JPH11184590A - State displaying method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display the state of an image forming device with a few images by independently storing and displaying image data for each display pixel as an image component. SOLUTION: This device independently stores and displays image data that is a component of an image for each display pixel. Also, it changes the coordinate information of a desired component in accordance with a specified moving image pattern and displays a moving image that is related to the display element. For instance the outside appearance of an image forming device such as a copying machine which consists of display elements such as a center tray (ejecting tray) 1, a side tray (ejecting tray) 2, a hand inserting tray (feeding tray) 3, a side panel 4, a front panel 5, a top tray (feeding tray) 6, a middle tray (feeding tray) 7 and a bottom tray (feeding tray) 8, is displayed. Each of these display elements is respectively prepared as an independent image and the outside appearance of the image forming device can be obtained by combining them.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a status display method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a status display method and apparatus of an image forming apparatus for displaying the status of an image forming apparatus by using an image of its appearance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer displays an image showing the appearance of the apparatus on a display screen provided in the apparatus, and causes an abnormality such as a paper cut or a paper jam. In some cases, image display means for displaying a portion where the abnormality has occurred is provided.

[0003] According to such an image display, the user can see at a glance the abnormal location of the apparatus.
The image display means is applied to not only the above-described copying machine and printer but also various other devices.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed by a conventional image display device. FIG. 7A shows a normal image indicating that the image forming apparatus is operating normally, and FIG. 8B shows an abnormal image indicating an abnormal state in which the paper has run out. I have.

The image display device normally displays a normal image, and displays an abnormal image when the image forming apparatus has run out of paper, for example, when the paper runs out in the uppermost paper tray. This allows the user to intuitively know that the topmost paper tray has run out of paper, and to perform appropriate processing such as paper supply.

In a conventional image display apparatus for performing such display, a normal image and an abnormal image are stored as separate image files, and the displayed image is switched according to the state of the image forming apparatus.

[0007]

However, in an image display apparatus which displays the state of an image forming apparatus by the above-described method, in addition to one normal image, each abnormal state to be displayed corresponds to the abnormal state. It is necessary to store the image file of the image. This is because, for example, in an image forming apparatus having three paper trays, three images are required only for an abnormal image indicating that the paper is out, and other abnormalities due to a paper jam are abnormal for each location where the paper jam occurs. That is, preparing an image.

As described above, in the conventional image display means, it is necessary to prepare an image for each abnormal state of the image forming apparatus, and when displaying the abnormal state by using a moving image display by animation, there is much more. Image must be prepared and stored. In order to prepare such a large number of images, it is necessary to increase the storage capacity of a storage device such as a hard disk or a memory for storing the image files. Difficult from the surface.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a state display method and apparatus capable of displaying the state of an image forming apparatus with a small number of images.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a status display method for displaying the status of a target device as an image. A display element is stored as independent image information together with position information indicating a position at which the display element is displayed and layer information indicating a layer, and at least one of the plurality of display elements includes the position information and the layer information. It is characterized by displaying based on.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a plurality of the position information are added to each of the plurality of display elements, and the display elements are sequentially different based on the plurality of position information. A moving image is displayed by displaying the position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of display elements are shared for similar images.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of display elements include an image representing an appearance of the target device, and the position information includes an arrangement of the display element in the target device. It is characterized by coordinates on the display screen corresponding to the setting position.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of display elements are displayed as moving images according to the state of the target device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the target apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed includes an abnormal state including a paper jam, running out of paper, and running out of toner. It is characterized by being in a state.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the target device is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed includes a consumable including a remaining amount of paper and a remaining amount of toner. It is characterized by being in a remaining amount state.

