JP2010041238A - Image forming device, screen display method, image forming system, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

An image forming apparatus and the like that can display an appropriate operation screen according to a user's usage frequency and can select not only a function that is frequently used but also a function that can be used by the device itself.
An image having an identification means for identifying a user, a use count storage means for storing a function used by the user and the use count of the function, and a display means for displaying an operation screen. The forming apparatus 100 forms on the operation screen a transmission unit 23 that transmits the user ID of the user identified by the identification unit to another device, and an operation menu that designates a function that uses the user more than a predetermined value. Screen information acquisition means 31 for acquiring screen information to be acquired from the own apparatus or another apparatus, and optimization means 33 and 34 for optimizing the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition means in accordance with devices or functions of the own apparatus. And a display control means 21 for displaying a recommended operation screen 30 formed based on the screen information on the display means.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that prints an image on a recording material, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that provides an appropriate operation screen to a user, a screen display method, an image forming system, a program, and a storage medium.

  In image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers, functions such as printing are complicated and sophisticated, and functions such as a printing function, a scanner function, a facsimile function, and a copying function are integrated into one image forming apparatus. It is extremely multi-functional. In such an image forming apparatus, in order to present each function to the user as easily as possible, an operation menu for selecting functions and setting details of each function is arranged on an operation panel having a limited size. .

  However, when the number of functions increases, it may be difficult to improve operability, for example, a predetermined number of operations are required until the user displays the desired function, for example, the operation menu corresponding to the function is hierarchized. is there. In particular, even a user who frequently uses the same function needs to repeat the same operation every time the operation is performed.

  With respect to this point, a technique for changing the operation screen for each user is considered (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). Patent Document 1 describes an image forming apparatus that allows an image reading unit to read a document describing an operation key layout considered by the user and assign a desired function to each operation key in the layout. .

In Patent Document 2, the setting of the function used for each user is stored in a storage unit, and when the user presses a predetermined operation button, the stored setting is recalled, or among the functions used recently. An image forming apparatus that displays operation screens on an operation panel in descending order of use frequency is described.
JP 2004-007579 A JP 2007-130981 A

  However, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since it is necessary to read the operation key layout, the operability cannot always be improved, and the operability is lowered when the frequency of using another function increases. There is also a fear.

  The image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 2 can call up and display recently used functions, but does not consider an operation screen for the user to select functions other than the recently used functions. There is a problem that the operability when using this function may be lowered.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention displays an appropriate operation screen according to the frequency of use of the user, and can easily select not only a frequently used function but also a function that can be used by the own apparatus. It is an object to provide a display method, an image forming system, a program, and a storage medium.

In view of the above problems, the present invention displays an identification means for identifying a user, a usage count storage means for storing a function used by the user and a usage count of the function, and an operation screen on which an operation menu is arranged. An image forming apparatus comprising: a display unit; and an input unit that inputs a user operation; and a transmission unit that transmits the user ID of the user identified by the identification unit to another device,
An operation menu for designating a function for which the user's usage frequency is a predetermined value or more is read by the other device from a screen information storage unit that stores screen information for forming an operation screen in association with the function. A device or function provided with the screen information acquisition means (for example, the recommended screen search unit 31) for acquiring the screen information associated with a function of a predetermined value or more, and the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition means. Optimization means (e.g., device determination unit 33, function determination unit 34, etc.) and display control means (e.g., main control) for displaying a recommended operation screen formed based on screen information on the display means. 26).

  According to the present invention, the operation screen that is frequently used is optimized according to the device or function of the own device, so that the functions that can be frequently used and the functions that can be used by the own device are handled equally, and one recommended operation screen is displayed. It can be displayed, and the operability for the user can be improved.

  An image forming apparatus, a screen display method, an image forming system, a program, and a storage medium capable of displaying an appropriate operation screen according to a user's usage frequency and selecting not only a frequently used function but also a function that can be used by the own device Can be provided.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recommendation selection screen and a recommendation screen displayed by the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The recommended selection screen enables selection of a normal menu 601 displayed as a background, recommended screen selection menus 501 to 503 for selecting one of a plurality of recommended screens, and a normal menu 601. A “close” menu 504. On the recommended selection screen, even if the normal menu 601 is displayed, it is toned down (the brightness is low) or displayed in small letters, and the user cannot select it (even if the user touches it) Function cannot be specified). On the other hand, the recommended screen selection menus 501 to 504 can be selected by the user without being toned down or displayed with small characters (hereinafter, the recommended screen selection menus 501 to 503 and the normal menu 601 are not distinguished). In this case, it is called the operation menu.)

  When the user selects any of the recommendation selection menus 501 to 503, a corresponding recommendation screen is displayed. The recommended screen will be described later. The recommended screen 30A is a recommended screen recommended for users who frequently use staples, the recommended screen 30B is a recommended screen recommended for users who frequently use double-sided printing, and the recommended screen 30C is used for sorting frequently. This is a recommended screen recommended for users who have many (hereinafter, simply referred to as the recommended screen 30).

  Therefore, the user can preferentially select the recommended screen 30 and the user can select a desired recommended screen 30 from among several (or one). As will be described later, these recommended screens 30 reflect the functions and devices of the image forming apparatus 100 that is the user's own machine, so that the user can use not only the operation menu frequently used from the recommended screens 30 but also the usage frequency. A desired function can be selected from an available operation menu. That is, very excellent operability can be provided.

