JP5108571B2 - Device, data transfer system, data transfer method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention transfers image data defining information to be displayed on a display unit of an image forming apparatus to an external device, and displays the same image as the image displayed on the display unit of the image forming device on the screen of the external device. The present invention relates to an apparatus, a data transfer system including the image forming apparatus and an external device, a data transfer method, a computer-readable program for realizing the method, and a recording medium.

  Conventionally, printers have limited screen display area and have limited functions. This is because it takes a lot of money to make a highly functional screen, and it is often not accepted by the user. If you look around you, there are devices with various screens, such as mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Data Assistance), and PCs (Personal Computers), but in the current situation where functions are restricted, the screens of printers and these devices are physically Cannot be connected.

  On the other hand, a multifunction machine having a printer function, a copy function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function has a screen with a higher function than that of a printer. Similar to a PC or the like, this multifunction machine includes a CPU and a memory, and realizes each function such as a printer function by application control. In addition, this multi-function machine includes a network I / F unit for connecting to a network such as the Internet, and enables communication with an external device such as a server connected to the network.

Some of these multifunction peripherals include an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) browser for displaying an operation screen on an operation panel based on HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The MFP browser can send an HTTP request to a Web server via the network, receive HTML data generated and returned by the Web server via the network, and display an operation screen on the operation panel of the multifunction peripheral. . For this reason, various functions can be realized.
JP 2006-352845 A

  However, in the above-mentioned multifunction peripheral, when the user does not know how to operate, the operator at the call center cannot see what screen is in trouble and cannot see the screen instantly. Can't figure out. For this reason, even if the multifunction peripheral can be operated from the call center, it cannot be easily and appropriately operated.

  For printers with limited functions compared to multifunction devices, the same screen as multifunction devices can be displayed to enhance functions and to be operated from an external PC. Is desired.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides information to be displayed on a display unit held by a drawing unit for drawing, in addition to a drawing unit that draws and displays an image on an operation screen of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral. A virtual drawing unit that retains the same definition data as the defined data and designates an external device to which the definition data is to be transmitted, and an external device designated by the virtual drawing unit in response to the designation of the external device from the virtual drawing unit A data transfer unit that transfers the definition data to the device, draws an image based on the definition data, and displays the same image as the image displayed on the display unit on the screen of the external device.

  By adding the virtual drawing unit to a printer that does not have a screen, it is possible to display the screen on a device having a screen such as a mobile phone, a PDA, or a PC. The drawing unit, the display unit, the virtual drawing unit, and the data transfer unit can be provided as external devices, and can be externally attached to a printer to realize the above functions. Since the definition data can be easily transferred to the external device such as the mobile phone and the screen can be displayed, the content of the screen can be grasped instantaneously by the external device. Further, since the image data is not transferred as it is, the transfer load can be reduced, and the screen can be displayed even on a device with low performance.

  In the present invention, in response to the change of the image displayed on the display unit of the image forming apparatus, the virtual drawing unit transmits the corresponding definition data to the data transfer unit, and the data transfer unit sends the data to the designated external device. Can be sent. By sending definition data each time the screen is updated, screen logs can be acquired and operation history can be managed. In call centers, etc., user operations can be confirmed with external devices and appropriate operations can be performed. Can be supported.

  The display unit displays a plurality of external devices that can communicate with the image forming apparatus, and can accept selection of an external device to which definition data is to be transferred. As a result, it is possible to display screen images on a plurality of specific remote terminals and to share screen information during demonstrations and video conferences.

  The definition data includes attribute information including a screen size, coordinates of a position where image display is started, a color to be displayed, a font to be displayed, a size of an image to be displayed, and display contents. The transfer load can be reduced by using only data to be drawn such as attribute data.

  According to the present invention, it is also possible to provide a system that includes the above-described image forming apparatus and an external device, and that can control the image forming apparatus from the external device. In this system, in addition to the image forming apparatus described above, an external device receives definition data transferred from the image forming device, draws an image based on the definition data, and displays the image. An external device input unit that receives an input, and an external device transmission unit that transmits control data for controlling the image forming apparatus generated by the input to the image forming apparatus. With a device having a screen such as a mobile phone, a PDA, or a PC for a printer that does not have a screen or a printer with a poor display function, it is possible to operate a device at a distance.

