Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To improve visibility and operability of a display operating unit of an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal when short-range radio communication is used.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus comprises: a main body that performs image formation; a display operation unit 19 that performs display of information and reception of operations; a housing 21 that is coupled to the front face of the main body and accommodates the display operation unit 19; a near field communication (NFC) circuit 31 that performs communication with a portable terminal 40 through NFC; a wireless LAN circuit that performs communication with the portable terminal 40 through a wireless LAN; and a control unit that, after establishing the connection with the portable terminal 40 through the NFC circuit 31, performs transmission and reception of data to and from the portable terminal 40 through the wireless LAN circuit. The NFC circuit 31 is accommodated on the left side of the housing 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Image forming devices equipped with the capability to communicate wirelessly with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are known. For example, an image forming device equipped with printer and scanner functions can be used to print images captured by the mobile device or to view images scanned by the scanner on the mobile device. Data can be exchanged between the mobile device and the image forming device via wired communication or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, but if the mobile device and the image forming device are equipped with a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication capability, wireless LAN is more convenient.

[0003] Regarding wireless LAN connection methods, if an access point is installed near an image forming apparatus, connection via the access point is possible, but access points are not necessarily installed everywhere. Image forming apparatuses equipped with access point functionality are also known, but in any case, several operations, such as entering an SSID (Service Set Identifier) ​​and a password, are required. Ad-hoc mode communication without an access point is also possible, but the operation is complicated. Therefore, the use of near-field communication (NFC) is considered (e.g., Patent Documents 1 to 3). Wireless LAN connection can be achieved simply by holding a mobile terminal over an NFC circuit installed in the image forming apparatus. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-106481 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-154374 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-28477 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which an antenna faces the top surface of a cover that covers the image forming unit, but because the antenna is located to the left of the loading section and the operation panel is located to the right of the loading section, it is inconvenient for the user to move their eyes between the left and right sides of the loading section when viewing both the operation panel and the mobile terminal. Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose configurations in which the antenna is located above and below the touch panel, respectively, but this requires vertical line of sight movement, which is inconvenient. Furthermore, with the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2, the touch panel is obscured by the hand holding the mobile terminal, reducing operability.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to improve the visibility and operability of a display operation unit of an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal when short-range wireless communication is used. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises a main body that forms images, a display operation unit that displays information and accepts operations, a housing that is connected to the front of the main body and houses the display operation unit, an NFC circuit that communicates with a mobile terminal via NFC, a wireless LAN circuit that communicates with the mobile terminal via wireless LAN, and a control unit that establishes a connection with the mobile terminal via the NFC circuit and then sends and receives data to and from the mobile terminal via the wireless LAN circuit, and the NFC circuit is housed on the left side of the housing.

[0008] The NFC circuit may be located to the left of the screen of the display operation unit.

[0009] The NFC circuits may be provided at a plurality of locations in the left-right direction inside the housing, and the control unit may perform communication using an NFC circuit that receives a stronger radio wave from among the plurality of NFC circuits.

[0010] The NFC circuit and the wireless LAN circuit may be connected using a signal line of a length that does not cause communication problems due to the influence of noise generated from the main body.

[0011] The signal line may have a length of 10 cm or less.

[0012] The housing may be hinged to the main body so that its position can be changed. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the visibility and operability of the display operation unit of the image forming apparatus and the portable terminal when short-range wireless communication is used. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a front view schematically illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a perspective view showing a main body and a display operation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a perspective view showing a main body and a display operation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of a display operation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mobile terminal is held over a display operation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a configuration related to communication between an image forming apparatus and a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8]FIG. 2 is a right side view schematically illustrating a configuration related to communication between an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modified example of an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] An image forming apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0016] First, the overall configuration of image forming apparatus 100 will be described. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the exterior of image forming apparatus 100. Fig. 2 is a front view schematically showing the internal configuration of image forming apparatus 100. In the following description, the front side of the paper in Fig. 2 is the front side (front side) of image forming apparatus 100, and left and right directions will be described based on the direction when image forming apparatus 100 is viewed from the front. In each figure, U, Lo, L, R, Fr, and Rr represent up, down, left, right, front, and rear, respectively.

[0017] The image forming apparatus 100 includes a printing device 1, a document reading device 110, and a document transport device 120. The document reading device 110 is provided above the printing device 1, and the document transport device 120 is provided above the document reading device 110. The document transport device 120 transports a document along a transport path that passes through the reading position of the document reading device 110. The document reading device 110 is a flatbed image scanner that reads a document and generates image data. The printing device 1 forms an image on a sheet S based on the image data.

