Image Form Apparatus State Restoration After Inactivity Logout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face issues with unintended logout during prolonged inactivity, leading to loss of set printing conditions, requiring users to reconfigure settings upon re-login, which is time-consuming and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a state determination unit, authentication unit, operation display unit, storage unit, and returning unit that saves and restores printing conditions and operation states when a user logs back in without performing a logout operation, ensuring continuity of work without deleting set conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automatic logout is implemented after a certain period of inactivity to enhance security, then security is improved, but printing conditions and operation settings are unintentionally deleted, requiring users to reconfigure settings upon re-login
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by saving the operation screen state and printing conditions to the storage unit before automatic logout occurs. This ensures that when the user logs in again, the previously set conditions are already stored and can be restored, eliminating the need for reconfiguration and resolving the time loss issue while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the state parameter by transitioning from a state where logout deletes all settings to a state where logout preserves settings in storage. The storage unit stores the operation screen state (first state) and printing conditions (second state), allowing the system to restore these parameters after login, thus resolving the contradiction between security and time efficiency.
2Productivity
If logout processing is performed after prolonged inactivity during setting operations, then system resource management is improved, but the set conditions are deleted and the initial screen is displayed, requiring users to navigate back to previous functions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by storing the current operation screen state and printing conditions to the storage unit before logout processing is executed. This allows the system to manage resources through logout while preserving the user's work context, so that upon login the user is automatically returned to the previous operation state without needing to navigate back manually.
3Ease of operation
If the operation screen state and printing conditions are stored before logout, then user convenience is improved by enabling state restoration, but storage memory is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by selectively storing only the necessary data (operation screen state and printing conditions) that is specific to the user's current work context, rather than storing all system data. This targeted storage approach improves ease of operation by enabling precise state restoration while minimizing storage memory consumption by storing only the essential local work state.
Data Source
AI summary
When unintended logout is made, printing conditions and a state of an operation screen at the time of the logout are stored. When a user logs in again after this, an image forming apparatus returns to a state before the logout based on the stored printing conditions and the stored state of the operation screen.