JP5954536B2 - Image forming apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that outputs an image to a sheet, and an image forming system in which the image forming apparatus is connected via a network.

  An image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, and a multi-function machine having a plurality of these functions has a function of forming an image based on image data and outputting the image to paper. Usually, this is realized by controlling the hardware of the image forming apparatus by firmware operating on an OS (operating system).

Further, there is known an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of OSs can be operated (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1 proposes an emulation apparatus that has a virtual OS1 that operates controller software and an OS2 that operates operation unit software, and handles communication between the controller and the operation unit as communication between OSl and OS2.

JP 2010-191543 A

As described above, an image forming apparatus that controls the image forming apparatus using a plurality of OSs is also known. The control of the apparatus includes various processes such as scanning processing, printing processing, storing image data in the HDD, temperature management of heat fixing, sensors for detecting opening / closing of trays and doors.
In some image forming apparatuses, document file data edited by an application such as an external apparatus such as a PC (personal computer) is input and output based on the data. However, the document file is saved in a format specific to the application or a file in a specific format, and is set for printing using a printer driver that operates on the operating system of the external device. Therefore, when printing document data, the application and a printer driver are required, and a job is input to the image forming apparatus as output data via a printer driver provided in the external apparatus.

  However, the OS on the conventional image forming apparatus is only for controlling the apparatus, and there is no OS that handles data for output (word, Excel, etc. (both are trademarks)). For this reason, when editing the contents of input data, there is only ripped data in the image forming apparatus, and processing such as editing of output data cannot be performed on the image forming apparatus. There is an inconvenience that even a slight change has to return to work before the PC with the original data.

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above circumstances, and enables one or two or more second operating systems different from the first operating system that operates a control program for controlling the apparatus to be started. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming system that connect the above-described image forming apparatus to a network and perform operations related to the second operating system through access from other image forming apparatuses. To do.

Of the image forming apparatuses of the present invention, the first aspect of the present invention is:
Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit .
If it is determined that the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus can be used, it is prohibited to display the operation screen according to the second operating system. It is characterized by that.
The image forming apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention is
Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit.
A function for displaying a list of the second operating system on the operation display unit so as to be selectable, and displaying an operation screen related to the second operating system on the operation display unit when the selection is made by an operator. And the selection of the second operating system is prohibited when it is determined that the second operating system cannot be used.
An image forming apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is
Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit.
In a case where the second image forming apparatus is configured to be able to provide the operating state information of the second operating system in the own apparatus to the outside through the network, the operating state information of the second image forming apparatus is transmitted to the communication unit. It is possible to acquire through a part.
In the image forming apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the operating state information uses hardware resources used by the second operating system in the second image forming apparatus. It is characterized by including a rate.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the control unit restricts connection to the second operating system having the relatively high usage rate.
The image forming apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention, wherein the second image forming apparatus is configured such that when the usage rate of its own apparatus exceeds a predetermined value, the first The connection from the image forming apparatus to the second operating system is restricted.
An image forming apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein the control unit selects the second operating system having a relatively high usage rate. It is characterized by giving a warning that performance is degraded.
An image forming apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention includes:
Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit.
When the second operating system of the same type is mounted on a plurality of second image forming apparatuses, the second operating system of the type is mounted when selecting the second operating system of the type. One of the second operating systems mounted on the plurality of second image forming apparatuses is selected according to operating state information of the second operating system in the plurality of second image forming apparatuses. It is characterized by selecting.

The image forming apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the control unit displays the operation screen of the own device and the operation screen according to the second operating system. The operation display unit can be displayed selectively or in combination.

The image forming apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the control unit further includes one or more second operating systems in parallel with the first operating system. The system is operable.

An image forming apparatus according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the operation screen server according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, wherein the second image forming apparatus provides operation screen information of the second operating system. Have
The control unit acquires the operation screen information from the operation screen server, and displays the operation screen on the operation display unit based on the operation screen information.

The image forming apparatus according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, wherein when the second image forming apparatus includes a plurality of the second operating systems, the operation screen is provided for each second operating system. It has a server.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh or twelfth aspect of the present invention, the information on the type of the second operating system operable on the second image forming apparatus is acquired and the acquired The operation screen information is acquired from the operation screen server corresponding to the second operating system specified among the types.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the thirteenth aspect of the invention, the control unit obtains information on the type of the second operating system from the second image forming apparatus. .

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the control unit associates information on the type of the second operating system with the second image forming apparatus as connection destination data in advance. A connection destination corresponding to the second operating system designated by referring to the connection destination data is determined in advance.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, further comprising a storage unit that stores a document file created on the second operating system.
The control unit displays a list of the document files on the operation display unit, enables an operator to select the document file through the operation display unit, and according to the selected document file The operation screen according to the second operating system is displayed on the operation display unit so as to be operable.

In the image forming apparatus according to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the storage unit stores management data that associates the application that handles the document file with the second operating system,
When the document file is selected, the control unit determines the second operating system corresponding to the document file from the management data based on an application that handles the document file.

In the sixteenth or seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus according to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention determines whether the control unit can use the second operating system installed in the second image forming apparatus. If it is determined in the result that the document file cannot be used, selection of the document file is prohibited.

Whether the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus can be used in the image forming apparatus of the nineteenth aspect of the invention according to any one of the first, second, and eighteenth aspects of the invention. The determination is performed by the second image forming apparatus or the control unit.

An image forming system according to a twentieth aspect of the present invention is the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to nineteenth aspects of the present invention,
And a network that connects the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus in a communicable manner.

21 The image forming system of the present invention, in the present invention of the twentieth, the second image forming apparatus, a first operating system, hardware of the boot to own apparatus on the first operating system A control program for controlling hardware resources, and a control unit for operating one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system.

In the twenty- second or twenty-first aspect of the present invention, the image forming system according to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention is configured such that the second image forming apparatus can provide operating state information of its own device to the outside through the network. The control unit in the first image forming apparatus can acquire the operating state information through the network.

  According to the present invention, the second operating system installed in the second image forming apparatus can be used in the first image forming apparatus, and the minimum second necessary for the plurality of image forming apparatuses. It is possible to install an operating system, and it is possible to suppress a reduction in performance and an increase in a user's license cost. Further, when the same second operating system is installed in all the image forming apparatuses, when there is another image forming apparatus with a low usage rate, it is possible to improve the performance by distributing the processing. .

1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a software configuration and hardware resources in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Similarly, it is a simplified control block diagram. Similarly, it is an overall control block diagram. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of overall control when the power is turned on. Similarly, it is a figure which shows a main menu screen. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of printing processing. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of other OS file processing. Similarly, it is a figure which shows a file list display screen. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of a stored job process. Similarly, it is a figure which shows a preservation | save job list screen. Similarly, it is a figure which shows a printing condition setting screen. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of reprinting. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure for receiving a print job. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of content editing. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of another OS screen. Similarly, it is an example of an operation screen showing another OS selection screen example and a list display of other OSs that can be connected. Similarly, it is an example of another OS selection screen, and is an example of an operation screen having a tab display of another OS that can be connected. Similarly, it is a figure which shows another OS screen. Similarly, it is a diagram of an operation screen showing another OS selection screen example and a tab switching display example to a connectable other OS. Similarly, it is an example of another OS selection screen, and is a diagram of an operation screen showing an example of a message when another OS that cannot be connected is selected. Similarly, it is the flowchart which shows the procedure of other OS screen display. Similarly, it is a diagram of an operation screen showing an example of another OS selection screen and a message example when another OS that cannot be connected in the other OS list display is selected. Similarly, it is a flowchart which shows the procedure of sleep control. Similarly, it is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the other example of sleep control. Similarly, it is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the other example of sleep control. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of other OS sleep control at the time of startup. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting the OS priority. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure of another OS sleep control during the RIP processing procedure and the RIP processing. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing the procedure of other OS startup permission / prohibition determination. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining a second operating system to be connected. Similarly, it is a display example at the time of selection of a file / job, and is a diagram of an example of an operation screen that displays a warning that the performance used by another OS that can execute the original data file of the selected job is reduced It is. Similarly, it is a display example when selecting a file / job, and a display example when selecting a file / job, and an example of an operation screen showing a state where another OS that can execute the original data file of the selected job is in use FIG. Similarly, it is a display example when selecting a file / job, and is an example of an operation screen showing a state where another OS that can execute the original data file of the selected job is not started. Similarly, it is a display example at the time of selection of a file / job, and is a diagram of an example of an operation screen showing a state where another OS that can execute the selected application data file is being used.

An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a software configuration and hardware resources in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. This image forming apparatus corresponds to the second image forming apparatus of the present invention, and can also be used as the first image forming apparatus.
In this figure, a first operating system (hereinafter referred to as a first OS) operates device control firmware (hereinafter referred to as device control FW) corresponding to the control program of the present invention and an emulator. The first OS is a general-purpose OS for operating the device control FW and the emulator, and is configured by Linux (trademark, same hereinafter), Windows (trademark, same hereinafter) and the like. The apparatus control FW is software that operates the image forming apparatus. On the emulator, a second operating system (hereinafter referred to as a second OS) operating on the first OS operates. Note that the second OS may be composed of a plurality of different operating systems.