  Since FIG. 1 shows a case where there are three recommended screens 30 recommended to the user, the recommended screen selection menus 501 to 503 may be one or four or more. Further, when there is only one recommendation screen 30, the recommendation selection screen may not be displayed. In FIG. 1, only “Recommendation 1”, “Recommendation 2”, “Recommendation 3” are displayed, or the contents of each recommended screen (for example, for stapling, for both sides, for sorting) are displayed in the recommended screen selection menus 501 to 503. It is preferable to display.

  In the following, it is assumed that an operation menu is displayed on the touch panel type operation panel 61 and that the user touches (operates) the operation menu is simply selected. The touch panel is an example, and the operation menu may be selected without contact, or may be selected with a pointing device such as a mouse.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the capability provided by the image forming apparatus 100 is handled (explained) separately for the apparatus and the function. The apparatus is, for example, a component level hardware corresponding to a job provided in the image forming apparatus 100, and corresponds to a stapling apparatus, a punching apparatus, and a color printing apparatus. Further, the apparatus includes a copying apparatus that takes out copying ability as an apparatus, a scanner apparatus that takes out original reading ability as an apparatus, and a facsimile apparatus that takes out FAX transmission ability as an apparatus. The function is a service provided using the apparatus, and corresponds to duplex printing, aggregate printing, staple binding position setting, punch punching position setting, sort order setting, stack setting, and the like.

  If the image forming apparatus 100 that has received the recommended screen 30 has the function, the function of the recommended screen 30 cannot be used. Conversely, if the image forming apparatus 100 that has received the recommended screen 30 has the function, it is highly likely that the apparatus is also installed, but the image forming apparatus 100 that has received the recommended screen 30 does not have the function. Cannot use the function of the recommendation screen 30. Based on such a relationship, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment displays not only a frequently used operation menu but also a recommended screen 30 optimized for the own device.

〔System configuration〕
A screen display system 200 that displays the recommended screen 30 will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of a schematic configuration diagram of the screen display system 200. In FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> A (referred to as the image forming apparatus 100 when not distinguished from the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> B) displays the recommendation screen 30, and the user connects an image connected to the other network 101 such as the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> B. Suppose you have used a formable device.

  The image forming apparatus 100 may be any device that has one or more functions of a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, and a copier, and can print the formed image on paper. The name of the image forming apparatus 100 is a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, and a copier. Or any one such as MFP (Multifunction Peripheral).

  The network 101 is, for example, an in-house, one department, one floor, etc. LAN, a WAN that connects geographically separated LANs such as between branches, or the Internet. The network 101 may be either wired or wireless.

  When a user executes a job such as copying on the image forming apparatus 100A, the image forming apparatus 100A searches the image forming apparatus 100A and the image forming apparatus 100B connected to the network 101 based on a user ID for identifying the user.

  The image forming apparatuses 100A and 100B determine a recommended screen 30 associated with a function that is frequently used, and the image forming apparatus 100B that is not used directly by the user transmits it to the image forming apparatus 100A. The image forming apparatus 100A processes the recommended screen 30 by a method described later, and finally displays a recommended selection screen and a recommended screen 30 as shown in FIG.

  Note that the number of times each function is associated with each user and the recommended screen 30 associated with each function are aggregated by one device such as the PC (personal computer) 102 instead of the image forming apparatuses 100A and 100B. May be remembered. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 having a high processing capability instead of the PC 102 may store the number of times each function is used and the recommended screen 30 associated with each function in association with the user identification information. In this case, the image forming apparatus 100A reflects the user's usage status in each image forming apparatus 100 only by transmitting the user identification information to one device (the PC 102, the image forming apparatus 100 having a high processing capability). The recommendation screen 30 can be acquired.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 100]
A well-known hardware configuration can be used for the image forming apparatus 100. FIG. 3 shows an example of a schematic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100 is an apparatus capable of forming a color image using an electrophotographic process.

  An ADF (Auto Document Feeder) or a document placed on a contact glass by a user is read by a reading unit 62 including an exposure lamp and a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD. A carriage equipped with an exposure lamp moves in the sub-scanning direction to scan a document, and photoelectrically converts light reflected by a plurality of mirrors by a CCD to generate analog data. The analog data is converted into digital image data by an A / D converter, subjected to predetermined image processing, and then temporarily stored in a memory.

  The image forming unit 70 includes four photosensitive members 69, four LDs (Laser Diodes) 71, and an intermediate transfer member 72. Each photoconductor 69 is rotated in the clockwise direction in the figure to charge the surface to a predetermined potential. The LD 71 emits a laser beam L that is light-modulated in accordance with image information, and a polygon mirror that rotates at a high speed (not shown) is polarized and applied to the photoreceptor 69. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed and toners of each color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are adsorbed, so that the toner images of each color are transferred to the intermediate transfer body 72 in order.

  A plurality of paper feed trays 67 and 68 arranged at the lower part of the image forming unit 70 contain recording materials such as paper, and the recording material is directed from any one of the paper feed trays 67 and 68 toward the fixing unit 64. It is conveyed by a plurality of motors (rollers). During the conveyance, the skew correction of the recording material is performed by the resist unit 66 that creates the deflection.

  When the recording material is conveyed to the intermediate transfer section 65, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the intermediate transfer body 72 are transferred. Thereafter, the recording material bypasses the path and is conveyed again from the registration unit 66 to the intermediate transfer unit 65, and the next toner image is transferred. By repeating this three times in total, the four-color toner images are transferred onto the recording material by the intermediate transfer unit 65.

