JP5322896B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to setting of prohibition processing of panel operation at the time of remote operation from an external terminal device in an image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus, when a remotely scanned image is transmitted to a host, there is a problem that a plurality of users use the apparatus at the same time, thereby obtaining a result unintended by the user. For example, a user who wants to scan an image places a document on a platen and then performs a scanning operation remotely, so that another user makes a copy while moving to a terminal device located away from the image forming apparatus. Assuming that an original is placed on the document feeder of the image forming apparatus, the original user scans the original on the document feeder when the first user performs a scanning operation from the terminal device.

  In order to prevent such a problem from occurring, different panel operation prohibition processing (operation panel lock) can be set depending on whether the image forming apparatus is used by a single user or a plurality of users. For example, forbidden process settings are as follows.

  (A) When a scan request is made from the host, the display on the panel is set to “during remote operation”. This is to prevent other users from operating the image forming apparatus during remote operation.

  (B) The display on the panel is shifted to the “Remote Operation In Progress” screen in advance to prevent other users from operating. Then make a scan request from the host. Take the scanned image by the user.

  Of the above two patterns, if (A), it is not necessary for the user to operate the panel to change the display, and the apparatus can be freely controlled only by the operation from the host. However, in the case of sharing with a plurality of people, there is a possibility that the display on the panel may be changed by a request from the host at the moment of using the image forming apparatus. In order to prevent this, it is possible to cope with the method (B). However, if the image forming apparatus is not shared and used, it takes time and the usability is reduced.

  The above-described two types of prohibition processing for panel operation have been set by a user or a maintenance staff. However, there is a method for automatically setting the above-mentioned prohibition processing for panel operation according to the use status of the image forming apparatus. There was no.

  As a conventional technique, there is an image forming apparatus that rejects parameter setting from other external devices or internal input means during parameter setting from an external device (see Patent Document 1).

  However, the method of Patent Document 1 only prohibits an operation from another user during a remote operation, and it is not possible to automatically set the above-described prohibition processing for the panel operation according to the use state of the image forming apparatus. Can not.

JP 2003-69780 A

  The problem to be solved is that in the image forming apparatus, it is not possible to automatically set the prohibition process of the panel operation according to the use situation.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that can be remotely operated from an external terminal device, and is monitored by the apparatus operation state monitoring unit that monitors the operation state of the image forming apparatus and the apparatus operation state monitoring unit Based on the operation status, the operation panel lock mode at the time of external operation input that locks the operation panel of the image forming apparatus at the time of remote operation input from the external terminal apparatus, and the external terminal apparatus A panel prohibition to select and set an operation panel lock mode by an external operation reservation that makes a reservation for performing a remote operation from the operation panel before the remote operation input of the user and locks the operation panel to make the operation impossible. possess a setting unit, wherein the device operation status monitoring unit, etc. or the user number receives an input of the number of the user exceeds a predetermined threshold value A user number input setting unit that monitors whether or not the panel prohibition setting unit sets a lock mode of the operation panel by the external operation reservation when the number of users exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the number of users When the value is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the operation panel lock mode at the time of external operation input is set .
The device operation state monitoring unit includes an access analysis unit that collects and analyzes an access state from the external terminal device, and the panel prohibition setting unit has the number of accesses exceeding a predetermined threshold. In this case, the operation panel lock mode is set by the external operation reservation, and the operation panel lock mode at the time of the external operation input is set when the number of accesses is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.

  For this reason, it becomes possible to automatically set the prohibition process of the panel operation according to the use situation.

1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow according to a difference in input value of the number of operators of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow according to a difference in access history contents of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow according to a difference in the number of event reservation notifications of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is optimally configured to set the prohibition process for panel operation according to the usage environment such as the number of users who share the image forming apparatus and the access status from the external terminal. Is set automatically.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[Constitution]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 101 includes a panel prohibition unit 111, a panel prohibition management unit 113, a panel prohibition setting unit 115, a user number input setting unit 117 (device operation state monitoring unit), and an access analysis unit 119 (device operation). Status monitoring unit), scanner 121, operation panel 123, memory 125, CPU 127, printing unit 129, and interface 131.

  The image forming apparatus 101 is connected to a host PC (Personal Computer) 201, which is an external terminal device, via an interface 131, and can communicate with each other. In FIG. 1, only the host PC 201 which is one external terminal device is displayed, but it is also possible to arrange a plurality of external terminal devices on the network and remotely operate the image forming apparatus 101 from them.

  Each functional block will be described below.

  The panel prohibition unit 111 performs processing related to the prohibition of the operation panel 123, which is an essential function of the present invention. The prohibition setting of the operation panel has the following two modes.

  (1) Operation panel lock mode at the time of external operation input: When an operation input from an external terminal device such as a scan request from the host PC 201 (request for document reading operation by the scanner 121) is made, the operation panel 123 This mode locks the display to “Remote operation” and disables display operations from the operation panel.

