Apparatus, method and program for display, program recording medium, and image processor

The present invention relates to a display device, a display method, a display program, a program recording medium, and an image processing device capable of setting a plurality of display areas on one display screen.

Conventionally, when the first screen is displayed in the display area of the display device as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-189389 (Patent Document 1), a second screen is displayed on a part of the first screen. Some screen pops up.

However, the above-mentioned conventional display device has the following problems. That is, the conventional display device simply pops up the second screen. Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional display device, the display area is divided into a plurality of parts, and the screen desired by the user is not independently displayed for each divided area. Further, when the screen desired by the user is displayed for each divided area, the information displayed for each of the divided areas is different information. Therefore, in some cases, or depending on the user, there is a request to clear each piece of information (to return to the initial state or the initial screen). However, when the second screen is displayed in a pop-up like the conventional display device, the second screen cannot be cleared independently.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-189389</text></patcit>

<p> Therefore, an object of the present invention is a display device, a display method, a display program, a program recording medium, and an image equipped with the above display device, which can independently automatically clear the display of each divided area formed by dividing the display area. The purpose is to provide a processing device.</p>

<p> In order to solve the above problems, the display device of the present invention is provided with a display means having a plurality of divided display areas formed by dividing the display area, and is provided corresponding to each of the divided display areas, and is associated with the above. It is characterized by being provided with a plurality of display independent switching means for automatically clearing the display of the divided display area independently of each other.</p><p> According to the above configuration, the display of each divided display area is automatically cleared independently of each other. Therefore, even when the operator is operating the display screen of any of the divided display areas (for example, the job information screen for image formation), the display screen of the other divided display area (for example, the job information screen for transmitting and receiving images). Can be auto-cleared. Therefore, when the operator tries to operate the display screen of the other divided display area, the procedure of switching to the initial screen becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved.</p><p> Further, in the display device of the first embodiment, each of the display independent switching means is a switching time setting means for setting the time until the display is switched, and no operation by the operator regarding the associated divided display area. It has a time measuring means for measuring the time, and switches the display when the time measured by the time measuring means reaches the set time by the switching time setting means.</p><p> According to this embodiment, when the non-operation time for each divided display area continues for the set time by the switching time setting means, the display of the corresponding divided display area is automatically cleared by the corresponding display independent switching means. To.</p><p> Further, in the display device of the first embodiment, the display means can accept the operation by the operator, and the display area operation detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the operation by the operator on the display area on the display means, and the display area operation detection means. When an operator's operation on the display area is detected by the display area operation detection means, the operation position on the display area is acquired, and the timekeeping of the display independent switching means associated with the acquired operation position. It is provided with an operation position acquisition means for outputting a control signal that causes the means to reset the time counting time.</p><p> According to this embodiment, when the operator performs an operation on a certain divided display area, the time by the time measuring means of the display independent switching means corresponding to the divided display area is reset to, for example, "0". In this way, the non-operation time by the operator is automatically clocked.</p><p> Further, in the display device of the first embodiment, each of the display independent switching means receives an instruction from the operator and switches the display according to the instruction.</p><p> According to this embodiment, only the divided display area that the operator wants to operate is automatically cleared independently of the other divided display areas according to the instruction from the operator. Therefore, even if the device is operating according to the display of the other divided display area, the divided display area can be switched to the initial screen without changing the display mode of the other divided display area.</p><p> Further, the display device of the first embodiment includes a display area dividing means for setting the dividing position of the display area.</p><p> According to this embodiment, it is possible to arbitrarily set the division position of the display area according to the content of the job information to be displayed.</p><p> Further, in the display device of the first embodiment, the display area dividing means can receive an instruction from the operator and change the dividing position according to the instruction.</p><p> According to this embodiment, it is possible to arbitrarily set the division position of the display area according to the instruction from the operator.</p><p> Further, the image processing device of the present invention is characterized in that the display device according to claim 1 is mounted.</p><p> According to the above configuration, when images are displayed independently in a plurality of divided display areas formed by dividing the display area of the display means, the auto-clearing of the display in each divided display area is performed independently of each other. It is said. Therefore, when the operator tries to operate the display screen of the divided display area that is not being operated, the procedure of switching to the initial screen becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved.</p><p> Further, the display method of the present invention is characterized in that the display for a plurality of divided display areas formed by dividing the display area is automatically cleared independently of each other.</p><p> Further, the display program of the present invention is provided with a computer corresponding to each of a plurality of divided display areas formed by dividing the display area, and automatically displays the associated divided display areas independently of each other. It is characterized in that it functions as a plurality of display independent switching means for clearing.</p><p> Further, the program recording medium of the present invention is characterized in that the display program is recorded.</p><p> According to each of the above configurations, the display of each divided display area is automatically cleared independently of each other. Therefore, even when the operator is operating the display screen of any of the divided display areas, it is possible to automatically clear the display of the other divided display areas. Therefore, when the operator tries to operate the display screen of the other divided display area, the procedure of switching to the initial screen becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved.</p>