  The color toner image transferred to the recording material is fixed by heat and pressure in the fixing unit 64 and discharged to the paper discharge unit 63.

  The image forming apparatus 100 has an operation panel 61 that is operated by a user at the top thereof, and the above-described recommended screen and the like are displayed thereon. Around the operation panel 61, buttons to which functions are assigned and a keyboard such as the numeric keypad 16 are arranged.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a schematic hardware configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 100. Since the image forming apparatuses 100A and 100B may have the same configuration, only the image forming apparatus 100A will be described here. The image forming apparatus 100A has a configuration in which a CPU 51A, ROM 52A, RAM 53A, NIC (Network Interface Card) 54A, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 55A, a memory card mounting unit 56A, and an operation panel 61 are connected via an internal bus 57. Have In the figure, a storage medium 60 for storing a program is shown.

  The CPU 51A executes an OS and application programs stored in the ROM 52A or the HDD 55A to realize a copy application, a scan application, a FAX application, a mail application, a web application, and the like, and controls each job that is a function execution unit. Execute. Further, the CPU 51A executes a recommended screen display program 50 installed in the HDD 55A to provide each function described later. The RAM 53A is a working memory when the CPU 51A executes the OS or the like.

  The HDD 55A is a storage unit that accumulates each program, font data, job log, and the like, but may be a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory or an MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) instead of a hard disk drive.

  The memory card mounting unit 56A is configured such that the storage medium 60 is detachable. When the recommended screen display program 50 or data recorded in the storage medium 60 is read and installed in the HDD 55A, the recommended screen display program 50 or Used when writing data. The storage medium 60 may be a non-volatile memory such as a CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, SD card, Memory Stick (registered trademark), multimedia card, xD card, or the like.

  The NIC 54A is, for example, an Ethernet (registered trademark) card, and executes processing according to a protocol defined in the physical layer and data link layer of the OSI basic reference model, and is connected to the network 101. The Web application executes a higher-level protocol to transmit / receive the user ID, the recommended screen 30 screen information, and the like to / from the image forming apparatus 100B.

[Details of operation panel 61]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the operation panel 61. The operation panel 61 includes a function key 11 for selecting an application such as copy, printer, and FAX, a display unit 12 such as a liquid crystal equipped with a touch panel, a preheat and initial setting key 13, a clear / stop key 14, a start key 15, A numeric keypad 16 is arranged.

  The display unit 12 displays an operation menu corresponding to various functions, a message indicating the state of the image forming apparatus 100, and the like. When the display unit 12 is operated by the user, the touch panel detects the operation position and sends it to, for example, a device driver of the touch panel. The device driver acquires the press of the operation menu as a key event, and transmits a key event function corresponding to the operation menu to an application such as a copy application. Thus, the user's operation is detected, and the function designated by the operation menu is executed as a job. When requested by an application such as a copy application, the device driver of the display unit 12 causes a drawing function to draw and output various screens to the display unit 12 from a function library registered in advance, and a function to control other operation units. And the screen is displayed on the display unit 12.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation screen displayed on the display unit 12. When the user selects the operation menus 601 and 601 displayed on the display unit 12, the selected operation menus 601 and 602 are highlighted in black. When an operation menu 601 that requires detailed settings is selected (for example, double-sided, single-sided → double-sided, double-sided → double-sided), a detailed function operation screen is displayed. As described above, since the display unit 12 uses a dot display, it is possible to perform an optimal display graphically for each screen. When the user operates the start key 15, the image forming apparatus 100 copies the document to the selected recording material of the trays 1 to 3 but executes the job.

[Functional Block of Image Forming Apparatus 100]
FIG. 7 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus 100. Each functional block is realized by the CPU 51A executing the recommended screen display program 50 or hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The display of the operation screen is controlled by the main control unit 26 and the operation display control unit 21. The main control unit 26 detects the operation of the function key 11, the operation menu displayed on the display unit 12, the key 13, the clear / stop key 14, the start key 15, and the numeric keypad 16, and according to the operation of each key, Execute processing such as copying, scanning, and fax transmission. Further, the main control unit 26 displays an operation screen on the display unit 12 using the above drawing function. If it is set to display the recommended screen 30 (“recommended screen display mode” in the setting table of FIG. 8 is turned on), the screen forming the recommended screen 30 generated by the operation display control unit 21 The recommended screen 30 is displayed on the display unit 12 based on the information.

  The data transmission / reception control unit 23 transmits a search request for the recommended screen 30 and a user ID via the NIC 54 </ b> A, and receives screen information of the recommended screen 30. The user authentication unit 24 authenticates a user who uses the image forming apparatus 100A by using, for example, an IC card or biometric information. As a result, a user who uses the image forming apparatus 100A can be specified and a unique user ID can be acquired.

  The operation display control unit 21 executes various processes relating to screen information that forms the recommended screen 30. Although details will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 13, the menu information is optimized by optimizing the image forming apparatus 100A by deleting the menu information included in the screen information or adding new menu information.

<Setting table>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting table referred to by the operation display control unit 21. The setting table is stored in, for example, the HDD 55A, and whether the mode is on or off is set in association with each mode. For example, the “recommended screen display mode” is a setting for determining whether or not to display the recommended screen 30, and unless it is “ON”, the recommended screen 30 of the present embodiment is not displayed. “Alarm display mode” is a setting for determining whether or not to display an alarm for warning the user when the function or device included in the searched recommendation screen 30 is not installed in the image forming apparatus 100A. If it is “ON”, no alarm is displayed. The “non-display mode” is a setting for determining whether or not to display the recommended screen 30 when the function or device included in the recommended recommendation screen 30 is not installed in the image forming apparatus 100A. When “ON”, the operation menu corresponding to the function or device is not displayed on the recommendation screen 30.

