Image forming device

Abstract

To determine the state of usage of a touch panel and display a result of the determination on a display, thereby appropriately supporting cleaning of the touch panel.SOLUTION: In an image forming apparatus 10, a control unit 31 determines whether a person present on the periphery of the image forming apparatus 10 is detected by a human sensor 25, determines whether a touch operation is performed on a touch panel 23, based on results of the determination, counts the number S of users of the image forming apparatus 10, the frequency N of the touch operations on the touch panel 23, or the elapsed time T from the last touch operation on the touch panel 23, and displays, on a display 21, the number S of the users, the frequency N of the touch operations, or the elapsed time T.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with a touch panel that is touch-operated by a user, and more particularly to a technique for displaying the frequency of use of the touch panel on a display unit. [Background technology]

[0002] As is well known, in an image forming apparatus, an image of an original is read by an image reading device, and the image of the original is formed on a recording sheet by an image forming unit. Some image forming apparatuses are equipped with a display unit that displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) and the like, and a touch panel arranged on the screen of the display unit, and detect operations on the GUI displayed on the screen of the display unit through the touch panel and perform operations in response to the operations.

[0003] Here, when an image forming apparatus is used by an unspecified number of people, some users may not want to touch the touch panel carelessly.

[0004] In the display input device described in Patent Document 1, a scanner is placed in the gap between a transparent touch panel and a display screen, and a reference plate is placed above the touch panel. The scanner and the reference plate are connected to each other and moved while the scanner reads the surface of the reference plate via the touch panel. Dirty positions on the touch panel are determined based on the image of the surface of the reference plate that has been read, and the dirty positions are cleaned using a brush or the like.

[0005] In addition, the cleaning work support device described in Patent Document 2 uses a camera to capture an image of the surface of a touch panel, detects the location and level of dirt on the touch panel based on the captured image of the touch panel surface, and displays the detected location and level of dirt on the screen of a display device on which the touch panel is overlaid. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-053113 [Patent Document 2] JP 2012-026857 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the surface of the touch panel is read or imaged by a scanner or a camera to detect dirt on the surface of the touch panel, so dirt that cannot be read or imaged cannot be detected. For example, viruses and bacteria cannot be detected. Therefore, even if the surface of the touch panel is dirty with viruses or bacteria, it is not possible to deal with this.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has an object to determine the usage status of a touch panel, display the determination result on a display unit, and provide accurate assistance in cleaning the touch panel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] An image forming device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a display unit, a touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit, a human presence sensor that detects people present in the vicinity of the image forming device, and a control unit that determines whether or not a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device has been detected by the human presence sensor and determines whether or not a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, or measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, or the elapsed time on the display unit. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, the usage status of the touch panel is determined and the determination result is displayed on the display unit, thereby providing appropriate assistance in cleaning the touch panel. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3A] 11 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for causing the display unit to display the number of users of the image forming apparatus, the number of touch operations on the touch panel, and the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel. [Figure 3B] 3B is a flowchart showing a control procedure subsequent to FIG. 3A. [Figure 4] 13 is a diagram showing a screen of a display unit on which the number of users of the image forming apparatus, the number of touch operations on the touch panel, the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, etc. are displayed. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a modified example of the operation unit of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a plan view showing another modified example of the operation unit of the image forming apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment is an MFP (multi-function peripheral) having multiple functions such as a copy function, a printer function, and a facsimile function. The image forming apparatus 10 includes an image reading unit 11 and an image forming unit 12.

[0014] The image reading unit 11 has an image pickup element (such as a CCD sensor) that optically reads an image of a document, and an analog output of this image pickup element is converted into a digital signal to generate image data representing the image of the document.

[0015] The image forming section 12 forms an image represented by the image data on a recording sheet, and includes an image forming unit 3M for magenta, an image forming unit 3C for cyan, an image forming unit 3Y for yellow, and an image forming unit 3Bk for black. In each of the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk, the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is uniformly charged, the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is exposed to light, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4, the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is developed into a toner image, and the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 5. As a result, a color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 5. This color toner image is secondarily transferred to the recording sheet P conveyed from the paper feed section 14 through the conveying path 8 in the nip area N between the intermediate transfer belt 5 and the secondary transfer roller 6.