  The external device input unit accepts an input from a user for making the acquisition request in order to acquire the definition data, and the external device transmission unit can transmit the definition data acquisition request to the image forming apparatus. .

  The external device input unit accepts an input for initializing definition data, and the external device transmission unit can transmit initialization data for initializing definition data to the image forming apparatus. When the application of the image forming device is initialized from the external device, when a failure occurs in the screen transition between the external device and the image forming device due to some reason such as a failure on the network, or when the user fails the operation It is possible to operate from the beginning.

  The external device input unit can display a plurality of image forming apparatuses that can communicate with the external device and accept selection of an image forming apparatus to which control data is to be transmitted. By managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses with one external device, the device manager can perform maintenance of all devices remotely.

  The external device may further include a device search unit that searches for an image forming device within the same segment or within a range where wireless communication can be performed from the external device. By searching for a plurality of image forming apparatuses and managing the searched apparatuses by the external device, it is possible to reduce the trouble and setting mistakes that are set by the external device.

  In addition, the external device can transmit control data for invalidating the display on the display unit to the image forming apparatus so that the display unit does not accept input. By switching the application having the screen of the image forming apparatus from the external device to disable the display of the image forming apparatus, it is possible to prevent the double activation of the application and to alert the user who operates the image forming apparatus.

  The present invention can provide a method for controlling an image forming apparatus from an external device. In this method, definition data defining information to be displayed on the display unit of the image forming apparatus is transferred from the image forming apparatus to the external device. The definition data is received by the external device, and an image is drawn based on the definition data. The external device displays the image on the screen of the external device, accepts the input to the image displayed on the external device, and forms the control data for controlling the image forming apparatus generated by the input from the external device. Transmitting to the device.

  In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a computer-readable program for realizing the method and a recording medium storing the program.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus and a data transfer system of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a data transfer system according to the present embodiment. The data transfer system includes an image forming apparatus 100 and an external device 110, which are connected to a network 120 and can communicate with each other.

  The image forming apparatus 100 can be an MFP or a laser printer (LP). In the case of the LP, simple screen drawing is provided. The image forming apparatus 100 includes an operation panel as a display unit (not shown) and an application 101 that executes processing for an input received through the operation panel. In addition, a drawing unit 102 that draws and displays an operation screen image on the operation panel, a network unit 103 that exchanges data with the external device 110, and a device control unit 104 that controls a printer and the like are provided. Yes.

  The external device 110 may be any device as long as it has a screen, and examples thereof include a mobile phone, a PDA, and a PC. The external device 110 receives data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100, and performs an application 111 that performs processing based on the data, a drawing unit 112 that draws and displays an image, and a user's screen with respect to the displayed screen. An input unit 113 that receives input and a network unit 114 that exchanges data with the image forming apparatus 100 are provided.

  The image forming apparatus 100 further includes a virtual drawing unit 105. The virtual drawing unit 105 receives from the application 101 the same definition data as the data defining the information to be displayed on the screen, which is transmitted from the application 101 to the drawing unit 102 for drawing and displaying an image. And the identification information for identifying the external device 110 that can communicate with the device. The virtual drawing unit 105 designates the external device 110 to which the definition data is to be transmitted, sends the identification information to the network unit 103 as the data transfer unit, and the network unit 103 sends the definition data to the external device 110 having the identification information. Send. Details of the definition data will be described later.

  When the external device 110 receives the definition data, the drawing unit 112 draws and displays an image on the screen of the external device 110 based on the definition data. In this way, the same image as that displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 100 can be displayed on the screen of the external device 110.

  When the image forming apparatus 100 is an LP, it can be displayed on a device having a higher function screen than an LP such as a mobile phone or PDA, and the screen can be displayed on the external device 110 instantly. Therefore, when the user does not know how to operate, it is possible for the operator to immediately grasp what screen he / she is at a loss in the call center.