According to the invention of claim 8, in the status display device for displaying the status of the target device as an image, an image storing a plurality of display elements constituting a display image to be displayed on a screen as independent image information. Information storage means;
A position information storage unit that stores position information indicating positions at which the plurality of display elements are displayed; a hierarchy information storage unit that stores hierarchy information indicating a hierarchy at which the plurality of display elements are displayed; and the image information storage unit. Display means for superimposing and displaying the stored display elements based on the position information stored in the position information storage means and the layer information stored in the layer information storage means.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the eighth aspect, a plurality of the position information are added to each of the plurality of display elements, and the display means is configured to perform the operation based on the plurality of position information. A moving image is displayed by sequentially displaying the display elements at different positions.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the eighth aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus further comprises a status acquisition unit for acquiring the status of the target device, wherein the display unit displays the status of the target device acquired by the status acquisition unit. The table element is displayed as a moving image according to the state of (1).

According to the eleventh aspect, the tenth aspect is provided.
In the invention, the object device is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed is an abnormal state including a paper jam, a paper shortage, and a toner shortage.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect,
In the present invention, the target device is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed is a consumable remaining amount state including a remaining amount of paper and a remaining amount of toner.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in a medium storing a state display program for displaying a state of a target device as an image, the display element displays a plurality of display elements constituting a display image to be displayed on a screen. Storing the position information indicating the position to be performed and the layer information indicating the layer as independent image information, and displaying at least one of the plurality of display elements based on the position information and the layer information. I do.

Further, in the invention of claim 14, according to claim 13,
In the invention, a plurality of the position information is added to each of the plurality of display elements, and a moving image is displayed by sequentially displaying the display elements at different positions based on the plurality of position information. .

According to the invention of claim 15, according to claim 14,
In the invention, the state of the target device is acquired, and the table element is displayed as a moving image according to the acquired state of the target device.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a method and apparatus for displaying a state according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, an outline of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed by the state display device according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing display elements constituting the image shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the status display device includes a center tray (discharge tray) 1, a side tray (discharge tray) 2,
It consists of display elements of a manual feed tray (paper feed tray) 3, a side panel 4, a front panel 5, an upper tray (paper feed tray) 6, a middle tray (paper feed tray) 7, and a lower tray (paper feed tray) 8. To display.

Each of the display elements constituting the external appearance of the image forming apparatus is prepared as an independent image as shown in FIG. 2, and by combining these display elements, the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. Appearance can be obtained.

Since each of these display elements is an independent image, a moving image can be obtained by moving and displaying some of the display elements. The description of the moving image will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the status display device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the status display device. As shown in FIG.
State acquisition unit 1 for acquiring the state of an image forming apparatus (not shown)
1, a control unit 12 for controlling the entire status display device 10,
Storage unit 1 that stores elements of display images, display positions, etc.
3. It comprises a display unit 14 for displaying an image.
The status display device may be provided on a control panel or the like of the image forming apparatus.
It may be realized above. When implemented on a PC, the storage unit 13 uses a storage device such as a hard disk, and the display unit 14 uses a display such as a CRT.

The image forming apparatus to which the status display device 10 is provided or connected is provided with a detecting means such as a sensor for detecting a paper jam, running out of paper, an open / close state of the tray, and the like. When a jam or paper shortage occurs, a predetermined code corresponding to the event or the location where the event occurred is output. By acquiring the predetermined code by the state acquisition unit 11, the state display device 10 can display the image on the display unit 13 by grasping the state of the image forming apparatus.

Here, the storage structure of the storage unit 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows the storage unit 13 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a higher concept of the storage structure of FIG.

As shown in the figure, the storage unit 13 secures addresses 1000H to 1FFFFH as a component information storage area 100 for storing information on display elements constituting an image, and addresses 2000H to 2FFFH.
Is secured as an image data storage area 101 for storing image data of each display element, and addresses 3000H to 3F.
Up to FFH is secured as a moving image pattern storage area for storing a pattern for moving each display element, and an address 400
Image display program storage area 103 for storing a program to be executed when displaying an image from 0H to 4FFFH
To secure.