The emulator is software that emulates hardware and provides it to the second OS. The second OS is an OS for operating an image data editing application and the like, and is configured by Linux, Windows, MacOS (trademark, the same applies hereinafter) and the like.
The emulator is provided with a VNC server 11 corresponding to an operation screen server. The VNC server 11 is software that provides operation screen information of the second OS to enable remote operation of the operation screen.
Moreover, it has a controller that can be executed from the device control FW and the second OS. The controller operates an interprinter that executes a Postscript (trademark, the same applies hereinafter) program, and may be composed of either software or hardware, or a combination of both. There may be.
The apparatus control FW controls the operation unit 140 provided in the image forming apparatus. The operation unit 140 performs various displays and accepts operation inputs. The operation unit 140 receives screens sent from the device control FW, screens sent from the second OS, and operations on these screens.

  In this image forming apparatus, the second OS is described as operating on the first OS via each emulator. However, the first OS and the second OS operate in parallel on the hypervisor. The first OS and the second OS may be operable in parallel, and the configuration relationship is not particularly limited.

On the second OS, Word (trademark, the same applies hereinafter), Excel (trademark, the same applies hereinafter), a printer driver (PrinterDriver) prepared for Windows, and the like operate as document file handling applications. Further, when the second OS is Linux, on the second OS, as an application for handling document files, an emacs (trademark, the same applies hereinafter) used as an editor for Linux, a printer driver (PrinterDriver) prepared for Linux, etc. Works.
As each printer driver, a printer driver that is normally prepared as being mounted on a PC can be used. In the present embodiment, it is not necessary to use a printer driver prepared exclusively for the image forming apparatus, but it is also possible to use a printer driver prepared exclusively for the image forming apparatus.

  The first OS and the second OS described above are provided in the image forming apparatus, and can control hardware resources (hereinafter referred to as H / W) in the image forming apparatus. In addition to the operation unit 140, the H / W includes a scanner, a drum, a fixing device, a paper feed tray, various sensors, an HDD, an external medium (for example, a USB memory) and the like that perform the main functions of the image forming apparatus. is there. These H / Ws can all be directly accessed by the first OS. On the other hand, the second OS is an OS that operates on a normal PC and does not directly access the H / W specific to the image forming apparatus. However, the H / W such as HDD and USB memory used in a normal PC can also be directly accessed by the second OS.

  The HDD can store device control FW, first OS, second OS, application, printer driver and data, ripped data for image formation, data handled by each application, and the like. At this time, the HDD can control the read / write area by each application by partitioning, for example, for the device control FW and for the application of the second OS.

  When data to be output (for example, word document data) is in an external PC on the network, the data itself may be copied to a Windows (second OS) shared folder in the image forming apparatus. The storage destination can be specified by setting individual IP addresses to the device control FW and the second OS by bridge connection. When there are a plurality of second OSs, an IP address is set for each OS. If the original data is stored in the HDD area managed by the second OS and needs to be changed before output, it can be edited by starting an application (word) on the second OS. In the case of saving, it may be saved in the HDD area managed by the second OS like a normal PC. Further, the operation display unit 140 can be edited while displaying the contents by switching the screen of the device control FW and the second OS.

  In this embodiment, since the second OS is an OS used in a normal PC, data processed by an application used in the second OS can naturally be used on the second OS. In addition to the above word, Excel, emacs (an editor used in Linux), and the like can be activated. If data is saved from an external PC to the device, editing can be performed on the device. As described above, the original data can be edited on the image forming apparatus, and the usability of the user is improved.

As shown in the figure, the emulator is provided with a VNC server (trademark, the same applies hereinafter) 11 corresponding to each second OS. The VNC server 11 provides the screen data of the second OS to the VNC client 22 of the own apparatus or another image forming apparatus. When there are a plurality of second OSs, a VNC server can be prepared for each OS.
The VNC client 22 acquires screen data from the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus, transfers it to the operation unit control unit of its own image forming apparatus, displays the acquired screen, and accepts an operation on the screen. A function of transmitting to the VNC server 11 of the image forming apparatus. Each VNC server 11 receives operation information from the connected VNC client 22 and transmits the operation information to an OS corresponding to itself. As a result, it is possible to operate the second OS in another image forming apparatus from the operation unit of the image forming apparatus. The VNC server 11 corresponds to an operation screen server, and the VNC client 22 corresponds to an operation screen client.
In a configuration that does not use an emulator, an operation screen server can be provided in each OS.

  That is, the VNC client 22 operating on the first OS of the image forming apparatus can be connected to the VNC server 11 for each second OS, and the VNC client 22 included in the image forming apparatus can be connected to another image forming apparatus via the NIC 122. Can be connected to the VNC server 11 of the second OS.

The operation unit control unit 142 (shown in FIG. 3) selectively or combines the screen image generated by the device control FW and the screen image acquired from the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus via the VNC client 22. Then, the image is drawn in the VRAM 113 through the graphic driver. The operation unit 140 displays a screen based on the drawing data stored in the VRAM 113. In addition, operations performed on the screen are accepted by the device control FW and input to the connected VNC server 11 through the VNC client 22. The operation input to the VNC server 11 is input to the second OS, and the OS operates according to the operation content. When the VNC server 11 is accessed by any VNC client 22, access from other VNC clients is restricted. Other VNC clients can be notified that the corresponding VNC server is being restricted.
As the first image forming apparatus, the first OS and the apparatus control FW may be mounted, and the second OS may not be mounted.

Next, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control block of an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses A and B are connected via a network.
The image forming apparatus A and the image forming apparatus B are communicably connected to the communication units 11a and 11b included in the image forming apparatus A and the LAN 2 as a network. Further, a client PC 3 is connected to the LAN 2 as an external device. ing. Further, another image forming apparatus may be connected to the image forming system via the LAN 2. The network may be configured by other than LAN.

Each of the image forming apparatuses A and B includes control units 10a and 10b that control the entire apparatus. The control units 10a and 10b mainly have a CPU and a program for operating the CPU.
The control units 10a and 10b are provided with a first operating system (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a first OS), and further a control program operating on the first OS and a second operating system (hereinafter referred to as a second OS). In some cases). An emulator (not shown in FIG. 2) is interposed between the first OS and the second OS. These are provided by software. Note that the second OS of the image forming apparatus A is Windows (trademark), and the second OS of the image forming apparatus B is MacOS (trademark).

  Both of the image forming apparatuses A and B can function as either the first image forming apparatus or the second image forming apparatus. That is, the image forming apparatus A can be used as the first image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus B can be used as the second image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus B can be used as the first image forming apparatus, The image forming apparatus A can be used as the second image forming apparatus.

  In this embodiment, a case where one OS is mounted as the second OS has been described. However, the number and type of the second OS mounted in each image forming apparatus are not particularly limited. However, it is desirable that the type of the second OS mounted for each image forming apparatus is different. There are many types of OSs (for example, Windows (trademark), MacOS (trademark), Android (trademark), etc.). If all the OSs are to be installed in each image forming apparatus, the resources (HDD, memory of the image forming apparatus) Etc.) and performance degradation. In addition, since a user who owns a plurality of image forming apparatuses needs to install an OS on all image-related apparatuses, there is a problem of cost such as a license fee. For this reason, it is advantageous in terms of efficiency to disperse and mount a plurality of types of second OS on a plurality of image forming apparatuses. However, the same second OS may be mounted on a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

In addition, the image forming apparatuses A and B are provided with operation display units 14a and 14b that accept display and operator operation input. The operation display unit 14a is controlled by the control unit 10a, and the operation display unit 14b is controlled by the control unit 10b. Connected as possible.
Furthermore, the control units 10a and 10b have storage units 13a and 13b that can store various data. The storage unit 13a is connected to the control unit 10a, and the storage unit 13b is controllably connected to the control unit 10b. ing. The storage units 13a and 13b are configured to be capable of storing data such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and HDD. Document files can be stored in the storage units 13a and 13b.
In the control units 10a and 10b, the communication units 11a and 11b, the operation display units 14a and 14b, the storage units 13a and 13b, and the like can be controlled by the control program or the second OS.

Note that the first OS is a control program for operating the image forming apparatus and an operating system for operating the emulator, and is configured by Linux (trademark), Windows (trademark), or the like.
As the second OS connection unit, the control program can execute an operation of connecting to a predetermined VNC server in another image forming apparatus through the communication unit 11a or the communication unit 11b.
Further, the control program can acquire, as the second OS information acquisition unit, the type and operating state of the second OS of another image forming apparatus through the communication unit 11a or the communication unit 11b.
Moreover, the control program can accumulate | store the acquired 2nd OS information in the memory | storage part 13a or the memory | storage part 13b as a 2nd OS information management part.
Further, the control program can execute an operation of determining a connection destination VNC server based on the second OS information as the connection second OS determination unit.
Furthermore, the control program can execute an operation of receiving application data transmitted from the client PC as an application data receiving unit. Application data can be stored in the storage units 13a and 13b.