  The setting table setting can be updated by the user operating the image forming apparatus 100A to call the setting table setting screen and set ON / OFF for each mode.

<Count of usage count for each function>
The number-of-uses storage unit 25 stores the number of functions used for each user in a use number storage table to be described later. A procedure in which the use number storage unit 25 stores the number of times the function is used for each function will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  For example, on the operation screen shown in FIG. 6, the user selects “tray 1” (S10), and then selects “sort” (S20). When the user sets a document to be copied, the start key 15 is operated (S30).

  The usage count storage unit 25 registers the usage count in the usage count storage table using the operation of the start key 15 as a trigger (S40, S50). The usage count storage unit 25 acquires the function operated by the user from the main control unit, and increases (increments) the usage count of “tray 1” by 1 and the usage count of “sort” by 1, respectively.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the usage count storage table. The usage count storage table is stored in, for example, the HDD 55A. Taking the flowchart of FIG. 9 as an example, the number of times used for “tray 1” n1 is increased by one, and the number of times used for “sort” n7 is increased by one.

<Screen information of recommended screen 30>
The display configuration storage unit 22 stores screen information of the recommended screen 30 based on the function used by the user. The screen information may be stored in advance in the HDD 55A (static), or the usage count storage unit 25 may store it every time the user uses the function (dynamic).

  The display configuration storage unit 22 stores screen information of a suitable recommendation screen 30 for each function for which the number of uses is recorded as shown in FIG. Therefore, FIG. 10 shows a screen information ID for identifying screen information for each function.

  FIG. 11 is an example of a diagram for schematically explaining the screen information of the recommendation screen 30. The screen information is stored in, for example, the HDD 55A. In the screen information, information of one or more operation menus that are preferably displayed is registered in association with the screen information ID (that is, for each function). The arrangement of the operation menus 1 to n on the display unit 12 is determined by the coordinate information 1 to n. This coordinate information specifies, for example, the position of the top left vertex of the rectangular operation menu.

  The menu information stores a function for displaying a rectangle for partitioning the operation menu and character information (for example, a character code or bitmap data) of a character displayed in the rectangle. For users who frequently use “tray 1”, the recommended screen 30 for selecting “tray 1” should be displayed. Therefore, the menu information whose screen information ID is G1 includes the character information of “tray 1” and the like. The text information of “Tray 2” is included. In this case, for example, only the rectangle of “tray 1” can be displayed in a large size, and the user can easily select an operation menu that is frequently used.

  In addition, in the case of a user who frequently uses staples, the recommended screen 30 specified by the screen information ID of G5 is displayed. Since the recommended screen 30 for selecting the binding method should be displayed for the user who frequently uses “staple”, the menu information includes character information of “left binding” and character information of “right binding”. It will be a thing. It should be noted that even a user who frequently uses “staple” needs to select one of the sheets, and the other menu information (not shown) displays a sheet size such as “A4” or “A3”. Menu information to be displayed is displayed. Thereby, for example, the recommendation screen 30 shown in FIG. 1B can be displayed.

  Similarly, the recommended screen 30 specified by the screen information ID of G7 is displayed for a user who uses the sort frequently. For users who frequently use “sort”, the recommended screen 30 that allows easy (conspicuous) selection of sort should be displayed, so the menu information has a larger rectangle or character surrounding “sort”. It will be a thing. Thereby, for example, the recommendation screen 30 shown in FIG. 1D can be displayed.

  Similarly, for a user who frequently uses double-sided printing, the recommended screen 30 specified by the screen information ID of G8 is displayed. For a user who frequently uses “both sides”, the recommended screen 30 on which the print side can be selected should be displayed, and the menu information is “single → one”, “one → both”, “both → both” Contains character information. Thereby, for example, the recommendation screen 30 shown in FIG. 1C can be displayed.

  Since the functions related to the finishing of printing such as stapling, punching, and stacking are functions close to each other, it is easier to include each operation menu in one recommended screen 30 so that the user can easily select. It can be said to improve. For this reason, even if screen information is prepared separately as in G5 to G7, each screen information preferably includes all or part of staple, punch, and stack in the operation menu.

  Each operation menu displayed on the recommendation screen 30 includes information on actual functions, and when one of the operation menus on the recommendation screen 30 is selected by the user, the main control unit 26 is selected by the user. The selected operation menu is identified and the corresponding function is executed.

  Each image forming apparatus 100 has screen information as shown in FIG. However, there is a possibility that the devices and functions of the image forming apparatus 100 are different unless the image forming apparatuses 100 are the same type and the software version is the same. Therefore, as described below, the operation menu needs to be discarded in the image forming apparatus 100A that displays the recommended screen 30.

[Procedure for Displaying Recommended Screen 30 by Image Forming Apparatus 100]
A display procedure of the recommendation screen 30 by the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 12 shows an example of a detailed functional block diagram of the operation display control unit, and FIG. 13 shows an example of a flowchart showing the display procedure of the recommendation screen 30.

<S110>
First, when the user uses the image forming apparatus 100A, the image forming apparatus 100A authenticates the user. The user authentication unit 24 may read the user ID from an IC card carried by the user, a mobile phone, or the like, or acquires biometric information and reads the user ID associated with the prestored biometric information. The user may input the user ID from the operation panel 61. In any case, the user authentication unit 24 can acquire a unique user ID.

