JP7173272B2 - Program and mobile terminal - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a program for a mobile terminal that operates an image output device using short-range wireless communication.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200003 discloses a system in which a mobile terminal instructs a printer to execute a print operation, triggered by short-range wireless connection between the mobile terminal and a printer. According to the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the user of the mobile terminal can cause the printer to execute the printing operation simply by bringing the mobile terminal close to the range where short-range wireless communication with the printer is possible.

JP 2014-195151 A

However, in the system of Patent Document 1, the user of the portable terminal must go near the printer each time he wants the printer to execute a print operation. In other words, the system of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200010 may impair the user's convenience when repeatedly instructing the same printer to execute a print operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to improve user convenience when repeatedly instructing an image output device connected by proximity wireless connection to execute an output operation. To provide a program for a portable terminal.

The program described in this specification comprises a first communication interface capable of short-range wireless communication, a second communication interface capable of wireless communication with a wider communication range than the first communication interface, a memory, and an operation by a user. It can be executed by a mobile terminal having an input interface that accepts. The program performs identification processing for identifying an image output device connected by short-range wireless connection with the first communication interface as a designated device, and connection information for communicating with the designated device through the second communication interface. a first storage process for storing the connection information received in the reception process in the memory; a first reception process for accepting a user operation specifying specified data through the input interface; a first judgment process for judging whether or not the connection information is stored in the memory in response to the designation of the designated data in the first reception process; In accordance with the determination, the mobile terminal is caused to perform reception restriction processing of not accepting, through the input interface, an instruction operation corresponding to an instruction to cause the designated device to perform an output operation. The output operation is an operation of outputting the specified data. a second receiving process of receiving the instruction operation through the input interface in response to the determination in the first determination process that the program is stored; and receiving the instruction operation in the second reception process. a first output instruction process of transmitting output instruction information to the designated device through the second communication interface using the connection information stored in the memory in response to the portable terminal. The output instruction information is information for instructing execution of the output operation for the specified data.

The mobile terminal described herein includes a first communication interface capable of near field communication;
It comprises a second communication interface capable of wireless communication with a wider communication range than the first communication interface, a memory, an input interface for receiving user operations, and a control unit. The control unit performs identification processing for identifying an image output device connected by short-range wireless connection with the first communication interface as a designated device, and connection information for communicating with the designated device through the second communication interface. a receiving process for receiving from a designated device; a first storing process for storing the connection information received in the receiving process in the memory; a first receiving process for receiving a user operation designating designated data through the input interface; a first determination process of determining whether or not the connection information is stored in the memory in response to the designation of the designated data in the first reception process; and the first determination process of determining if the connection information is not stored. and reception restriction processing of not accepting, through the input interface, an instruction operation corresponding to an instruction to cause the designated device to perform an output operation, in accordance with the determination in 1). The output operation is an operation of outputting the specified data. The control unit accepts the instruction operation through a second reception process of accepting the instruction operation through the input interface in response to the determination in the first determination process that the instruction operation is stored. and executing a first output instruction process of transmitting output instruction information to the designated device through the second communication interface, using the connection information stored in the memory. The output instruction information is information for instructing execution of the output operation for the specified data.

According to the above configuration, by establishing a close proximity wireless connection between the mobile terminal and the image output device, the connection information of the image output device is stored in the memory. Then, in response to the user instructing execution of the output operation, output instruction information is transmitted from the portable terminal to the image output device using the connection information. That is, the user of the portable terminal can repeatedly instruct the execution of the output operation even from a place away from the image output device by holding the portable terminal over the image output device to be executed once.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system 100 according to an embodiment. In FIG. 2, (A) is a block diagram of the MFP 10, and (B) is a block diagram of the portable terminal 50. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example of information stored in the data storage area 62B, where (A) indicates designated device information, (B) indicates first condition information, and (C) indicates second condition information. FIG. 4A shows a flowchart of main processing, and FIG. 4B shows a flowchart of device selection processing. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of device switching processing. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of print instruction processing. 7A and 7B show display examples of the display 53, where (A) shows the main screen and (B) shows the device selection screen. 8A and 8B show display examples of the display 53, where (A) shows a switching confirmation screen and (B) shows a data selection screen. 9A and 9B show display examples of the display 53. FIG. 9A shows a preview screen including a valid [Print] icon 153, and FIG. 9B shows a preview screen including an invalid [Print] icon 153. FIG. 10A and 10B show display examples of the display 53, in which (A) shows a setting screen for designating the second condition information, and (B) shows a setting screen for designating the first condition information.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. It should be noted that the embodiment described below is merely an example of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the embodiment of the present invention can be changed as appropriate without changing the gist of the present invention. For example, the execution order of each process to be described later can be changed as appropriate without changing the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 100 according to this embodiment. A system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes multifunction devices 10A and 10B (hereinafter collectively referred to as “multifunction device 10”) and a mobile terminal 50 . The MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 are configured to be able to communicate with each other through the communication network 101 . Communication network 101 may be, for example, a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the multifunction device 10 includes a printer 11, a scanner 12, a FAX unit 13, a display 23, an input I/F 24, an NFC communication I/F 25, and Wi-Fi communication. It mainly includes an I/F 26 , a CPU 31 , a memory 32 and a communication bus 33 . Each component constituting the multi-function device 10 is interconnected through a communication bus 33 . The MFP 10 is an example of an image processing device or an image output device.