[0016] Thereafter, the recording paper P is heated and pressed in the fixing device 15 so that the toner image on the recording paper P is fixed by thermocompression, and the recording paper P is then discharged onto a discharge tray 17 via discharge rollers 16 .

[0017] Next, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the main internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an image reading unit 11, an image forming unit 12, a display unit 21, an operation unit 22, a touch panel 23, a human sensor 25, a storage unit 28, and a control unit 29. These components are capable of transmitting and receiving data or signals to and from each other via a bus.

[0018] The display unit 21 is configured with a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

[0019] The operation unit 22 includes physical keys such as a numeric keypad, a decision key, and a start key.

[0020] A touch panel 23 is disposed on the screen of the display section 21. The touch panel 23 is a so-called resistive film type or capacitive type touch panel, which detects a contact (touch) made by a user's finger or the like on the touch panel 23 together with the contact position, and outputs a detection signal indicating the coordinates of the contact position to a control section 31 (described later) of the control unit 29, etc.

[0021] The human presence sensor 25 is a known sensor that detects a person in front of the image forming apparatus 10. For example, the human presence sensor 25 is an infrared sensor that detects infrared rays emitted from a human body.

[0022] The storage unit 28 is a large-capacity storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD) or a hard disk drive (HDD), and stores various application programs and various data.

[0023] The control unit 29 is composed of a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), etc. The control unit 29 functions as a control unit 31 by the processor executing a control program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 28.

[0024] The control unit 31 comprehensively controls the image forming apparatus 10. The control unit 29 is connected to the image reading unit 11, the image forming unit 12, the display unit 21, the operation unit 22, the touch panel 23, the storage unit 28, etc. The control unit 31 controls the operation of these components and transmits and receives signals or data between these components.

[0025] The control unit 31 serves as a processing unit that executes various processes necessary for image formation by the image forming apparatus 10. The control unit 31 also has a function of controlling the display operation of the display unit .

[0026] Furthermore, the control unit 31 accepts operation instructions input by the user based on a detection signal output from the touch panel 23 or an operation of a physical key of the operation unit 22. For example, the control unit 31 accepts a touch operation on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 through the touch panel 23.

[0027] In addition, the control unit 31 acquires the detection output of the human presence sensor (infrared sensor) 25, and determines that a person is present if the acquired detection output is equal to or greater than a preset threshold, and determines that a person is not present if the acquired detection output is less than the preset threshold.

[0028] In an image forming device 10 configured as described above, for example, when a user places a document in the image reading unit 11 and instructs the execution of a copy job by operating a GUI displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 via the touch panel 23 or by operating the operation unit 22, the control unit 31 accepts the instruction and causes the image reading unit 11 to read the image of the document, and causes the image forming unit 12 to print this image on recording paper.

[0029] However, when the image forming apparatus 10 is used by an unspecified number of people, some users may not want to inadvertently touch the touch panel 23 of the image forming apparatus 10. For this reason, it is desirable for the user to know the usage status of the touch panel 23 and determine the need for cleaning the touch panel 23.

[0030] Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10, as shown in FIG. 1, a human sensor 25 is provided in the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 10 and is arranged at a predetermined position close to the display unit 21 and the operation unit 22. When a user stands in front of the image forming apparatus 10 to operate the touch panel 23 and the operation unit 22 provided on the screen of the display unit 21, the human sensor 25 detects the user. Based on the detection output from the human sensor 25, the control unit 31 determines whether or not a person is present around the image forming apparatus 10 and determines whether or not a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel 23. Based on these determination results, the control unit 31 counts the number of users S of the image forming apparatus 10, the number of touch operations N on the touch panel 23, and the time T elapsed since the last touch operation on the touch panel 23. Furthermore, the control unit 31 causes the display unit 21 to display the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the time T elapsed since the last touch operation. The user looks at the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation displayed on the display unit 21, and knows the frequency of use of the touch panel 23, and judges the need to clean the touch panel 23, etc.