<p> As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, when the display area of the display device is divided into a plurality of divided display areas, each divided display area can be automatically cleared independently. Convenience can be improved.</p>

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image processing device equipped with the display device of the present embodiment. This image processing device is broadly composed of a reading unit 1 that reads an image of a document and generates image data, a printing unit 2 that prints on paper based on the image data obtained by the reading unit 1, and this printing. It is provided with a paper feed unit 3 that supplies paper to the unit 2. In addition, although not described in detail, it is equipped with a communication I / F that connects to a communication network.

The scanning unit 1 exposes and scans the original to obtain an image signal by a CCD sensor (not shown) or the like, and further performs image processing such as binarization processing, image quality correction, scaling, and image editing to obtain the image signal. The generated image data is stored in an image storage unit (not shown). The printing unit 2 forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 for yellow (Y) based on the image data from the image storage unit, and attaches yellow toner on the electrostatic latent image. To form a yellow toner image. Similarly, a magenta toner image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 5 for magenta (M), a cyan toner image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 6 for cyan (C), and a toner image for black (K) is formed. A black toner image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 7 of the above.

Then, the toner images on the surfaces of the photoconductor drums 4 to 7 are sequentially transferred to the surface of the paper supplied from the paper feeding unit 3 and conveyed along the paper transport path 8. Then, the paper on which the image is transferred is separated from the surfaces of the photoconductor drums 4 to 7, and the surfaces of the photoconductor drums 4 to 7 after the transfer are cleaned by a cleaning device (not shown). ..

By the way, in the image processing device having the above configuration, an operation panel for the operator to input is (not particularly shown, but for example, it is installed substantially horizontally on the upper front side of the image processing device in FIG. 1). Is placed. The operation panel is provided with a display device including a liquid crystal display for displaying job information related to image formation, image reading, and image transmission / reception.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration in the display device of the present embodiment. However, in the block diagram shown in FIG. 2, only the part related to the auto-clear control for the display device is extracted and described. Here, the above-mentioned "auto-clear" means "automatically clear the display of the display area (return to the initial state or the initial screen)". This display device is roughly composed of a display control unit 11, a display device 12, an auto-clear control unit 13, a coordinate data acquisition unit 14, and a display device operation detection unit 15. Here, the display device 12 can accept an operation by the operator. Specifically, the display device 12 includes a liquid crystal touch panel.

The display control unit 11 controls the display operation of the display device 12 with respect to the display area, and includes a first display control unit 16, a second display control unit 17, and a display area division control unit 18. The display area division control unit 18 interactively sets the division position of the display device 12 with respect to the display area and stores the set position, as will be described in detail later. Here, the above-mentioned "interactively" means "setting the division position in response to an instruction input by the operator". The first display control unit 16 controls the display operation for the first divided display area in which the display area is divided by the display area division control unit 18. The second display control unit 17 controls the display operation for the second divided display area, which is the divided display area, independently of the first display control unit 16. In the present embodiment, the display area of the display device 12 is divided into two divided display areas, first and second, and is independent of each other by the first and second display control units 16 and 17. Although the display operation is controlled by dividing the display area into three or more divided display areas, the display operation may be controlled independently by three or more display control units.

The auto-clear control unit 13 controls the auto-clear operation for each divided display area of the display device 12, and has a first auto-clear control unit 19 and a second auto-clear control unit 20. That is, each of the auto-clear control units 19 and 20 has a one-to-one correspondence with each of the display control units 16 and 17, and the auto-clear operation is controlled for each of the display control units 16 and 17 independently of each other. It is composed of.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the internal configuration of the auto-clear control unit 13 and the coordinate data acquisition unit 14, the display device operation detection unit 15, and the display device 12. In FIG. 3, the first auto-clear control unit 19 has a first auto-clear setting unit 21 and a first timer count unit 22. Similarly, the second auto-clear control unit 20 has a second auto-clear setting unit 23 and a second timer count unit 24. Then, the first and second auto-clear setting units 21 and 23 set the auto-clear time described in detail later. Further, the first and second timer counting units 22 and 24 perform timer counting in synchronization with the clock signal from the system clock generation unit 25.