The second OS is an operating system that operates an image data editing application or the like, and is configured by Linux (trademark), Windows (trademark), MacOS (trademark), or the like.
Further, the second OS can execute an application (word, excel) that handles application data as an application execution unit.
Further, the second OS can manage the type and operating state of the second OS of the own device as the second OS information management unit.
Further, the second OS can execute a remote operation such as a VNC server as a remote access unit.

The operation display units 14a and 14b can be controlled by the control program and the second OS, and can display and operate the operation screen of the own device and the operation screen of the second OS sent from the VNC server 11. It is.
The hardware includes own hardware (CPU, memory, etc.), external connection device (USB, etc.), drum of the image forming apparatus main body, scanner, and the like.

Next, an overall control block of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In this figure, the configuration of the image forming apparatus A is shown, but the image forming apparatus B can also have the same configuration. In this figure, the operation unit 140 corresponds to the operation display unit 14a, and the communication unit 120 corresponds to the communication unit 12a.
The image forming apparatus A includes an overall control unit 100, a scanner unit 130, an operation unit 140, and a printer unit 150 as main components. In this embodiment, the FNS 160, which is a post-processing device, is connected to the image forming apparatus main body as a part of the image forming apparatus. Note that the presence or absence of the post-processing device is not particularly limited.
The image forming apparatus A is connected to an external apparatus PC 3 and an image forming apparatus B through the LAN 2. The type and number of apparatuses connected to the image forming apparatus A are not particularly limited. The image forming apparatus A, the LAN 2, the image forming apparatus B, and the PC 3 constitute part or all of the image forming system.

The overall control unit 100 includes a control CPU 110, and a DRAM control IC 111 is connected to the control CPU 110.
A RAM 112 and a VRAM 113 are connected to the control CPU 110.
The control CPU 110 controls the entire image forming apparatus A by executing software such as the apparatus control FW and grasps the state of the entire image forming apparatus A, and corresponds to a control unit.

  The scanner unit 130 includes a CCD 131 that performs optical reading and a scanner control unit 132 that controls the entire scanner unit 130. The scanner control unit 132 is connected to the control CPU 110 and is controlled by the control CPU 110. The scanner control unit 132 can be configured by a CPU or a program for operating the CPU. The image information read by the CCD 131 is subjected to data processing by the reading processing unit 116. The read processing unit 116 is connected to the DRAM control IC 111, and the image data processed by the read processing unit 116 is transmitted to the DRAM control IC 111.

The RAM 112 is loaded with programs such as the device control FW, the first OS, the second OS, the application program, and the printer driver, and is used for the execution thereof, and is also used as a work area for the execution. Furthermore, an area for storing the screen data of the second OS is allocated, and the VNC server 11 provides the screen data of the second OS in this area to the VNC clients 22 of other image forming apparatuses. In providing such screen data, the image forming apparatus B plays a role as a second image forming apparatus.
The operation unit 140 includes a touch panel type LCD 141 and an operation unit control unit 142. The LCD 141 and the operation unit control unit 142 are connected to each other, and the operation unit control unit 142 and the control CPU 110 communicate with each other through serial communication. Connected as possible. With this configuration, control of the operation unit 140 is performed by the control CPU 110, a screen image drawn in the VRAM 113 is displayed on the LCD 141, and input information of the operation unit 140 is sent to the control CPU 110. The operation unit control unit 142 can be configured by a CPU, a program for operating the CPU, and the like. The operation unit 140 includes a display switching unit 143. The screen switching unit 143 generates a screen generated by the device control FW in a storage area of the VRAM 113 corresponding to a predetermined area of the screen displayed on the operation unit 140, VNC By selectively drawing the screen of the second OS acquired by the client 22, these screens can be switched and displayed. In addition, an operation in the screen area related to the second OS of the LCD 141 is transmitted to the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus via the VNC client 22. As a result, the second OS can be operated. In such an operation, the image forming apparatus A plays a role as the first image forming apparatus.

Hereinafter, the point that the screen of the second OS is displayed on the operation unit 140 of the image forming apparatus A will be described in detail.
When a request for switching to the second OS screen (by user operation or the like) is generated, the device control FW receives OS screen data from the VNC server 11 of another image forming device corresponding to the specified OS via the VNC client 22. To get. Then, the operation unit control unit 142 generates a display screen and writes the display screen data into the VRAM 113 by the graphic driver. As for the display screen, the entire screen may be an OS screen, or the OS screen may be fitted in a predetermined area of the screen. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, the OS screen is fitted into a predetermined area 1482 of the screen. As a result, the OS screen is displayed on the operation unit 140.

In the screen of FIG. 18, the operation to the area outside the area 1482 is transferred to the device control FW, and the device control FW performs an operation corresponding to the operation (for example, the operation of the “end” button 1481 in FIG. 18). ). On the other hand, an operation on the area 1482 is transmitted to the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus (for example, image forming apparatus B) via the VNC client 22 and input to the corresponding OS. Thereby, for example, the image forming apparatus A can operate the second OS of the image forming apparatus B.
In this embodiment, the entire screen is configured to fit in a predetermined area without being an OS screen. When the entire screen is an OS screen, all operations on the screen are transmitted to the VNC server and accepted by the device control FW. First, in order to be able to exit the OS screen and return to the device control FW screen, or to switch to another OS screen, the operation is performed by means other than the screen operation, such as providing a separate hard key. This is because a means for receiving is required and the cost is increased.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the DRAM control IC 111 is connected to the image memory 114. The image memory 114 stores image information acquired by the scanner unit 130, image information acquired through the LAN 2, printing conditions, file information, and the like. As described above, the image memory 114 is a storage area for image information, printing conditions, and file information, and stores job information to be printed.
Also, the HDD 115 is connected to the DRAM control IC 111. As described above, the HDD 115 is assigned an area for storing the first OS, the second OS, document file data created by the application or application, printer driver, image information, print information, and the like according to the first OS and the second OS. It is done. Note that the HDD 115 area may be divided for the first OS and the second OS, respectively. The RAM 112, the HDD 115, and the like correspond to a storage unit.

  Further, a write processing unit 117 is connected to the DRAM control IC 111. The write processing unit 117 is connected to the LD 151 of the printer unit 150 and processes data used for the operation of the LD 151. The printer unit 150 includes a printer control unit 152 that controls the entire printer unit 150. The printer control unit 152 is connected to the control CPU 110 and receives control. The printer control unit 152 is connected to an FNS control unit 161 that controls the entire FNS 160. Thereby, the control of the FNS 160 can be controlled by the control CPU 110 through the printer control unit 152.

The control CPU 110 is connected to a communication control unit 121 that controls the entire communication unit 120 that communicates with the outside, and can be connected to the LAN 2 through a NIC 122 (network interface card) included in the communication unit 120. It is said that. The communication control unit 121 operates according to an operation command of the control CPU 110, sends data passed from the control CPU 110 according to a predetermined communication procedure to the LAN 2 through the NIC 122, and receives data sent from the LAN 2 through the NIC 122. Send to control CPU 110. Therefore, the operation screen information of the operation screen servers 11 and 12 is transmitted to the VNC client 22 of the other image forming apparatus through the NIC 122 and LAN 2, and the operation input information performed on the operation screen in the other image forming apparatus is LAN 2. , And sent to the control CPU 110 through the NIC 122.
The control CPU 110 operates software such as the first OS, the second OS, and the device control FW. The control CPU 110 includes a scanner control unit 132, an operation unit control unit 142, a display switching unit 143, a printer control unit 152, The communication control unit 121 and the like constitute the control unit of the present invention.
The RAM 112, the image memory 114, and the HDD 115 correspond to a storage unit.

Next, the basic operation of the image forming apparatus A will be described.
First, a procedure for storing image information in the image forming apparatus A will be described.
First, in the image forming apparatus A, when the scanner unit 130 reads an image of a document and generates image information, the scanner unit 130 optically reads the document image from the document by the CCD 131. At this time, the operation of the CCD 131 is controlled by the scanner control unit 132 that receives a command from the control CPU 110.
The image read by the CCD 131 is subjected to data processing by the reading processing unit 116, and the image information subjected to the data processing is stored in the image memory 114 or the HDD 115 via the DRAM control IC 111. Image information and print information stored in the image memory 114 and the HDD 115 can be managed as jobs by the control CPU 110.

When acquiring image information from the outside, for example, job information transmitted from the PC 3 or the like via the LAN 2 is stored in the image memory 114 or the HDD 115 by the DRAM control IC 111 via the NIC 122 and the control CPU 110.
When image information is generated by an application in the image forming apparatus A, image information obtained via a printer driver, an emulator, and an apparatus control FW is stored in the image memory 114 and the HDD 115 as described above. At this time, print data sent from the printer driver can be received as a job of the image forming apparatus, and the job can be stored and executed.
When the image information acquired from the outside or the application operating on the image forming apparatus A is vector data, RIP processing (Raster Image Processing) is performed by the controller at an appropriate time.

