Patent Publication Number: US-2018034985-A1

Title: Electronic apparatus and image forming apparatus

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-150675 filed on Jul. 29, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to an electronic apparatus and an image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to technology for notifying a user of a change in a state of a device. 
     Displaying a notification image indicating the details of a change in a state on a display section of an electronic apparatus is known as technology for notifying a user of the details of the change if a change in the state occurs. For example, displaying changed details on an operation screen with a banner and displaying a reception notification screen indicating reception of an e-mail on the operation screen are known. 
     SUMMARY 
     As an aspect of the present disclosure, technology obtained by further improving the above-described technology is provided. 
     According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic apparatus includes a display section, a control unit. 
     The display section has a touch panel function. 
     The control unit includes a processor, and based on operation of the processor in accordance with a control program, performs display control of the display section and receives a touch operation on an operation screen displayed on the display section according to the touch panel function provided in the display section. 
     If a change in a predetermined state occurs in the electronic apparatus, the control unit causes (1) a medium-term notification image which is displayed for a predetermined medium- to long-term time and of which display is unnecessary when a time has elapsed and (2) a long-term notification image of which display is continuously maintained regardless of the passage of time to be superimposed and displayed on the operation screen as a notification image indicating details of the change. 
     Further, the control unit causes a small-sized medium-term notification image to be displayed within the operation screen upon receiving of a size reduction request for changing the size to a predetermined small size with respect to the medium-term notification image displayed on the operation screen and causes a small-sized long-term notification image to be displayed in a predetermined area in which a display of display information to be displayed by the operation screen is not hindered if the operation receiving section receives a size reduction request with respect to the long-term notification image displayed on the operation screen. 
     According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming section; the display section; and the control unit. 
     The image forming section forms an image on a recording medium. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram schematically illustrating a main internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process to be performed by a control unit in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen displayed on a display section. 
         FIG. 4A  is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which a notification image is displayed on the operation screen displayed on a display section and illustrates an example of a temporary notification image. 
         FIG. 4B  is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which a notification image is displayed on the operation screen displayed on the display section and illustrates an example of a medium-term notification image. 
         FIG. 4C  is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which a notification image is displayed on the operation screen displayed on the display section and illustrates an example of a long-term notification image. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process to be performed by the control unit in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 6A  is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which a long-term notification image of a normal size is displayed on the display section. 
         FIG. 6B  is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which a small-sized long-term notification image is displayed on the display section. 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process to be performed by the control unit in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 8A  is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which a medium-term notification image of a normal size is displayed on the display section. 
         FIGS. 8B and 8C  are diagrams illustrating examples of a state in which a small-sized medium-term notification image is displayed on the display section. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of an electronic apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.  FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram schematically illustrating a main internal configuration of the image forming apparatus which is an electronic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The image forming apparatus  1  is, for example, a multifunctional machine having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function, and includes a control unit  10 , a document feeding section  6 , a document reading section  5 , an image forming section  12 , an image memory  32 , a hard disk drive (HDD)  92 , a fixing section  13 , a sheet feeding section  14 , an operation section  47 , a facsimile communication section  71 , and a network interface section  91 . 
     The document feeding section  6  feeds a document to be read to the document reading section  5 . Under the control of a control section  100  constituting the control unit  10 , the document reading section  5  radiates light to a document using the light irradiation section and receives reflected light, thereby reading an image from the document. Image data obtained by the document reading section  5  reading the document is stored in the image memory  32 . 
     The image forming section  12  forms a toner image of an image to be printed on a sheet (a recording medium). The image memory  32  is an area for temporarily storing image data of a document obtained through a read operation of the document reading section  5  and temporarily saving data to be printed by the image forming section  12 . 
     The HDD  92  is a large-capacity storage apparatus for storing document images and the like read by the document reading section  5 . The fixing section  13  fixes the toner image on the sheet to the sheet by thermo-compression. The sheet feeding section  14  includes a sheet feeding cassette (not illustrated), and picks up and transports the sheets accommodated in the sheet feeding cassette. 
     The operation section  47  receives instructions such as an image forming operation execution instruction and a document read operation execution instruction from the operator concerning various operations and processes capable of being executed by the image forming apparatus  1 . The operation section  47  includes a display section  473  for displaying an operation guide and the like to an operator. The display section  473  is a touch panel, and the operator can operate the image forming apparatus  1  by touching buttons and keys displayed on the screen. 
     The facsimile communication section  71  performs facsimile communication, and the network interface section  91  transmits and receives various data to and from an external apparatus  20  such as a personal computer in a local area or on the Internet. 
