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EP-4531388-B1 - IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

EP4531388B1EP 4531388 B1EP4531388 B1EP 4531388B1EP-4531388-B1

Inventors

  • ICHIKAWA, KAZUKI
  • URAKAWA, YUTAKA

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240925

Claims (15)

  1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a user interface; a memory; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to execute a process related to image formation in accordance with a setting value stored in the memory, the controller is configured to execute: a standby screen displaying process of causing the user interface to display a standby screen including a screen display icon; and a setting value storing process of causing the user interface to display a setting screen in response to the screen display icon having been operated on the standby screen, and of causing the memory to store the setting value in response to an operation received on the setting screen, the controller is configured to execute a locked state-transition process of causing the user interface to transition to a locked state in response to an operation received via the user interface, the locked state being a state in which the controller does not allow the user interface to display the setting screen even in a case where the screen display icon is operated, in a case where a temporarily releasing operation of temporarily releasing the locked state is performed in the locked state, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to be in a temporarily released state in which the controller allows the user interface to display the setting screen in response to the screen display icon having been operated, and the controller is configured to end the temporarily released state by a trigger which is different from an operation serving a trigger for the locked state-transition process, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to display a setting screen related to printing, in response to the screen displaying icon having been operated on the standby screen, and the controller is configured to execute a setting value storing process of causing the memory to store the setting value, in response to an operation received with respect to the setting screen related to the printing, and the controller is configured to receive, on the setting screen related to the printing, at least one of an operation of specifying a printer description language to be emulated, an operation of specifying print quality, an operation of specifying whether to turn on double-sided printing or not, an operation of specifying a type of a sheet, an operation of specifying a size of the sheet, and an operation of specifying a print offset.
  2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured so that the trigger for ending the temporarily released state is displaying the setting screen on the user interface in the temporarily released state and then displaying the standby screen.
  3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the controller is configured to cause the user interface in the locked state to display a temporary release icon on the standby screen and is configured so that the temporarily releasing operation is an operation of the temporary release icon.
  4. The image forming apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the controller is configured to receive an operation of instructing release of the locked state via the user interface in the temporary released state, and in a case where the controller receives the operation of instructing release of the locked state, the controller is configured to release both the temporarily released state and the locked state, preferably (i) wherein in the locked state-transition process, the controller is configured not to receive the operation of instructing release of the locked state in the locked state, or (ii) wherein the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state by an operation by a user via a lock setting screen which is displayed in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation of the screen display icon is performed, in a case where the controller receives the operation of instructing release of the locked state via the lock setting screen, the controller is configured to release the locked state, in the locked state, the controller is configured to cause the user interface not to display the lock setting screen in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation corresponding to the operation of the lock setting screen, and in the temporarily released state, the controller is configured to receive the operation of instructing release of the locked state via the lock setting screen by causing the user interface to display the lock setting screen in a case where the predetermined operation including the operation corresponding to the operation of the lock setting screen.
  5. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to release the temporarily released state and to cause the user interface to return to the locked state, triggered by the temporarily released state having been continued for a predetermined period of time, preferably wherein the controller is configured to release the temporarily released state and cause the user interface to return to the locked state, triggered by the temporarily released state having been continued for the predetermined period of time while the standby screen is being displayed.
  6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in a case where an event in which the user interface is operated or an event in which image data is received occurs in a state that the standby screen is displayed during the temporarily released state, the controller is configured to make a time from occurrence of the temporarily released state to release of the temporarily released state longer than in a case where the event does not occur, or wherein in a case where an event involving screen transition occurs in a state that the standby screen is displayed during the temporarily released state, the controller is configured to make a time from occurrence of the temporarily released state to release of the temporarily released state longer than in a case where the event does not occur.
  7. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause the user interface in the temporarily released state to display a re-lock icon, and to release the temporarily released state, triggered by the re-lock icon having been operated, preferably wherein the controller is configured to cause the user interface in the locked state to display a temporary release icon on the standby screen, and to release the temporarily released state, triggered by the re-lock icon having been operated, and in the temporarily released state, the controller is configured not to cause the user interface to display the temporary release icon on the standby screen and to cause the user interface to display the re-lock icon on the standby screen, and to release the temporarily released state, triggered by the re-lock icon having been operated.
  8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 or 7, wherein the controller is configured to prompt for input of a lock temporary release password together with an operation of the temporary release icon displayed on the user interface while the user interface is in the locked state, and the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the temporarily released state in a case where the lock temporary release password is input, preferably wherein the lock temporary release password is a password which is set by an operation by a user via the user interface, more preferably wherein in the locked state-transition process, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state by an operation by a user via a lock setting screen, which is displayed in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation on the standby screen is performed, and to set the lock temporary release password by the operation by the user via the lock setting screen, even more preferably wherein in the locked state-transition process, the controller is configured to prompt for input of a password same as the lock temporary release password also in a case where the controller causes the user interface to transition to the locked state by the operation by the user via the lock setting screen, and to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state in a case where the password same as the lock temporary release password is input.
  9. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to prompt for input of an administrator password as the temporarily releasing operation, and the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the temporarily released state in a case where the administrator password is input, preferably (i) wherein the administrator password is a password configured to be set by an administrator or a password set at a time of manufacture of the image forming apparatus, or (ii) wherein in a case where the controller causes the user interface to transition to the locked state by an operation of a user via an administrator screen which is displayed, in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation on the standby screen and the input of the administrator password is performed, the controller is configured to prompt for the input of the administrator password, and in a case where the administrator password is input, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state.