The allocation of the storage area and the allocation of the addresses can be changed as appropriate, and information other than the above, for example, a control program is stored in another area.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an allocation structure of a description area which is a lower concept of the component information storage area shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the component information storage area is provided for each display element (hereinafter, referred to as “component”) such as a tray constituting the image forming apparatus, and the area includes the identification of the component. ID
4. A component ID description area 110 that describes
, An image data storage address description area 111 indicating an address at which the image of the component is stored in the image data storage area 101, a hierarchy relation description area 112 describing a display hierarchy of the image data, and the image data. A coordinate information description area 113 that describes the coordinates of the object is provided.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing an example in which the display elements shown in FIG. 2 are described in the component information storage area shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, in the component information storage area, information on the center tray 1, the side tray 2, the lower tray 8, and the like constituting the image of the copying machine is described.

More specifically, the center tray 1 will be described as an example. In the component ID description area 110, “ID = 1” is described, and the identification ID of the center tray 1 is described.
Is set as “1”, and “address = 2000H” is described in the image data storage address description area 111.
The address where the image data of the center tray 1 is stored is specified, and the “layer =
1 is described, the order in which the center tray 1 is displayed is specified, and the coordinate information description area 113 contains “coordinate (X, Y)”.
= (20, 10) ", and the position on the screen for displaying the image data of the center tray 1, that is, the X coordinate = 20,
Y coordinate = 10 is specified. Hereinafter, similarly, the above information is described for the side tray 2, the manual feed tray 3, the side panel 4, the front panel 5, the upper tray 6, the middle tray 7, and the lower tray 8, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which image data of each component is stored in the image data storage area shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the center tray 1 is sequentially stored in the image data storage area from the address 2000H.
"CENTERTRAY.BM"
P ”and“ SIDET ”which is image data of the side tray 2
RAY. "BMP", "MANUALTRAY.BMP" which is image data of the manual feed tray 3, "SIDEPANEL.BMP" which is image data of the side panel 4, and "FRONTPAN" which is image data of the front panel 5.
EL. BMP, and “TRAY.BMP” which is image data of the upper tray 6, the middle tray 7, and the lower tray 8. The same image data is used for the image data of the upper tray 6, the middle tray 7, and the lower tray 8, because there is no problem if the images displayed by the status display device 10 have the same appearance. is there. Here, ".BM
The extension indicated as "P" merely indicates that the data is in the bitmap format. In the present invention, the extension is not limited to the bitmap format, and the data is stored in another format such as a metafile. It is also possible.
The same applies to the name given to each image data. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which a moving image pattern of each display element is stored in the moving image pattern storage area shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the moving image pattern storage area stores, for each display element, a coordinate value that changes when the display element is moved and displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 8, there are three types of coordinates at which each component is displayed, but the contents can be changed as appropriate.

When the display element, for example, the upper tray 6 is moved based on the coordinate values stored in the moving image pattern storage area, the display elements are shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C. Each display will be repeated at predetermined intervals,
As a result, a moving image is displayed, and the state of the image forming apparatus can be more intuitively known.

Here, the operation of the status display device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an execution procedure of the image display processing of the state display device 10. In addition,
The execution procedure shown in this figure is stored in the storage unit 13 as a program.

When the status display device 10 starts processing (step 201), first, the status acquisition unit 11 acquires the status of the image forming apparatus (step 202). Here, the following description will be continued assuming that the image forming apparatus is operating normally.

Next, an image is displayed based on the state of the image forming apparatus acquired by the state acquisition unit 11, and for this purpose, the control unit 12 first sets the value of the variable N to 8 (step 203). ). Subsequently, the control unit 12 sets the lower tray 8 corresponding to the display element of the layer N, that is, the display element of the layer 8 which is the lowest layer stored in the storage unit 13 to “layer = 8 (N)”. (Step 204).

Next, the control unit 12 reads the display element searched in step 204, that is, the coordinates described in the coordinate information description area 113 of the lower tray 8 (step 2).
05) Then, image data is read from the image data storage area 101 based on the address described in the image data storage address description area 111 of the component (step 206).

