JPH09297506A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To recognize the operating situation of an image forming device without coming close to the device by displaying the operating state of the image forming device on the surface of a wall near the device by using an OHP. SOLUTION: The image forming device 1 is provided with a copying machine 20 and an information display OHP device 30 added to the copying machine 20. The state inside the device is always monitored by a copying machine control part 21, and in the case the operating state, or the error state is changed, a control panel 22, or a display means 23 is controlled by the part 21 so as to display the state information, and also, the control is transmitted to the OHP device 30. Kinds of characters to be displayed, or kinds of figures to be displayed is decided by an OHP device control part 31 based on the control information received from the copying machine control part, then, the state information is displayed on a transmission type liquid crystal display part 33. Then, the state information is projected on the wall surface near the copying device through a projecting part 34 constituted of a light source, a reflection mirror, a lens, etc.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer. More specifically, the operating state of these image forming apparatuses is transferred to an OHP (overhead projector) on a wall surface near the apparatus. ), So that the operation status of the device can be known without approaching the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an apparatus) such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a printer, etc., which is commonly used by a plurality of users, according to the prior art, as means for transmitting the operating state of the apparatus to the user. Characters and graphic information indicating the operating state of the device are displayed on the display means (light-emitting body such as LED or liquid crystal display) on the operation panel arranged on the front face of the device, thereby transmitting the operating state of the device to the user. Is common.

[0003]

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the internal structure of a copying machine apparatus in the prior art. The copying machine control section 10 includes a document reading section 11, a mechanical section 12, and an image forming section 13.
When the operating state or the error state changes, the control means 14 appropriately arranged on the operation panel 14 or the device is controlled to display the state information. By approaching the device and confirming this information, the user can recognize the operating state or error state of the device. When the information transmission means according to the prior art is used, the user uses the device, and therefore, it is necessary to approach the device and check the operating state of the device. In general, a device such as a copying machine is commonly used by several tens of users, and the installation location of the device is away from each user's seat. It was difficult to determine the state, and there was a problem in terms of usage efficiency.

Further, according to the prior art, in the above-mentioned device, as a means for transmitting the error state of the device to the user, the display means (L) on the operation panel arranged on the front face of the device is used.
A general method is to display character and graphic information indicating an error state of the device on a light-emitting body such as an ED or a liquid crystal display, and transmit this to the user. When the information transmission means according to the related art is used, the user needs to approach the device and check the error state of the device. Each user has to know the error state only when approaching the device, which causes a problem in use efficiency.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an apparatus has an OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel, and the liquid crystal panel displays character and graphic information indicating an operating state of the apparatus, It is characterized in that it has means for projecting it on a wall surface near the device by the OHP, and since information about the operation state is projected on the wall surface near the device, each user must confirm the projection information. Thus, the operating state of the device can be grasped without approaching the device, and the work interruption time can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the device has an OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel, and the liquid crystal panel displays character and graphic information indicating an error state of the device, and the OHP.
Is provided with a means for projecting this on a wall surface near the device, and since information regarding the error state is projected on the wall surface near the device, each user can confirm the projection information, The error status of the device can be grasped without approaching to, it is possible to judge / treat that the error recovery work is necessary, and it is possible to reduce the time that the device is left in the error condition. .

According to a third aspect of the invention, the device has an OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel, and when the information regarding the error state of the device is projected on the wall surface near the device by the OHP added to the device. And a means for blinking the projection light source at a constant interval, whereby information concerning an error state of the device is provided by an OHP added to the device.
When projecting on a wall near the device, the projection light source flashes at regular intervals, so even for users located far from the device, the information currently projected is related to the error state of the device. It becomes possible to make a decision by reading the projection information again in detail, so that appropriate processing can be performed for the error state. Moreover, since the information projection images of the error state and the operation state can be clearly distinguished, if the user who does not have the purpose of using the device does not blink the projection image in the field of view, the operation of the device is simply performed. Since it shows the status, it can be ignored and the work is not interrupted.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an essential part for explaining an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, which shows an information display O added to a copying machine and the copying machine 20.
1 shows an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, 20 copying machines, and 30 an information display OHP apparatus. The copying machine control section 21 constantly monitors the internal state of the copying machine 20, and when the operating state or the error state changes, the state information is displayed on the operation panel 22 or the display means 23 appropriately arranged on the apparatus. In addition to controlling the display, the control information is transmitted to the connected information display OHP device 30 so as to display the operating state or the error state. The OHP device control unit 31 determines the character type or graphic type to be displayed based on the control information received from the copying machine control 21, and displays it on the transmissive liquid crystal display unit 33. This is a projection control unit 34 including a light source, a reflecting mirror, and a lens.
Display information is projected on the wall surface near the copying machine via the.

FIG. 2 shows how the operation information of the device 1 is projected on the wall surface. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the error information of the device 1 is projected on the wall surface.

