Image Forming Apparatus Error Screens via Terminal Position
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to efficiently display user-friendly error handling screens on user terminals when a user approaches specific areas within a multifunctional image forming apparatus, making it difficult for users to address errors in devices that are not directly visible from the main control interface.
Innovation Solution
An information processing system that uses Bluetooth 5.1 to determine the distance and angle of a user's terminal relative to the apparatus, enabling it to display error handling screens on the user's terminal corresponding to the specific area where the error has occurred, thereby facilitating error resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If error handling screens are displayed on the main control interface, then users can access error information, but users cannot efficiently access error handling for areas not directly visible from the main interface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a user terminal (smartphone, tablet, or wearable device) as an intermediary between the image forming apparatus and the user. The control unit transmits area-specific error handling screens to the user terminal based on the user's position and orientation detected by the detection unit. This allows users to access detailed error information for specific areas without cluttering the main control interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the error handling display from the two-dimensional main control interface to a separate user terminal device, creating an additional display dimension. The detection unit determines the user's position and orientation in three-dimensional space, and the control unit selects which area's error information to display on the user terminal based on this spatial information, enabling area-specific error handling without limiting the main interface.
2Reliability
If the system displays all error handling screens on the main interface, then all error information is available, but the interface becomes complex and difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the error handling information by physical area of the image forming apparatus (e.g., paper feed unit, printing unit, finishing unit). The detection unit identifies which area the user is facing, and the control unit displays only the relevant area's error handling screen on the user terminal. This segmentation allows complete error information to be available across different areas while keeping each individual display simple and focused.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the error handling display dynamic by continuously monitoring the user's position and orientation through the detection unit. When the user moves or changes orientation, the system dynamically updates which area's error information is displayed on the user terminal. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to provide relevant information without requiring a complex static interface that attempts to show all information at once.
3Ease of operation
If the system uses position detection to display area-specific screens, then user-friendly error handling is achieved, but additional detection components and processing are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the user terminal serve multiple functions: it acts as both the display device for error handling screens and the communication interface between the user and the image forming apparatus. The detection unit's position and orientation detection capabilities are used universally to control not only error handling displays but also potentially other user interface functions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the user's own terminal device (smartphone, tablet, or wearable) to display error handling information, rather than requiring the image forming apparatus to have additional display components for each area. The user terminal serves itself as the display medium, and the detection unit leverages existing sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras) in the user terminal to determine user position and orientation, reducing the need for additional detection hardware in the image forming apparatus.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing system includes a processor, wherein the processor: acquires information on a distance and an angle of a user terminal with respect to a specific position; and displays, on a display unit of the user terminal, a screen corresponding to a specific area when detecting that the user terminal is present within a range set with reference to the specific area among a plurality of areas of the information processing system using the information on the distance and the angle of the user terminal.