[0031] Next, a control procedure for displaying on the display unit 21 the number S of users of the image forming device 10, the number N of touch operations on the touch panel 23, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation on the touch panel 23 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in Figures 3A and 3B.

[0032] The control unit 31 acquires the detection output of the human sensor 25 and waits for the detection output to reach or exceed a preset threshold, that is, for the human sensor 25 to detect a user (S101 "No"). When a user approaches the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 10, the detection output of the human sensor 25 reaches or exceeds the threshold. When the detection output of the human sensor 25 reaches or exceeds the threshold and the control unit 31 determines that a user is present in the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 10 (S101 "Yes"), the control unit 31 then determines whether the image forming apparatus 10 is in a sleep state (S102). The sleep state is a state in which the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 10 is reduced. It takes a certain amount of time to return from the sleep state to a normal operating state.

[0033] When the control unit 31 determines that the image forming apparatus 10 is in a sleep state (S102 "Yes"), it starts returning the image forming apparatus 10 from the sleep state to a normal operation state (S103), and proceeds to S104 and subsequent steps.

[0034] Furthermore, if the control unit 31 determines that the image forming apparatus 10 is not in a sleep state (S102 "No"), the image forming apparatus 10 is in a normal operating state, and therefore the process proceeds to S104 and subsequent steps without performing S103.

[0035] The control unit 31 reads out from the storage unit 28 the number S of users of the image forming device 10, the number N of touch operations on the touch panel 23, and the time T that has elapsed since the last touch operation on the touch panel 23 (S104). Furthermore, the control unit 31 determines whether the number S of users, the number N of touch operations, and the time T that has elapsed since the last touch operation that have been read out are 0 (S105). The number S of users, the number N of touch operations, and the time T that has elapsed since the last touch operation are counted and stored in the storage unit 28 for the use of the image forming device 10 prior to this point by a user other than the user determined to exist in S101.

[0036] Here, when the control unit 31 determines that the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the time elapsed since the last touch operation T are not 0 (S105 "No"), it displays the number of users S (S≧1), the number of touch operations N (N≧1), and the time elapsed since the last touch operation T (T≧1) read out in S104 in a window W1 on the screen of the display unit 21 (S106), as shown in the example of Fig. 4. After this, the process proceeds to S107 and subsequent steps.

[0037] In S106, under display control by the control unit 31, not only the window W1 but also a message M encouraging the user to operate the reset button when cleaning the touch panel 23 and a window W2 showing the reset button RB are displayed on the screen of the display unit 21.

[0038] Under the display control by the control unit 31, the window W1 is erased from the screen of the display unit 21 when the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation are reset to 0, as described later. In addition, the control unit 31 may display the window W1 continuously or intermittently, or may limit the display time of the window W1.

[0039] The window W2 is always displayed on the screen of the display unit 21 under the display control of the control unit 31.

[0040] Furthermore, when the control unit 31 determines that the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the time elapsed since the last touch operation T are all 0 (S105 “Yes”), the process proceeds to S107 without performing S106. That is, the process proceeds to S107 and onwards without displaying the window W1 (the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the time elapsed since the last touch operation T) on the screen of the display unit 21.

[0041] Then, the control unit 31 determines whether the detection output by the human presence sensor 25 indicates that the user is not being detected (S107), and determines whether the user has performed a touch operation on the touch panel 23 (S108).

[0042] Here, when the control unit 31 detects a touch operation on the touch panel 23 (S108 "Yes") without determining that a user is not present based on the detection output from the human presence sensor 25 (S107 "No"), that is, when the user performs a touch operation on the touch panel 23 in front of the image forming apparatus 10, the control unit 31 determines whether the detected touch operation is for inputting a reset command, in this case, whether it is for the reset button RB of the window W2 shown in FIG. 4 (S109).

[0043] Here, a window W1 is displayed on the screen of the display unit 21, and a user looks at the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation in window W1 to know the frequency of use of the touch panel 23, looks at a message M in window W2, touches the reset button RB, and cleans the touch panel 23.