(Invention of Claim 1) The operation state of the apparatus recognized by the copying machine control section 21 is displayed on the operation panel or the display inside the apparatus, and the operation state of the apparatus is also transmitted to the information display OHP apparatus 30. . The OHP device control unit 31 reads character information or graphic information to be projected and displayed corresponding to the received device operation state information from the display data storage unit 32, displays it on the liquid crystal display unit 33, and displays it by the projection control unit 34. This information is projected on the wall surface near the copying machine.
The apparatus operating state recognized by the copying machine control unit 21 is, for example, a preheating mode state for the purpose of reducing power consumption, and until each unit in the copying machine returns to a steady state when the power is turned on or when the preheating mode is released. The warm-up operation is required, it takes a certain period of time before it can be used, and a large amount of copying work is being performed, and it is necessary to display the time required to complete the work. When the copying machine is warming up and the information display OHP device projects on the wall how much time it will be available, the user away from the copying machine approaches the copying machine by looking at it. It becomes possible to determine the available time without any need.

(Invention of Claim 2) Similar to claim 1, the apparatus error state recognized by the copying machine control section 21 is displayed on the operation panel 22 or the display 23 inside the apparatus, and the apparatus error state is displayed as information. It is also transmitted to the OHP device 30. O
The HP device control unit 31 reads the character information or graphic information to be projected corresponding to the received device error status information from the display data storage unit 32, displays it on the liquid crystal surface unit 33, and displays it by the projection control unit 34. This information is projected on the wall surface near the copying machine. The device error state recognized by the copying machine control unit refers to a state in which copying work is hindered, such as copy paper jam, copy paper run-out, or internal device failure.
The user who confirms that the device error state is projected on the wall surface can immediately deal with this and can restore the device, thereby reducing the time that the device is left in the error state.

(Invention of Claim 3) As described above, when the status information of both the operating status and the error status of the apparatus is provided as means for transmitting to the user by the solving means,
By the OHP device added to the device, the operating state and the error state of the device are projected on the wall surface near the device by the same means. However, a user at a position distant from the device sees this projected image and the information is displayed. It is difficult to instantly judge whether the operation state of the above is indicated or the error state is indicated, and in this case, it is necessary to read the projection information content in detail. For users who do not have the purpose of using the device, if the detailed read projection information content simply indicates the operating state of the device, it means that the work was interrupted in order to obtain unnecessary information. However, there is a problem that the work interruption time is increased.

As in the first and second aspects of the present invention, the operating state or error state recognized by the copying machine control unit 21 is displayed on the operation panel 22 or the display 23 inside the apparatus, and the operating state and error state of the apparatus are displayed. Is an information display OHP device 3
It is also transmitted to 0. The OHP device control unit 31 reads character information or graphic information to be projected and displayed corresponding to the device operation state information and the error state information from the display data storage unit 32, displays it on the liquid crystal display unit 33, and projects it. The information displayed by the control unit 34 is projected on the wall surface near the copying machine. At this time, if the received information corresponds to the error state information, the projection control unit 34 is controlled so that the projected image blinks. The means for blinking the projected image may be means for blinking the projection light source itself by the projection control unit 34, or means for blinking the display data itself to be displayed by the liquid crystal display unit 33. In addition to the blinking color image, an image or a figure irrelevant to the viewing direction may be projected on the ceiling. The projection on the ceiling is effective when the wall surface is not behind the device, or when the wall is a dark-colored wall.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the device has an OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel, and the liquid crystal panel displays character and graphic information indicating the operating state of the device, and the OHP is used. Since there is a means for projecting this on a wall surface near the device, information on its operating state is projected on the wall surface near the device. Therefore, each user can confirm the projection information and thus the device can be approached without approaching the device. It is possible to grasp the operating state of and to reduce the work interruption time.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the device has an OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel, and the liquid crystal panel displays character and graphic information indicating an error state of the device, and the OHP displays near the device. Since it has a means to project this on the wall surface of the device, the information about the error status is projected on the wall surface near the device, so each user can check the projection information to check the error status of the device without approaching the device. Therefore, it is possible to determine / treat that error recovery work is necessary, and it is possible to reduce the time that the device is left in an error state.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the device has an OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel and the information regarding the error state of the device is projected on the wall surface near the device by the OHP added to the device. Since the projection light source has means for blinking at regular intervals, when projecting information about the error state of the device on the wall surface near the device, the projection light source blinks at regular intervals, so it can be located at a location away from the device. It is possible for a user who does this to judge at a glance that the information currently projected is related to the error state of the device, and by reading the projection information again in detail at that point, appropriate processing can be performed for the error state. You can Moreover, since the information projection images of the error state and the operation state can be clearly distinguished, if the user who does not have the purpose of using the device does not blink the projection image in the field of view, the operation of the device is simply performed. You can ignore this because it shows the status,
The work is not interrupted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an apparatus operating state by the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an apparatus operating state (error state) by the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 20 ... Copier, 21 ... Copier control unit, 22 ... Operation panel, 23 ... Display, 30 ... Information display OH
P device, 31 ... OHP device control unit, 32 ... Display data storage unit, 33 ... Liquid crystal display unit, 34 ... Projection control unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel as a device.
And means for displaying character and graphic information indicating the operating state of the device on the liquid crystal panel, and projecting information such as character and graphic indicating the operating state on the wall surface near the device by the OHP. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 2. An OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel as a device.
And means for displaying character and graphic information indicating the error state of the device on the liquid crystal panel, and projecting information such as the character and graphic indicating the error state on the wall surface near the device by the OHP. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 3. An OHP using a transmissive liquid crystal panel as a device
And an image forming apparatus having means for blinking the projection light source at a constant interval when the information regarding the error state of the apparatus is projected on the wall surface near the apparatus by the OHP added to the apparatus. .