When the image forming apparatus A outputs an image, that is, when it is used as a copying machine or a printer, job information including image information stored in the image memory 114 or the HDD 115 is transferred to the write processing unit 117 via the DRAM control IC 111. Is sent from the writing processing unit 117 to the printer unit 150.
The printer unit 150 uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor by a charging unit (not shown), and then performs exposure scanning based on the writing data by the laser beam of the LD 151 to form a latent image and develop the latent image. A toner image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor by reversal development by the part. Then, the paper fed from the paper feed tray is sent to the transfer position by the transport device, and the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit at the transfer position. Thereafter, the paper on which the image has been formed is heated and fixed by a fixing device and conveyed to the FNS 160. The FNS 160 to which the paper on which the image has been formed is transported includes a punch unit that punches the paper and a stapler that staples the paper, and performs post-processing on the paper as desired.

When outputting based on the data of the external PC 3, data can be sent to the device control FW using a printer driver mounted on the PC for output.
Even when data in the second OS is output, since the second OS is an OS used by a normal PC, the same printer driver as that installed in the external PC is used to designate the output destination printer as the main unit. Thus, it is possible to output to the device control FW of the main device. That is, it is possible to output without creating a dedicated printer driver. In this case, the output data can be received as a job by the apparatus control FW and output processing can be performed.
As described above, it is possible to perform output without requiring a dedicated printer driver on the image forming apparatus A. However, in the present embodiment, a dedicated printer driver may be prepared, and the type of printer driver is not limited to general purpose or dedicated.

  Further, the H / W specific to the image forming apparatus cannot be controlled by the second OS used in a normal PC (for example, temperature management for thermal fixing). However, since the second OS operates on the first OS that activates the device control FW that controls the device, the second OS can be controlled through the device control FW. By defining a command with an application activated by the second OS and the device control FW, for example, the application transmits a command “setting the fixing temperature to degrees” to the device control FW, and the device control FW that receives the command transmits the command. By interpreting the command contents and controlling H / W, the main device can be controlled from the second OS via the device control FW. As described above, the main device can be controlled even from the second OS. That is, by providing the device control FW with a command transmission function and providing the second OS with a command reception function, it is possible to instruct and execute commands between different OSs.

  When outputting an image, the control CPU 110 outputs based on the job information. The job information includes output condition information in addition to the image information. Output conditions consist of information such as print mode, paper information, paper feed tray, paper discharge destination, and post-processing conditions. Specifically, the number of output image pixels, color / monochrome, single-sided / double-sided, Examples include color tone adjustment, paper size, paper orientation, paper type (paper type, margin, paper color, etc.), paper feed tray selection, presence / absence of post-processing, and post-processing conditions. The output condition corresponds to the printing condition.

The output condition is determined in advance as a standard setting as an initial setting. The output condition can be set on the operation unit 140. When acquiring image information, the control unit 110 is controlled by the control CPU 110 and a screen on which output setting input is possible is displayed on the LCD 141.
When an appropriate operation input is made by the operator, output conditions (print mode, paper feed tray, paper discharge destination, post-processing conditions, etc.) set on the operation unit 140 from the operation unit control unit 142 to the control CPU 110 are displayed. Etc. are notified. Upon receiving this information, the control CPU 110 creates output condition information and temporarily stores it in a memory provided in the control CPU 110. When the image information is acquired, it is stored in the image memory 114 and the HDD 115 as job information together with the image information.
Further, when output is performed via the printer driver of the second OS, it can be handled as a job for which an output condition is set via the printer driver, and the output condition is further processed on the device control FW for this job. It is also possible to set.

Next, the procedure of overall control by the control CPU 110 in this embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. The following procedure is executed as a part of the overall control by the device control FW operating on the first OS.
Based on the power-on of the image forming apparatus A, the first OS, the apparatus control FW, and the emulator are activated, and an initialization process is performed (step s101). Hereinafter, the second OS is expressed as “other OS” as it is or as appropriate.

  Next, a main menu allowing operation input is displayed on the operation unit 140 (step s102, procedure 1). An example of the main menu is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, on the main menu screen 1400, a copy button 1410, another OS file processing button 1411, a saved job processing button 1412, and another OS screen button 1413 are displayed so that they can be pressed, and copying, other OS file processing, and saving are performed. Job processing and other OS screen display processing selection are possible.

In the main menu 1400, when one of the push buttons is operated by the user, the selected process is executed (step s103).
When the copy button 1410 is pressed, a print condition setting screen holding default print conditions is displayed to allow input (step s104). The default printing conditions can be stored in a storage unit such as the HDD 115 or a flash memory (not shown) and read out. When the other OS file processing button 1411 is pressed, the other OS file processing procedure (step s109) is executed, and when the stored job processing button 1412 is pressed, the stored job processing (step s110) is performed. When the screen button 1413 is pressed, another OS screen process (step s111) is executed, and after each process, the process returns to the procedure 1.

After the default print condition setting screen display (step s104), acceptance of the print condition setting input is executed (step s105). In the print condition setting input, it is possible to set job storage. In the job storage, if there is no other OS information, the printing conditions and the image data are stored in association with each other, and if there is other OS information, the file information is stored in association with each other. By saving the job, the job can be repeatedly printed.
Next, the process waits for a print start operation (step s106). When there is a print start operation by the user (step s106, Y), the scanner unit 130 scans the document to generate image data (step s107), and print processing is executed. (Step s108). After the printing process, the process returns to step 1.

Next, the procedure of the printing process that is a part of the overall control by the apparatus control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, a printing process is performed (step s201), and then it is determined whether there is a job storage setting in the printing condition setting (step s202). If there is no job storage setting (step s202, N), the process returns. If there is a job storage setting (Y in step s202), it is determined whether there is other OS file information in the job (step s203). If there is other OS file information (Y in step s203), the printing conditions, image data, and file information (file name, time stamp, file size, etc. of the original file) are associated with each other and stored in the image memory 114 or HDD 115 ( Step s204), the process returns. If there is no other OS file information (N in step s203), the printing conditions and the image data are associated with each other and stored in the image memory 114, the HDD 115, etc. (step s205), and the process returns from the process.

Next, the procedure of other OS file processing which is a part of the overall control by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, data information is acquired from the application data area allocated to the HDD 115 (step s301). A list is created based on the acquired file information, displayed on the operation unit 140, and can be selected by the user (step s302). At this time, an image forming apparatus that acquires the second OS information mounted from another image forming apparatus existing in the network in advance and registers it in the correspondence table and mounts the second OS corresponding to the file extension. If the file does not exist, the corresponding file may not be selected.
An example of the file list display screen is shown in FIG. The file list display screen 1450 is displayed on the operation unit 140. When the VNC client 11 of another image forming apparatus accesses the VNC server 11, information on the operation screen is sent from the VNC server 11 to the VNC client 22 of the other image forming apparatus, and the operation of the other image forming apparatus is performed. Are displayed in an operable manner.

  On the file list display screen 1450, as shown in FIG. 8, a file name and an update date are displayed in a list field 1451 along with an extension, and a line in which a desired file is displayed is selected by pressing a button. can do. In the file list display screen 1450, a print button 1452 and an image editing collection button 1453 are displayed on the right side of the list column 1451 so that they can be pushed. In the file list display screen 1450, the target OS of the file can be known by the extension. The file list display screen 1450 can be provided with a setting change button and a delete button.

  In the selection acceptance by the user, it is determined whether or not the print button 1452 has been pressed (step s303). If the print button 1452 has been pressed with any file selected (step s303, Y), it is executed on the first OS. A job associated with the selected file is searched from the stored jobs to be managed by the file name (step s304), and it is determined whether there is an associated job (step s305). If a saved job is generated based on a previously selected file, an associated saved job exists. If the saved job is not set even if it is output based on the selected file, the associated job is not saved.

If it is determined that there is an associated job (step s305, Y), the matching files of the job associated with the selected file are displayed in a list, and user selection for new printing or reprinting is accepted (step s306). . This screen is displayed on the operation unit 140. When the VNC client 11 of another image forming apparatus accesses the VNC server 11, information on the operation screen is sent from the VNC server 11 to the VNC client 22 of the other image forming apparatus, and the operation of the other image forming apparatus is performed. The list display is displayed in an operable manner.
The selection of new printing or reprinting is determined according to the result of acceptance of user selection (step s307).
If new printing has been selected (step s307, new), a default printing condition setting screen is displayed on the operation unit 140, thereby enabling input of printing conditions (step s308). At this time, if the VNC client 22 of another image forming apparatus accesses the VNC server 11, information on the operation screen is sent to the VNC client 22 by the VNC server 11, and default printing is performed on the operation unit of the other image forming apparatus. The condition setting screen is displayed as operable.
On the other hand, if it is determined that reprinting has been selected (step s307, reprinting), the reprinting process is executed (step s314), and the process returns from the process.