[0044] In this case, the control unit 31 detects a touch operation on the reset button RB through the touch panel 23 and determines that a reset instruction has been received based on the touch operation (S109 "Yes"). Then, the control unit 31 starts measuring the elapsed time tt from the time of receiving the reset instruction and waits until the elapsed time tt reaches a preset cleaning time Δtt (for example, 10 seconds) (S110 "No"). When the control unit 31 determines that the elapsed time tt has reached the cleaning time Δtt (S110 "Yes"), it resets the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation stored in the memory unit 28 to 0 (S111), and erases the window W1 (the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation) from the screen of the display unit 21 (S112). This is because it can be assumed that cleaning of the touch panel 23 has been completed. After this, the process returns to S107.

[0045] Furthermore, regardless of whether window W1 is displayed on the screen of display unit 21 or not, the process will be described when the user touches a GUI or the like displayed on the screen of display unit 21 to execute a copy job or the like, without touching the reset button RB.

[0046] In this case, the control unit 31 detects a touch operation on the touch panel 23 (S108 "Yes") without determining that a user is not present based on the detection output from the human sensor 25 (S107 "No"). Then, the control unit 31 detects a touch operation through the touch panel 23, but does not detect a touch operation on the reset button RB, and determines that a reset instruction has not been accepted based on the touch operation (S109 "No"). The control unit 31 then determines whether this detected touch operation is the first touch operation since it was determined in S101 that a user is present based on the detection output from the human sensor 25 (S113).

[0047] For example, when the control unit 31 determines that the detected touch operation is the first touch operation (S113 "Yes"), the control unit 31 counts up and updates the number of users S stored in the storage unit 28 (S114). Furthermore, the control unit 31 counts up and updates the number of touch operations N stored in the storage unit 28 (S115).

[0048] When the control unit 31 determines that the detected touch operation is not the first touch operation (S113 "No"), the control unit 31 counts up and updates the number of touch operations N stored in the storage unit 28 (S115) without counting up the number of users S in S114. After that, the process returns to S107.

[0049] For example, if the number of users S stored in memory unit 28, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation are all 0, when the first touch operation is detected after it is determined that a user is present based on the detection output from the human presence sensor 25, the number of users S stored in memory unit 28 is counted up from 0 to 1, and the number of touch operations N stored in memory unit 28 is counted up from 0 to 1.

[0050] Even if the second or subsequent touch operation on the touch panel 23 is detected, the number of users S is not counted up, and each time the second or subsequent touch operation on the touch panel 23 is detected, the number of touch operations N is further counted up by one.

[0051] Furthermore, if the number of users S stored in the memory unit 28 is (S≧1), the number of touch operations N is (N≧1), and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation is (T≧1), when the first touch operation is detected after it is determined that a user is present based on the detection output from the human presence sensor 25, the number of users S is counted up to (S+1) and the number of touch operations N is counted up to (N+1). Even if a second or subsequent touch operation on the touch panel 23 is detected, the number of users S is not counted up, and each time a second or subsequent touch operation on the touch panel 23 is detected, the number of touch operations N is further counted up by one.

[0052] That is, when the first touch operation is detected after it is determined that a user is present based on the detection output from the human presence sensor 25, this user is added to the number of users S, and the number of users S is counted up, and the number of touch operations N is also counted up. Then, every time a second or subsequent touch operation is detected, the number of touch operations N is further counted up.

[0053] Thereafter, when the user finishes using the image forming device 10 and leaves, the control unit 31 determines that the user is no longer present based on the detection output from the human presence sensor 25 (S107 "Yes") without detecting a touch operation on the touch panel 23 (S108 "No"), and at this time determines whether the number of touch operations N stored in the memory unit 28 is 0 (S116).

[0054] For example, when the control unit 31 determines that the number of touch operations N is not 0 (S116 "No"), that is, when the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation have not been reset, the control unit 31 starts measuring the elapsed time T from the time the last touch operation was performed, and updates the elapsed time T stored in the memory unit 28, for example, every time the elapsed time T advances by one minute (S117).

[0055] After that, the control unit 31 temporarily terminates the control procedure shown in Figures 3A and 3B, but continues updating the elapsed time T stored in the memory unit 28 until the control procedure shown in Figures 3A and 3B is resumed.