[0018] The printing device 1 includes a rectangular parallelepiped main housing 3. A paper feed cassette 4 that stores sheets S and a paper feed roller 5 that feeds sheets S from the paper feed cassette 4 to the right are provided at the bottom inside the main housing 3. An imaging device 6 that forms a toner image using an electrophotographic method is provided above the paper feed cassette 4, and a fixing device 7 that fixes the toner image to the sheet S is provided above the fixing device 6. A discharge roller 8 that discharges the sheet S with the fixed toner image and a discharge tray 9 on which the discharged sheet S is stacked are provided above the fixing device 7. A document reading device 110 is provided at the top of the main housing 3, and a contact glass 85 is exposed. The printing device 1 may also be a device that forms images using an inkjet method.

[0019] Inside the main body housing 3, there is provided a conveying path 10 that runs from the paper feed roller 5 through the image forming device 6 and the fixing device 7 to the discharge roller 8. The conveying path 10 is mainly formed of plate-like members that face each other with a gap therebetween to allow the sheet S to pass through, and conveying rollers 17 that hold and convey the sheet S are provided at multiple locations in the conveying direction Y. A registration roller 18 is provided upstream of the image forming device 6 in the conveying direction Y.

[0020] The control unit 2 includes a calculation unit and a storage unit. The calculation unit is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The storage unit includes storage media such as ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). The calculation unit performs various processes by reading and executing control programs stored in the storage unit. Note that the control unit 2 may be realized by only an integrated circuit without using software.

[0021] A display operation unit 19 is provided on the front side of the document reading device 110. The display operation unit 19 includes a display panel 22, a touch panel 23 provided on top of the display surface of the display panel 22, and a keypad 24 adjacent to the display panel 22. The control unit 2 displays screens showing operation menus and statuses of the printing device 1 and the document reading device 110 on the display panel 22, and controls each part of the printing device 1 and the document reading device 110 in response to operations detected by the touch panel 23 and the keypad 24.

[0022] The basic image formation operation of the printing device 1 is as follows: When a print job is input to the printing device 1 from an external computer or the like, the paper feed rollers 5 feed the sheet S from the paper feed cassette 4 to the conveying path 10, the registration rollers 18, whose rotation has been stopped, correct any skew in the sheet S, and the registration rollers 18 feed the sheet S to the image creating device 6 at a predetermined timing. The image creating device 6 forms a toner image and transfers it to the sheet S. Next, the fixing device 7 fixes the toner image to the sheet S, and the discharge rollers 8 discharge the sheet S to the discharge tray 9.

[0023] Next, the communication means provided in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views showing the main body 20 and the display operation unit 19. Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the inside of the display operation unit 19. Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mobile terminal 40 is held over the display operation unit 19. Figure 7 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration related to communication between the image forming apparatus 100 and the mobile terminal 40. Figure 8 is a right side view schematically showing a configuration related to communication between the image forming apparatus 100 and the mobile terminal 40.

[0024] The image forming device 100 comprises a main body 20 that forms images, a display operation unit 19 that displays information and accepts operations, a housing 21 that is connected to the front of the main body 20 and houses the display operation unit 19, an NFC circuit 31 that communicates with the mobile terminal 40 via NFC, a wireless LAN circuit 32 that communicates with the mobile terminal 40 via wireless LAN, and a control unit 2 that establishes a connection with the mobile terminal 40 via the NFC circuit 31 and then sends and receives data to and from the mobile terminal 40 via the wireless LAN circuit 32, and the NFC circuit 31 is housed on the left side of the housing 21.

[0025] [Display operation section] The image forming apparatus 100 is broadly composed of a main body 20 and a display / operation unit 19 (see FIGS. 3, 4, 7, and 8). The main body 20 includes the main body housing 3 described above and all of the components provided therein. The display / operation unit 19 is housed in a housing 21 separate from the main body housing 3. The housing 21 is formed in a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape. Of the two largest faces of the housing 21, the face facing the user is called the front face 21F, and the face opposite the front face 21F is called the back face 21B (see FIG. 8). The display panel 22, touch panel 23, and keypad 24 described above are provided on the front face 21F.