<S120>
When the user is authenticated, the operation display control unit determines whether or not to display the recommendation screen 30. The operation display controller refers to the setting table stored in the HDD 55A and determines whether or not to display the recommended screen 30 depending on whether the “recommended screen display mode” is on or off. When the “recommended screen display mode” is off (No in S120), the conventional operation screen (for example, the screen of FIG. 6) is displayed instead of the recommended screen 30 (S400), and the process is terminated.

<S130 to S150>
When the recommended screen 30 is displayed, the recommended screen search unit 31 searches the recommended screen 30. Specifically, the recommended screen search unit 31 refers to the usage count storage table stored in the HDD 55A of the image forming apparatus 100A, and uses the usage counts n1 to n12 associated with the user ID obtained by authentication. read out. Then, the upper three functions are specified in the order of use more than the preset lower limit and, for example, in descending order of use (that is, the use frequency is high). Thereby, screen information ID matched with the function can also be specified.

  The recommended screen 30 can also be searched from another image forming apparatus 100B. Therefore, the recommended screen search unit 31 transmits the user ID to the image forming apparatus 100B connected to the network 101 and the like. Request to send candidates. Similar to the image forming apparatus 100A, the image forming apparatus 100B specifies screen information IDs associated with the functions having the top three usage counts.

  Here, if a unified screen information ID is used between the image forming apparatuses 100, the image forming apparatus 100A can display the recommended screen 30 only by transmitting the image information ID. Since the image forming apparatuses 100A and 100B are not necessarily identical, the image forming apparatus 100B transmits the screen information together with the screen information ID.

  The recommended screen search unit 31 merges the screen information ID of the own device and the screen information ID of the image forming apparatus 100B, and narrows down the same screen information ID to one. At this time, the one with the larger number of operation menus is preferentially left. If the screen information ID can be narrowed down, several recommended screens 30 can be determined. When the number is large, the recommended screens may be narrowed down to the top 3 to 4 having the more frequent use.

<S160, S170>
Next, the display determination unit 32 determines whether or not the recommendation screen 30 can be displayed on the operation panel 61 of the own device. If the screen information is specified by the screen information ID read from the own device, it cannot be displayed. However, the operation panel 61 of the image forming apparatus 100A may not correspond to the screen information received from the image forming apparatus 100B, such as when the image forming apparatus 100B is a newer type. For example, the size of the display unit 12 is different, the character code system is changed, or the format of a function for displaying a rectangle defining the operation menu is changed. The display determination unit 32 can display the recommended screen 30 based on, for example, whether or not the corresponding code is stored for all menu information associated with the screen information ID and whether or not the function can be interpreted. It is determined whether or not.

  If the recommended screen 30 cannot be displayed, the conventional operation screen (for example, the screen of FIG. 6) is displayed instead of the recommended screen 30 (S400), and the process is terminated. If there is even one recommended recommendation screen 30 that can be displayed, the determination in step S170 is Yes.

<S180 to S200>
When the recommended screen 30 can be displayed, the device determination unit 33 determines whether or not a device necessary for providing a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the recommended screen 30 is installed in the image forming apparatus 100A. judge. The device determination unit 33 extracts all the functions included in one or more menu information constituting the screen information. Further, a device necessary for providing the function can be specified by, for example, a function / device table shown in FIG.

  As shown, the function “tray 1 to 4” requires the apparatus “tray 1 to 4”, the function “staple” requires the apparatus “stapling apparatus”, and the function “punch” includes the apparatus “tray”. A “punch device” is required, and a function “sort” requires a device “sort device”. The device determination unit 33 refers to the function / device table stored in the HDD 55A and determines whether the device to be used is mounted on the image forming apparatus 100A for each operation menu included in the recommendation screen 30. To do.

  As a result of the determination, if a device necessary for the function is mounted (Yes in S180), the function is displayed on the recommendation screen 30, and if a device used for the function is not mounted (No in S180), the function Is a hidden candidate function. The non-display candidate function is typically deleted from the recommended screen 30 (that is, hidden), but may be displayed so that it cannot be selected. Although details will be described in steps S300 to S340, the operation menu may be hidden after an alarm is displayed as described later, instead of simply hiding the operation menu. Further, the operation menu may be displayed without displaying the alarm or after displaying the alarm.

  FIG. 17A is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation menu that is hidden on the recommendation screen 30 as a result of determination by the device determination unit 33. The screen example on the left side of FIG. 17A is a recommended screen 30 received from the image forming apparatus 100B. The operation menus “tray 1 (A4)” and “tray 2 (A3)” included in the recommended screen 30 are shown. For each of “tray 3 (A4)”, “tray 4 (A3)”, “sort”, “stack”, and “staple”, the device determination unit 33 determines whether there is a corresponding device. For example, when it is determined that there is no “staple device” or “tray 4” in the image forming apparatus 100A, the menu deletion unit 38 deletes the operation menu. As a result, the operation menus “staple” and “tray 4 (A3)” are deleted and are not displayed on the recommended screen 30 displayed on the operation panel 61, as shown in the screen example on the right side of FIG. .