  (2) Operation panel lock mode by external operation reservation: A mode in which remote operation cannot be performed unless a reservation is made in advance to perform remote operation from the external terminal device from the operation panel 123 and the operation panel is locked.

  The panel prohibition unit 111 automatically determines and sets which of the above two modes is set. The panel prohibition unit 111 includes functional units such as a panel prohibition management unit 113, a panel prohibition setting unit 115, a user number input setting unit 117, and an access analysis unit 119.

  The panel prohibition management unit 113 sets the prohibit mode of the operation panel 123 according to the panel prohibition mode set by the panel prohibition setting unit 115.

  The panel prohibition setting unit 115 determines how to set the prohibition mode of the operation panel 123 based on the access analysis results of the user number input setting unit 117 and the access analysis unit 119.

  A user number input setting unit 117 (apparatus operation state monitoring unit) sets an input of the number of users who use the image forming apparatus in response to an input from the operation panel 123 or an input from the host PC 201 through the interface 131. The panel prohibition setting unit 115 sets prohibition of the operation panel 123 based on the set number of people.

  An access analysis unit 119 (apparatus operation state monitoring unit) analyzes access when the image forming apparatus 101 is remotely operated from the host PC 201 via the interface 131. Based on the analysis result of the access, the panel prohibition setting unit 115 determines how to set the prohibition mode of the operation panel 123. Details of the access analysis are described in the flowchart section.

  The scanner 121 includes a scanner device, and converts image information on the original paper into electronic information.

  The operation panel 123 displays the state and operation method of the image forming apparatus 101 and accepts an operation input of the image forming apparatus 101 from the user. The operation panel 123 follows the panel prohibition mode set in the panel prohibition unit 111 and locks the operation input when there is an input from the external terminal device or if there is no reservation for remote operation from the operation panel 123 in advance. Disable remote operation from an external terminal device.

  The memory 125 includes a primary storage device (memory) composed of a semiconductor storage device and a secondary storage device (memory) composed of a magnetic rotating magnetic disk device or the like, and a program (software) necessary for the operation of the image forming apparatus, Record and save data.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 127 is a computer device for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 101. The software recorded in the memory 125 is executed on the CPU 127, thereby realizing each functional unit of the panel prohibition unit 111 of the image forming apparatus 101.

  The printing unit 129 is a printing engine that actually transfers an image onto a sheet and outputs it.

  The interface 131 is an interface device for connecting the image forming apparatus 101 and the host PC 201 which is an external terminal device. In the present embodiment, access from the host PC 201 is identified by an IP address using a network interface. A USB interface other than the network interface, or a parallel or serial interface may be used. In those cases, the external terminal device is identified not by the IP address but by a method defined in the interface standard.

[Flowchart 1]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when setting prohibition of the operation panel 123 based on the difference in the input value of the number of operators of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation will be described below.

  S11: The user number input setting unit 117 of the image forming apparatus 101 receives an input of the number of users who use the image forming apparatus 101 by an input from the operation panel 123 or the host PC 201.

  S13: The panel prohibition setting unit 115 determines whether or not the value of the number of users input in S11 is larger than the set threshold value of the number of users. If the input person value is large, the operation proceeds to S15. If the input person value is less than or equal to the threshold, the operation proceeds to S17.

S15: The operation panel lock mode based on the external operation reservation (1) is set.

S17: The lock mode of the operation panel at the time of external operation input (2) is set.

  According to the series of flows described above, the lock mode of the operation panel is optimally set depending on the set number of users.

[Flowchart 2]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when setting prohibition of the operation panel 123 based on the access history from the external terminal device of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation will be described below.

  S21: The access analysis unit 119 of the image forming apparatus 101 collects the access history to the image forming apparatus 101 remotely from the host PC 201 which is an external terminal apparatus.

  S23: The access analysis unit 119 analyzes the access history collected in S21, records the IP address of the host device (external terminal device; for example, the host PC 201), and the number of IP addresses from different host devices exceeds a predetermined threshold value. Determine if there are many. The panel prohibition setting unit 115 shifts the operation to S25 when the number of IP addresses is greater than a predetermined threshold. If the number of IP addresses is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold, the operation proceeds to S27.

S25: The operation panel lock mode based on the external operation reservation (1) is set.

S27: The operation panel lock mode at the time of external operation input (2) is set.

  Through the series of flows described above, the lock mode of the operation panel is optimally set according to the difference in the number of IP addresses of terminal devices that access the image forming apparatus.

[Flowchart 3]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when setting prohibition of the operation panel 123 based on the difference in the number of event reservation notifications of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation will be described below.