The printer 11 executes a printing operation of recording an image indicated by image data on a sheet. As a recording method of the printer 11, an inkjet method, an electrophotographic method, or the like can be adopted. The scanner 12 performs a scanning operation of reading an image recorded on a document and generating image data. The FAX unit 13 executes a FAX transmission operation and a FAX reception operation for transmitting and receiving image data in accordance with the FAX protocol. A print operation and a FAX transmission operation are examples of an output operation. Also, the multi-function device 10 may be capable of executing a multi-function operation in which a plurality of operations are combined. For example, a copy operation in which image data generated by a scan operation is recorded on a sheet by a print operation is an example of a compound operation.

Operations that can be executed by the MFPs 10A and 10B may differ. The MFP 10A according to this embodiment is capable of executing a print operation and a FAX operation. On the other hand, the MFP 10B according to the present embodiment is capable of executing print operation, scan operation, and copy operation. Also, the image processing device and the image output device are not limited to those capable of executing a plurality of operations, and may be capable of executing only a single operation.

The display 23 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and has a display surface for displaying various information.

The input I/F 24 is a user interface that receives input operations by the user. Specifically, the input I/F 24 has a button and outputs various operation signals associated with the pressed button to the CPU 31 . Furthermore, the input I/F 24 may have a film-like touch sensor superimposed on the display surface of the display 23 . An operation of designating an object displayed on the display surface of the display 23 and an operation of inputting a string of characters or numbers are examples of user operations. An “object” is, for example, a character string, icon, button, link, etc. displayed on the display 23 .

The input I/F 24 implemented as a touch sensor outputs position information indicating the position on the display surface touched by the user. It should be noted that the term “touch” in this specification includes all operations of bringing an input medium into contact with the display surface. In addition, even if the input medium does not touch the display surface, the "hover" or "floating touch" that brings the input medium close to the display surface to a position where the distance is very small can be used as the concept of "touch" described above. may be included. Furthermore, the input medium may be a user's finger, a touch pen, or the like. A user operation of tapping the position of an icon displayed on the display 23 is an example of a designation operation of designating the icon.

The NFC communication I/F 25 is an example of a first communication interface capable of transmitting/receiving wireless signals to/from an external device. That is, the MFP 10 outputs various information to the mobile terminal 50 through the NFC communication I/F 25 and receives various information from the mobile terminal 50 through the NFC communication I/F 25 . The communication range of wireless communication through the NFC communication I/F 25 (hereinafter referred to as “NFC communication”) is limited to the wireless communication through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 (hereinafter referred to as “Wi-Fi communication”). ) is narrower than the communication range of Also, the communication speed of NFC communication is slower than that of Wi-Fi communication.

The NFC communication I/F 25 is an interface for performing wireless communication using a short-range wireless method conforming to the NFC standard. NFC communication is an example of near field communication. The NFC communication I/F 25 is equipped with an IC chip having a memory for storing information to be exchanged with an external device. The NFC standard is an example of a near field communication protocol. As another example of the short-range wireless communication protocol, TransferJet (registered trademark of TransferJet Consortium) may be employed.

Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 is an example of a second communication interface capable of communicating with an external device. The MFP 10 outputs various information to the mobile terminal 50 through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 and receives various information from the mobile terminal 50 through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 . Note that the communication range of Wi-Fi communication is wider than that of NFC communication. Also, the communication speed of Wi-Fi communication is faster than the communication speed of NFC communication.

The Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 is capable of indirect wireless communication with an external device through the communication network 101 . More specifically, the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 can wirelessly communicate with an external device via a relay device such as an access point. Also, the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 may be capable of direct wireless communication with an external device without going through a relay device. Among Wi-Fi communications, wireless communications that do not go through a relay device are referred to as "Wi-Fi direct communications." A specific communication procedure of the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26 is not particularly limited, but for example, Wi-Fi can be used for indirect wireless communication and Wi-Fi Direct can be used for direct wireless communication.

The CPU 31 controls the overall operation of the MFP 10 . The CPU 31 acquires various programs described later from the memory 32 based on various information output from the input I/F 24 and various information acquired from external devices through the NFC communication I/F 25 and the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26. to run. That is, the CPU 31 and the memory 32 constitute an example of a control section.

The memory 32 has a program storage area 32A and a data storage area 32B. An OS 34 and an apparatus program 35 are stored in the program storage area 32A. Note that the device program 35 may be a single program or an aggregate of a plurality of programs. Data or information necessary for executing the device program 35 is stored in the data storage area 32B. The memory 32 is configured by, for example, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an HDD, a portable storage medium such as a USB memory detachable from the multifunction machine 10, a buffer provided in the CPU 31, or a combination thereof.

Memory 32 may be a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. In addition to the above examples, non-transitory media include recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. A non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electrical signal that carries a program downloaded from a server on the Internet is a computer-readable signal medium, which is a kind of computer-readable medium, but is a non-transitory computer-readable storage. Not included in media. The same applies to the memory 62 of the mobile terminal 50, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the mobile terminal 50 includes a display 53, an input I/F 54, an NFC communication I/F 55, a Wi-Fi communication I/F 56, a CPU 61, a memory 62, and communication A bus 63 is mainly provided. The display 53, the input I/F 54, the NFC communication I/F 55, the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56, the CPU 61, the memory 62, and the communication bus 63 included in the mobile terminal 50 are connected to the display 23 and the input I/F included in the MFP 10. /F 24, NFC communication I/F 25, Wi-Fi communication I/F 26, CPU 31, memory 32, and communication bus 33, the description thereof is omitted. The CPU 61 and memory 62 are examples of a control unit.