<S210, S220>
Next, the apparatus determination unit 33 determines whether or not the additional apparatus is mounted on the image forming apparatus 100A. The additional apparatus is an apparatus that is not included in the image forming apparatus 100B but is mounted on the image forming apparatus 100A. For example, there may be no “punch” operation menu even if the “staple” operation menu is included in the screen information transmitted by the image forming apparatus 100B. This is considered to be because the image forming apparatus 100B does not have a punch device. When the image forming apparatus 100A has a punch device, it is more convenient to display a “punch” operation menu so that the user can select it. Can be improved.

  For example, the apparatus determination unit 33 extracts operation menus one by one from the screen information of the recommended screen 30 received from the image forming apparatus 100B, and extracts an apparatus that is not in the image forming apparatus 100B but is in the image forming apparatus 100A. . Since the image forming apparatus 100A knows the mounted apparatus (for example, “staple”, “punch”, “sort”), if any of them is in the received operation menu, the other apparatus is extracted. Then, the menu addition display unit 35 adds menu information of functions provided by a certain apparatus to the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> A to the screen information of the recommended screen 30. In this case, since the recommended screen 30 received is smaller than the number of operation menus that can be displayed by the own device, the menu information cannot be added.

  FIG. 17B is a diagram illustrating an example of the recommendation screen 30 to which an operation menu is added as a result of determination by the device determination unit 33. The screen example on the left side of FIG. 17B is a recommended screen 30 received from the image forming apparatus 100B, and the apparatus determination unit 33 includes each operation menu “tray 1 (A4)” “ In addition to the tray 2 (A3), “tray 3 (A4)”, “sort”, and “stack”, it is determined whether or not there is a function installed in the image forming apparatus 100A. For example, when “staple device” and “tray 4” are installed in the image forming apparatus 100A, the menu addition display unit 35 adds menu information corresponding to the function of the device to the screen information of the recommendation screen 30. As a result, as shown in the screen example on the right side of FIG. 17B, the operation menus “staple” and “tray 4 (A3)” are added and displayed on the recommended screen 30 displayed on the operation panel 61. Can do.

<S230 to S290>
Next, the function determination unit 34 determines whether or not the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> A has a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the recommendation screen 30. The function determination unit 34 extracts all the functions included in one or more menu information constituting the screen information. Whether or not the function included in the menu information can be executed by the image forming apparatus 100A is determined based on the function list of the image forming apparatus 100A.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a function list executable by the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> A and correspondence of alternative functions. The function determination unit 34 determines whether the same function as that of the image forming apparatus 100A can be provided, based on whether or not the function included in the operation menu of the recommendation screen 30 is registered in the function list. The function determination unit 34 extracts the menu information of the recommended screen 30 received from the image forming apparatus 100B one by one, and determines whether it can be included in the function list.

  The operation menu of the function in the function list is displayed on the recommended screen 30 (Yes in S240), and the operation menu of the function not in the function list is not displayed (No in S240) and should not be displayed on the recommended screen 30. The candidate function is processed as described in steps S300 to S340.

  Next, the function determination unit 34 determines whether or not the image forming apparatus 100A has a function that substitutes for the function that is not a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the recommendation screen 30. An example of an alternative function is shown in FIG. For example, in the case of collective printing at the time of copying, there is a possibility that the aggregation of two pages and the aggregation of four pages can be substituted for each other, and stamp printing and tint block printing can be substituted for each other. Accordingly, for example, even if the image forming apparatus 100A does not have a 4-page aggregation function, if the 2-page aggregation function is present, it is considered that displaying the operation menu leads to an improvement in user convenience.

  The function determining unit 34 reads out the function included in the recommended screen 30 in step S240 but not in the image forming apparatus 100A with reference to the relationship of the alternative function in FIG. The menu addition display unit 35 adds menu information corresponding to the alternative function to the screen information of the recommended screen 30.

  Next, the function determination unit 34 determines whether or not the image forming apparatus 100A has an additional function. The additional function is a function that is not included in the operation menu of the recommendation screen 30, but is a function that the image forming apparatus 100A has. For example, even if the screen information transmitted by the image forming apparatus 100B has an operation menu of “left binding”, there is no operation menu of “upper left binding”. However, when the image forming apparatus 100A has the function of “upper left binding”, it is considered that the convenience of the user is improved by displaying the operation menu of “upper left binding”.

  For example, the function determination unit 34 reads out the operation menu one by one from the recommended screen 30 received from the image forming apparatus 100B, and performs an operation that matches the “executable function” in FIG. Determine if there is a menu. If there is a matching operation menu, the menu addition display unit 35 adds all the menu information of “executable functions” to the screen information of the recommended screen 30 for each “copy system” or “finish system”. Thereby, the functions that can be provided by the image forming apparatus 100 </ b> A can be displayed on the recommendation screen 30.

<S300 to S340>
The non-display candidate functions that are determined not to be the same function as the operation menu included in the recommendation screen 30 in steps S240 to S290 are processed according to the setting in the setting table.

  First, the alarm display unit 36 refers to whether the “alarm display mode” in the setting table is on or off. When the “alarm display mode” is off, the alarm display unit 36 does not display an alarm. When the “alarm display mode” is on, the alarm display unit 36 displays an alarm. This alarm is a message notifying the user when the operation menu for the non-display candidate function is not displayed.