     The control unit  10  is configured to include a processor, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and a dedicated hardware circuit. The processor is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a micro processing unit (MPU), or the like. The control unit  10  includes the control section  100  that performs the overall operation control of the image forming apparatus  1 , an operation receiving section  101 , a drag direction detecting section  102 , a drag amount detecting section  103 , and a display control section  104 . 
     The control unit  10  functions as the control section  100 , the operation receiving section  101 , the drag direction detecting section  102 , the drag amount detecting section  103 , and the display control section  104  according to an operation according to a control program installed in the HDD  92 . However, the control section  100  or the like can be constituted of a hardware circuit regardless of an operation according to the control program of the control unit  10 . Hereinafter, the same is true for each embodiment unless otherwise mentioned. 
     The control section  100  is connected to the document feeding section  6 , the document reading section  5 , the image forming section  12 , the image memory  32 , the HDD  92 , the fixing section  13 , the sheet feeding section  14 , the operation section  47 , the facsimile communication section  71 , and the network interface section  91 , and controls driving of these parts. 
     The operation receiving section  101  identifies a user operation input by the user on the basis of a detected signal output from the operation section  47 . For example, the operation receiving section  101  receives a touch operation (for example, a tap operation or a drag operation) on the operation screen displayed on the display section  473  according to a touch panel function provided in the display section  473 . Then, the operation receiving section  101  receives the identified user operation and outputs a control signal corresponding to the user operation to the control section  100  or the like. 
     The drag direction detecting section  102  detects a direction of a drag operation received by the operation receiving section  101 . The drag amount detecting section  103  detects an amount of drag in a drag operation received by the operation receiving section  101 . 
     The display control section  104  controls a display of the display section  473 . For example, the display control section  104  may cause an operation screen to be displayed on the display section  473 , and cause a notification image indicating the details of a change displayed on the operation screen to be superimposed and displayed on existing display information on the operation screen if a change in a predetermined state occurs in the image forming apparatus  1 . 
     The notification images are divided into a temporary notification image to be temporarily displayed and a medium- to long-term notification image to be displayed over a medium- to long term. 
     As a temporary notification image, for example, a notification image indicating a change in a size of a sheet to be fed can be cited, and it is only necessary to display such a notification image for about several seconds. 
     Also, for example, with respect to a notification image indicating that the scanner is being cleaned or a malfunction has occurred, display for about several seconds is not sufficient, and display for a longer time is required. Such a notification image is regarded as a medium- to long-term notification image. 
     Medium- to long-term notification images are subdivided into (1) a medium-term notification image which is displayed for a predetermined medium- to long-term time and of which display is unnecessary when a time has elapsed and (2) a long-term notification image of which display is continuously maintained regardless of the passage of time. 
     As the medium-term notification image, for example, a notification image indicating that the scanner is being cleaned is included. Such a notification image is displayed until sufficient time required for processing has elapsed (until the cleaning of the scanner is completed). 
     Examples of the long-term notification image include notification images indicating malfunction occurrence and use restriction. A notification image indicating that a malfunction has occurred needs to be displayed until there has been recovery from the malfunction and the notification image indicating a use restriction needs to be displayed until a manager cancels the restriction. 
     Next, a processing operation in which the control unit  10  causes the display section  473  to display a notification image will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Also, this processing operation is an operation to be performed when the control section  100  determines that a change in a predetermined state has occurred in the image forming apparatus  1 . 
     When the control section  100  determines that a change in a state has occurred, the display control section  104  generates a notification image indicating details of the change on the basis of information indicating the details of the change in the state output from the control section  100  (S 1 ), and displays the generated notification image in a predetermined area E 1  ( FIGS. 4A to 4C ) on an operation screen D 1  ( FIGS. 3 and 4A to 4C ) displayed on the display section  473  (S 2 ). The generation by the display control section  104  also includes reading a notification image stored in a memory or the like built into the control unit  10  and determining the notification image as a subject for display on the display section  473 . 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation screen D 1  displayed on the display section  473 .  FIGS. 4A to 4C  are diagrams illustrating an example of a state in which a notification image is displayed on the operation screen D 1 .  FIG. 4A  is an example of a temporary notification image Ga and illustrates a case in which a size of a fed sheet has been changed from A 3  to A 4 .  FIG. 4B  illustrates an example of a medium-term notification image Gb indicating that the scanner is being cleaned and the remaining time until the cleaning is completed is “5 minutes and 50 seconds.”  FIG. 4C  illustrates an example of a long-term notification image Gc, which indicates that a malfunction has occurred in the sheet feeding cassette. 
     Subsequently, the display control section  104  determines whether or not the notification image displayed on the display section  473  is a temporary notification image Ga (S 3 ). Also, whether the notification image is a temporary notification image Ga, a medium-term notification image Gb, or a long-term notification image Gc may be determined on the basis of information indicating the details of the change in the state output from the control section  100 . 