The mobile terminal 50 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, or the like. More specifically, the display 53 of the mobile terminal 50 preferably has a display screen size of 12 inches or less, more preferably 8 inches or less. Also, the input I/F 54 of the mobile terminal 50 is desirably a touch sensor superimposed on the display screen of the display 53 .

A program storage area 62A of the memory 62 stores an OS 64 and a terminal program 65. FIG. The OS 64 may be, for example, Android (registered trademark of Google inc.) OS, iOS (registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc.), Windows Phone (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation) Operating System, or the like.

The terminal program 65 is a program that causes a designated device to execute a designated operation for designated data. Designated data refers to image data designated by a user. A specified action refers to an action specified by a user. A designated device refers to the MFP 10 designated by the user. The terminal program 65 can accept user operations for designating designated data, designated actions, and designated devices. Hereinafter, data identification information for identifying designated data will be referred to as "designated data ID", action identification information for identifying a designated action will be referred to as "designated action ID", and device identification information for identifying a designated device will be referred to as "designated device It is sometimes written as ID.

The data storage area 62B can store designated device information as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. When the terminal program 65 is installed, the designated device information is not stored in the data storage area 62B. Then, the terminal program 65 stores the device information received from the MFP 10 in steps S24 and S35, which will be described later, in the data storage area 62B as designated device information. The designated device information is device information received from the designated device. The designated device information according to this embodiment includes a device ID, connection information, and capability information.

The device ID is device identification information that identifies the designated device. In this embodiment, the MFP 10A is identified by the device ID "MFP-A", and the MFP 10B is identified by the device ID "MFP-B". The connection information is information for communicating with the designated device through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56 . In this embodiment, an IP address is described as an example of connection information, but a specific example of connection information is not limited to this, and may be a subnet mask, MAC address, SSID, or a combination thereof.

The capability information is information indicating capabilities of the MFP 10 . More specifically, the capability information is information indicating a list of execution conditions that can be specified when executing the print operation. The capability information includes paper feed tray information, paper discharge tray information, and color information, as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. The paper feed tray information is information for specifying the tray from which the sheet on which the image is recorded in the print operation is fed. The paper discharge tray information is information for specifying the tray to which the sheet on which the image is recorded in the print operation is discharged. The color information is information for indicating the colors (for example, "monochrome", "color") used in the print operation.

The capability information shown in FIG. 3A can designate one of "tray 1" and "tray 2" as the sheet feed source as an execution condition for the print operation to be executed by the MFP 10A. This indicates that only "tray 1" can be designated as the paper discharge destination, and that one of "monochrome" and "color" can be designated as the color used in the printing operation. That is, the printer 11 of the MFP 10A is a color printer that has two paper feed trays and one paper discharge tray. Although the illustration of the capability information of the MFP 10B is omitted, it may be the same as or different from that of the MFP 10A.

Paper feed tray information, paper discharge tray information, and color information are examples of items included in execution conditions. However, specific examples of items included in the execution conditions are not limited to these. Execution conditions corresponding to the scanning operation include, for example, resolution information indicating reading resolution, color information indicating reading color, and format information indicating the format of generated image data (for example, "JPEG", "TIFF", etc.). may include items of The execution conditions corresponding to the FAX transmission operation include, for example, acquisition source information indicating the acquisition source of the image data to be FAX-transmitted (e.g., "scanner", "storage", etc.), destination information ( For example, items such as telephone number) may be included.

Also, the data storage area 62B can store the first condition information as shown in FIG. 3B, for example. The first condition information is information for indicating execution conditions for the print operation to be executed by the designated device. For example, the first condition information is not stored in the data storage area 62B when the terminal program 65 is installed, and is stored in the data storage area 62B in association with the specified device information in step S47 when the specified device information is stored. and initialized in steps S24 and S35.

Furthermore, the data storage area 62B can store the second condition information, for example, as shown in FIG. 3(C). The second condition information is information for indicating execution conditions for the print operation to be executed by the device specified through the NFC communication I/F 55 . The second condition information is stored in the data storage area 62B when the terminal program 65 is installed, for example, and can be changed in step S47 when the specified device information is not stored.

Furthermore, a data folder may be provided in the data storage area 62B. The data folder may store, for example, photo data, document data, presentation data, spreadsheet data, and the like. Various data stored in the data folder are data that can be designated data.

In this specification, a device capable of communicating according to procedures conforming to the NFC standard is referred to as "NFC device", and communication performed using procedures complying with the NFC standard is referred to as "NFC communication". That is, the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 are examples of NFC devices. The MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 operate in one of P2P (abbreviation for Peer to Peer) mode, Reader mode, Writer mode, and CE (abbreviation for Card Emulation) mode. Also, in this specification, the Reader mode and the Writer mode may be collectively referred to as the "R/W mode".

The P2P mode is a mode for executing two-way communication between a pair of NFC devices. R/W mode and CE mode are modes for performing unidirectional communication between a pair of NFC devices. The Reader mode is a mode for reading information or the like from the NFC device operating in the CE mode. Writer mode is a mode for writing various types of information to the NFC device operating in CE mode.

In this embodiment, an example in which the MFP 10 operates in the CE mode and the portable terminal 50 operates in the R/W mode will be mainly described. That is, the portable terminal 50 operating in R/W mode can read information and the like from the multifunction peripheral 10 operating in the CE mode and write information and the like to the multifunction peripheral 10 . However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the MFP 10 may operate in R/W mode and the mobile terminal 50 may operate in CE mode, or both the MFP 10 and mobile terminal 50 may operate in P2P mode. mode can work.