  10. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein while the user interface is in the locked state, the controller is configured to prompt for input of a lock temporary release password together with a trigger for releasing the temporarily released state, and in a case where the lock temporary release password is input, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the temporarily released state, and in a case where the lock temporary release password is not set, the controller is configured to not to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state, preferably wherein the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state by an operation by a user via a lock setting screen which is displayed in a case where a predetermined operation is performed, in a case where the predetermined operation of displaying the lock setting screen is performed and where the lock temporary release password has not been set, the controller is configured to request the lock temporary release password to be set, and in a case where the lock temporary release password is set, the controller is configured to display the lock setting screen.
  11. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause the user interface to transition to the locked state by an operation by a user via a lock setting screen which is displayed in a case where a predetermined operation is performed, in a case where the predetermined operation of displaying the lock setting screen is performed and where the lock temporary release password has not been set, the controller is configured to request the lock temporary release password to be set, and in a case where the lock temporary release password is set, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to display the lock setting screen.
  12. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in a case where the controller receives, while the user interface is in the temporary released state, an operation of instructing release of the locked state, the controller is configured to release both the temporarily released state and the locked state, and in a case where the controller receives, while the user interface is in the locked state, the operation of instructing the release of the locked state and an administrator password, the controller is configured to release the locked state.
  13. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in a case where the controller receives, while the user interface is in the locked state, the operation of instructing the release of the locked state via an administrator screen which is displayed in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation on the standby screen and input of the administrator password is performed, the controller is configured to release the locked state, the administrator screen being configured to be a screen different from the setting screen which ceases to be displayed while the user interface is in the locked state.
  14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to display a temporary release icon on the standby screen, while the user interface is in the locked state, and an operation of the temporary release icon is configured to trigger to release the locked state, and the controller is configured to display an administrator screen icon on the standby screen, and to display the administrator screen in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation on the administrator screen icon and the input of the administrator password is performed.
  15. The image forming apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to display a temporary release icon on the standby screen, while the user interface is in the locked state, and in a case where the temporary release icon is operated, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to be in the temporarily released state, the controller is configured to display an administrator screen icon on the standby screen while the user interface is in the temporarily released state, and in a case where a predetermined operation including an operation on the administrator screen icon and input of an administrator password is performed, the controller is configured to display an administrator screen, and in a case where the controller receives an operation instructing release of the locked state via the administrator screen, the controller is configured to release the locked state.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a technique of an image forming apparatus having a user interface capable of displaying a screen. BACKGROUND ART Patent Literature 1 describes an image forming apparatus which causes a user interface to display a setting screen, and which causes a memory to store a setting value in accordance with an operation received with respect to the setting screen. In a case where the image forming apparatus receives an instruction to be in a locked state, from an external apparatus such as a PC via a network, the image forming apparatus does not permit the display of the setting screen through the user interface. Citation List [Patent Literature] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. JP2018-191057 corresponding to US Patent Application Publication No. US2018/0316802 A1. SUMMARY Problem to be solved by the invention: The invention described in Patent Literature 1 requires switching between the transition of the image forming apparatus to the locked state and the release of the image forming apparatus from the locked state, by the instruction from the external apparatus such as the PC, etc. Therefore, in a case where the user interface which is in the locked state is caused to display the setting screen, a user is forced to perform a complicated operation such as operating the external apparatus. The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problem. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the display of the setting screen and the non-display of the setting screen in the user interface, which is in the locked state, without forcing the user to perform any complicated operation. Solution to the problem: An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a user interface; a memory; and a controller. The controller is configured to execute a process related to image formation in accordance with a setting value stored in the memory. The controller is configured to execute: a standby screen displaying process of causing the user interface to display a standby screen including a screen display icon; and a setting value storing process of causing the user interface to display a setting screen in response to the screen display icon having been operated on the standby screen, and of causing the memory to store the setting value in response to an operation received on the setting screen. The controller is configured to execute a locked state-transition process of causing the user interface to transition to a locked state in response to an operation received via the user interface, the locked state being a state in which the controller does not allow the user interface to display the setting screen even in a case where the screen display icon is operated. In a case where a temporarily releasing operation of temporarily releasing the locked state is performed in the locked state, the controller is configured to cause the user interface to be in a temporarily released state in which the controller allows the user interface to display the setting screen in response to the screen display icon having been operated, and the controller is configured to end the temporarily released state by a trigger which is different from an operation serving a trigger for the locked state-transition process. The controller is configured to cause the user interface to display a setting screen related to printing, in response to the screen displaying icon having been operated on the standby screen, and the controller is configured to execute a setting value storing process of causing the memory to store the setting value, in response to an operation received with respect to the setting screen related to the printing. The controller is configured to receive, on the setting screen related to the printing, at least one of an operation of specifying a printer description language to be emulated, an operation of specifying print quality, an operation of specifying whether to turn on double-sided printing or not, an operation of specifying a type of a sheet, an operation of specifying a size of the sheet, and an operation of specifying a print offset. In the above-described configuration, the controller of the image forming apparatus causes the user interface to transition to the locked state in which the controller does not allow the user interface to display the setting screen even in a case where the screen display icon is operated. Afterward, in a case where the temporarily releasing operation is performed, the controller is configured to cause the user I/F to be in the temporarily released state in which the controller allows the user interface to display the setting screen. Then, triggered by the temporarily released state having been continued for a predetermined period of time, the controller is configured to release the user I/F from the temporarily released