When it is determined that there is no association job (N in step s305), the default print condition setting screen is displayed in the same manner as described above, and the print condition can be input (step s308).
After the default print condition setting screen display (step s308), the print condition setting input is accepted (step s309). In the print condition setting, various print settings, necessity of job storage, and the like can be set.
After accepting the print condition setting input (step s309), it waits for a print start operation (step s310). If there is a print start operation (step s310, Y), the print condition and file information are associated with each other in the image memory 114 or HDD 115. Temporarily stored (step s311). Next, the second OS corresponding to the file is determined by referring to the correspondence table based on the extension of the file (step s312), the target file is designated to the OS corresponding to the file, and a print command is input (step s313). Return from the process.

The OS determination can be performed with reference to a correspondence table shown in Table 1 in which the type of document file is associated with the OS. The correspondence table is stored in advance in the HDD 115 or a flash memory (not shown) under the management of the device control FW. When the file is printed or edited, the correspondence table is referred to by the device control FW, the OS / application to be used is determined, and the OS is instructed (command input). The correspondence table can be prepared in advance, and the user may be able to make new settings or change settings. All application names in the table are trademarks. The data in the correspondence table in Table 1 corresponds to management data.
In addition, this table stores the IP address of the image forming apparatus in which the corresponding second OS can operate. Therefore, the data in the correspondence table in Table 1 also corresponds to connection destination data.

  In the second OS, the command reception telnet is set in advance so as to be automatically activated at the time of activation, and has a command reception function. When the second OS receives a print command via Telnet, the second OS executes printing of the file. The application is also automatically started. As a printer driver of the second OS, a printer driver of an image forming apparatus equipped with the second OS is set, and the printer driver is activated to execute printing. The printer driver is the same as that used in a normal PC. When an application generates a print job using a printer driver, the driver setting uses a default value.

  If it is determined that the print button is not pressed in the determination of the print button operation (step s303) (step s303, N), it is determined whether the content editing button is operated (step s315). If neither the print button nor the content edit button is operated (step s315, N), the process returns to step s302 to accept the user's selection. If the content editing button is operated (step s315, Y), the content editing process is performed (step s316), and then the process returns from the process.

Next, the stored job processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, a stored job list is displayed on the operation unit 140, and selection by the user is accepted (step s401, procedure 2). At this time, if there is a request from the VNC client 22 of the other image forming apparatus to the VNC server 11, information on the operation screen is sent through the LAN 2 and a stored job list is displayed on the operation unit of the other image forming apparatus. You can also.

  A saved job list display screen 1460 is shown in FIG. The stored job is stored in the image memory 114, and is read and listed. On the saved job list display screen 1460, the job name and job update date are listed in the list field 1461, and if there is an association with the job, the file name related to the original file and the update date (time stamp) of the file together with the extension. Is listed. A desired job line in the list can be selected by pushing the button. On the saved job list display screen 1460, a setting change button 1462, a reprint button 1463, a delete button 1464, and an end button 1465 are displayed on the right side of the list column 1461 so as to be pushable, and the selected job is associated with file information. If there is, a content edit button 1466 is displayed so that it can be pushed.

  When the button operation is determined on the saved job list display screen 1460 (step s402) and the reprint button is operated (step 402, reprint), the reprint process is executed (step s410), and then the procedure is performed. Return to 2. When the content editing button is operated (step 402, content editing), content editing processing is executed (step s411), and then the procedure returns to step 2. When other operations are performed (step 402, other operations), other processing such as deletion is executed (step s412), and then the procedure returns to step 2. When the end button 1465 is operated, the process returns from the process.

When setting change is selected in the button operation determination (step s402) (step s402, setting change), the print condition is read from the selected saved job (step s403), and the setting screen reflects the read print condition Is displayed on the operation unit 140 (step s404). At this time, if there is a request from the VNC client 22 of another image forming apparatus to the VNC server 11, information on the operation screen is sent and the setting screen is displayed on the operation unit of the other image forming apparatus in the same manner.
FIG. 11 shows a setting screen 1470. On the setting screen 1470, various printing conditions are displayed, and a printing condition setting input can be performed by pressing a printing condition column 1471.
If the selected job is associated with file information, a content edit button 1472 is displayed on the setting screen 1470 so that it can be pushed.

After the setting screen 1470 is displayed (step s404), a print condition setting input is accepted (step s405), and it is determined whether or not the content editing button 1472 is operated (step s406). If there is no content editing operation (N in step s406), an end determination is made by operating an OK button (not shown) or the like (step s408). If no end determination is made (step s408, N), the process returns to step s405 to print. The condition setting input is accepted. When there is a content editing operation (step s406, Y), a content editing process is performed (step s407), and an end determination is performed (step s408).
If it is determined in the end determination that it is the end (step s408, Y), the printing conditions are overwritten and saved in the image memory 114 or the like (step s409), and the procedure returns to step 2.

Next, the reprint processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, the printing conditions of the selected saved job are read from the image memory 114 or the like (step s501). Next, a setting screen reflecting the read printing conditions is displayed on the operation unit 140 (step s502). At this time, if there is a request from the VNC client 22 of another image forming apparatus to the VNC server 11, information on the operation screen is sent and the setting screen is displayed on the operation unit of the other image forming apparatus in the same manner.
Next, a print condition setting input on the setting screen is accepted (step s503). Waiting for a print start operation (step s504). If there is a print start operation (step s504, Y), it is determined whether there is a change in the file on the other OS side (step s505).

Whether there is a file change is determined by comparing the file information (time stamp, file size, etc.) of the saved job with the file information of the same name file saved in the storage area managed by another OS. Can be determined.
As a result of the determination, if it is determined that there is no file change (step s505, N), the image data of the saved job is read from the image memory 114 or the like (step s509), the printing process is executed (step s510), and the process returns. To do.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a file change as a result of the determination (step s505, Y), the printing condition and the file condition are associated with each other and temporarily stored in the RAM 112 (step s506), and the second OS to be connected is determined (step s507). ). The determination can be made with reference to the correspondence table shown in Table 1 that associates the file with the OS. Next, a print command is input by designating the target file to the second OS to be connected (step s508), and the process returns from the process. If the file information is not associated with the selected saved job, it is determined as Y in step s505.
In this way, the contents of the original file are printed if the presence or absence of the file change is confirmed, and if there is a change, the latest contents can be printed. Further, when there is no change, the stored image data is printed, so that time such as RIP processing can be omitted, and printing can be performed quickly.
In the second OS, the command reception Telnet is set in advance so as to be automatically started at the time of startup, and when the print command is received by Telnet, the file is printed. The application is also automatically started. The printer driver of this apparatus is set as the printer driver of the second OS, and the printer driver is activated to execute printing.

Next, a procedure of print job reception processing by the apparatus control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. In this procedure, the image forming apparatus A plays a role as a second image forming apparatus.
The print job is received as a print job by the apparatus control FW when data created by an application operating on the second OS is printed through a printer driver, for example.

First, print job reception for receiving image data and printing conditions is executed (step s601). For the received print job, a saved job is searched by file name (step s602). As a result of the search, it is determined whether there is a saved job (step s603).
If there is a stored job (Y in step s603), it is determined whether the time stamps of the received printer job and the stored job match (step s604). If the time stamps match (step s604, Y), The image data of the saved job is read from the image memory 114 or the like (step s605), or there is no saved job (step s603, N), or there is a saved job, but the time stamps do not match (step s604, N The received print job is RIP processed to generate image data (step s606). The coincidence determination between the printer job and the saved job can also be performed using file information such as a file size and other information.
As described above, when the image data of the saved job can be used, the saved image data is used, so that the RIP processing time can be omitted and printing can be executed quickly.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to a process of searching for a printing condition temporarily stored by a file name or the like (step s607).

After the temporary storage printing condition search (step s607), it is determined whether there is a temporary storage printing condition (step s608). If there is no temporary storage printing condition (N in step s608), the printing process is performed using the printing condition set in the received print job (step s611), and the process is terminated. If there is a temporarily stored print condition (step s608, Y), the print condition set in the print job is not used, and the temporarily stored print condition is read and replaced with the received print job condition (step s609). The temporary storage printing condition is deleted (step s610). Thereafter, a printing process is performed (step s611), and the process is terminated.
Usually, the printer driver adds a print setting manually set on the driver and inputs a job. Alternatively, if it is not manually set, a default print condition is added to input a job. As described above, even if the printing conditions are set by the operation unit 140 and a printing instruction is issued to the OS, the printer driver simply specifies the target file and inputs a printing command. Add a condition. That is, the printing conditions set by the operation unit 140 are not reflected in the job sent from the printer driver. Accordingly, in steps s607 to s609, it is determined whether or not the received job is a job for which print conditions have been set by the operation unit 140. In such a case, the default print conditions (default print conditions) are discarded. Thus, the printing conditions set by the operation unit 140 are replaced.

