JPH08185300A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In an image forming apparatus having a display device and an input operation device, the selection content can be changed in consideration of the frequency of use, and the function suitable for the user can be used. [Configuration] According to the selection of a menu from the screen displayed on the display device 1, the software control unit 5 stores the function usage frequency data of the selected menu in the usage frequency data storage unit 7.
The function use frequency order is determined by this, and the functions are displayed on the display device 1 in descending order of frequency of use. When the execution of the selected function is completed, the software control unit 5 updates the usage frequency data stored in the usage frequency data storage unit 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine having a display device and an input operation device and capable of executing a plurality of functions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, the functions have been expanded and diversified, and in order to use many functions, a method of displaying and selecting each function in a menu format has been adopted. It has become to.

[0003]

However, when such a system is used, the number of menus to be selected increases as the number of functions of the image forming apparatus increases, and from the user's perspective, which function should be used and selected. It was hard to tell. Especially when a touch panel type display and input device is adopted, if there are many menus (items) to be selected, the selection buttons and the like must be made small, so the operability deteriorates and the appearance is not very good. It was a thing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and provides an image forming apparatus in which the selection contents can be varied in consideration of the frequency of use and the functions suitable for each user can be used. With the goal.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a display device and an input operation device, in which display of the display device and operation by the input operation device are performed. It is provided with a unit for storing the use frequency data of the function related to, and has a configuration capable of recording in the frequency data storage unit and referring to the data stored in the frequency data storage unit.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be configured such that the function selection menu can be displayed on the display device in descending order of frequency of use from the data stored in the frequency data storage means.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be configured so that the display contents of the display device can be divided into a plurality of pages and displayed when there are a plurality of function selection menus.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention may be constructed by connecting an external storage device for storing the data stored in the frequency data storage means.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention may be configured to have means for transferring the data stored in the frequency data storage means to the outside through a communication medium.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention may also be configured so that a list of selection menus or item names and display page numbers for each of the above functions can be displayed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The apparatus of this embodiment includes a display device 1 and an input control operation device 3 such as a touch panel, and a software control part 5 using a microcomputer or the like and a display device control part 2 and an input operation device control part 4 between them. , And the software control unit 5 includes a data access control unit 6, an image forming apparatus control unit 8, a recording medium drive unit control unit 9, and a communication medium control unit 1.
1 is connected to the data access control unit 6, the usage frequency data storage unit 7, the image forming apparatus control unit 8 to the image forming apparatus 12, and the recording medium driving apparatus control unit 9 to the external storage device 1.
0 are connected to each other, and the communication medium control unit 11 can transfer data to the outside via a cable or the like (not shown). As the external storage device 10, various types such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, and an optical disk can be adopted.

Next, a function selecting method in the apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent figures. First, after starting the apparatus, an initial display menu 20 as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display apparatus 1 and the display apparatus control unit 2 is notified that the initial screen is displayed (FIG. 6: step 1). Menu selection from the initial display menu 20, for example, menu A
The selection is notified to the input operation device control unit 4 through the input operation device 3 and further to the software control unit 5 (step 2).

The software control unit 5 obtains the function use frequency data of the selected menu A from the use frequency data storage unit 7 through the data access control unit 6 (step 3) and determines the function use frequency order (step 4). , A selection button 2 for each function as shown in FIG.
The function selection display screen 22 including 1 and the like is displayed on the display device 1 page by page in descending order of frequency of use (for example, the order shown in FIG. 4) (step 5).

The software control unit 5 determines whether or not the function should be executed (step 6), executes the selected function if the function should be executed (step 7), and otherwise. It is judged whether or not the execution is canceled (step 9), and if it is canceled, the process returns to step 1.

When the next page display button 23 or the previous page display button 24 in FIG. 3 is selected, a function selection button for selecting the function of the next page (low frequency of use) or the function of the previous page (high frequency of use). A display screen (including the same as the display screen of FIG. 3 but the displayed function buttons are different) including the above is displayed on the display device 1 (steps 11 and 1).
2) Return to step 5. The function selection display screen 22
When the function list display button 25 is selected in
Although omitted in FIG. 5, the display device 1 is caused to display a display 26 having a pair of functions and page numbers as shown in FIG.

In step 7, the selection function is executed and the function a
Has been completed, the image forming apparatus control unit 8 notifies the software control unit 5, and the software control unit 5 notifies the data access control unit 6 that the function a has been used. The frequency of use data stored in is updated (step 8). 27 in FIG.
Is a cancel button, and 28 is a menu selection item name display portion.

[0017]

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention records the function use status, and therefore can provide the interface of various functions suitable for each user. effective.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect can know the frequency of use of each function.
In addition to the above common effects, it becomes possible for each user to display the function selection menu in the order of high frequency of use, which makes it possible to easily and more quickly select a function of high frequency of use. effective.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect displays the function selection menu page by page in descending order of frequency of use when there are a plurality of available functions. Even if there are a plurality of functions, the display system is fixed and the number of selected functions per page is fixed (constant), so that the operability can be kept consistent.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect records the usage status data on the recording medium.
In addition to the above common effects, by distributing the recording medium to each department, it is possible to obtain data on the function usage status of each user, and to use it as an index for the development of next-generation models and successor models. Has the effect of becoming.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to claim 5 can transfer the usage status data to each department through the communication line. Therefore, in addition to the common effects described above, the next-generation model and the succeeding model can be obtained. There is an effect that it can be used as an index for the development of.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the sixth aspect displays a selection menu for each function and a list of page numbers when there are a large number of functions. This has the effect of making it possible to inform the user of which function exists.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an initial display menu.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a function selection display screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a magnitude relationship between a function and a usage frequency.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a function list display.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention and a relationship between a software control unit and each control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Display Device 2 Display Device Control Unit 3 Input Control Operating Device 4 Input Operating Device Control Unit 5 Software Control Unit 6 Data Access Control Unit 7 Usage Frequency Data Storage Unit 8 Image Forming Device Control Unit 9 Recording Medium Drive Device Control Unit 10 External Storage Device 11 Communication medium control unit 12 Image forming device 20 Initial display menu 21 Function selection button 22 Function selection display screen 23 Next page display button 24 Previous page display button 26 Pair display of function and page number 27 Cancel button 28 Menu selection item Name display

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a display device and an input operation device, comprising means for storing use frequency data of a function relating to display of the display device and operation by the input operation device, and to the frequency data storage means. An image forming apparatus capable of recording and referencing data stored in the frequency data storage means. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the function selection menu can be displayed on the display device in descending order of frequency of use from the data stored in the frequency data storage means. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when there are a plurality of function selection menus, the display content of the display device can be divided into a plurality of pages for display. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an external storage device that stores the data stored in the frequency data storage unit is connected. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit for transferring the data stored in the frequency data storage unit to the outside through a communication medium. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a list of selection menus or item names for each function and display page numbers can be displayed.