  In addition, the external device 110 receives a user input through the input unit 113, generates control data for the application 111 to control the image forming apparatus 100 based on the input, and the network unit 114 transmits the control data to the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 100 can be controlled from the external device 110. For this reason, when the user does not know how to operate, an appropriate operation can be performed from the external device 110 on behalf of the user.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus. As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 includes the application 101, the drawing unit 102, the virtual drawing unit 105, the network unit 103, and the device control unit 104. When this image forming apparatus is a multi-function peripheral, in order to realize these units, in addition to hardware resources 200 such as a printer 201, a scanner, a facsimile, a copy, a hard disk 202, a memory 203, a network interface 204, an operation panel 205, and the like. The software group includes a platform 210, an application 220, and a virtual application service (VAS) 230 provided as part or all of a software development kit (SDK). The hardware resource 200 and the software group are connected via the engine I / F 206.

  The VAS 230 is arranged between the platform 210 and the application 220, and can operate as a client process when the control service provided in the platform 210 is a server, and as a server process when the application 220 is a client. The VAS 230 receives the definition data transmitted by the application 220, draws an image based on the definition data, and displays the image on the operation panel. The VAS 230 transmits the definition data to the control service provided in the platform 210 and also transmits the definition data to the external device 110. The definition data can be stored in the hard disk 202 or the like for transmission. The VAS 230 reads out the stored definition data, sends it to the control service provided in the platform 210, and outputs it to the network interface 204 by designating an IP address or the like for transfer to the external device 110.

  The platform 210 interprets a processing request from an application and generates a hardware resource 200 acquisition request, and a system that manages one or a plurality of hardware resources 200 and arbitrates the acquisition request from the control service. A resource manager and an operating system (OS) are included.

  The control service includes a plurality of service modules, and includes a system control service (SCS) 211, an engine control service (ECS) 212, a memory control service (MCS) 213, an operation panel control service (OCS) 214, and a fax. A control service (FCS) 215 and a network control service (NCS) 216 are included. The platform 210 includes an application program interface (API) 217 that enables a processing request to be received from the application 220 using a predefined function.

  The OS 218 can be a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark) or LINUX, and each software of the platform 210 and the application 220 is executed in parallel as processes.

  The SRM 219 process controls the system and manages the hardware resources 200 together with the SCS 211. The process of the SRM 219 performs execution control according to a request from an application 220 that uses a hardware resource 200 such as an engine such as a scanner or a printer, a memory, or the like.

  The SRM 219 determines whether the requested hardware resource 200 is available, and if it is determined that the requested hardware resource 200 is available, the SRM 219 notifies the application 220 of that fact. In addition, the SRM 219 performs use scheduling of the hardware resource 200 in response to a request from the application 220 and directly executes the request content. Specifically, paper conveyance and image forming operation by the printer engine, memory reservation, file generation, and the like.

  The process of the SCS 211 performs management of the application 220, control of the operation panel 205, screen display on the operation panel 205, LED display, management of the hardware resource 200, control of the interrupt application, and the like.

  The process of the ECS 212 controls the engine of the hardware resource 200 including a printer, a scanner, a copy, a facsimile, and the like. The MCS 213 process acquires and releases an image memory, uses the hard disk 202, compresses and decompresses image data, and the like. The FCS215 process provides APIs for sending and receiving facsimiles using the PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registering and quoting various facsimile data managed by the backup SRAM, reading facsimiles, and printing. To do.

  The process of NCS 216 is a process for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications 220 that require network I / O. Data received from the network by each protocol is distributed to each application, Mediates when sending data to the network. It has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, smtpd, and client functions of protocols such as http, ftp, smtp. The NCS 216 functions as the network unit 103.

  The process of the OCS 214 controls the operation panel 205 serving as information transmission means between the user and the main body control. The OCS 214 acquires a key press from the operation panel 205 as a key event, and transmits various event functions corresponding to the acquired key event to the SCS 211. Various requests are sent to the operation panel 205 by a request from the application 220 or the control service. A drawing function for drawing and outputting a screen, a function for controlling other operation panels, and the like are composed of pre-registered OCS library portions. The OCS library is implemented by being linked to each module of the application 220 and the control service. The OCS 214 functions as the drawing unit 102.