The NFC communication I/F 55 of the mobile terminal 50 in this embodiment executes the Poll operation. The poll operation is an operation of repeatedly outputting a polling signal at predetermined time intervals and monitoring a response signal, which is a response to the polling signal. On the other hand, the NFC communication I/F 25 of the MFP 10 in this embodiment executes the Listen operation. The Listen operation is an operation of monitoring a polling signal and outputting a response signal on condition that the polling signal is received.

When the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 approach each other, the NFC communication I/F 25 of the MFP 10 receives the polling signal output by the NFC communication I/F 55 of the mobile terminal 50 , and the NFC communication I/F 25 of the MFP 10 receives the polling signal. The NFC communication I/F 55 of the mobile terminal 50 receives the response signal output by F25. As a result, an NFC-based communication link (hereinafter referred to as "NFC link") is established between the multi-function device 10 and the mobile terminal 50 by a predetermined procedure according to the NFC standard. After that, the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 transmit and receive information through this NFC link.

[Operation of system 100]
The operation of the system 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. At the start of the process shown in FIG. 4, the NFC communication I/F 25 of the MFP 10 has already performed the Listen operation, and the NFC communication I/F 55 of the portable terminal 50 has already performed the Poll operation. and It is also assumed that the designated device information is not stored in the data storage area 62B of the mobile terminal 50 at the start of the process shown in FIG.

The flow charts in this specification basically show the processing of the CPU 31, 61 according to the instructions written in the program. That is, the processing such as “judgment”, “extraction”, “selection”, “control” in the following description represents the processing of the CPUs 31 and 61 . Processing by the CPU 61 also includes hardware control via the OS 64 . Also, "data" in this specification is represented by a computer-readable bit string. Data having substantially the same meaning and content but different formats are treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in this specification.

[Main processing]
The terminal program 65 of the mobile terminal 50 executes the main process shown in FIG. 4(A) in response to being started by the user. First, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the main screen shown in FIG. 7A (S11). The main screen includes action icons 111 , 112 , 113 and 114 , a status icon 115 and a switching icon 116 . Then, the terminal program 65 receives a user's operation on the main screen through the input I/F 54 (S12).

An action icon 111 corresponds to a print action, an action icon 112 corresponds to a scan action, an action icon 113 corresponds to a copy action, and an action icon 114 corresponds to a FAX transmission operation and a FAX reception operation. A status icon 115 corresponds to an instruction to display a status screen showing the status of the specified device. Details of the status screen will be omitted. A switch icon 116 corresponds to an instruction to switch the specified device. Further, the switching icon 116 shown in FIG. 7A describes a character string of "unselected" indicating that the specified device is not specified at present.

The terminal program 65 waits while displaying the main screen until a user operation on the main screen is received through the input I/F 54 . For example, the terminal program 65 executes the device selection process (S13) in response to receiving the designation of the switching icon 116 through the input I/F 54 (S12: switching icon). Details of the device selection process will be described with reference to FIG.

[Device selection process]
First, the terminal program 65 searches for a plurality of MFPs 10 capable of wireless communication through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56, using SNMP (abbreviation for Simple Network Management Protocol), for example (S21). Specifically, the terminal program 65 broadcasts transmission request information to the communication network 101 through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56 . Next, the terminal program 65 receives through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56 the device information transmitted by the MFPs 10A and 10B in response to the transmission request information. That is, the terminal program 65 identifies the MFPs 10A and 10B, which are the transmission sources of the device information, as the MFPs 10 capable of wireless communication. The method of searching for the MFP 10 capable of wireless communication may be another well-known method.

Next, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the device selection screen shown in FIG. 7B (S22). The device selection screen includes the message “Tap the icon or place it over the device” and device icons 121 and 122 . Device icons 121 and 122 correspond to the MFPs 10A and 10B identified in step S21. Device IDs of the corresponding MFPs 10A and 10B are described in the device icons 121 and 122, respectively. Next, the terminal program 65 waits while displaying the device selection screen until it receives a user operation on the device selection screen or receives a response signal through the NFC communication I/F 55 .

Although illustration is omitted, the device selection screen is divided into a first screen that displays a list of the device icons 121 and 122 and a second screen that prompts the user to hold the portable terminal 50 over a device to execute an output operation. good too. The device selection screen may include an icon corresponding to an instruction to switch from one of the first screen and the second screen to the other.

Next, the terminal program 65, for example, in response to receiving the designation of the device icon 122 through the input I/F 54 (S23: device icon), designates the device information received from the MFP 10B corresponding to the device icon 122. It is stored in the data storage area 62B as device information (S24). If the designated device information is already stored in the data storage area 62B, the terminal program 65 overwrites the designated device information with new designated device information. A user operation specifying the device icon 122 is an example of a specifying operation specifying the MFP 10B as the specified device.

On the other hand, the terminal program 65 receives a response signal from the MFP 10A through the NFC communication I/F 55 that is executing the Poll operation, for example, when the user brings the mobile terminal 50 close to the MFP 10A (S23: hold up). Then, the terminal program 65 establishes an NFC link with the MFP 10A, which is the transmission source of the response signal. Then, the terminal program 65 identifies the MFP 10A with which the NFC link has been established as the designated device. This process is an example of the specific process. Receiving a response signal from the multi-function device 10A or establishing an NFC link with the multi-function device 10A is an example of short-range wireless connection between the NFC communication I/F 55 and the multi-function device 10A. Further, the user's operation of holding the portable terminal 50 over the MFP 10A is an example of a designation operation of designating the MFP 10A as the designated device.