     For example, the notification image may be determined to be a temporary notification image Ga if the details of the change in the state are a change in the sheet size, the notification image may be determined to be a medium-term notification image Gb if the details of the change in the state are the cleaning of the scanner, and the notification image may be determined to be a long-term notification image Gc if the details of the change in the state are the occurrence of a malfunction. 
     If the display control section  104  determines that the notification image is a temporary notification image Ga (YES in S 3 ), the display control section  104  determines whether or not a predetermined set time (for example,  5  seconds) has elapsed after the display of the notification image (the temporary notification image Ga) on the display section  473  (S 4 ). If it is determined that the set time has elapsed (YES in S 4 ), the display control section  104  erases the notification image (the temporary notification image Ga) from the display section  473  (S 5 ). 
     On the other hand, if the display control section  104  determines that the notification image is not a temporary notification image Ga (the notification image is a medium-term notification image Gb or a long-term notification image Gc) (NO in S 3 ), the display control section  104  determines whether or not an erasure trigger for erasing the notification image has occurred (S 6 ). 
     If it is determined that an erasure trigger has occurred (YES in S 6 ), the display control section  104  erases the notification image (the medium-term notification image Gb or the long-term notification image Gc) from the display section  473  (S 7 ). 
     If the medium-term notification image Gb indicates that the scanner is being cleaned, a signal indicating completion of the cleaning is output as an erasure trigger from the control section  100  to the display control section  104  when the cleaning of the scanner is completed. If the long-term notification image Gc indicates occurrence of a malfunction, a signal indicating the completion is output as an erasure trigger from the control section  100  to the display control section  104  when the repair of the malfunction is completed. 
     Next, the processing operation of reducing the size of a long-term notification image Gc in the control unit  10  will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Also, this processing operation is an operation to be performed when the operation receiving section  101  receives a tap operation on the long-term notification image Gc. 
     When the operation receiving section  101  receives a tap operation on a long-term notification image Gc, the display control section  104  generates a small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  (S 11 ), and the display control section  104  erases the long-term notification image Gc of the normal size from the display section  473  (S 12 ) and causes the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  to be displayed in a predetermined area E 2  ( FIGS. 6A and 6B ) of the display section  473  (S 13 ). The area E 2  is a predetermined area in which the display of the display information displayed on the operation screen D 1  is not hindered. For example, the area E 2  may be a margin portion on the left side of the upper end portion of the operation screen D 1  (an area predetermined as an area in which a message is not displayed to the user). 
       FIG. 6A  illustrates a state in which a long-term notification image Gc of normal size is displayed in the area E 1 , and  FIG. 6B  illustrates a state in which a small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  is displayed in the area E 2 . As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , when the long-term notification image Gc of the normal size is tapped, the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  is displayed by the display control section  104 . 
     Subsequently, the operation receiving section  101  determines whether or not a tap operation on the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  has been performed by the user (S 14 ). If the operation receiving section  101  has received a tap operation on the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  (YES in S 14 ), the display control section  104  erases the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  from the display section  473  (S 15 ), and causes the long-term notification image Gc of the normal size to be displayed in the area E 1  of the display section  473  (S 16 ). That is, the display control section  104  returns the display state of the long-term notification image Gc to a state before size reduction. 
     Next, the processing operation in which the control unit  10  reduces the size of a medium-term notification image Gb will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 7 . This processing operation is performed if the operation receiving section  101  receives a tap operation on the medium-term notification image Gb. 
     When the operation receiving section  101  receives a tap operation on the medium-term notification image Gb, the display control section  104  generates a small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (S 21 ) and the display control section  104  erases the medium-term notification image Gb of the normal size from the display section  473  (S 22 ) and causes the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  to be displayed in an area E 3  ( FIGS. 8A to 8C ) of the display section  473  (S 23 ). The area E 3  may be at any position on the operation screen D 1 , but an example in which the area E 3  is an area different from the area E 2  is shown in the present embodiment. 
     Subsequently, the operation receiving section  101  determines whether or not a tap operation has been performed on the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (S 24 ). If the operation receiving section  101  has received a tap operation on the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (YES in S 24 ), the display control section  104  erases the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  from the display section  473  (S 25 ) and displays the medium-term notification image Gb of the normal size in the area E 1  of the display section  473  (S 26 ). That is, the display state of the medium-term notification image Gb is returned to the state before size reduction. 
     On the other hand, if the operation receiving section  101  has not received a tap operation on the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (NO in S 24 ), the operation receiving section  101  determines whether or not the user has performed a drag operation on the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (S 27 ). 