  The application 220 includes a printer application 221 that is an application for a printer having page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 222 that is an application for copying, and a fax application that is an application for facsimile. 223 and a scanner application 224 which is a scanner application. Each process of the application 220 and each process of the control service realize image forming processing such as printing, copying, scanning, and faxing while performing interprocess communication by calling a function, sending a return value thereof, and sending and receiving a message. These applications 220 correspond to the application 101 in FIG.

  The hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus is illustrated in FIG. FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration when the image forming apparatus is a multifunction peripheral. This image forming apparatus includes a controller 300, an operation panel 320 serving as a display unit, an engine 330 that is a hardware resource unique to image forming processing such as a printer, and a fax control unit (FCU) 340 that controls the facsimile apparatus. Is provided. The controller 300 includes a CPU 301, a system memory 302 including a RAM and a ROM, a north bridge (NB) 303, a south bridge (SB) 304, an ASIC 305, a local memory 306, an HDD 307, and a network connection. A network interface card 308, an SD card slot 309, a USB device 310, an IEEE 1394 device 311 and a Centronics 312 for connecting the image forming apparatus to a PC are included. The engine 330 is connected to the ASIC 305 of the controller 300 via a PCI bus.

  The system memory 302 stores installed applications, various setting data, and the like, and the CPU 301 plays a role as the device control unit 104 that controls the entire device, and reads and executes applications from the system memory 302. The definition data is stored in the local memory 306 or the HDD 307, and is read by the ASIC 305 for drawing on the operation panel 320. The CPU 301 instructs the ASIC 305 to store the definition data stored in the local memory 306 and the like, and causes the network interface card 308 and the like to be transmitted to the external device 110 via the NB 303. Data from the external device 110 is received by the network interface card 308 and the like, passed to an application executed by the CPU 301, and processing is executed on the CPU 301.

  Some printers do not have a system memory, network interface, or the like. In this case, the printer can be provided as an external device for a printer having the screen, the system memory, and the like. By performing communication between the external device and the external device 110, screen sharing and control of the printer from the external device 110 can be performed.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating definition data held by the virtual drawing unit 105. The definition data is defined in the format shown in FIG. 4, data is generated in accordance with this format, and is used for transfer to the external device 110. When using Windows (registered trademark) as an OS, a bitmap image and coordinate information of an image are transferred in a remote desktop provided by Windows (registered trademark). This requires a large amount of data transfer and requires a certain amount of memory for image display. However, since the bitmap image is not transferred in the format managed by the virtual drawing unit 105, the amount of data transferred is small, and the content displayed on the screen can be managed in text format on a memory or in a file.

  In the format shown in FIG. 4, the definition data is attribute information such as a screen size, a screen name, a character code, and an object. The screen size defines the screen size to be displayed. Here, “x = 1024, y = 1280” is set. These numerical values represent the number of pixels in the x-axis direction that is the horizontal direction and the number of pixels in the y-axis direction that is the vertical direction.

  The screen name defines the name of the screen. The screen name can be given a name that makes it easy to specify the screen. Here, the name “Menu” is given. The character code defines a character code to be displayed. Here, “UTF-8”, that is, a character is represented by a combination of information in units of 8 bits.

  An object defines information for displaying text. One is the name of the object. The object name defines the name of the text object. Here, “text1” is set. The coordinate information of the object defines a start coordinate that indicates which coordinate position of the object starts from. Here, “x = 10, y = 3”, that is, start from the tenth pixel from the left side and the third pixel from the top.

  The object color information defines the color to be displayed. The color represented by a numerical value, here “1234”. The object font defines the font to be displayed. Here, it is “Century”. The size of the object defines the size to be displayed. Here, it is “10”. The display content of the object defines the content to be displayed. Here, “Welcome !!” is set.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing in which the image forming apparatus 100 transfers definition data to the external device 110. First, the external device 110 opens a network port for receiving definition data to the network unit 103 of the image forming apparatus 100. Here, the network 120 shown in FIG. 1 can be a LAN or the like, and communication can be performed using a data transfer protocol such as Socket, HTTP, and FTP that can be used in a LAN environment. In addition to the LAN, it is also possible to transfer data by Bluetooth. In step 500, the external device 110 opens the network port and waits for the definition data to be transferred.