Next, a procedure of content editing processing that is a part of the overall control by the apparatus control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, the second OS to be connected is determined with reference to the correspondence table shown in Table 1 (step s701). Next, permission / prohibition of startup of another OS is determined (step s702). Information such as the operating state of the other OS including the sleep is acquired by the determination procedure of the second OS. Here, the startup of the other OS means that the other OS enters the activated state, and includes the return of the other OS in the sleep state. In the activation permission / prohibition determination, for example, it is determined that the activation is prohibited because the start-up of the other OS is necessary in an operation situation in which other image forming apparatuses require a lot of resources during RIP processing.
In the sleep control, the memory state in the activated state is saved in the HDD 115 for the OS to be put into sleep, and the memory is released (hereinafter, this state is referred to as a sleep state). When the sleeping OS is restored, the memory state saved in the HDD 115 is copied to the memory, and the corresponding OS is made usable (this restoration is also referred to as “activation” in the following description).

As a result of the determination, it is determined whether another OS is prohibited (step s703). If it is prohibited (step s703, Y), characters such as “currently restricted” are displayed on the operation unit 140 (step s708), and the process returns. Note that when the operation of the content editing button is performed through the operation unit 140 and this is excluded from the prohibition, a screen display such as “Currently restricted” is not displayed on the operation unit 140.
Display examples of which use is restricted are shown in FIGS.
FIG. 32 shows an example of an operation screen 1610 in which another user is using an OS capable of executing the original file of the job selected from the job list 1611 and use is restricted.
FIG. 33 shows an example of an operation screen 1620 in which an OS capable of executing the original file of the job selected from the job list 1621 is not started and use is restricted.
FIG. 34 shows an example of an operation screen 1630 in which another user is using an OS capable of executing the application file selected from the application file list 1631 and use is restricted.

  If the other OS is not prohibited (step s703, N), a command for instructing activation of the application corresponding to the selected file is input to the OS corresponding to the selected file (step s704). The command is received by the command reception Telnet, and is received and activated by the corresponding other OS, and the application corresponding to the selected file is also automatically activated. At this time, the selected file may be read and edited. The operation screen of the other OS is displayed on the operation unit 140 according to the activation (step s705). FIG. 18 is a display example of the other OS screen. In this example, a Windows screen 1483 as another OS screen is displayed by being fitted in an area 1482 in the screen 1480. An operation on the Windows screen 1483 is directly input to the other OS through the VNC client 22 and the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus.

  Further, when the VNC server 22 is accessed from the VNC client 22 of another image forming apparatus, information on the operation screen of the other OS is sent to display the other OS screen on the operation unit of the other image forming apparatus. The operation input performed on the operation screen in the operation unit in the other image forming apparatus is sent to the VNC server 11 through the VNC client 22 in the other image forming apparatus and is received by the other OS. Even when an operation screen of another OS is provided to another image forming apparatus, the operation screen generated by the apparatus control FW is displayed on the operation unit 140, and copying, scanning, and printing in the image forming apparatus 1 are performed. The image forming apparatus main body can be operated.

  When the operation of the content editing button is performed on the operation unit 140, the operation screen of the other OS is sent to the VNC client 22 by the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus, and the other OS screen is displayed on the operation unit 140. Is done. An operation input performed on the operation screen by the operation unit 140 is sent to the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus through the VNC client 22 and received by another OS.

In this embodiment, on the Windows screen 1483 fitted in the area 1482, a Windows application is activated and can be operated. Further, an end button 1481 is displayed on the screen 1480 outside the area 1482 so as to be pushable. The operation to the area outside the area 1482 is performed according to the operation under the control of the device control FW.
The operation waits for the end button 1481 (step s706). When the end button 1481 is operated, the screen is switched to the original screen (step s707), and the process returns. The screen is switched using drawing data held in the VRAM 113 by the display switching unit 143.

Next, the processing procedure of the other OS screen by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, the second OS to be connected is determined (step s801), and permission / prohibition of startup of another OS is determined (step s802). In the determination, for example, the startup of another OS is restricted in a situation where, for example, many resources are required during RIP processing.

If the other OS is not prohibited (step s803, N), a list of other OSs that can be displayed on the operation unit 140 is displayed (step s804).
An example of the list display is shown in FIG. On the other OS list display screen 1490, the other OS list 1491 is displayed in association with the connection destination 1492, and the operating rate 1493 of each OS is displayed. The connection destination is indicated by an IP address, and the operating rate is calculated and displayed based on the hardware resource usage rate used by each OS. In the message column 1494, a display requesting the OS selection is displayed.
When there are a plurality of other OSs of the same type, the user can select another OS while referring to the operation rate. In the list display, all connectable other OSs may be displayed as described above, or as shown in FIG. 17, a display that can be switched for each type of OS like a tab browser may be used. In the operation screen 1500 of FIG. 17, a main body screen tab 1501, a Windows tab 1502, and a MacOS tab 1503 are displayed in a selectable manner, and an operation screen corresponding to the selected tab is displayed in the main screen area 1510. In the screen of FIG. 17, the main body screen tab 1501 is selected, and the setting screen of the image forming apparatus is displayed in the main screen area 1510.

As shown in FIG. 15, when the other OS displayed by the operator is selected (step s805), a process for displaying the other OS screen is performed (step s806).
A display example of the other OS screen is shown in FIG. In the example in which the list of other OSs is displayed as a tab, as shown in FIG. 19, when the Windows tab 1502 is selected, the tab is shaded and displayed in the main screen area 1510 of the operation screen 1500. An operation screen related to the OS (in this example, a Windows screen) is displayed to be operable.
Operation such as the end button 1481 shown in FIG. 18 is on standby (step s807). When the end button 1481 is operated, the screen is switched to the original screen (step s808), and the process returns.

If the result of determination in step s803 is that other OS is prohibited (step s803, Y), “currently being used” is displayed on the operation unit 140 (step s809), and the process returns.
FIG. 20 shows that when the other OS selected on the operation screen 1500 is prohibited, the transition to the other OS screen is prohibited even if the tab of the other OS is pushed, and the OS selected in the message field 1505 is displayed. Is displayed that cannot be connected. Therefore, the operation screen before selection is also displayed in the main screen area 1510.

Next, the processing procedure of the other OS screen display by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, the device control FW activates the VNC client 22 (step s901), and accesses the VNC server 11 of another OS as a target in another image forming device (step s902). Here, a different port number is set for each VNC server 11, and the VNC client 22 accesses the VNC server 11 of another target OS based on the port number.

It is determined whether the VNC server 11 to be accessed is in use (step s903). If another client is in use (step s903, Y), the VNC server 11 notifies the VNC server 11 and notifies “ A message such as “in use by another client” is displayed (step s906). That is, “in use by another client” is displayed on the operation unit 140. Thereafter, the process returns.
FIG. 22 is a screen displayed when the other OS selected on the other OS list display screen 1490 is in use, and shows that the OS selected in the message column 1494 is in use and cannot be connected.

On the other hand, when the other client is not in use (N in step s903), the image data of the target other OS is acquired from the VNC server 11 of the OS (step s904), and the target other OS screen is displayed on the operation unit 140. It is displayed (step s905).
The other OS screen is displayed on the operation unit 140 through the VNC client 22 of the own machine by the VNC server 11 in another image forming apparatus.
For example, the operation on the Windows screen 1483 shown in FIG. 18 is transmitted from the VNC client 22 to the second OS by the VNC server 11 of another image forming apparatus. Various operations can be performed on the Windows screen 1483, and an application that can be started on the Windows screen 1483 can be started to perform processing such as creation, editing, saving, and printing of a new file. The operation can be performed by the operation unit 140 through the VNC client 22 by the VNC server 11. The corresponding operation on the other OS screen is directly transmitted from the VNC client 22 to the other OS through the VNC server 11 of the other OS. Thereafter, the process returns.

Next, the procedure of the sleep control by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Sleep management operates independently of the overall control routine.
First, in the sleep control when the power is turned on, the timer T1 starts (step s1001). Next, it is determined whether there is an activation event corresponding to sleep extension (step s1002, procedure 4). When a startup (sleep extension) event occurs, the first OS starts up and the subsequent routines are executed. Examples of the activation (sleep extension) event include panel operation, reception of a print job, and completion of printing. Note that sleep extension refers to delaying the timing of shifting to the sleep state in the activated state.

  If there is no activation (sleep extension) event (step s1002, N), it is determined whether T1> t1 (step s1005). t1 is a predetermined time set in advance for the sleep operation, and is a threshold value for performing the sleep control if there is no operation or printing within the predetermined time.

  If T1> t1, the process returns to step 4 and continues. If there is an activation (sleep extension) event (step s1002, Y), if the print engine is in sleep mode, the print engine is returned (step s1003), the timer T1 is reset (step s1004), and T1> t1 is determined. The process proceeds to (Step s1005). Note that the print engine is an apparatus having, for example, an image forming mechanism that performs printing, a paper transport mechanism, and a function for controlling these mechanisms. The print engine sleep state refers to turning off the power supply to each mechanism. Or it means the state of low power.

On the other hand, if T1> t1 (step s1005, Y), it is determined whether another OS is being activated (step s1007).
If no other OS is running (step s1007, N), the print engine is set to sleep (step s1011), the first OS is set to sleep, and the process is terminated.
If another OS is being activated (step s1007, Y), the procedure returns to step 4. In this example, the other OS enters sleep under the conditions set by the OS. However, when the other OS is in the active state, the first OS and the print engine do not sleep in preparation for a print instruction from the other OS. .