[Device switching process]
Next, the terminal program 65 executes device switching processing in response to specifying the multifunction device 10A with which the NFC link has been established as the designated device (S23: hold over the device) (S25). The device switching process is a process of receiving device information from the MFP 10A connected by short-range wireless connection and storing the received device information in the data storage area 62B as designated device information. Details of the device switching process will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the terminal program 65 receives device information from the MFP 10A (S31). As an example, the terminal program 65 may receive device information from the MFP 10A through the NFC communication I/F 55 with which the NFC link has been established. As another example, the terminal program 65 may receive the connection information required for Wi-Fi Direct connection from the multifunction device 10A through the NFC communication I/F 55 with which the NFC link is established. Then, the terminal program 65 uses the received connection information to make a Wi-Fi direct connection with the multifunction device 10A, and receives the device information from the multifunction device 10A through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56 connected via Wi-Fi direct connection. good too. The process of step S31 is an example of the reception process.

Next, the terminal program 65 determines whether indirect wireless communication is possible between the MFP 10A and the portable terminal 50 (S32). In other words, the terminal program 65 determines whether the MFP 10A and the mobile terminal 50 are connected to the same communication network 101 or not. The terminal program 65, for example, determines whether or not the IP address included in the device information received in step S31 and the IP address set in the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56 have a common network address. good. The process of step S32 is an example of the second determination process.

Next, the terminal program 65 displays an error screen (not shown) on the display 53 in response to determining that the MFP 10A and the mobile terminal 50 are not connected to the same communication network 101 (S32: No). (S33). The error screen includes, for example, a message such as "The MFP 10A cannot be designated as the designated device."

On the other hand, the terminal program 65 determines that the MFP 10A and the mobile terminal 50 are connected to the same communication network 101 (S32: Yes). It is determined whether or not the designated device information is already stored in the data storage area 62B (S34). Then, in response to determining that the designated device information is not yet stored in the data storage area 62B (S34: No), the terminal program 65 stores the device information received in step S31 as the designated device information in the data storage area. 62B (S35). The process of step S34 is an example of the third determination process, and the process of step S35 is an example of the first storage process.

On the other hand, the terminal program 65 displays the switching confirmation screen shown in FIG. (S36). The switching confirmation screen includes a message “Do you want to switch the specified device?/Current device: MFP-B/New device: MFP-A”, a [YES] icon 131 and a [NO] icon 132 . Then, the terminal program 65 receives a user's operation on the switching confirmation screen through the input I/F 54 (S37).

The terminal program 65 waits while displaying the switching confirmation screen until a user operation on the switching confirmation screen is received through the input I/F 54 . Then, in response to receiving the designation of the [YES] icon 131 through the input I/F 54 (S37: YES icon), the terminal program 65 transfers the designated device information already stored in the data storage area 62B to step S31. is overwritten with the device information received in (S35). On the other hand, the terminal program 65 ends the device switching process without executing the process of step S35 in response to receiving the specification of the [NO] icon 132 through the input I/F 54 (S37: NO icon). Specifying the [YES] icon 131 is an example of a user operation for selecting overwriting of specified device information. The process of step S37 is an example of the fourth reception process.

Returning to FIG. 4A, the terminal program 65 uses the designated device information updated in the device selection process to execute the processes after step S11. That is, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the main screen including the switch icon 116 described as "MFP-A" in step S11 immediately after the portable terminal 50 is held over the multifunction device 10A in step S13. All you have to do is In addition, the terminal program 65 displays, on the main screen, action icons 111 and 114 corresponding to actions that can be executed by the multifunction device 10A, which is the designated device, and an action icon 112 that corresponds to actions that the multifunction device 10A cannot execute. , 113 may be hidden.

Next, the terminal program 65 accepts the specification of one of the action icons 111 to 114 included in the main screen through the input I/F 54 (S12: action icon), and performs the action corresponding to the specified action icon. The ID is temporarily stored in the data storage area 62B as the specified action ID, and the execution instruction process corresponding to the specified action icon is executed (S14). A user operation specifying an action icon is an example of a user operation specifying a specified action. The print instruction process shown in FIG. 6 will be described below as an example of the execution instruction process corresponding to the action icon 111. FIG.

[Print instruction processing]
First, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the data selection screen shown in FIG. 8B (S41). The data selection screen includes multiple data icons 141 , 142 , 143 . Data icons 141 to 143 correspond to, for example, various data stored in a data folder or various data stored in a server (not shown) on the Internet. Then, the terminal program 65 receives a user's operation on the data selection screen through the input I/F 54 (S42).

The terminal program 65 waits while displaying the data selection screen until a user operation on the data selection screen is accepted through the input I/F 54 (S42: No). Then, the terminal program 65, for example, in response to receiving the designation of the data icon 141 through the input I/F 54 (S42: Yes), determines the data "photograph.JPEG" corresponding to the data icon 141 as the designated data. That is, the terminal program 65 temporarily stores the data ID "photograph.JPEG" corresponding to the specified data icon 141 in the data storage area 62B as the specified data ID. A user operation specifying the data icon 141 is an example of a user operation specifying specified data. The process of step S42 is an example of the first reception process.

Next, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the designated device information is stored in the data storage area 62B (S43). When the terminal program 65 determines that the designated device information is stored in the data storage area 62B (S43: Yes), the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the preview screen shown in FIG. S44). On the other hand, in response to determining that the designated device information is not stored in the data storage area 62B (S43: No), the terminal program 65 displays the preview screen shown in FIG. S45). The process of step S43 is an example of the first determination process, the process of step S44 is an example of the preview process, and the process of step S45 is an example of the reception restriction process.