Thereafter, the control unit 12 outputs the image data and the coordinate information to the display unit 14 and displays the image data at the coordinates (step 207).

At this time, the image displayed on the display unit 14 is as shown in FIG.

Next, until the value of the variable N becomes 1 (NO in step 208), the control unit 12 subtracts 1 from the value of N (step 209), and repeats the processing from step 204 onward. That is, the display on the display unit 14 is displayed in order from layer 8 to layer 1. The display on the display unit 14 at this time is as shown in FIGS. 11 (a) to 11 (h).

After that, when the display of the display element of the hierarchy 1, that is, the center tray 1 is finished, the value of the variable N is 1 (YES in step 208), and the processing is ended (step 210).

Next, the moving image processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an execution procedure of the moving image processing executed by the status display device 10. The execution procedure shown in this figure is stored in the storage unit 13 as a program.

The moving image processing is started when the state acquiring unit 11 acquires an error code output by the detecting unit from the abnormal state detected by the detecting unit provided in the image forming apparatus (step 301). However, based on the error code acquired by the state acquisition unit 11, the location of occurrence and the content of the abnormality are analyzed, and a moving image pattern corresponding to the analysis result is read from the storage unit 13 (step 301). For example, when the upper tray 6 runs out of paper, the moving image pattern storage area is searched using the “upper tray” as a search key, and the corresponding moving image pattern, that is, the coordinate data is read. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the coordinate data (20, 40) corresponds to this.

Here, in FIG. 8, the names of components constituting the image forming apparatus, such as rays, are stored at the head of each moving image pattern. Instead, an error code output by the detecting means is stored. It is also possible to store a moving image pattern for each error code.

The control unit 12 having read the first coordinates of the moving image pattern described above describes the coordinates in the coordinate information description area 113 shown in FIG. 5 and changes the coordinate information of the sorter (step 302).

Thereafter, the control section 12 performs the image display processing shown in FIG. 10 (step 303), and an image as shown in FIG. 9A is displayed on the display section 14.

Next, the control unit 12 reads the data stored at the address next to the moving image pattern storage area, and checks whether the data stored at the address is coordinate data. It is determined whether or not the moving image pattern has been completed (step 304). If the data stored at the address is coordinate data, it is determined that the moving image pattern has not been completed, and step 30 is performed.
2, the coordinate data is described in the coordinate information description area 113. If the data stored at the address is not the coordinate data but the component name or error code, it is determined that the moving image pattern has been completed, and the moving image processing ends.

In the case where the paper runs out in the upper tray 6, an example of the above-described moving image processing is performed.
The images shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C are sequentially displayed according to a moving image pattern.

As described above, according to the present invention, by changing the coordinate information of a desired component in accordance with a predetermined moving image pattern and displaying a moving image related to the display element,
Unlike conventional moving image display means, moving image display can be performed without preparing a number of image data according to the type of change. As a result, the storage capacity required for storing image data can be reduced as compared with the conventional moving image display means.

The status display device according to the present invention performs the moving image display as shown in FIG. 9 with the above-described configuration. However, as shown in FIG. 13, the status display device moves a plurality of display elements simultaneously. It is also possible to display a moving image.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a display example when the state display device according to the present invention moves and displays the upper tray 6 and the middle tray 7 simultaneously. In this case, the coordinate data stored in the moving image pattern storage area shown in FIG. 8 is stored with the IDs of the upper tray 6 and the middle tray 7 added thereto, and in the moving image display process shown in FIG.
1 is executed, the coordinates of both the upper tray 6 and the middle tray 7 are read. When the coordinate information changing process shown in step 302 is executed, the upper tray 6 and the middle tray are read. 7, the coordinates read in step 301 are described in each coordinate information description area 113.

As a result, FIG. 13 (a), FIG.
(B) The moving image display is executed in the order shown in FIG.