  FIG. 18A is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the operation panel 61 when the alarm display mode is on. The screen example on the left of FIG. 18A is a recommended screen 30 received from the image forming apparatus 100B. The recommended screen 30 includes the operation menus “tray 1 (A4)” “tray 2 (A3)”. "Tray 3 (A4)" "Sort" "Stack" are included. When the function determination unit 34 determines that the functions of the “stapling device” and “tray 4” are not included in the image forming apparatus 100A, the alarm display unit 36, for example, as shown in the center of FIG. The message “Some have been hidden because there is no function” is displayed. When the user confirms the alarm and selects the “Close” button, the recommended screen 30 in which the operation menu corresponding to the functions of “staple device” and “tray 4” is hidden is displayed.

  Thus, by displaying the alarm, the user can grasp the reason why the operation menu of a desired (frequently used) function is not displayed.

  Further, the non-display candidate function can be prevented from being hidden. The menu deletion unit 38 and the menu correction unit 39 refer to whether the “non-display mode” of the setting table is on or off. When the “non-display mode” is off, the menu deletion unit 38 does not display the non-display candidate function on the recommendation screen 30 as described above. The menu correction unit 39 does nothing.

  When the “non-display mode” is on, the menu deletion unit 38 does not delete the non-display candidate function, and the menu correction unit 39 corrects the non-display candidate function and displays it on the recommendation screen 30. FIG. 18B is a diagram showing an example of the recommended screen 30 displayed on the operation panel 61 when the non-display mode is turned on. The recommendation screen 30 at the time of reception from the image forming apparatus 100B is the same as that shown in FIG. The menu correction unit 39 displays the operation menu of the non-display candidate function in a manner that informs that it cannot be selected, for example, tones down. In the drawing, the mode in which the operation menu corresponding to the non-display candidate function of “staple device” and “tray 4” cannot be selected is indicated by hatching.

  As described above, the operation menu that cannot be selected is displayed on the recommended screen 30 for the time being, so that the user can confirm that the operation menu of the desired (frequently used) function cannot be selected. The apparatus 100A can be operated.

  The menu correction unit 39 may display the operation menu of the non-display candidate function after displaying the alarm, for example, by toning down, and the alarm display mode and the non-display mode are both turned on at the same time. There is.

<S350 to S370>
The above series of processing is repeated for all the recommended screens 30 determined in step S150 (S350). When the processing is completed for all the recommended screens 30, the selection screen generation unit 37 displays a recommended selection screen for selecting the recommended screen 30 from a plurality of candidates as shown in FIG. Since the recommended selection screen is a fixed screen, the selection screen generation unit 37 displays on the operation panel 61 the recommended selection screens that display the recommended screen selection menus 501 to 503 corresponding to the number of the recommended screens 30.

  As described above, the recommendation screen 30 including functions frequently used by the user can be preferentially displayed. Functions that cannot be used in the image forming apparatus 100 are not displayed (cannot be selected), while an operation menu corresponding to an alternative function or an additional function can be displayed. Therefore, the functions of the image forming apparatus 100 are equivalent to the recommended functions. It can be selectable.

[Recommendation screen 30 update]
The update of the recommendation screen 30 will be described. After the recommended screen 30 is displayed on the image forming apparatus 100A, the operability can be improved by updating to the recommended screen 30 that is most suitable for the user. For example, in the image forming apparatus 100A, referring to the usage count storage table, it is considered that the usage count may be different for one side → one side, one side → double side, and both sides → double side. In such a case, it can be said that it is preferable to display the recommended screen 30 configured so that the user can easily select the printing mode with the largest number of uses. However, it may be difficult to prepare the screen information of the recommended screen 30 that has been subdivided. In view of this, the image forming apparatus 100A that has received the recommended screen 30 refers to the use count storage table and updates the recommended screen 30 to reflect the usage frequency of the user.

  FIG. 19 shows an example of the recommendation screen 30 before and after the update. The recommended screen 30 before updating the upper screen displays an operation menu of “single side → single side”, and the recommended screen 30 before updating the lower level includes “single side → single side”, “single side → double side”, “double side → double side”. "One side → one side" is highlighted in the operation menu. In other words, “one side → one side” is preferentially displayed on the recommendation screen 30 before the update.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the update unit 41 updates the recommendation screen 30. The flowchart in FIG. 16 may be started automatically after the recommendation screen is displayed, or may be started by the user selecting an “update” button as shown in the subsequent stage of FIG.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of updating the display of the duplex function. The update unit 41 refers to the usage count storage table and reads the usage counts of “single side → single side”, “single side → double side”, and “double side → double side” (S410 to S430).

  Then, the update unit 41 determines the function with the highest number of uses (S440). Here, it is assumed that “single side → double side” is frequently used.

  The update unit 41 updates the recommended screen 30 so that the operation menu “single side → double side”, which is used most frequently, is preferentially displayed (S450).

