being executed among printing, reading, and transmission is displayed on the touch panel, and an animation image of the started operation is displayed on the touch panel. Display means for displaying on the touch panel, accepting means for accepting selection of an action that the user wants to stop by touching the animation image of the touch panel, and action stopping means for stopping the action selected by the user It is provided that the user's touch on the displayed animation image is received and the operation selected by the user is stopped.

Preferably, the animation image is displayed on the touch panel together with a stop key .

Furthermore, the present invention is a method for stopping an operation of a multi-function peripheral that displays a function being operated as an image on a touch panel, and displays an operation being executed in printing, reading and transmission on the touch panel, respectively, and starts A step for displaying an animation image of the performed action on the touch panel, a step for accepting a selection of an action that the user wants to cancel by touching the animation image on the touch panel, and a process for canceling the action selected by the user A step is provided, and the user's touch on the displayed animation image is received, and the operation selected by the user is stopped.

In this invention, since the function being operated is displayed on the touch panel as an animation image , even when the multi-function device performs a plurality of operations in parallel, the user can quickly touch the image of the operation that he wants to cancel and Can be canceled. Since a desired operation can be stopped by touching the corresponding animation image or the like, the selection of the operation to be stopped is not mistaken. In particular, by using a touch panel, it is possible to select an operation to be stopped intuitively and accurately compared to an instruction by pressing a button outside the display screen.
Since the operation for displaying an animation image is in progress among printing, reading, and transmission, the display is simple and easily understood by the user (claims 1 to 3).

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make clear to the user that the operation can be selected from the touch panel by mounting the function in operation together with the animation image on the touch panel.

  In the following, an optimum embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be shown.

  1 to 5 show an embodiment. In FIG. 1, 2 is a multifunction peripheral, 4 is a CPU as a main control, 6 is a network control unit (NCU) for establishing a call to the public telephone network, and 8 is G3 via a public telephone line. A modem for transmitting and receiving facsimile data and the like. The MFP 2 is connected to the administrator's personal computer 14 and the user's personal computer 15 via the LAN 12 via the LAN interface 10.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a copy function processing unit, and reference numeral 18 denotes a scanner function processing unit which performs processing such as reading an image with a scanner and transmitting image data to a personal computer or the like. A printer function processing unit 20 gives the printer a network printer function, and performs printing as a network printer in response to a request from the personal computers 14 and 15 in the LAN 12. A G3 facsimile function processing unit 22 transmits / receives image data and the like using a public telephone line. A network communication unit 24 transmits and receives e-mails and the like. Reference numeral 26 denotes an Internet network.

  28 is a display panel such as an LCD, and 30 is an operation unit, which uses a touch panel or a keyboard of the LCD display panel to select processing such as G3 facsimile or e-mail transmission, transmission document selection, destination facsimile number, Enter setting conditions such as e-mail address. In the embodiment, the operation being executed is displayed as an animation on the display panel 28, and the user performs an operation stop instruction by touching the corresponding image. In addition to the normal operation panel touch panel, a touch panel for operation stop processing may be provided separately. Further, a screen similar to that of the display panel 28 may be provided on the personal computers 14 and 15, and an operation stop instruction from these terminal devices may be received.

  An operation stop processing unit 32 displays the operation being executed on the display panel 28, accepts the user's selection from the display panel 28, and performs processing for canceling the selected operation. The operation stop processing unit 32 includes an image display control unit 34 for displaying the operation being executed on the display panel 28 as an animation, and a user selection for selecting the operation that the user wants to stop by touching the corresponding image. A user selection receiving unit 36 for receiving and a cancel processing unit 38 for canceling the operation corresponding to the image selected by the user. Reference numeral 42 is a ROM for storing programs and the like, and 44 is a RAM for storing various data such as command information. Reference numeral 46 denotes an operation stop processing program for stopping the operation instructed by the user, which is stored in the storage device.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the operation stop processing program 46 according to the embodiment. The program 46 according to the embodiment identifies and accepts an image display control command 48 for displaying processing during execution of the operation of the MFP 2 on the display panel 28 and an operation selected by the user by touching the animation display. A user selection acceptance command 50 for canceling the selected operation and an operation stop command 52 for canceling the selected operation.

  FIG. 3 shows an animation display of the operation being performed on the display panel 28. In the embodiment, the scanning process, the printing process, and the transmission process are simultaneously performed in parallel, and the respective operations are indicated by animation displays 60, 62, and 64. If the animation is displayed as a moving image, the user can instantly grasp the operation being executed, but it may be displayed as a still image. If the user wants to stop facsimile transmission on the display panel 28, the user can select the operation to be canceled by touching the display 64 in the display panel 28, and press the “Fax Cancel Key” placed outside the panel. There is no need to look for it.

  If you stop the transmission here, the scanning process of the image data for facsimile transmission will also be stopped at the same time. If the destination is wrong or the transmission content contains an error, the user who notices this will immediately perform the transmission process. Can be stopped. In the facsimile transmission in which the scanning process and the transmission process are performed in this way, only the transmission operation, not the scanning operation, is displayed as an animation in order to prevent erroneous transmission. The scan operation display 60 is displayed at the time of image capture or copy processing, the print operation display 62 is displayed at the time of copying, data output from the personal computer 14 or the like, and the transmission display 64 is Displayed when sending a facsimile or internet facsimile.