  In step 510, the application 101 included in the image forming apparatus 100 sets the data transfer destination in the virtual drawing unit 105. This data transfer destination represents the external device 110, and specifically, is identification information such as an IP address and a MAC address for identifying the external device 110. These pieces of information can be acquired by the user setting in advance or receiving a response from the external device 110 by broadcasting or the like.

  When the screen is updated by the application 101, the application 101 transmits definition data to the virtual drawing unit 105 in addition to the drawing unit 102 (step 520). The virtual drawing unit 105 stores the definition data in the format shown in FIG. The definition data in the format format is created by the application 101, and the virtual drawing unit 105 can also save the format format as received from the application 101. The virtual drawing unit 105 stores the received definition data in a memory or a file. In addition, the data of the virtual drawing unit 105 can be flexibly stored in a highly functional GUI (Graphical User Interface) setting or in a simple GUI data format.

  In step 530, the virtual drawing unit 105 designates a data transfer destination set by the user and transmits definition data to the network unit 103. In step 540, the network unit 103 transmits the received definition data on the network 120.

  In step 550, the application 111 of the external device 110 receives the definition data received by the network unit 114 included in the external device 110 from the network unit 114. The application 111 converts the received definition data into a form that can be developed on a screen of the external device 110 based on attribute information such as a screen size, coordinates, and font. In step 560, the drawing unit 112 receives the converted data, draws an image, and displays the image on the display unit.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing in which the external device 110 acquires definition data from the image forming apparatus 100. First, after the image forming apparatus 100 is activated, in step 600, the virtual drawing unit 105 causes the external device 110 to wait for a connection to the network 120. After the application 101 is activated, in step 610, the initial screen data displayed by the application 101 is added to the drawing unit 102 and transmitted to the virtual drawing unit 105.

  The external device 110 designates a connection destination for connecting to the image forming apparatus 100 and establishes a connection to acquire definition data. After the connection is established, in step 620, a message for acquiring definition data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 as an acquisition request. In step 630, the network unit 114 of the external device 110 transmits the message on the network 120.

  The network unit 103 of the image forming apparatus 100 receives the message from the network 120 and sends it to the virtual drawing unit 105, and the virtual drawing unit 105 receives the message from the network unit 103 in step 640. Since the virtual rendering unit 105 receives the definition data from the application 101 and holds the definition data, the virtual rendering unit 105 sends the definition data to the network unit 103 in step 650. In step 660, the network unit 103 sends the definition data. On the network 120.

  In step 670, the application 111 included in the external device 110 receives the definition data received by the network unit 114. From the received data, attribute information such as screen size, coordinates, and font is obtained, and converted into a form that can be developed on the screen of the external device 110 based on the attribute information. In step 680, the application 111 passes the converted data to the drawing unit 112, and the drawing unit 112 draws an image and displays the image on the display unit.

  FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing in which the external device 110 initializes the screen of the image forming apparatus 100. The external device 110 has already received definition data from the image forming apparatus 100. When initializing the screen, first, in step 700, the user using the external device 110 inputs to the input unit 113 and sends a request to the application 111 to initialize the screen of the image forming apparatus 100. . For example, the request can be sent to the application 111 by pressing the button of the input unit 113 corresponding to the displayed initialization button. This request can be used when a failure occurs in transfer of definition data between the external device 110 and the image forming apparatus 100 for some reason such as a network failure.

  The application of the external device 110 receives the request, generates screen initialization data for initialization, and sends it to the network unit 114 in step 710. In step 720, the network unit 114 transmits the screen initialization data on the network 120.

  In step 730, the application 101 of the image forming apparatus 100 receives the screen initialization data received by the network unit 103 and restarts the screen. In step 740, after restarting, the application 101 transmits definition data to the virtual drawing unit 105. The virtual drawing unit 105 holds the definition data, designates the transfer destination, and sends the definition data to the network unit 103 in step 750. In step 760, the network unit 103 transmits the definition data on the network 120 for transmission to the transfer destination.