[0026] The front surface of the document reading device 110 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) is located several centimeters behind the front surface of the printing device 1. The surface connecting the right end of the front surface of the printing device 1 and the right end of the front surface of the document reading device 110 is inclined so that the rear is higher than the front. This inclined surface is a support portion 25 that supports the display / operation unit 19. The rear surface 21B of the housing 21 is connected to the support portion 25 via a hinge 25H (see FIG. 8) whose axial direction is the left-right direction, allowing the housing 21 to change its position relative to the main housing 3. The display / operation unit 19 is typically used with the front surface 21F inclined so that the front is slightly lower than the rear (see FIG. 3). When the front portion of the housing 21 is pressed down, the front surface 21F faces forward (see FIG. 4), making it easier for users with low eye positions (such as those using wheelchairs) to operate the display / operation unit 19.

[0027] [NFC circuit] The NFC circuit 31 (see Figures 5 to 8) has a reader / writer function that reads and writes to a contactless IC (Integrated Circuit) tag 41 (see Figure 7) of the mobile terminal 40 (described later) using a communication method that complies with, for example, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) / IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 18092 (NFC IP-1).

[0028] The NFC circuit 31 is disposed on the left side surface inside the housing 21. The NFC circuit 31 is preferably disposed to the left of the touch panel 23 when viewed from the front surface 21F side of the housing 21.

[0029] Communication via NFC is performed when the user holds the mobile terminal 40 over the NFC circuit 31. The position of the NFC circuit 31 is indicated on the front surface 21F of the housing 21 so that it can be seen by the user. For example, the character string "NFC" may be printed, attached, or engraved on the left side of the touch panel 23 on the front surface 21F of the housing 21, or an image of the character string "NFC" may be displayed near the left edge of the display panel 22.

[0030] [Wireless LAN circuit] A housing section 34 (FIGS. 3, 4, 7, and 8) for housing the wireless LAN circuit 32 is provided on the right side of the front of the document reading device 110. The housing section 34 is a generally rectangular parallelepiped space that is elongated in the left-right direction and has an open front, and a removable cover 35 is provided on the front side. The wireless LAN circuit 32 is attached behind the NFC circuit 31. The wireless LAN circuit 32 is a communication interface that communicates using a communication method compliant with the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 series, for example. The wireless LAN circuit 32 is connected to the control section 2 via a signal line 36.

[0031] The NFC circuit 31 and the wireless LAN circuit 32 are connected by a signal line 33 such as a USB cable. The NFC circuit 31 and the wireless LAN circuit 32 are connected using the signal line 33 of a length that does not cause communication problems due to noise generated from the main body 20. The length L of the signal line 33 is preferably 10 cm or less.

[0032] [Control Unit] The control unit 2 is provided, for example, behind the discharge tray 9 in order to suppress the influence of heat from the image forming unit 6, the fixing unit 7, etc. The control unit 2 and the wireless LAN circuit 32 are connected by a signal line 36.

[0033] [Mobile device] The mobile terminal 40 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) is a mobile phone such as a smartphone or a feature phone, a tablet terminal, etc. The mobile terminal 40 includes a contactless IC tag 41 that complies with, for example, ISO / IEC 14443. The mobile terminal 40 also includes a wireless LAN circuit 42 that communicates using a communication method that complies with, for example, the IEEE 802.11 series.

[0034] The NFC circuit 31 provided on the display / operation unit 19 emits radio waves for communication with the mobile terminal 40. The communicable distance D between the NFC circuit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 41 is 10 cm or less. When a user holds the mobile terminal 40 over the NFC circuit 31 at a distance of 10 cm or less, the non-contact IC tag 41 receives radio waves from the NFC circuit 31. The non-contact IC tag 41 then emits a reflected wave, which the NFC circuit 31 receives. The NFC circuit 31 transmits the physical address of the wireless LAN circuit 32 of the image forming apparatus 100 to the non-contact IC tag 41. The non-contact IC tag 41 transmits the physical address of the wireless LAN circuit 42 of the mobile terminal 40 to the non-contact IC tag 41, with the physical address of the wireless LAN circuit 32 of the image forming apparatus 100 as the destination. In this way, the wireless LAN circuit 42 of the mobile terminal 40 and the wireless LAN circuit 32 of the image forming apparatus 100 mutually acquire their physical addresses and establish a connection via wireless LAN.

[0035] When data is transmitted from the mobile terminal 40 to the image forming apparatus 100, the mobile terminal 40 transmits the data from the wireless LAN circuit 42 of the mobile terminal 40, with the physical address of the wireless LAN circuit 32 of the image forming apparatus 100 as the destination. On the other hand, when data is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 to the mobile terminal 40, the control unit 2 transmits the data from the wireless LAN circuit 32 of the image forming apparatus 100, with the physical address of the wireless LAN circuit 42 of the mobile terminal 40 as the destination.