The display device operation detection unit 15 monitors the signal from the display device 12, detects an operator's operation on the display device 12 (for example, touching with a finger) based on the signal from the display device 12, and then detects the operation (for example, touch by a finger). The detection signal is output to the coordinate data acquisition unit 14. Then, the coordinate data acquisition unit 14 acquires the coordinates representing the operation position of the display device 12 on the display area via the display device operation detection unit 15. Then, when the acquired coordinates are the coordinates related to the first divided display area in the display area, the control signal is output to the first timer counting unit 22. Further, when the coordinates are related to the second divided display area, the control signal is output to the second timer counting unit 24.

In the above configuration, the first and second auto-clear control units 19 and 20 perform auto-clear control as follows based on the control signal from the coordinate data acquisition unit 14. The following description will be given by taking the first auto-clear control unit 19 as an example, but the same applies to the second auto-clear control unit 20.

First, the first auto-clear control unit 19 controls the first auto-clear setting unit 21 and sets the auto-clear time of the first divided display area by interacting with the operator via the display device 12. .. FIG. 5 shows an example of the auto-clear setting screen displayed on the display device 12 when the divided display area to be auto-cleared and the auto-clear time are set. On the upper side of FIG. 5, among the first split display area A, the second split display area B, and the double split display areas A and B, the double split display areas A and B are selected as the split display areas for auto-clearing. The split display area selection screen is shown. When the "OK" key is pressed on this screen, the screen switches to the auto clear time setting screen as shown at the bottom of Fig. 5. In this case, the auto-clear time setting screen for collectively setting "30 seconds" as the auto-clear time is displayed for both divided display areas A and B. In addition to setting the auto-clear time for a plurality of divided display areas at once, for example, the auto-clear time of the first divided display area A is "30 seconds" and the second divided display area. It is also possible to set the auto clear time of B individually, such as "1 minute".

After that, the first auto-clear control unit 19 controls the first timer counting unit 22 to start timer counting. Then, based on the count signal from the first timer counting unit 22, it is monitored whether or not the elapsed time from the start of the timer count has reached the auto-clearing time set by the first auto-clearing setting unit 21. Then, when the auto-clear time is reached, a control signal instructing auto-clear for the first divided display area is output to the first display control unit 16.

On the other hand, in the monitoring state, when the coordinate data acquisition unit 14 acquires the coordinates related to the first divided display area of the display device 12 via the display device operation detection unit 15, the first timer counting unit 22 The control signal is input to. Then, the first timer counting unit 22 resets the count value and starts the timer count again. In this way, when the no-operation time for the first divided display area in the display device 12 reaches the auto-clearing time, the auto-clearing for the first divided display area is automatically performed. Therefore, for example, even when the operator is operating the display screen of the second divided display area, the display screen of the first divided display area is initially set independently of the display screen of the second divided display area. You can switch to the screen. Therefore, next, when the operator tries to operate the first divided display area, the procedure for switching to the initial screen becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the auto-clearing for the first divided display area and the auto-clearing for the second divided display area are performed by the first auto-clearing control unit 19 and the second auto-clearing control unit 20. It is controlled independently. Therefore, auto-clearing for each divided display area can be performed independently of each other.

Here, the specific hardware configuration of the display device having the above functional configuration includes a program memory for storing various programs including a program for executing the auto-clear control process described later, a data memory for storing various information, and a communication network. Communication I / F to be connected, input device, output device, display device 12, external auxiliary storage device in which an external recording medium is set to access this external recording medium, the above program memory, data memory, communication I / F, input device It consists of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the output device, display device 12, external auxiliary storage device, etc., and executes auto-clearing, etc.

That is, the display control unit 11, the auto-clear control unit 13, the coordinate data acquisition unit 14, and the display device operation detection unit 15 are composed of the CPU. In addition to the processing operations according to the present embodiment by the above-mentioned parts 1, 13 to 15, the CPU also performs various processing operations such as calculation / judgment processing, timekeeping processing, and input / output processing. ing. The auto-clear control processing program may be installed in the program memory from the external recording medium or communication network.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the auto-clear control processing operation executed by the auto-clear control unit 13. Hereinafter, the auto-clear control processing operation will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In this case, it is assumed that the display area division control unit 18 of the display control unit 11 has already interactively set the division position of the display device 12 with respect to the display area, and the set position is stored and held. Note that FIG. 6 shows an example of the display area setting screen displayed on the display device 12 when the division position with respect to the display area is set interactively. In this case, by operating any of the buttons 31, 32, and 33, the division position between the first division display area A and the second division display area B is set according to the operation button. As described above, in the present embodiment, the division position of the display area can be selected.

In FIG. 6, only three types of division positions can be specified, but the position of the boundary to be divided is numerically input from a keyboard (not shown) as the input device (for example, the display panel). It is permissible to divide the above display area of any size by dividing it at a position of 15 cm with respect to the right end of. Further, in FIG. 6, the division direction is the horizontal direction (longitudinal direction) of the display panel, but it goes without saying that the division direction may be the vertical direction.