The preview screen includes a message, a preview image 151 , a [setting] icon 152 and a [print] icon 153 . The preview image 151 is an image showing the execution result of the specified action on the specified data. That is, the preview image 151 according to the present embodiment indicates an image of the image indicated by the data "photograph.JPEG" recorded on the sheet. [Setting] icon 152 corresponds to an instruction to specify or change condition information. [Print] icon 153 corresponds to an instruction to cause the specified device to execute a print operation.

Note that the preview screen shown in FIG. 9A includes the message "Tap the icon or place it over the device." On the other hand, the preview screen shown in FIG. 9(B) includes the message "Please hold it over the device." and the disabled [Print] icon 153 . The activated [Print] icon 153 indicates a state in which corresponding processing is executed in response to designation through the input I/F 54, for example. On the other hand, the invalidated [Print] icon 153 indicates a state in which the associated process is not executed even if specified through the input I/F 54, for example. Although the [Print] icon 153 is grayed out in the example of FIG. 9B, the [Print] icon 153 may be hidden.

Next, the terminal program 65 waits while displaying the preview selection screen until it receives a user operation on the preview screen through the input I/F 54 or receives a response signal through the NFC communication I/F 55 . Next, the terminal program 65 displays the setting screen shown in FIG. Then, the terminal program 65 receives user operations on the setting screen through the input I/F 54 .

FIG. 10A shows an example of the setting screen when the designated device information is not stored in the data storage area 62B, and shows a plurality of radio buttons 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166 and [OK]. and icon 168 . A radio button 161 corresponds to the paper feed tray information "Tray 1", a radio button 162 corresponds to the paper feed tray information "Tray 2", and a radio button 163 corresponds to the discharge tray information "Tray 1". A radio button 164 corresponds to the discharge tray information "tray 2", a radio button 165 corresponds to the color information "monochrome", and a radio button 166 corresponds to the color information "color". [Determine] icon 168 corresponds to an instruction to determine the condition information.

The terminal program 65 waits while displaying the setting screen until the user's operation specifying the [Enter] icon 168 is received through the input I/F 54 . In addition, the terminal program 65 indicates the execution conditions corresponding to the checked radio buttons 161 to 166 in response to receiving the designation of the [OK] icon 168 shown in FIG. 10A through the input I/F 54. The second condition information is stored in the data storage area 62B (S47). That is, when the [Enter] icon 168 is specified in the state of FIG. 10A, as shown in FIG. Second condition information including the color information "monochrome" is stored in the data storage area 62B.

On the other hand, FIG. 10(B) is an example of a setting screen when the designated device information shown in FIG. 3(A) is stored in the data storage area 62B. It differs from FIG. 10(A) and is common to FIG. 10(A) in other respects. Radio buttons 161, 162, 163, 165, and 166 shown in FIG. 10B correspond to execution conditions indicated by capability information included in designated device information. In other words, the terminal program 65 can accept a user's operation to specify execution conditions within the range of the capability information of the specified device through the setting screen shown in FIG. 10(B). This process is an example of the third reception process.

Then, the terminal program 65 indicates the execution conditions corresponding to the checked radio buttons 161 to 166 in response to receiving the designation of the [OK] icon 168 shown in FIG. 10B through the input I/F 54. The first condition information is stored in the data storage area 62B (S47). The process of step S47 is an example of the third storage process. That is, when the [Enter] icon 168 is specified in the state of FIG. 10B, as shown in FIG. The first condition information including the color information "color" is stored in the data storage area 62B.

Next, the terminal program 65 executes the processes after step S43 again. Then, in response to receiving the designation of the activated [Print] icon 153 through the input I/F 54 (S46: print icon), the terminal program 65 connects the Wi-Fi communication interface to the multifunction device 10A, which is the designated device. /F56 to transmit print instruction information (S48). On the other hand, the terminal program 65 does not execute the process of step S48 even if the designation of the invalidated [Print] icon 153 is accepted through the input I/F 54. FIG. A user operation specifying the [Print] icon 153 is an example of an instruction operation. The process of accepting designation of the [Print] icon 153 is an example of the second acceptance process, and the process of step S48 is an example of the first output instruction process.

For example, in step S48, the terminal program 65 transmits the print instruction information, which is an example of the output instruction information, to the MFP 10A, which is the designated apparatus, through indirect wireless communication or direct wireless communication using the connection information included in the designated apparatus information. Send. The print instruction information transmitted in step S48 is information for executing the print operation for the specified data in accordance with the execution condition indicated by the first condition information. The print instruction information includes, for example, the specified data specified in step S42 and the first condition information stored in the data storage area 62B. Further, when the first condition information is not stored in the data storage area 62B, the terminal program 65 may include the second condition information stored in the data storage area 62B in the print instruction information.

On the other hand, the terminal program 65 receives a response signal from the MFP 10A through the NFC communication I/F 55 that is executing the Poll operation, for example, when the user brings the mobile terminal 50 close to the MFP 10A (S46: hold up). Then, the terminal program 65 establishes an NFC link with the MFP 10A, which is the transmission source of the response signal. While the preview screen is being displayed, in other words, in a state where the specified data is specified, the user's operation of holding the mobile terminal 50 over the multifunction device 10A is a specification operation of specifying the multifunction device 10A as the specified device, and an operation of specifying the multifunction device 10A as the specified device. This is an example of an instruction operation for instructing execution of a print operation to the .