  In step 770, the application 111 of the external device 110 receives definition data received by the network unit 114 from the network 120. The application 111 converts the received data into a form that can be developed on the screen of the external device 110 based on attribute information such as the screen size, coordinates, and font. In step 780, the application 111 sends the converted data to the drawing unit 112, and the drawing unit 112 draws an image and displays it on the display unit.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing for operating the screen of the image forming apparatus 100 from the external device 110. The external device 110 has already received definition data from the image forming apparatus 100. First, in step 800, the user who uses the external device 110 inputs from the input unit 113 to the screen displayed on the display unit, and starts the operation.

  In step 810, the application 111 of the external device 110 notifies the network unit 114 of information on which object has been operated. The definition data received from the image forming apparatus 100 includes object attribute information. The application 111 detects which object has been operated by a user operation, generates an event, and the image forming apparatus 100 Notify the event.

  In step 820, the network unit 114 transmits the event on the network 120 in order to transmit the event to the image forming apparatus 100.

  In step 830, the network unit 103 of the image forming apparatus 100 receives the event and passes it to the virtual drawing unit 105. The virtual drawing unit 105 receives the event from the network unit 103, and transmits the event to the application 101 in step 840. The application 101 receives the event and executes the same processing as that input to the display unit of the image forming apparatus 100. This is the same processing as the event that the application 101 transmits to the drawing unit 102. Therefore, the event from the external device 110 is received and the same code is executed without changing the application 101.

  In step 850, the application 101 that has received the notification of the event sends control data to the apparatus control unit 104 to control devices and functions such as scanning and copying. If the event is a screen transition, in step 860, the definition data is sent to the virtual drawing unit 105. In step 870, the definition data is sent from the virtual drawing unit 105 to the network unit 103. In step 880, the network unit 103 The definition data is transferred to the external device 110.

  In step 890, the application 111 of the external device 110 receives definition data received by the network unit 114 from the network 120. The received data is converted into a form that can be developed on the screen of the external device 110 based on attribute information such as the screen size, coordinates, and font. In step 900, the application 111 sends the converted data to the drawing unit 112, and the drawing unit 112 draws an image and displays it on the display unit.

  The number of external devices 110 with which the image forming apparatus 100 establishes a connection is not limited to one, but a connection is established with a plurality of external devices connected to the network 120, definition data is sent to the plurality of external devices, and It can also be displayed on the screen. Instead of sending definition data to all of a plurality of connectable external devices, it is also possible to specify an external device to which definition data should be sent.

  An input screen for designating the external device 110 is shown in FIG. This input screen displays the IP address of the external device, the host name such as the device name for identifying the device, the network name such as the protocol name such as HTTP and the wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth, and enables or disables them. And a checkbox that is entered to determine whether to do. The user can specify which device is enabled by checking a check box.

  The number of image forming apparatuses 100 to which the external device 110 establishes connection is not limited to one, and a connection is established between one external device and a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to the network, and the external device 110 sets them. The definition data acquisition request, event, initialization request, and the like can be transmitted to a plurality of image forming apparatuses. In this case, since only the same screen as that of one image forming apparatus can be displayed on one screen, the screen of another image forming apparatus can be displayed by switching.

  A screen for switching the image forming apparatus 100 is shown in FIG. This screen includes an IP address of the image forming apparatus 100 and a host name such as a device name for identifying the apparatus, a network name such as a protocol name such as HTTP and a wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth, and a switching button for switching the screen. Including. When the switching button is pressed, the screen of the device related to the button is displayed, and the displayed screen of the device can be operated.

  In the above example, the virtual drawing unit 105 holds access information of a plurality of external devices 110 that can be connected, and the external device 110 also holds access information of a plurality of image forming apparatuses 100 that have established connections. The access information is a host name such as an IP address or device name of a device or a device, and network setting information such as HTTP or Bluetooth.