Further, a procedure of another example of the sleep control by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. This procedure is executed as a function of the second image forming apparatus. However, it may be executed in the first image forming apparatus.
The procedure from step s1001 to step s1007 is the same as the procedure described above, and a description thereof is omitted here.
If it is determined in step s1007 that the other OS is not running (step s1007, N), the print engine sleep (step s1011) and the first OS sleep (step s1012) are performed in the same manner as described above. finish. The case where the other OS is not activated includes the case where the other OS is sleeping.
If it is determined in step s1007 that the other OS is running (step s1007, Y), it is determined whether the application is running on the other OS (step s1008). If the application is not running (step s1008, N), a sleep instruction is issued to another OS (step s1010), the print engine sleeps (step s1011), and then the first OS sleep (step s1012) is performed. finish.

On the other hand, if the application is running on another OS (step s1008, Y), the procedure returns to step 4. If the application is being used, the print engine and the first OS do not sleep because there is a high possibility of printing thereafter. Note that the use of the application at this time is usually a case where the application is used remotely through the operation unit 140 of another image forming apparatus. When used in the operation unit 140 of the image forming apparatus A, an operation of the operation unit 140 causes a sleep extension event.
As described above, since the OS is caused to sleep only when the application is not used, interruption of work such as file editing by the user can be avoided.

Further, a procedure of still another example of the sleep control by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
The procedure from step s1001 to step s1008 is the same as the procedure described above, and a description thereof is omitted here.
If it is determined in step s1008 that the application is not running on another OS (step s1008, N), a sleep instruction is issued to the first OS (step s1010), the print engine sleep (step s1011), and the first OS sleep, as in the above procedure. The process of (Step s1012) is performed and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the application is running on another OS (step s1008, Y), it is determined whether the running application is a specific application (step s1013). A specific application is registered in advance. Usually, an application related to printing is registered as a specific application. In addition, this registration may be performed so that the user can newly register and change settings. Note that the activated application is used in a remote manner through an operation unit or the like of another image forming apparatus as in the above procedure.

  After determining whether the application is a specific application, it is determined whether the specific application is being activated (step s1014). If a specific application is activated (step s1014), since there is a high possibility that printing will be executed, the process returns to step 4 without putting the print engine to sleep. Thus, when printing is attempted from a specific application, printing can be executed immediately. If the specific application is not activated (step s1014, N), an application not related to printing is being executed, so the print engine is set to sleep and the process returns to step 4. Thereby, power consumption can be reduced. In this embodiment, the reason why only the print engine is set to sleep is that another OS is operating on the first OS, and if the first OS is set to sleep, the other OS cannot be used. Therefore, in a form in which the first OS and another OS operate in parallel on the hypervisor, the first OS may be put to sleep together with the print engine. In this case, another OS can operate even if the first OS is put to sleep.

If it is determined in the above procedure that the specific application is not activated (step s1014, N), the user is inquired about whether the print engine or the like is to be put into sleep, and is put into sleep based on the user's operation or not. It may be determined. As a result, sleep that is not desired by the user can be avoided.
Any of the procedures in FIGS. 23 to 25 described above may be set, or any of the procedures may be set as a default and can be selected and set by the user.

Next, the procedure of other OS sleep control (during startup), which is part of the overall control by the device control FW, will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, the first OS is activated, and further, an activation instruction is given to another OS (step s1101). A startup instruction to another OS is given to the emulator. Next, OS priority order setting processing is performed (step s1102). The priority order is determined by a predetermined manual setting or an automatic setting based on the type of saved file.

  In the manual setting, the priority order of each OS is determined based on the priority order for each OS based on a user instruction or the like, or the priority order set for the application or file used. When the automatic setting is performed according to the type of the saved file, the OS associated with the saved job is given priority, and the others are set to sleep. In addition, a related OS having a large number of files of a saved job can be given a high priority. Further, the priority order can be determined based on the use frequency, the access time, or a combination thereof.

Next, it waits for the startup of each OS (step s1103), leaves a predetermined number of OSs with high priority, and sleeps others (step s1104). The predetermined number at this time is manually set in advance or automatically set according to the installed memory capacity. Thereafter, the process returns.
In this way, by limiting the number of OSs to be activated, resources necessary for image formation can be secured, and deterioration in apparatus performance can be prevented. In order to set the OS to sleep, the contents of the memory are saved to a hard disk or the like, but this process requires a certain amount of time. If sleep processing is performed when resources are required after a job is input, the performance of job execution will be reduced during the save period. In this embodiment, since the sleep is performed immediately when the power is turned on, the problem can be prevented as much as possible. Note that since the time required to recover the OS in the sleep state is overwhelmingly shorter than the time required to start up the OS, the user's convenience can be reduced less.

Next, a processing procedure for setting the OS priority in the overall control by the apparatus control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, it is determined whether the OS priority setting is automatic setting (step s1201). Whether the priority order is set automatically or manually is set in advance by the user. Priorities for manual setting are also set in advance.
When the OS priority order setting is not automatic setting (step s1201, N), the manual setting order is read and set from the HDD 115 or the like (step s1205), and the process returns.

When the OS priority setting is automatic setting (step s1201, Y), file information is acquired from another OS area of the HDD 115 (step s1202), and the OS corresponding to the file is referred to the correspondence table shown in Table 1 or the like. Count (step s1203). The OSs are ranked in the order of the number of counts (step s1204), and the process returns from the process.
In this example, the priority is set by the number of file correspondences as the automatic setting, but the automatic setting method is not limited to this.
As described above, since sleep is performed from an OS having a low priority, it is possible to prevent a decrease in convenience.

Next, the RIP processing procedure by the device control FW and the other OS sleep control processing procedure at the time of RIP processing will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that control during RIP processing operates independently of the overall control routine. This procedure is executed as a function of the second image forming apparatus. However, it may be executed in the first image forming apparatus.
First, the received job information is notified to the sleep control routine (step s1301), and then RIP processing is started (step s1302). When the RIP process is completed, the end of the RIP is notified to the sleep control routine (step s1303), the RIPed image data and the printing conditions are input to the overall control routine, and the RIP process procedure is terminated.

  On the other hand, in the other OS sleep control routine at the time of RIP processing, it waits for the reception of job information (step s1401). Determination is made (step s1402). The required resource can be determined by determining the level of the required resource (CPU, memory, etc.) based on the job volume (data amount, etc.). As a result of the determination, the number of OSs that can be used during RIP processing is determined (step s1403). In determining the number of usable OSs, the number (0 to n) can be automatically set according to the level of the determination (n is a positive integer). The level and the number are stored in association with each other in the HDD 115 or the like in association with each other.

  For example, in the automatic setting of the number of hardware resources, if it is determined that the hardware resources necessary for the preset print processing cannot be satisfied, the number of OSs that can be started is determined according to the resource usage rate, and other priority is set. A low-level (for example, unused) OS is set to sleep. For hardware resources, when the usage rate of the CPU, memory, and HDD exceeds 50% to acquire information via the first OS, three activation restrictions are performed. In addition, for example, when acquiring information via the device control FW, when the HDD performance cannot meet the transfer speed of 100 MB / sec, a restriction is imposed. When the transfer speed falls below 50% of the maximum transfer speed due to the network performance For example, the number of usable OSs can be determined by restricting startup.

In addition, automatic setting by a print job can be performed. In the controller that performs RIP processing, resource information necessary for RIP processing is calculated in advance from the received print job header information in consideration of the image size, data format, number of pages, layout, and the like. Based on the result, OS activation is restricted.
For example, from the image size (A4) + format (PS) + number of pages (10) and layout (2 in 1), it can be calculated that a memory of 200 MB, a CPU: 2 cores, an occupation ratio of 30%, and an HDD: 200 MB are required.

  After determining the number of OSs that can be used during RIP processing (step s1403), the OS usage restriction is turned ON (step s1404), and it is determined whether the number of running OSs> the number of usable OSs (step s1405). If the number of running OSs> the number of usable OSs (step s1405, Y), the other OS that does not access the VNC server is put to sleep (step s1406), and the number of running OSs> the number of usable OSs again? Is determined (step s1407). If the number of operating OSs> the number of usable OSs (step s1407, Y), the other OSs accessed from the outside are put into sleep (step s1408), and the VNC server of the other OSs in the sleep state are stopped (step s1409) ).

