Display device and image forming apparatus with same

• US 20070046618A1
• Filed: 08/23/2006
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kyocera MITA Corporation (Kyocera Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kyocera MITA Corporation (Kyocera Corporation)
• Inventors: Imai, Keita
• Application Number:
  US11/508,702
• Publication Number:
  US 20070046618A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/022 in absence of operation, e.g. no data being entered during a predetermined time
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/342 using several illumination sources separately controlled corresponding to different display panel areas, e.g. along one dimension such as lines
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3611 Control of matrices with row and column drivers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

In addition to a normal waiting mode of displaying in a whole screen of a liquid-crystal panel and a first power-saving mode of eliminating the displaying in a whole screen of the liquid-crystal panel, a second power-saving mode of displaying at a part of the liquid-crystal panel is provided. In the normal waiting mode, a controller controls the backlight to turn on a light illuminating a whole area and also controls a touch panel to be turned on. In the first power-saving mode, the controller turns off the light and also turns of the touch panel. In the second power saving mode, the controller controls the display section to display a summarized content of settings at the part of the liquid crystal panel, controls the backlight to turn on the light illuminating the part of the liquid crystal panel and turns off the touch panel.

Claims

1. A display device comprising:

an operation instruction input section allowing an operator to input an operation instruction to make an operational mechanism perform a predetermined operation;

a display section displaying on a display screen contents of the operation instruction inputted to the operation instruction input section by the operator;

a display instruction input section allowing an operator to input a display instruction to make the display section display the operation instruction inputted to the operation instruction input section; and

a controller controlling the display section to suspend the displaying of the contents of the operation instruction if no operation instruction is inputted to the operation instruction input section by the operator for a predetermined time, wherein

the controller controls the display section to display a summarized content of the operation instruction which has been displayed on the display section at a part of the display screen of the display section when the display instruction input section receives the display instruction inputted to the display instruction input section by the operator.

2. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the display section to display the summarized content of the operation instruction only at the part of the display screen of the display section when the display instruction input section receives a display instruction during the time when the displaying of the contents of an operation instruction by the display section is suspended.

3. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the summarized content of the operation instruction is an extraction of the contents of the operation instruction which has been displayed on the display section, and is edited into such a size as to fall within the part of the display screen of the display section.

4. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the summarized content of the operation instruction is a contraction of the contents of the operation instruction which has been displayed on the display section into such a size as to fall within the part of the display screen of the display section.

5. A display device according to claim 1, wherein:

the display section includes a display panel and a backlight illuminating the display panel,

the controller has a full area illumination control mode of illuminating a full area of the display panel and a partial area illumination control mode of partially illuminating the display panel,

the controller switches the backlight to the partial area illumination control mode in the case of displaying the summarized content of the operation instruction at the part of the display screen, and the controller switches the backlight to the full area illumination control mode in the case of displaying contents of the operation instruction on the full area of the display screen.

6. A display device according to claim 5, wherein the display section further includes a touch panel over the display panel receiving an operation instruction inputted by the operator, the controller controls the touch panel to suspend the receiving of an operation instruction when executing the partial area illumination control mode and controls the touch panel to perform the receiving of an operation instruction when executing the full area illumination control mode.

7. A display device according to claim 1, wherein a defect reporting section reporting occurrence of a defect is provided separately from the display section, the controller controls the defect reporting section to report occurrence of a defect when a defect occur during when the summarized contents of the operation instruction is displayed on the display section.

8. A display device according to claim 1, wherein an electric power charging device is provided as an electric power source, the display device is driven by an electric power supplied by the electric power charging device.

9. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the controller allows only the operation instruction input section to receive the operation instruction inputted by the operator while maintaining the state of suspending the displaying by the display section when no operation instruction is inputted to the operation instruction input section by the operator for a predetermined time and the displaying of the contents of the operation instruction by the display section is suspended.

11. An image forming apparatus comprising the display device according to claim 1.

12. An image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:

the operational mechanism is an image forming mechanism;

the operation instruction is an instruction to make the image forming mechanism perform an image forming operation; and

the controller controls the operation instruction input section to receive operation instruction inputted to the operation instruction input section by the operator while maintaining the state of suspending the displaying of the display section when the display section is controlled to suspend the displaying of contents of the operation instruction.

10. A display device including an operation instruction input section allowing an operator to input an operation instruction to make an operational mechanism to perform a predetermined operation comprising:

a display section displaying on a display screen contents of an operation instruction inputted to the operation instruction input section by the operator; and

a controller controlling the display section to suspend the displaying of the contents of the operation instruction when no operation instruction is inputted to the operation instruction input section by the operator for a predetermined time, wherein

the controller controls the operation instruction input section to receive an operation instruction inputted by the operator while maintaining the state of suspending the displaying of the display section when the display section is controlled to suspend displaying contents of the operation instruction on the display section.

13. An image forming apparatus comprising the display device according to claim 10.