     If the operation receiving section  101  receives a drag operation on the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (YES in S 27 ), the drag direction detecting section  102  detects a direction of the drag operation received by the operation receiving section  101  (S 28 ), the drag amount detecting section  103  detects an amount of drag of the drag operation received by the operation receiving section  101  (S 29 ), and the display control section  104  moves the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  on the operation screen D 1  on the basis of a drag direction detected by the drag direction detecting section  102  and an amount of drag detected by the drag amount detecting section  103  (S 30 ). That is, the display control section  104  moves the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  on the operation screen D 1  on the basis of a movement direction calculated from the drag direction detected by the drag direction detecting section  102  and an amount of movement calculated from the amount of drag detected by the drag amount detecting section  103 . 
     On the other hand, if the operation receiving section  101  does not receive a drag operation on the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  (NO in S 27 ), the process returns to S 24 . 
       FIG. 8A  illustrates a state in which the medium-term notification image Gb of normal size is displayed in the area E 1 ,  FIG. 8B  illustrates a state in which the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  is displayed in the area E 3 , and  FIG. 8C  illustrates a state in which the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  is moved. As illustrated in  FIGS. 8A to 8C , the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  is displayed when the medium-term notification image Gb of the normal size is tapped, and the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  is moved in a direction of an arrow A 1  if the medium-term notification image G 1  is dragged in the direction of the arrow A 1 . 
     After S 30 , the process returns to S 24 , and with YES in S 24 , a series of processing steps which are S 25  and S 26  are performed, or with NO in S 24 , and YES in S 27 , a series of processing steps which are S 28  to S 30  are performed. Accordingly, after the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  is moved on the operation screen D 1  according to the drag direction (movement direction) calculated in S 28  and the amount of drag (the amount of movement) calculated in S 29  (S 30 ), if the operation receiving section  101  receives a request for restoring the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  to the original size (YES in S 24 ), the operation receiving section  101  causes the medium-term notification image Gb of the original size (the normal size) to be displayed in the area E 1  which was an area of display before the size reduction (S 25 , S 26 ). 
     According to the first embodiment, the notification image (the temporary notification image Ga, the medium-term notification image Gb, or the long-term notification image Gc) indicating the details of the change in the state is displayed on the operation screen D 1 . That is, because the notification image interrupts and displayed on the operation screen D 1 , it is possible to accurately notify the user of the details of the change in the state. Also, the medium-term notification image Gb and the long-term notification image Gc are made small-sized in response to a request from the user. That is, it is possible to reduce the size of a medium-term notification image Gb and a long-term notification image Gc which do not end due to temporary display, so that it is difficult for the user operation to be obstructed. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid degradation of operability while accurately notifying the user of the details of the change in the state in the device. 
     Also, the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  is displayed in the area E  2  in which a user operation is not interfered with and fixed in the area E 2 , whereas the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  is displayed in the area E 3  which is different from the area E 2 . Also, it is possible to move the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  according to a drag operation. That is, display of a long-term notification image Gc, which is likely to be displayed for longer than a medium-term notification image Gb, is set to be further restricted. 
     Accordingly, because the small-sized long-term notification image Gc 1  is displayed in the area E 2  which is a predetermined area in which the display of the display information displayed on the operation screen D 1  is not hindered and therefore a display mode is different from that of the small-sized medium-term notification image Gb 1  according to a length of time required for a notification by display, it is possible to avoid deterioration in operability while accurately notifying a user of the details of changes in state in the image forming apparatus  1  individually according to the details of a message displayed in each of a long-term notification image and a medium-term notification image. 
     For example, there is no problem with the user operation if a notification image such as a banner or a reception notification screen is erased immediately after display from the operation screen, but there may be a problem with user operation when the notification image is continuously displayed on the operation screen. Particularly, if the display section has the touch panel function, continuously displaying the notification image on the operation screen can be a great obstacle to user operation. However, when it is desired that a user be made aware of a problem to be solved according to a banner or the like, it is not preferable to hide the display of the banner after a short time. In this regard, according to the above-described embodiment, as described above, it is possible to avoid deterioration of operability while suitably notifying a user of the details of a change in a state in the image forming apparatus  1 . 
     The present disclosure is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. Although the image forming apparatus which is a multifunctional machine is used as an embodiment of the electronic apparatus according to the present disclosure in the above-described embodiment, this is merely an example. Other electronic apparatuses, for example, image forming apparatuses such as a copy machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer, may be used as the electronic apparatus. Further, a personal computer, a mobile device, or the like may be used as the electronic apparatus. 
     Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration and processing shown in the above-described embodiment with reference to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 8C  are merely an embodiment of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to this configuration and processing. 
     While the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments thereof, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art the various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope defined by the appended claims.