[0056] Furthermore, when the control unit 31 determines that the number of touch operations N is 0 (S116 “Yes”), that is, when the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation have been reset, the control unit 31 does not update these S, N, and T. In this case, the control procedure shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B ends.

[0057] Before finishing using the image forming apparatus 10 and leaving, the user may touch the reset button RB to input a reset instruction and clean the touch panel 23. In this case, the control unit 31 determines that the reset instruction has been received (S109 "Yes") and determines that the elapsed time tt has reached the cleaning time Δtt (for example, 10 seconds) (S110 "Yes"). At this time, it is assumed that cleaning of the touch panel 23 has been completed, so the control unit 31 resets the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation stored in the storage unit 28 to 0 (S111), and erases the window W1 from the screen of the display unit 21 (S112). After this, the process returns to S107.

[0058] Then, when the control unit 31 determines that the user is no longer present based on the detection output from the human presence sensor 25 (S107 "Yes") and determines that the number of touch operations N stored in the storage unit 28 is 0 (S116 "Yes"), it does not update the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T from the last touch operation. At this time, the control procedure shown in Figs. 3A and 3B ends.

[0059] In this manner, in this embodiment, the human presence sensor 25 determines whether or not a person has been detected in front of the image forming device 10, and determines whether or not a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel 23. Based on these determination results, the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation are counted, and the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation are displayed on the display unit 21. Therefore, the user can know the usage status of the touch panel 23 and determine the need to clean the touch panel 23, etc.

[0060] In the above embodiment, the control unit 31 determines the presence or absence of a user based on whether or not the detection output of the human sensor 25 is equal to or greater than a preset threshold, but this threshold may be changed to appropriately adjust the user detection sensitivity of the human sensor 25. For example, the control unit 31 performs at least one of the following controls: (i) setting the human detection sensitivity of the human sensor 25 higher as the value of the number of users S increases, (ii) setting the human detection sensitivity of the human sensor 25 higher as the value of the number of touch operations N increases, or (iii) setting the human detection sensitivity of the human sensor 25 higher as the value of the elapsed time T decreases.

[0061] As a result, when a user is approaching the image forming apparatus 10, the timing at which the detection output of the human sensor 25 becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value is accelerated. The control unit 31 detects a user approaching the image forming apparatus 10 at an early timing based on the detection output of the human sensor 25, accelerates the return of the image forming apparatus 10 from the sleep state to the normal operation state, and further causes the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation to be displayed promptly on the display unit 21, and advances the timing at which this information is notified to the user. As a result, when the user comes in front of the image forming apparatus 10, the user can reliably see S, N, and T on the screen of the display unit 21, and can prevent inadvertent touch operations on the touch panel 23.

[0062] 5, an LED 41 may be provided on the operation unit 22 of the image forming apparatus 10, and the control unit 31 may light up the LED 41 or change the blinking cycle of the LED 41 according to the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, or the elapsed time T from the last touch operation. For example, the control unit 31 performs at least one of the following controls: (i) the larger the value of the number of users S, the faster the blinking cycle of the LED 41 is set; (ii) the larger the value of the number of touch operations N, the faster the blinking cycle of the LED 41 is set; or (iii) the smaller the value of the elapsed time T, the faster the blinking cycle of the LED 41 is set.

[0063] 6, a blue LED 42B and a red LED 42R may be provided on the operation unit 22 of the image forming apparatus 10, and the control unit 31 may select one of the LEDs 42B and 42R to light up or blink depending on the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, or the time elapsed since the last touch operation T. Furthermore, LEDs of more colors may be provided, and the control unit 31 may selectively light up or blink the LEDs of each color depending on S, N, and T. This makes it possible to inform users approaching the image forming apparatus 10 of the frequency of use of the touch panel 23 at an earlier timing.

[0064] In addition, in the above embodiment, the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation are displayed on the display unit 21, but the control unit 31 may display one of the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, and the elapsed time T since the last touch operation on the display unit 21, or may select two of them and display them on the display unit 21. In this case as well, the user can know the frequency of use of the image forming apparatus 10 and determine the need to clean the touch panel 23, etc.