  In the recommended screen 30 after the update in the upper part of FIG. 19, “single side → single side” is updated to “single side → double side” and displayed. In the recommended screen 30 after the update, the operation menu of “single side → double side” is highlighted instead of “single side → single side”. This makes it easier for the user to select the function with the highest number of uses.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment displays a screen formed according to the frequency of use by the user, so that the user can easily operate (the number of operations until a desired function is selected is small). ) The recommended screen 30 can be displayed. In addition, since the recommended screen 30 is optimized by the substitute function and the additional function of the own device, the operation menu that is frequently used and the operation menu that can be used by the own device can be displayed equally, which greatly improves the convenience for the user. be able to.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recommendation selection screen and a recommendation screen displayed by the image forming apparatus. It is an example of the schematic block diagram of a screen display system. 1 is an example of a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus. 1 is an example of a schematic hardware configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of an operation panel. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen displayed on the display part. 1 is an example of a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting table. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure in which the use frequency preservation | save part memorize | stores the frequency | count which used the function for every function. It is a figure which shows an example of a use frequency storage table. It is an example of the figure which illustrates screen information on a recommendation screen typically. It is an example of the detailed functional block diagram of the operation display control part. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the display procedure of a recommendation screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a function and an apparatus table. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a function list executable by an image forming apparatus and correspondence of alternative functions. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure in which an update part updates a recommendation screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation menu hidden on a recommendation screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the recommendation screen displayed on an operation panel by turning on alarm display mode. It is an example of the recommendation screen before an update and after an update.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Display part 21 Operation display control part 22 Display structure preservation | save part 23 Data transmission / reception control part 24 User authentication part 25 Use machine number preservation | save part 26 Main control part 30, 30A-30C Recommended screen 50 Recommended screen display program 55 HDD
60 Storage medium 61 Operation panel 100, 100A, 100B Image forming apparatus 101 Network

Claims (18)

An identification means for identifying a user, a usage count storage means for storing a function used by the user and the usage count of the function, a display means for displaying an operation screen on which an operation menu is arranged, and a user operation An image forming apparatus comprising:
Transmitting means for transmitting the user ID of the user identified by the identifying means to another device;
Screen information for acquiring the screen information associated with a function whose use frequency of the user is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, read out from the screen information storage means for storing the screen information forming the operation screen in association with the function Acquisition means;
Optimization means for optimizing the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition means in accordance with a device or function of the own device;
Display control means for displaying on the display means a recommended operation screen formed based on the optimized screen information;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The display control means includes
When there are a plurality of the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition means, a selection screen for selecting the recommended operation screen is displayed on the display means.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. A functional device table storage means for storing a functional device table in which functions and devices for providing the functions are registered in association with each other;
An apparatus for determining whether or not a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information can be provided based on whether or not a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information is registered in the functional device table. A determination means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A function determination means for determining whether or not the own device can provide a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Display determination means for determining whether the display means can display the screen information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Whether to display the recommended operation screen on the display means or not, having a setting table storage means for storing a setting table;
The display control means refers to the setting table and determines whether to display the recommended operation screen on the display means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. After displaying the recommended operation screen,
Updating means for updating a display mode of the operation menu formed on the recommended operation screen based on the number of times of use of the function stored in the use number storage means of the own device;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: When the selection screen is displayed and the recommended operation screen is selected by the input means,
The display control means displays the selected recommended operation screen on the display means.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. In addition to a device that provides a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information, the device itself has a device,
A menu addition means for adding an operation menu for designating a function provided by a device provided in the own apparatus to the screen information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3. In addition to the functions corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information,
A menu adding means for adding an operation menu for designating a function of the own device to the screen information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4. An alternative table storage means for storing an alternative table in which alternative functions are registered in association with each other;
When it is determined that the function determination unit does not have a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information,
A menu addition unit that refers to the substitution table and adds an operation menu for designating a substitution function of a function that the own device does not have to the screen information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4. When it is determined that the function determination unit does not have a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information,
Having a menu deletion means for deleting an operation menu for designating the function from the screen information;
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein When it is determined that the function determination unit does not have a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information,
Alarm notification means for displaying on the display means that the device does not have the function;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: When it is determined that the function determination unit does not have a function corresponding to the operation menu included in the screen information,
Menu correction means for displaying the operation menu corresponding to the function in an unselectable manner;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: An identification means for identifying a user, a usage count storage means for storing a function used by the user and a usage count of the function, a display means for displaying an operation screen on which an operation menu for specifying the function is arranged, and a user An image forming apparatus screen display method, comprising:
A transmitting means for transmitting the user ID of the user identified by the identifying means to another device;
The screen associated with a function whose usage frequency of the user is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, read by the other device from the screen information storage means for storing the screen information forming the operation screen in association with the function by the screen information acquisition means Obtaining information,
An optimization unit, the step of optimizing the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition unit according to the device or function of the own device;
Display control means for displaying on the display means a recommended operation screen formed based on the optimized screen information;
A screen display method characterized by comprising: A use count storage means for storing a function used by a user and a use count of the function;
A screen information storage means for storing screen information for forming an operation screen in association with a function;
Identification means for identifying a user; display means for displaying an operation screen on which an operation menu is arranged; input means for inputting a user operation;
Transmitting means for transmitting the user ID of the user identified by the identifying means to the device;
Screen information acquisition means for acquiring the screen information that is read from the screen information storage means by the device and associated with a function whose use frequency of the user is a predetermined value or more;
Optimization means for optimizing the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition means in accordance with a device or function of the own device;
An image forming apparatus having display control means for displaying a recommended operation screen formed based on the optimized screen information on the display means;
An image forming system comprising: An identification means for identifying a user, a usage count storage means for storing a function used by the user and a usage count of the function, a display means for displaying an operation screen on which an operation menu for specifying the function is arranged, and a user A computer included in the image forming apparatus having input means for inputting the operation of
Transmitting means for transmitting the user ID of the user identified by the identifying means to another device;
Screen information for acquiring the screen information associated with a function whose use frequency of the user is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, read out from the screen information storage means for storing the screen information forming the operation screen in association with the function Acquisition means;
Optimization means for optimizing the screen information acquired by the screen information acquisition means in accordance with a device or function of the own device;
A program that functions as a display control unit that displays a recommended operation screen formed based on the optimized screen information on the display unit.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 17.

Images