JPH10315586A - Operation/alarm information display system for business machines - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable remote monitoring of operation/alarm information on a business machine and thereby to make office activities efficient. SOLUTION: A display information converting part 4, an electric signal line 7, an extendible pole 2 and LED 3 as a light-emitting device are added to a control part 5 and an information display part (liquid crystal panel or the like) 6 which are provided in a printer. Operation/alarm information from the control part 5 is transmitted to the information display part 6 and also to the display information converting part 4, and after it is converted into a signal necessary for lighting the LED, the signal is supplied to the LED 3 through the electric signal line 7 provided in the extendible pole. A plurality of LEDs different in emission color from one another are disposed as the LED 3 and a plurality of states of operation are displayed by combining emissions of the LEDs properly. Since the extendible pole 2 is extended in the use, a user can check the lighted state of the LED 3 from a distant position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation / alarm information display system capable of confirming operation / alarm information of office equipment such as a printer or a facsimile machine having a printing function from a remote position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The operating state or alarm information of office equipment such as printers, copiers, and facsimile machines is generally displayed in characters or codes on a display unit provided on an operation panel of the apparatus body. In order to check the state, etc., it is necessary to go to the installation location of the device each time, and the efficiency of work is poor.

In recent years, printers have recently been provided with a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter, referred to as PCs) via a network interface or the like.
In many cases, printing is performed in response to a print command from a computer or a workstation (hereinafter, referred to as WS). In such a case, the printer is often arranged at a position distant from the PC or WS. It is inefficient to go to the printer installation location to check whether the printer is operating during printing or whether an alarm such as out of paper, out of toner, or paper jam has occurred.

As one means for solving this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-154565 discloses a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting antenna and a radio wave transmitting unit, and a receiving antenna and a receiving unit for receiving a radio wave from the transmitting unit. By arranging a monitoring panel with a display in a place where all users of the machine can easily see it, the operation status can be checked by the monitoring panel without having to go to the place where the facsimile is installed, thereby improving work efficiency. Techniques for trying are described.

[0005]

According to the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the operation state of the facsimile apparatus can be checked without going to the place where the facsimile apparatus is installed, so that the work efficiency is improved. But for that,
The facsimile apparatus must be provided with a transmitter and a transmitting antenna, and the monitoring panel must be provided with a receiving antenna and a receiver, which causes a problem that the apparatus becomes complicated and costly.

When accessing the printer from a plurality of PCs or WSs, the operation / alarm information of the printer is
It is also conceivable to use a printing interface between the printer C and WS and the printer, but in that case, the PC, WS
A function must be added to the printer driver program on the side of the printer, which causes a problem of compatibility with existing printers and products of other manufacturers.

The present invention is particularly applicable to office equipment for printing and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to check the operation state or the alarm information without going to the place where the office equipment is installed by simply adding a very simple configuration, thereby improving work efficiency. .

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, or other office equipment having a printing function. Install a telescopic or collapsible pole equipped with a light-emitting display element that can display alarm information such as cut-off, and extend the pole during use so that the pole can be extended from anywhere on the floor where the office machine is installed However, the operation state of the light emitting display element can be confirmed by the light emitting state of the light emitting display element.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram in which an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a printer. In FIG. 1, a control unit 5 and an information display unit 6 (liquid crystal panel, LE
D) are provided in a conventional printer,
In the present invention, a new display information converter 4, an electric signal line 7,
A telescopic pole 2 and an LED 3 as a light emitting element are added. The electric signal line 7 is configured to be extended into the telescopic pole according to the expansion and contraction of the telescopic pole 2.

Usually, the operation / alarm information of the printer is
The information is transmitted from the control unit 5 to the information display unit 6,
(Indication is performed by a liquid surface panel or LED built in the main body). In the present invention, the operation / alarm information from the control unit 5 is simultaneously received by the display information conversion unit 4,
After converting into a signal required for ED lighting, the signal is supplied to the LED 3 via the electric signal line 7 wired in the telescopic pole 2,
The operation / alarm information of the printer is displayed by turning on the LED 3 provided at the tip of the telescopic pole 2.

A plurality of LEDs 3 of different emission colors (for example, red, yellow, and green) are arranged as the LEDs 3, and emits only green during normal operation, emits green and yellow during printing, and causes paper jams and the like. In this alarm state, a plurality of states can be displayed by appropriately combining, for example, emitting only red light when the remaining amount of paper and toner is small, and emitting only yellow light.

In use, since the telescopic pole 2 is extended, the printer user can confirm the lighting state of the LED 3 from a remote position, and can check the operation / alarm information of the printer without going to the printer installation position. Obtainable. When not needed, the telescopic pole 2 is stored in the printer body as shown in FIG.
Only can be used as alarm display only.

In FIG. 1, the present invention is applied to a printer. However, the present invention can be applied to a facsimile apparatus or a copying machine as long as it has a printing function. Further, although an LED is used as the light emitting element, an appropriate light emitting element such as a lamp that can be visually recognized can be used.

[0014]

According to the present invention, the office equipment main body is provided with a telescopic or collapsible pole having a light emitting display element for displaying operation / alarm information of the office equipment at the tip thereof. Alternatively, it is possible to check the alarm information from a distance without going to the installation location, and it is possible to improve the work efficiency.

Further, for this purpose, there is no need to provide a dedicated transceiver, or to consider compatibility between office equipment, and the cost can be reduced.

[0016]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view illustrating an operation state of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer main body 2 Telescopic pole 3 LED 4 Display information conversion part 5 Control part 6 Information display part 7 Electric signal line

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An office equipment main body having a telescopic or collapsible pole provided thereon, and a light emitting display element for displaying operation / alarm information of the office equipment disposed at a tip portion of the pole. Office equipment operation / alarm information display method. 2. The operation / alarm information display method for office equipment according to claim 1, wherein said light-emitting display element comprises a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light of different colors. 3. The operation / alarm information display method for office equipment according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of light emitting elements of different colors emit light in accordance with different operation / alarm information of the printer. 4. The pole is reduced and housed in the office equipment main body except for the light emitting element arranged at the top of the pole, and the pole is housed in the office equipment main body. 4. The operation / alarm information display method for office equipment according to claim 3, wherein an alarm display of the office equipment is performed by the light emitting element arranged at the top in the state. 5. The operation / alarm information display method for office equipment according to claim 1, wherein an LED is used as said light emitting display element. 6. The operation / alarm information display system for office equipment according to claim 1, wherein said office equipment is one of a printer, a facsimile machine, and a copier.