  When an image forming apparatus having a WSD (Web Services for Devices) Scan function is installed from a host PC (an OS-equipped machine such as Windows (registered trademark) Vista (registered trademark)), an event notification subscription (Subscribe (subscribe) (Subscription) command) is performed on the image forming apparatus side. In the image forming apparatus 101, the prohibition setting of the operation panel 123 is performed based on the number of reserved event notifications.

  S31: The access analysis unit 119 of the image forming apparatus 101 collects a history of event reservation notifications to the image forming apparatus 101 remotely from the host PC which is an external terminal apparatus.

S33: The access analysis unit 119 analyzes the event reservation notification history collected in S31 to determine whether the number of event reservation notifications from the host device (external terminal device; for example, the host PC 201) is greater than a predetermined threshold. . The panel prohibition setting unit 115 shifts the operation to S35 when the number of event reservation notifications is larger than a predetermined threshold. If the number of event reservation notifications is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold, the operation proceeds to S37.

S35: The operation panel lock mode based on the external operation reservation (1) is set.

S37: The operation panel lock mode at the time of external operation input (2) is set.

  Through the above series of steps, the lock mode of the operation panel is optimally set according to the difference in the number of event notification reservations.

[Effect of Example]
In this image forming apparatus, since the prohibition process setting of the operation panel is automatically performed, even if a user who is not familiar with the operation of the image forming apparatus uses the image forming apparatus, the user sets the prohibition process. Because it is set according to the environment without being conscious of the user, the user convenience is very good.

  The user only has to input the number of users, and the image forming apparatus performs the prohibition setting of the operation panel suitable for the user, thus saving the user's trouble.

  Since the image forming apparatus automatically analyzes the access of the remote terminal (external terminal apparatus; host PC) and sets the prohibition setting of the operation panel, it is optimally set without the user having such knowledge.

  Since the image forming apparatus automatically analyzes the event reservation notification and sets the prohibition setting of the operation panel, it is optimally set even if the user does not have such knowledge.

[Others]
The automatic setting of the panel prohibition process set in the present invention may be automatically performed when the image forming apparatus is activated. Moreover, it is good also as setting again according to a user's instruction | indication. Once the setting is made, the operation panel prohibition process is performed according to the setting until the setting is reset.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image forming apparatus 111 Panel prohibition part 113 Panel prohibition management part 115 Panel prohibition setting part 117 User number input setting part (apparatus operation state monitoring part)
119 Access analysis unit (device operation status monitoring unit)
201 Host PC (external terminal device)

Claims (4)

An image forming apparatus capable of remote operation from an external terminal device,
An apparatus operation state monitoring unit for monitoring an operation state of the image forming apparatus;
Based on the operation status monitored by the apparatus operation state monitoring unit, the operation panel is locked when an external operation input is performed so that the operation panel of the image forming apparatus is locked when the remote operation is input from the external terminal device. Mode, and a lock mode of an operation panel by an external operation reservation that makes a reservation to perform a remote operation from the operation panel before the remote operation input from the external terminal device and locks the operation panel to make the operation impossible, have a, a panel prohibition setting section for selecting and setting,
The apparatus operation state monitoring unit includes a user number input setting unit that receives input of the number of users from a user and monitors whether the number of users exceeds a predetermined threshold,
The panel prohibition setting unit sets a lock mode of the operation panel by the external operation reservation when the number of users exceeds a predetermined threshold, and when the external operation is input when the number of users is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Set the lock mode of the operation panel
An image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus capable of remote operation from an external terminal device,
An apparatus operation state monitoring unit for monitoring an operation state of the image forming apparatus;
Based on the operation status monitored by the apparatus operation state monitoring unit, the operation panel is locked when an external operation input is performed so that the operation panel of the image forming apparatus is locked when the remote operation is input from the external terminal device. Mode, and a lock mode of an operation panel by an external operation reservation that makes a reservation to perform a remote operation from the operation panel before the remote operation input from the external terminal device and locks the operation panel to make the operation impossible, A panel prohibition setting section for selecting and setting,
The device operation state monitoring unit has an access analysis unit that collects and analyzes an access state from the external terminal device,
The panel prohibition setting unit sets a lock mode of the operation panel by the external operation reservation when the number of accesses exceeds a predetermined threshold, and when the number of accesses is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the external operation Set the lock mode of the operation panel when inputting,
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 ,
The access analysis unit collects and analyzes the access state, and analyzes access from different numbers of IP addresses of the external terminal device,
The panel prohibition setting unit sets a lock mode of the operation panel based on the external operation reservation when the number of IP addresses exceeds a predetermined threshold, and when the external operation is input when the number of IP addresses is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Set the lock mode of the operation panel
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 ,
The access analysis unit collects and analyzes the access state, and analyzes the event reservation notification access of the external terminal device,
The panel prohibition setting unit sets the operation panel lock mode by the external operation reservation when the number of event reservation notifications exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the external operation when the number of event reservation notifications is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold. Set the lock mode of the operation panel when inputting,
An image forming apparatus.

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