Image Forming Apparatus with Protocol-Specific Composite Settings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses require users to reconfigure settings when switching between different job execution protocols, such as Scan to PC, Scan to Email, or Scan to USB, leading to reduced usability and inability to handle composite settings effectively.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a storage unit to store composite settings for multiple protocols and a selection unit to choose one composite setting, allowing nonvolatile retention of setting states, with options to change, delete, and display these settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If job setting information is stored and referred to at login to control operation screen in accordance with user authority, then time and effort in setting the job are saved for repeated execution, but when the setting value is changed to execute the routine task for another protocol, the changed setting value is stored and the job for the routine task of the previous protocol requires reconfiguration, which reduces usability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the stored setting information into protocol-specific groups. Each protocol (Scan to PC, Scan to Email, Scan to FTP, Scan to USB) has its own dedicated storage area for routine task settings. This segmentation allows the system to automatically select and apply the appropriate settings group based on the currently selected protocol, preventing cross-contamination of settings between different protocols and eliminating the need for manual reconfiguration when switching protocols.
2Productivity
If a single setting value is stored for each job execution protocol, then the routine task can be executed efficiently, but composite settings that include a plurality of setting values cannot be handled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual setting values into a composite setting structure. Instead of storing single setting values separately, the system combines color settings, file format settings, resolution settings, and other parameters into unified composite setting groups for each protocol. This merging allows the system to manage complex multi-parameter configurations as single units, improving execution efficiency while maintaining the ability to handle diverse composite settings through the protocol-specific storage structure.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus configured to transmit an image in a plurality of methods includes a storage unit configured to store a plurality of settings of the apparatus as composite settings, and a selection unit configured to select one composite setting from among the stored composite settings, wherein the composite settings are defined for each of the plurality of methods.