[0036] The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment described above includes a main body 20 that forms images, a display operation unit 19 that displays information and accepts operations, a housing 21 that is connected to the front of the main body 20 and houses the display operation unit 19, an NFC circuit 31 that communicates with the mobile terminal 40 via NFC, a wireless LAN circuit 32 that communicates with the mobile terminal 40 via wireless LAN, and a control unit 2 that establishes a connection with the mobile terminal 40 via the NFC circuit 31 and then transmits and receives data to and from the mobile terminal 40 via the wireless LAN circuit 32, and the NFC circuit 31 is housed on the left side of the housing 21.

[0037] According to this embodiment, when exchanging data between the portable terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 100, a connection is established by holding the portable terminal 40 over the left side of the display operation unit 19. Because the display operation unit 19 and the portable terminal 40 are at the same height as seen by the user, there is no need to move the user's eyes up and down, improving visibility. Also, a right-handed user can hold the portable terminal 40 in their left hand and operate the portable terminal 40 and the display operation unit 19 with their right hand, improving operability. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to improve the visibility and operability of the display operation unit 19 and the portable terminal 40 of the image forming apparatus 100 when using short-range wireless communication.

[0038] Furthermore, in image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment, NFC circuit 31 is disposed to the left of the screen of display operation unit 19. According to this embodiment, when portable terminal 40 is held over NFC circuit 31, overlap between portable terminal 40 and the screen of display operation unit 19 is suppressed, thereby further improving visibility and operability.

[0039] Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment, the NFC circuit 31 and the wireless LAN circuit 32 are connected using a signal line 33 of a length that is long enough to prevent communication failure due to the influence of noise generated from the main body 20. According to this embodiment, it is possible to improve the reliability of the wireless LAN connection between the mobile terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 100 using NFC.

[0040] Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment, the length of the signal line 33 is 10 cm or less. This embodiment can reliably prevent communication between the NFC circuit 31 and the wireless LAN circuit 32 from being affected by noise.

[0041] Furthermore, according to the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment, the housing 21 is hinged to the main body 20 so that its position can be changed. According to this embodiment, even if the position of the display operation unit 19 is changed according to the height of the user's eyes, a wireless LAN connection can be established between the mobile terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 100 using NFC.

[0042] The above embodiment may be modified as follows.

[0043] 9 is a perspective view showing a modification of the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the NFC circuit 31 was housed on the left side of the housing 21. However, the NFC circuit 31 may be provided in multiple locations in the left-right direction within the housing 21, and the control unit 2 may perform communication using an NFC circuit 31 that receives the strongest radio waves among the multiple NFC circuits 31. This modification improves reception sensitivity. Furthermore, a left-handed user can hold the mobile terminal 40 in their right hand and operate the mobile terminal 40 and the display / operation unit 19 with their left hand, improving operability.

[0044] In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the display operation unit 19 housed in the housing 21 is provided outside the main housing 3, but the housing 21 may be embedded in the main housing 3 with the surface 21F (the surface on which the display panel 22, touch panel 23, and keypad 24 are provided) exposed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 2. Control Unit 19 Display operation section 20 Main Unit 21. Cabinet 31 NFC circuit 32 Wireless LAN circuit 33 Signal line 100 Image forming device

Claims

1. a main body that forms an image; a display operation unit that displays information and accepts operations; a housing coupled to a front surface of the main body and accommodating the display operation unit; an NFC circuit for performing NFC communication with a mobile terminal; a wireless LAN circuit for communicating with the mobile terminal via a wireless LAN; a control unit that transmits and receives data to and from the portable terminal via the wireless LAN circuit after establishing a connection with the portable terminal via the NFC circuit, The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the NFC circuit is housed on the left side of the housing.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the NFC circuit is disposed to the left of the screen of the display operation unit.

3. the NFC circuits are provided at a plurality of locations in the left-right direction within the housing, 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs communication using an NFC circuit that receives a stronger radio wave from among the plurality of NFC circuits.

4. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit and the wireless LAN circuit are connected using a signal line of a length sufficient to prevent communication failure due to noise generated from the main body.

5. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the length of the signal line is 10 cm or less.

6. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the housing is hinged to the main body so that the housing can change its position.

Images