If the number of OSs activated in steps s1405 and s1407 is not greater than the number of usable OSs, the sleep of the other OSs in the other OSs is stopped without increasing the sleeps of the other OSs (step s1409). Due to the stop of the VNC server, the return from the sleep of another OS by an external access is prohibited. However, the VNC access from the operation unit 140 is permitted to be started up to the usable number. Also, it is possible to start another OS by a print command not via a VNC server.
After stopping the VNC server of the other OS during sleep, it waits for the reception of the RIP processing end notification (step s1410). When the RIP processing end notification (step s1303) according to the RIP processing procedure is received (step s1410, Y), the OS use restriction is turned off, all VNC servers are activated, and the process proceeds to job information reception standby (step s1401). .
As described above, in this embodiment, job execution is given the highest priority and necessary resources are secured, so that it is possible to prevent performance degradation in printing, which is the original function of the image forming apparatus. In the use restriction (sleep control) of other OSs, first, an unused OS is caused to sleep, and then an OS used from an external PC is preceded by an OS used from the operation unit of the image forming apparatus. Thus, the convenience of the user who directly uses the image forming apparatus can be maintained as much as possible.

  In the sleep process of the other OS, the memory state in the activated state is saved in the HDD and the memory is released. Even on the first OS side, if the HDD is not used, the HDD is stopped. The return of the second to second NOSs secures a memory area for the second to second NOSs, expands the previous memory information of the HDD, and loads the OS.

Next, a processing procedure for determining whether other OS startup is permitted / prohibited in the overall control by the apparatus control FW will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This procedure is executed as a function of the second image forming apparatus. However, it may be executed in the first image forming apparatus.
First, it is determined whether the OS use restriction is ON (step s1501). If the OS use restriction is not ON (N in step s1501), the startup of another OS is permitted (step s1507), and the process returns. Here, the startup of the other OS means that the other OS enters the activated state, and includes the return of the other OS in the sleep state. On the other hand, if the OS use restriction is ON (step s1501, Y), the number of running OSs is detected (step s1502), and it is determined whether the number of running OSs <the number of usable OSs (step s1503). If the number of operating OSs <the number of usable OSs (step s1503, Y), the startup of other OSs is permitted (step s1507), and the process returns. If the number of running OSs <the number of usable OSs is not satisfied (step s1503, N), it is determined whether there are other booting OSs that are not being used (step s1504). If there is no boot other OS that is not used (step s1504, N), startup of the other OS is prohibited (step s1506), and the process returns from the process. If there is a boot other OS that is not used, the other boot OS having a lower priority among the other boot OSs is set to sleep, and after the determination of the number of running OSs <the number of usable OSs (step s1503) and thereafter repeat.
As described above, a multi-OS operation with limited resources can be realized, and more stable printing processing can be performed. In addition, since the priority is limited in consideration of the priority order, a decrease in convenience can be minimized. In addition, the startup (return) time of each OS can be shortened.

Next, the processing procedure for determining the second OS to be connected by the device control FW will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. The procedure on the left side in the figure is executed by the first image forming apparatus, and the procedure on the right side in the figure is executed by the second image forming apparatus.
First, the apparatus control FW acquires second OS information mounted from another image forming apparatus existing in the network (step s1601). Specifically, the second OS mounting information is inquired to other image forming apparatuses through the network. The other image forming apparatus waits for the inquiry and returns the second OS information of its own apparatus to the image forming apparatus that made the inquiry.
At this time, the second OS information mounted from another image forming apparatus existing in the network may be acquired in advance, and the information may be registered and referred to in the correspondence table shown in Table 1.

The device control FW that has received the response of the mounting information of the second OS from another image forming apparatus acquires the operating state information from the image forming apparatus mounted with the second OS corresponding to the file extension (step s1602). When there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses equipped with the corresponding second OS, operation information is acquired from each of the image forming apparatuses. Specifically, the operation information of the second OS corresponding to another image forming apparatus is inquired through the network. The other image forming apparatus waits for the inquiry and returns the operation information of the second OS of its own apparatus to the inquired image forming apparatus.
The device control FW that has obtained the response of the second OS operation information from another image forming apparatus determines the connection destination from the acquired operation state information (step s1603). At this time, if there are a plurality of corresponding second OSs, one having a low operation rate may be selected. Further, when there is only a second OS with a high operating rate, the connection may be limited, or a warning may be displayed that the performance will be reduced by the connection. FIG. 31 shows an example in which a selected warning is displayed on the operation screen 1600. This is an example of an operation screen 1600 indicating that performance decreases when an OS that can execute the original file of a job selected from the job list 1601 is used. Moreover, you may make it perform the display of FIGS. 31-34 already demonstrated according to an operation state. These displays may be performed during the determination procedure of the second OS, or the acquired operating state information may be held and appropriately displayed on a timely basis.

  As described above, the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the contents of the above description, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

1 Image forming apparatus 2 LAN
3 PC
4 PC
110 Control CPU
113 VRAM
114 Image memory 115 HDD
120 Communication unit 122 NIC
130 Scanner Unit 140 Operation Unit 150 Printer Unit First OS First Operating System Second OS Second Operating System H / W Hardware Resource 1483 Windows Screen

Claims (22)

Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit .
If it is determined that the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus can be used, it is prohibited to display the operation screen according to the second operating system. An image forming apparatus. Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit.
  A function for displaying a list of the second operating system on the operation display unit so as to be selectable, and displaying an operation screen related to the second operating system on the operation display unit when the selection is made by an operator. The image forming apparatus is characterized by prohibiting the selection of the second operating system when it is determined that the second operating system cannot be used in the determination result of whether the second operating system can be used. Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit.
In a case where the second image forming apparatus is configured to be able to provide the operating state information of the second operating system in the own apparatus to the outside through the network, the operating state information of the second image forming apparatus is transmitted to the communication unit. An image forming apparatus that can be acquired through a section . The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the operating state information includes a usage rate of a hardware resource used by the second operating system in the second image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit restricts connection to the second operating system having the relatively high usage rate. The second image forming apparatus restricts a connection from the first image forming apparatus to the second operating system when the usage rate of the own apparatus exceeds a predetermined value. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5 . 7. The control unit according to claim 4 , wherein when the second operating system having a relatively high usage rate is selected, the control unit issues a warning that performance is degraded. Image forming apparatus. Via a network, one or more second image forming apparatuses in which a first operating system and one or more second operating systems operable in parallel with the first operating system are mounted. A first image forming apparatus connected to each other,
An operation display unit for displaying a screen and receiving an operation input;
A communication unit that communicates with the outside through the network;
A control unit that operates at least a first operating system and a control program that starts up on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the device;
  The control unit can display the operation screen of the device itself and the operation screen according to the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus on the operation display unit.
When the second operating system of the same type is mounted on a plurality of second image forming apparatuses, the second operating system of the type is mounted when selecting the second operating system of the type. One of the second operating systems mounted on the plurality of second image forming apparatuses is selected according to operating state information of the second operating system in the plurality of second image forming apparatuses. An image forming apparatus comprising: selecting an image forming apparatus. Wherein the control unit is configured and an operation screen according to the own device operation screen and the second operating system to the operation display unit, according to claim 8, characterized in that it is capable of displaying selectively or in combination The image forming apparatus according to any one of the above. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is capable of operating one or more second operating systems in parallel with the first operating system. . The second image forming apparatus has an operation screen server that provides operation screen information of the second operating system,
Wherein the control unit obtains the operation screen information from said operation screen server, according to claim 10, characterized in that operatively displays the operation screen on the operation display section based on the operation screen information The image forming apparatus according to any one of the above. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein when the second image forming apparatus is equipped with a plurality of the second operating systems, the operation screen server is provided for each second operating system. . The control unit acquires information on a type of the second operating system operable on the second image forming apparatus, and the operation corresponding to the second operating system designated among the acquired types The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the operation screen information is acquired from a screen server. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the control unit acquires information on a type of the second operating system from the second image forming apparatus. The control unit stores information on the type of the second operating system in advance as connection destination data in association with the second image forming apparatus, and specifies the second information specified with reference to the connection destination data. 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a connection destination corresponding to the operating system is determined. A storage unit for storing a document file created on the second operating system;
The control unit displays a list of the document files on the operation display unit, enables an operator to select the document file through the operation display unit, and according to the selected document file the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that operably displaying the operation screen according to the second operating system to the operation display unit. The storage unit stores management data associating the application that handles the document file with the second operating system,
The control unit, when the document file is selected, determines the second operating system corresponding to the document file from the management data based on an application that handles the document file. 16. The image forming apparatus according to 16 . The control unit prohibits the selection of the document file when it is determined that the second operating system mounted on the second image forming apparatus is not usable in the determination result of whether the second operating system is usable. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16 or 17 . The determination as to whether or not the second operating system installed in the second image forming apparatus can be used is performed by the second image forming apparatus or the control unit . The image forming apparatus according to any one of 18 . A first image forming apparatus and a second image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19 ,
An image forming system comprising: a network that connects the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus in a communicable manner. The second image forming apparatus includes a first operating system, a control program that is activated on the first operating system and controls hardware resources of the image forming apparatus, and further, in parallel with the first operating system. 21. The image forming system according to claim 20, further comprising a control unit on which one or more second operating systems operable as described above operate. The second image forming apparatus is configured to be able to provide operating state information of the own apparatus to the outside through the network, and the control unit in the first image forming apparatus acquires the operating state information through the network. The image forming system according to claim 20 or 21 , wherein the image forming system is possible.

Images