Further, in the state display device according to the present invention, not only the parts constituting the image forming apparatus but also the parts shown in FIG.
In the same manner, moving images can also be displayed on non-constituent parts of the apparatus, such as paper and arrows, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display example when a paper image and an arrow are further displayed on the moving image display shown in FIG.

As described above, by displaying the paper image,
The user can see at a glance which tray has run out of paper in which tray and where a paper jam has occurred, making the device very user-like.

In this case, the image data of the paper image 9a and the arrow image 9b are stored in the image data storage area 101 shown in FIG. 4, and the moving image pattern is stored in the moving image pattern storage area 102. Thereby, the moving image display is executed in the order shown in FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C.

By the way, in the above description,
Although the moving image displayed on the display unit 14 is performed only when an abnormality occurs in the image forming apparatus, the present invention does not necessarily display the moving image only when an abnormality occurs.

For example, when the user wants to check the remaining amount and type of toner and paper, which are consumables in the image forming apparatus, such information can be obtained through moving image display.

Such a moving image display in a normal state can be performed on a PC connected to the image forming apparatus, as a matter of course, even when the state display apparatus according to the present invention is provided in the image forming apparatus. If realized, it will be more beneficial.

For example, when the PC 32 is connected to the image forming apparatus 31 via the communication line 33 as shown in FIG. 15, the user uses the status display device realized on the PC 32 so that the user can be in front of the PC 32. , The remaining amount of paper can be confirmed without moving to the image forming apparatus 31.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a moving image display example in the case of confirming a sheet. The example shown in the figure shows a case where the user performs an operation of checking the contents of the upper tray in a state where B4 size paper is stored in the upper tray. In this case, by sequentially displaying the images of FIGS. 7A to 7C, it is indicated that B4 size paper is stored in the upper tray.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an image in the case of confirming a sheet. When the status display device is realized on the PC 32, a tray to be checked is selected by using a pointing device such as a mouse while the image forming device as shown in FIG. 1 is displayed. At this time, FIG.
When the pointer 51 shown in FIG. 7A moves to the tray selection range (here, the upper tray), the shape changes to the pointer 52 indicated by “hand”. In this state, when the user clicks the mouse button, the moving image display as shown in FIG. 16 starts.

When such a selection by a pointing device is performed, the coordinate areas of the selection areas 61 to 63 as shown in FIG. 17B are set in the image shown in FIG. , Mouse pointer 51 (52)
The control unit 12 (see FIG. 3) recognizes the start instruction of the moving image display by comparing with the coordinates indicated by.

Further, the status display device is the image forming device 31.
When the display unit 14 is configured by a touch panel, these processes are performed based on the coordinates of the part touched by the user.

In this embodiment, the status display device for displaying the status of the image forming apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image forming apparatus has additional functions such as a sorter and a finisher. Even when the apparatus is connected, an abnormal state or an operating state can be displayed in the same manner.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention, image data is stored and displayed independently for each display element which is a component of an image. For similar components, image data can be shared as needed.

Further, by changing the coordinate information of a desired component in accordance with a predetermined moving image pattern and displaying a moving image relating to the component, a number corresponding to the type of change is obtained as in the conventional moving image display means. A moving image can be displayed without preparing image data. as a result,
The storage capacity required for storing image data can be reduced as compared with the conventional moving image display means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed by a state display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing display elements constituting the image shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a status display device.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an upper concept of a storage structure of a storage unit 13 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an allocation structure of a description area that is a lower concept of the component information storage area shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing an example in which the display element shown in FIG. 2 is described in the component information storage area shown in FIG.

7 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which image data of each component is stored in the image data storage area shown in FIG.

8 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which a moving image pattern of each display element is stored in the moving image pattern storage area shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a moving image display.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an execution procedure of an image display process of the state display device.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a display example of an image by a display element.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an execution procedure of a moving image process executed by the state display device.