  Although not included in the access information held by the external device 110, there may be an accessible image forming apparatus connected to the network 120. For example, the image forming apparatus is newly added to the network 120. In this case, the external device 110 cannot access because it does not hold the access information of the device. Therefore, a device search unit can be provided to search for a connectable device, send the request to the searched device, and operate the screen of the device. The device search can be performed on the screen shown in FIG. 11, and is executed by pressing a search button.

  When using the Bluetooth communication method, it is possible to search using the Bluetooth Discovery function. In Bluetooth, the authentication / encryption settings of the device to be searched and the device to be searched are matched, the device to be searched is set to a searchable state, and the search operation is performed from the device on the search side. Do. Then, the searching device can acquire a list of surrounding Bluetooth devices in a searchable state as a search result, and can specify a desired connection destination from the list. The Discovery function is a function for searching for surrounding Bluetooth devices in the searchable state. Note that a pass key (authentication key) is input and set on both sides of the communication so that the communication with the designated device is not intercepted and decrypted. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the devices 100 a to 100 d that are within a predetermined distance from the external device 110 and have both authentication / encryption settings matched are searched.

  When using a network in a LAN environment using a communication protocol such as HTTP, the search is performed by broadcasting to a device in the same segment. In this case, the same information is simultaneously transmitted to all the devices connected to the same local area communication network, and as shown in FIG. 11, the device that has returned a response is displayed on the screen as a search result. The screen of each device can be switched by pressing a switching button.

  When another user operates the image forming apparatus 100 while operating the image forming apparatus 100 from the external device 110, the application 101 is executed simultaneously. Since the application 101 cannot determine which process should be executed, when an operation is performed from the external device 110, the display of the screen of the image forming apparatus 100 is invalidated and the operation from the external device 110 is given priority. It is desirable to be able to do this. Specifically, control data for invalidating the display on the operation panel is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 so that the operation panel does not accept input. As a result, the display of the image forming apparatus 100 can be switched and the screen can be preferentially occupied.

  So far, an image forming apparatus and a data transfer system including the image forming apparatus and an external device have been described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. In the present invention, the processing performed by the data transfer system can be provided as a data transfer method, or can be provided as a computer-readable program for realizing the method. This program can be provided by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the recording medium include an HDD, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and an SD card.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus and the data transfer system of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, and the like are within the scope that can be conceived by those skilled in the art. It can be changed, and any aspect is within the scope of the present invention as long as the effects and effects of the present invention are exhibited.

The figure which showed the structure of the data transfer system of this embodiment. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. The figure which illustrated the format of the definition data which a virtual drawing part hold | maintains. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing in which the image forming apparatus transfers definition data to an external device. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing in which an external device acquires definition data from the image forming apparatus. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing in which an external device initializes the screen of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing for operating the screen of the image forming apparatus from an external device. The figure which illustrated the connecting point setting screen for designating an external device. The figure which illustrated the image forming device setting screen for switching the screen to display. The figure which illustrated the search screen for searching an image forming apparatus. The figure which showed the structure containing the external device and the image forming apparatus set to the several searchable state in the network.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Image forming apparatus 101 ... Application 102 ... Drawing part 103 ... Network part 104 ... Apparatus control part 105 ... Virtual drawing part 110 ... External apparatus 111 ... Application 112 ... Drawing part 113 ... Input part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 114 ... Network part 120 ... Network 200 ... Hardware resource 201 ... Printer, 202 ... Hard disk, 203 ... Memory, 204 ... Network interface, 205 ... Operation panel, 206 ... Engine I / F, 210 ... Platform, 211 ... SCS, 212 ... ECS, 213 ... MCS, 214 ... OCS, 215 ... FCS, 216 ... NCS, 217 ... API, 218 ... OS, 219 ... SRM, 220 ... application, 221 ... printer application, 222 ... copy application 223 ... fax application, 224 ... scanner application, 230 ... VAS, 300 ... controller, 301 ... CPU, 302 ... system memory, 303 ... NB, 304 ... SB, 305 ... ASIC, 306 ... local memory, 307 ... HDD, 308 ... NIC, 309 ... SD card slot, 310 ... USB device, 311 ... IEEE 1394 device, 312 ... Centronics, 320 ... Operation panel, 330 ... Engine, 340 ... FCU