Next, the terminal program 65 receives the connection information required for Wi-Fi direct connection with the multifunction device 10A from the multifunction device 10A through the established NFC link. Next, the terminal program 65 uses the received connection information to establish a Wi-Fi direct connection with the MFP 10A (S49). Then, the terminal program 65 transmits print instruction information to the MFP 10A through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 56 connected via Wi-Fi Direct (S50). The process of step S50 is an example of the second output instruction process.

The print instruction information transmitted in step S50 is information for executing the print operation for the specified data in accordance with the execution condition indicated by the second condition information. The print instruction information includes, for example, the specified data specified in step S42 and the second condition information stored in the data storage area 62B. Also, in step S49, the terminal program 65 may receive connection information necessary for indirect wireless communication with the multifunction device 10A from the multifunction device 10A through the established NFC link. Then, the terminal program 65 may transmit the print instruction information to the MFP 10A through indirect wireless communication.

Furthermore, the terminal program 65 identifies the MFP 10A with which the NFC link has been established as the designated device. This process is an example of the specific process. Then, the terminal program 65 executes device switching processing (S51). Since the details of the device switching process have already been explained, a repeated explanation will be omitted. That is, the device information of the MFP 10A with which the NFC link has been established is stored in the data storage area 62B as the designated device information.

On the other hand, although not shown, the device program 35 of the MFP 10A receives print instruction information from the portable terminal 50 through the Wi-Fi communication I/F 26. FIG. Then, the device program 35 causes the printer 11 to execute the print operation according to the received print instruction information. That is, the printer 11 prints the image indicated by the designated data included in the print instruction information on the sheet according to the execution condition indicated by the condition information included in the print instruction information.

[Action and effect of the embodiment]
According to the above-described embodiment, when the portable terminal 50 and the MFP 10A are connected by proximity wireless connection, in other words, when the portable terminal 50 is held over the MFP 10A, the device information of the MFP 10A is displayed. is stored in the data storage area 62B as the designated device information. The [Print] icon 153 is disabled when the designated device information is not stored in the data storage area 62B, and is enabled when the designated device information is stored in the data storage area 62B. Then, in response to designation of the activated [Print] icon 153, print instruction information is transmitted to the MFP 10A through indirect wireless communication.

More specifically, indirect wireless communication via an access point or the like can be performed regardless of the distance between the multifunction peripheral 10A and the mobile terminal 50 if, for example, the multifunction peripheral 10A and the mobile terminal 50 are connected to the same LAN. Communication is possible. In other words, the user of the portable terminal 50 holds the portable terminal 50 over the multifunction device 10A to execute the print operation once, and after that, even if the user is away from the multifunction device 10A, the print operation can be executed by the multifunction device 10A. can be directed to As a result, there is no need to go to the side of the multi-function device 10A each time a print operation execution instruction is repeatedly issued, which improves user convenience.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the display mode of the [Print] icon 153 is varied depending on whether or not the designated device information is stored in the data storage area 62B. This allows the user to recognize through the preview screen whether or not the designated device has been designated. Further, when the portable terminal 50 is held over the MFP 10A while the preview screen is being displayed, print instruction information is transmitted to the MFP 10A. That is, when the designated device is not designated, or when it is desired to cause an image output device different from the designated device to execute the print operation, the print operation can be executed by a simple operation.

Further, according to the above embodiment, in response to designation of the [Print] icon 153, it is possible to cause the MFP 10A to execute a print operation according to the first condition information associated with the designated device information. can. On the other hand, when the portable terminal 50 is held over the MFP 10A, the MFP 10A can be caused to perform a print operation according to the second condition information not associated with the designated device information. That is, it is possible to cause the MFP 10A to execute the print operation according to appropriate execution conditions.

Further, according to the above embodiment, only the radio buttons corresponding to the execution conditions indicated by the ability information are displayed on the setting screen shown in FIG. 10B. As a result, the first condition information is generated within the capabilities of the multifunction machine 10A, so that the multifunction machine 10A can be caused to execute the print operation under appropriate execution conditions. On the other hand, on the setting screen shown in FIG. 10A, radio buttons corresponding to predetermined execution conditions are displayed regardless of the capabilities of the specified device.

Further, according to the above embodiment, whether or not the multi-function device 10A and the portable terminal 50 are connected to the same communication network 101 is confirmed prior to step S35. As a result, in step S48 that will be executed later, it is possible to reliably transmit the print instruction information even from a place away from the multifunction machine 10A. Also, if the designated device information is already stored in the data storage area 62B, the user is asked whether or not to overwrite the designated device information. As a result, it is possible to prevent the designated device information from being overwritten against the user's intention.

Further, in the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 of the above embodiment, various programs stored in the program storage areas 32A, 62A of the memories 32, 62 are executed by the CPUs 31, 61, whereby the control unit of the present invention is An example in which each process to be executed is realized has been described. However, the configuration of the control unit is not limited to this, and part or all of it may be realized by hardware such as an integrated circuit.

Furthermore, the present invention can be realized not only as the multi-function device 10 and the mobile terminal 50, but also as a program that causes the multi-function device 10 and the mobile terminal 50 to execute processing. The program may be recorded on a non-transitory recording medium and provided. The non-transitory recording medium may include a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, etc., and a memory installed in a server that can be connected to the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 via the communication network 101 . Then, the program stored in the memory of the server may be distributed through the communication network 101 such as the Internet as information or a signal indicating the program.