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of a moving image when a plurality of display elements are simultaneously moved.

FIG. 14 is a view showing a display example when an arrow image and a paper image are further displayed on the moving image display shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration when a PC is connected to the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a moving image display example in the case of confirming a sheet.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an image when a sheet is checked.

FIG. 18 is a view showing an example of an image displayed by a conventional image display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 display element (center tray) 2 display element (side tray) 3 display element (manual tray) 4 display element (side panel) 5 display element (front panel) 6 display element (upper tray) 7 display element (middle tray) 8 Display element (lower tray) 9a Paper image 9b Arrow image 10 Status display device 11 Status acquisition unit 12 Control unit 13 Storage unit 14 Display unit 51, 52 Pointer 61-63 Selection area 100 Component information storage area 101 Image data storage area 102 Video Pattern storage area 103 Image display program storage area 110 Component ID description area 111 Image data storage address description area 112 Hierarchical relation description area 113 Coordinate information description area

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeki Ishino 134 Kobecho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama-shi, Yokohama, Yokohama Business Park East Tower 13F Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A status display method for displaying a status of a target device as an image, comprising: displaying a plurality of display elements constituting a display image displayed on a screen with position information indicating a position where the display element is displayed and a hierarchy; A state display method, wherein the state information is stored as independent image information together with hierarchical information, and at least one of the plurality of display elements is displayed based on the position information and the hierarchical information. 2. A moving image display, wherein a plurality of the position information are added to each of the plurality of display elements, and the display elements are sequentially displayed at different positions based on the plurality of position information. 2. The status display method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of display elements are shared for similar images. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of display elements include an image representing an appearance of the target device, and the position information is a coordinate on a display screen corresponding to an arrangement position of the display element in the target device. 2. The status display method according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The state display method according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of display elements are displayed as a moving image according to a state of the target device. 6. The state according to claim 5, wherein the target apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed is an abnormal state including a paper jam, an out of paper, and an out of toner. Display method. 7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the target apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed is a state of remaining consumables including a remaining amount of paper and a remaining amount of toner. Status display method. 8. A status display device for displaying the status of a target device as an image, wherein: image information storage means for storing a plurality of display elements constituting a display image displayed on a screen as independent image information; Position information storage means for storing position information indicating positions at which a plurality of display elements are displayed; hierarchy information storage means for storing hierarchy information indicating a hierarchy at which the plurality of display elements are displayed; storage in the image information storage means Display means for displaying the displayed display elements in a hierarchical order based on the positional information stored in the positional information storage means and the hierarchical information stored in the hierarchical information storage means. apparatus. 9. A plurality of the position information is added to each of the plurality of display elements, and the display means displays a moving image by sequentially displaying the display elements at different positions based on the plurality of position information. 9. The status display device according to claim 8, wherein the status display is performed. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a status acquisition unit configured to acquire a status of the target device, wherein the display unit displays a moving image of the table element according to the status of the target device acquired by the status acquisition unit. 9. The status display device according to claim 8, wherein: 11. The state according to claim 10, wherein the target apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed is an abnormal state including a paper jam, an out of paper, and an out of toner. Display device. 12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the target apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the state in which the moving image is displayed is a state of remaining consumables including a remaining amount of paper and a remaining amount of toner. Status display device. 13. A medium storing a state display program for displaying a state of a target device as an image, wherein a plurality of display elements constituting a display image to be displayed on a screen are displayed as position information indicating a position at which the display element is displayed. And a state display program, wherein the state display program stores at least one of the plurality of display elements based on the position information and the layer information. Medium. 14. A moving image display, wherein a plurality of the position information are added to each of the plurality of display elements, and the display elements are sequentially displayed at different positions based on the plurality of position information to perform a moving image display. 14. A medium storing the status display program according to claim 13. 15. The medium according to claim 14, wherein the state of the target device is acquired, and the table element is displayed as a moving image according to the acquired state of the target device.