[0065] For example, the control unit 31 counts the number of touch operations N based on the determination result of whether or not a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel 23, and displays only the number of touch operations N on the display unit 21. In this case, the human sensor 25 may be omitted.

[0066] In addition, the control unit 31 may constantly or intermittently display the number of users S, the number of touch operations N, or the elapsed time T since the last touch operation on the display unit 21, regardless of whether a person is detected by the human presence sensor 25.

[0067] In the above embodiment, a multifunction peripheral is used for explanation, but this is merely an example, and other image forming devices such as a copy machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine may also be used.

[0068] Moreover, the configurations and processes of the above-described embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 are merely examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these configurations and processes. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 10 Image forming device 11 Image reading unit 12 Image forming section 21 Display section 22 Control section 23 Touch Panel 25 Human Sensor 28 Memory section 29 Control Unit 31 Control Unit

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus, A display unit; A touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit; a human presence sensor that detects a person present around the image forming apparatus; an image forming device comprising: a control unit that determines whether a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device is detected by the human presence sensor, and determines whether a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, and measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, and the elapsed time on the display unit.

2. An image forming apparatus, comprising: A display unit; A touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit; a human presence sensor that detects a person present around the image forming apparatus; a control unit that determines whether a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device is detected by the human presence sensor, and determines whether a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, or measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, or the elapsed time on the display unit, Equipped with a reset button that accepts reset instructions from the user, The control unit resets the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time when the reset instruction is received by the reset button.

3. a storage unit that stores the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time, The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines whether the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time are stored in the memory unit when the image forming apparatus returns from a sleep state to a normal operating state, and if it determines that the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time are stored in the memory unit, reads the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time from the memory unit and displays them on the display unit.

4. An image forming apparatus, comprising: A display unit; A touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit; a human presence sensor that detects a person present around the image forming apparatus; a control unit that determines whether a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device is detected by the human presence sensor, and determines whether a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, or measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, or the elapsed time on the display unit, The control unit is The larger the value of the number of users, the higher the human detection sensitivity of the human sensor is set. The larger the value of the number of operations, the higher the human detection sensitivity of the human sensor is set. Alternatively, the smaller the value of the elapsed time, the higher the human detection sensitivity of the human sensor is set. An image forming apparatus that performs any one of the above controls.

5. An image forming apparatus, comprising: A display unit; A touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit; a human presence sensor that detects a person present around the image forming apparatus; a control unit that determines whether a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device has been detected by the human presence sensor, and determines whether a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, or measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, or the elapsed time on the display unit; A light emitting unit, The control unit is The larger the value of the number of users, the faster the blinking cycle of the light-emitting unit is set. The larger the value of the number of operations, the shorter the blinking cycle of the light-emitting unit is set. Alternatively, the blinking cycle of the light emitting unit is set to be shorter as the value of the elapsed time is smaller. An image forming apparatus that performs any one of the above controls.

6. An image forming apparatus, A display unit; A touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit; a human presence sensor that detects a person present around the image forming apparatus; a control unit that determines whether a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device has been detected by the human presence sensor, and determines whether a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, or measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, or the elapsed time on the display unit; A plurality of light-emitting units each emitting light in a different color, The control unit selects one of the light-emitting units in accordance with the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time, and causes the selected light-emitting unit to light up or blink.

7. An image forming apparatus, comprising: A display unit; A touch panel provided on a screen of the display unit; a human presence sensor that detects a person present around the image forming apparatus; a control unit that determines whether a person present in the vicinity of the image forming device is detected by the human presence sensor, and determines whether a touch operation has been performed on the touch panel, and based on the results of each of these determinations, counts the number of users of the image forming device, counts the number of touch operations on the touch panel, or measures the elapsed time since the last touch operation on the touch panel, and displays the number of users, the number of touch operations, or the elapsed time on the display unit, The control unit causes the display unit to display the number of users, the number of operations, or the elapsed time, and also causes the display unit to display a message prompting cleaning of the touch panel.

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