10... MFP 11... Printer 12... Scanner 13... FAX unit 25, 55... NFC communication I/F
26, 56... Wi-Fi communication I/F
31, 61 CPU
32, 62... Memory 35... Apparatus program 50... Portable terminal 53... Display 54... Input I/F
65 Terminal program

Claims (13)

A first communication interface capable of short-range wireless communication, and a wireless communication having a wider communication range than the first communication interface , and direct wireless communication that wirelessly communicates with an external device without going through a relay device is possible. A program executable by a mobile terminal comprising a second communication interface, a memory, an input interface for accepting user operations, and a display ,
a receiving process of performing short-range wireless communication with an image output device through the first communication interface to receive device information of the image output device ;
a first storage process for storing the device information received in the reception process in the memory ;
a first display process for displaying on the display a first execution instruction screen in which the execution instruction object is invalidated when the device information is not stored in the memory;
a second display process for displaying on the display a second execution instruction screen in which the execution instruction object is activated when the device information is stored in the memory;
outputting instruction information to the image output device corresponding to the device information stored in the memory from the second communication interface in response to the valid execution instruction object being designated through the input interface ; a first output instruction process for outputting, wherein the output instruction information is information instructing execution of an output operation of designated data designated through the input interface;
After one of the first display process and the second display process is executed, in response to the short-range wireless connection between the first communication interface and the image output device, the second and a second output instruction process for outputting the output instruction information through the direct wireless communication through the communication interface . displaying, in the first display processing, a first execution instruction screen including a preview image showing a result of the output operation of the designated data in the image output device;
2. The program according to claim 1, wherein, in said second display processing, a second execution instruction screen including a preview image showing a result of output operation of specified data in said image output device is displayed. causing the portable terminal to execute a third display process for displaying a data selection screen including a data designation object corresponding to data on the display;
executing the first display process when a data designation object is designated through the input interface on the data selection screen and the device information is not stored in the memory;
3. The program according to claim 1, wherein the second display process is executed when a data designation object is designated through the input interface on the data selection screen and the device information is stored in the memory. transmitting the specified data specified through the input interface from the second communication interface in the first output instruction process;
4. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in said second output instruction processing, specified data specified through said input interface is transmitted from said second communication interface. 5. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein in the first display process, the first execution instruction screen in which the execution instruction object is disabled by graying out is displayed on the display. 6. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the output operation is to record an image on a sheet. The memory stores first condition information associated with the device information and second condition information different from the first condition information, and the first condition information and the second condition information are stored in the Information indicating conditions for executing an output operation,
The program
in the first output instruction process, transmitting the output instruction information instructing execution of the output operation according to the execution condition indicated by the first condition information;
7. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, in said second output instruction processing, said output instruction information instructing execution of said output operation according to said execution condition indicated by said second condition information is transmitted. In the second output instruction process, the first communication interface and the image output device are connected by short-range wireless connection while one of the first execution instruction screen and the second execution instruction screen is displayed on the display. 8. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the output instruction information is transmitted by the direct wireless communication in response to the event. In the receiving process, further receiving capability information indicating a list of the execution conditions that can be specified for the image output device,
a first reception process for receiving, through the input interface, a user operation specifying the execution condition to be included in the first condition information within the scope of the capability information;
8. The program according to claim 7, causing said mobile terminal to execute a second storage process of storing said first condition information indicating said execution condition specified in said first reception process in said memory. a specifying process of specifying an image output device connected by short-range wireless connection to the first communication interface as a designated device;
determination processing for determining whether or not the device information has already been stored in the memory in response to the identification of the designated device in the identification processing;
10. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, causing the portable terminal to execute the first storage process in response to the determination in the determination process that the information is not stored. a user operation to select whether or not to overwrite the device information stored in the memory with the device information received in the reception processing, in response to the determination in the determination processing that the device information is stored; a second reception process for receiving through the input interface;
11. The program according to claim 10, causing said portable terminal to execute said first storage process in response to said overwrite being selected in said second reception process. a first communication interface capable of short-range wireless communication;
a second communication interface capable of wireless communication with a wider communication range than the first communication interface and capable of direct wireless communication with an external device without going through a relay device;
memory;
an input interface that receives an operation by a user;
a display;
a control unit;
The control unit
a receiving process of performing short-range wireless communication with an image output device through the first communication interface to receive device information of the image output device;
a first storage process for storing the device information received in the reception process in the memory;
a first display process for displaying on the display a first execution instruction screen in which an execution instruction object is invalidated when the device information is not stored in the memory;
a second display process for displaying on the display a second execution instruction screen in which the execution instruction object is activated when the device information is stored in the memory;
outputting instruction information to the image output device corresponding to the device information stored in the memory from the second communication interface in response to the valid execution instruction object being designated through the input interface; a first output instruction process for outputting, wherein the output instruction information is information instructing execution of an output operation of designated data designated through the input interface;
After one of the first display process and the second display process is executed, in response to the short-range wireless connection between the first communication interface and the image output device, the second a second output instruction process for outputting the output instruction information through the direct wireless communication through the communication interface. storing the device information in response to receiving the device information of the image output device by short-range wireless communication ;
displaying a first execution instruction screen in which the execution instruction object is invalidated when the device information is not stored;
displaying a second execution instruction screen in which the execution instruction object is activated when the device information is stored;
In response to the designation of the activated execution instruction object, output instruction information to the image output device corresponding to the device information is sent via a relay device by wireless communication having a wider communication range than the short-range wireless communication. and the output instruction information is information instructing execution of data output operation,
After displaying either the first execution instruction screen or the second execution instruction screen, the output instruction information is sent to the image output device in response to wireless connection with the image output device by the short-range wireless communication. An output instruction method in which transmission is performed by wireless communication without going through the relay device .

Images