In FIG. 4, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the divided display area to be auto-cleared and the auto-clearing time are specified. As a result, if it is specified, the process proceeds to step S2, and if it is not specified, it waits until it is specified. In step S2, of the first and second auto-clear control units 19 and 20, the auto-clear control unit corresponding to the above-designated divided display area is activated. Then, for example, when the first auto-clear control unit 19 is activated, the auto-clear time t (seconds) is set by the first auto-clear setting unit 21. In step S3, it is determined whether or not to confirm the set auto-clearing time t by the dialogue with the operator via the display device 12. As a result, if it is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S4, and if it is not confirmed, the process returns to step S1 and waits for the divided display area and the auto-clearing time to be specified.

In step S4, of the first and second timer counting units 22 and 24, the timer counting unit corresponding to the specified divided display area (the first timer counting unit 22 in this example) counts the timer. Is started. In step S5, it is determined whether or not there is a coordinate signal indicating an operation on the divided display area from the coordinate data acquisition unit 14. As a result, if there is a coordinate signal, the process proceeds to step S6, and if there is no coordinate signal, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S6, of the first and second timer counting units 22 and 24, the timer count is reset by the timer counting unit corresponding to the divided display area operated in step S5. For example, when an operation is performed on the first divided display area, the timer count is reset by the first timer counting unit 22. After that, the timer count is restarted and the process returns to step S5. In this way, the non-operation time for each divided display area is clocked.

In step S7, each of the above auto-clear control units (here, the first auto-clear control unit 19) determines whether or not the elapsed time from the start of the timer count has reached the auto-clear time t. As a result, if it is reached, the process proceeds to step S8, and if it is not reached, the process returns to step S5. In step S8, the time-up auto-clear control unit (here, the first auto-clear control unit 19) performs auto-clear to the corresponding display control unit (here, the first display control unit 16) of the display control unit 11. The instruction control signal is output. Then, the first display control unit 16 performs an auto-clear process on the first divided display area. In the auto-clear process, in addition to the clear operation of the first divided display area, for example, a mode reset, a return operation to the priority application, an interrupt release, a resource release, and the like accompanying the clear operation are executed. After that, the auto-clear control processing operation is terminated.

7 to 9 show a display screen for showing an example of the above auto-clearing. FIG. 7 shows a case where both the first divided display area A and the second divided display area B are in the initial screen state. FIG. 8 shows a state in which both the first divided display area A and the second divided display area B are in operation and display an operating screen other than the initial screen. In this state, when auto-clearing is performed on the second divided display area B, the state shown in FIG. 9 is obtained. In this case, only the second split display area B is switched to the initial screen.

In the above description, the present invention will be described by taking the auto-clear control based on the auto-clear timer as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when a split display area to be auto-cleared is set from the operation panel and the auto-clear execution key is pressed, the split display area set above is set. You may want to perform auto-clear only for that. In short, it suffices if auto-clearing can be executed independently for each divided display area.

Further, in the above description, the display device 12 is provided with a touch panel, and the auto-clearing time is counted when the operator directly touches the display screen. It is not limited to. For example, the auto-clearing time may be counted by performing an operation related to each divided display area by using a hard key provided on the operation panel or the like.

<figref num="1">It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the image processing apparatus equipped with the display apparatus of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">It is a block diagram in the display device of this invention.</figref><figref num="3">It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the auto clear control part in FIG.</figref><figref num="4">It is a flowchart of auto clear control processing operation.</figref><figref num="5">It is a figure which shows an example of the auto clear time setting screen.</figref><figref num="6">It is a figure which shows an example of the display area setting screen.</figref><figref num="7">It is a figure which shows the case where both the 1st and 2nd division display areas are initial screens.</figref><figref num="8">It is a figure which shows the case where the 1st and 2nd division display areas are both operating screens.</figref><figref num="9">It is a figure which shows the case where only the 2nd division display area is switched to the initial screen.</figref>

Code description

1 ... reading unit, 2 ... printing unit, 3 ... paper feeding unit, 4,5,6,7 ... photoconductor drum, 8 ... paper transport path, 11 ... display control Unit, 12 ... Display device, 13 ... Auto clear control unit, 14 ... Coordinate data acquisition unit, 15 ... Display device operation detection unit, 16 ... 1st display control unit, 17. .2nd display control unit, 18 ... display area division control unit, 19 ... 1st auto-clear control unit, 20 ... 2nd auto-clear control unit, 21 ... 1st auto-clear setting unit, 22 ... 1st timer count unit, 23 ... 2nd auto clear setting unit, 24 ... 2nd timer count unit, 25 ... system clock generation unit.