  Further, for example, even when a plurality of jobs are waiting to be processed, only an active job is displayed and can be selected, thereby responding to a user's urgent cancellation request. Further, by displaying the image 65 of the multifunction peripheral and the animation display 60, 62, 64 of the operation, the operation being executed is simply displayed, and the user's usability at the time of the cancellation request is improved.

  FIG. 4 shows a display panel 28 provided with a stop key together with animation displays 60 to 64 showing the operation being executed. The cancel keys are a read cancel key 66, a print cancel key 68, and a transmission cancel key 70, which are provided in the vicinity of the respective animation displays to make it easier for the user to select. The user may select either the animation display or the cancel key. Further, a still image indicating the operation being executed may be used instead of the animation display, and this and a stop key may be provided.

  FIG. 5 shows processing when an instruction to stop the operation is given on the display panel of the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment. In the embodiment, the copying machine, the scanning process, the printing process, the G3 facsimile process, the Internet facsimile process, and the like are performed on the multifunction peripheral, and the operations being performed in these processes are displayed as animations such as scanning, printing, and transmission. . In the figure, the user instructs the multifunction device as needed (steps 1 and 2). When the reading unit (steps 3 and 4), the printer unit (steps 5 and 6), and the transmission unit (steps 7 and 8) start operating in accordance with the instructed processing, the animation display of each operation is performed. Is displayed on the display panel (step 9).

  Then, on the display panel displaying the animation of the operation being executed, for example, when the user touches the animation display of the reading operation, the operation of the reading unit is stopped and the reading process is stopped (steps 10 and 11). In addition, there is an operation being executed (step 12). If an operation to be canceled, for example, a printing operation is selected (steps 9 and 13), the printing operation is stopped (step 14). The transmission operation can be stopped in the same manner (steps 15 and 16). If there is no operation being executed other than the operation instructed to be canceled, the multifunction device returns to the standby screen (steps 12 and 2). If no stop instruction is given during the operation, the process is performed as it is and the process ends.

  In the embodiment, since the function being operated is displayed on the display panel as an animation, even when the multifunction device performs a plurality of operations in parallel, the user touches the animation display of the operation to be canceled to stop the operation. Can be pushed and not wrong. Further, since the operation is performed on the display panel, it is not necessary to search for a key, and the user can perform the operation intuitively than the operation by pressing a key provided outside the display panel. In particular, in an operation that is desired to be stopped immediately such as a transmission operation, a user's stop instruction can be promptly executed.

Furthermore, since the operation to be displayed is displayed for the operation being executed as print, read, and transmission, there is no mistake in which operation the user is executing. In addition, since the operations being executed are displayed in animation, it is easier for the user to understand, and if a stop key is provided on the animation display side, it is clear to the user that the operation can be instructed from the display panel. be able to. Since the display of the image on the display panel of the embodiment is simple, the user does not press the wrong key or takes time to select the key.

Block diagram showing the configuration of the MFP of the embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the processing program for canceling the operation of the MFP in the embodiment The figure which shows the display panel which displays the operation in progress in an Example. The figure which shows the display panel which displays the operation | movement in progress and its cancellation key in an Example. The flowchart which shows the process algorithm for stopping the operation | movement currently performed by the user instruction from a display panel in an Example.

Explanation of symbols

2 MFP 4 CPU
6 NCU (Network Control Unit)
8 Modem 10 LAN interface 12 LAN
14, 15 Personal computer 16 Copy function processing 18 Scanner function processing 20 Printer function processing 22 G3 facsimile function processing 24 Network communication unit 26 Network network 28 LCD
30 Operation Unit 32 Operation Cancel Processing Unit 34 Image Display Control Unit 36 User Selection Accepting Unit 38 Cancel Processing Unit 42 ROM
44 RAM
46 Operation stop processing program 60, 62, 64 Animation display 65 Image 66, 68, 70 of multifunction device Operation stop key

Claims (3)

In a multifunction device that displays the function in operation as a touch panel image,
Display operations for displaying on the touch panel an operation being executed in printing, reading, and transmission, respectively, and displaying an animation image of the started operation on the touch panel;
An accepting means for accepting a selection of an operation that the user wishes to cancel by touching the animation image on the touch panel;
An operation stopping means for stopping the operation selected by the user;
A multifunction device configured to accept a user's touch on the displayed animation image and stop the operation selected by the user. The multifunction device according to claim 1, wherein the animation image is displayed on the touch panel together with a stop key. A method of stopping the operation of a multi-function peripheral that displays an active function with an image on the touch panel,
Steps for displaying on the touch panel the operations being executed in printing, reading, and transmission, respectively, and displaying an animation image of the started operations on the touch panel;
A step for accepting a selection of an operation that the user wants to stop by touching the animation image on the touch panel;
Providing a step for stopping the operation selected by the user;
An operation stopping method for a multifunction machine, wherein the user's touch on the displayed animation image is received and the operation selected by the user is stopped.

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