Claims (21)

A device including a drawing unit that draws an image and displays the image on a display unit,
A virtual drawing unit that holds the same definition data as the data that defines the information displayed on the display unit that the drawing unit holds for drawing, and that specifies an external device to which the definition data is to be transmitted;
Responsive to the designation of the external device from the virtual drawing unit, the definition data is transferred to the external device designated from the virtual drawing unit, and an image is drawn based on the definition data. A data transfer unit for displaying the same image as the image displayed on the display unit ;
A receiver for receiving an event notification from the external device;
A determination unit for determining an event notified by the event notification;
A control unit that executes control of the device or the function when the event is control of the function of the device or the device ;
When the event is the screen transition, the data transfer unit transfers definition data corresponding to the event to the external device . The device according to claim 1, wherein in response to the change of the image displayed on the display unit, the virtual drawing unit transmits the corresponding definition data to the data transfer unit. The display unit displays the external device a plurality communicable with the device, accepting a selection of an external device to be transferred to the definition data, apparatus according to claim 1. The device according to claim 1, wherein the definition data includes attribute information including a screen size, coordinates of a position at which image display is started, a color to be displayed, a font to be displayed, a size of an image to be displayed, and display content. And a device and an external device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, A system for transferring data between the device and the external device, the external device,
An external device drawing unit that receives the definition data transferred from the device and draws and displays an image based on the definition data;
An external device input unit that receives input related to screen transition or control of the function of the device or the device with respect to the displayed image;
A data transfer system comprising: an external device transmission unit that transmits an event notification generated by the input to the device. 6. The data transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the external device input unit receives an input for requesting acquisition of the definition data, and the external device transmission unit transmits the acquisition request of the definition data to the device . . The external device input unit receives an input for initializing the definition data, and the external device transmission unit transmits initialization data for initializing the definition data to the device . The described data transfer system. The data transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the external device input unit displays a plurality of the devices that can communicate with the external device and accepts selection of a device to which the event notification is to be transmitted. The external device further comprises a device search unit that searches a device that is from the same segment or the external device within the wireless communication range, the data transfer system of claim 5. The data transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the external device transmits control data for invalidating the display on the display unit to the device so that the display unit does not accept an input. A method for transferring data between an external device and a device ,
And transferring the definition data defining information to be displayed on the display unit of the apparatus, to the external device designated by the device,
Receiving the definition data in the external device, drawing an image based on the definition data, and displaying the same image as the image displayed on the display unit on a screen of the external device;
Receiving screen transition or input related to control of the function of the device or the device with respect to the image displayed on the external device;
Sending an event notification generated by the input from the external device to the device ;
Determining an event notified by the event notification in the device;
When the event is control of the device or the function, executing the control of the device or the function in the device;
Transferring the definition data corresponding to the event from the device to the external device when the event is the screen transition . The method according to claim 11, further comprising: transferring the corresponding definition data from the device to the external device in response to a change in an image displayed on the display unit. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: displaying a plurality of the external devices communicable with the device and receiving selection of an external device to which the definition data is to be transferred. The step of receiving the input includes a step of receiving an input for requesting acquisition of the definition data, and the step of transmitting includes a step of transmitting an acquisition request of the definition data to the device . The method described. The step of receiving the input includes a step of receiving an input for initializing the definition data, and the transmitting step includes a step of transmitting initialization data for initializing the definition data to the device . The method of claim 11. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of receiving the input includes a step of displaying a plurality of the devices that can communicate with the external device and receiving a selection of a device to which the event notification is to be transmitted. Moreover, further comprising The method of claim 11 the step of searching a device from the same segment or the external device within the wireless communication range. The method according to claim 11, wherein the transmitting step includes a step of transmitting control data for invalidating display on the display unit to the device, and the display unit does not accept input.   The method according to claim 11, wherein the definition data includes attribute information including a screen size, coordinates of a position where image display is started, a color to be displayed, a font to be displayed, a size of an image to be displayed, and display content.   A computer-readable program for executing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 19.   A recording medium on which a computer-readable program according to claim 20 is recorded.

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