Image forming apparatus

• US 9,864,315 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2015
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Baba, Motofumi, Nemoto, Yoshihiko, Tachibana, Hidekiyo
• Primary Examiner(s): WALSH, RYAN D
• Application Number:
  US14/923,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20160216671A1
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5091 for user-identification or authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/55 Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/0132 vertical medium transport path at the secondary transfer

Abstract

Provided is an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material, an image capturing unit that captures an image of a user who forms the image, and a control unit that causes the image capturing unit to capture an image in a preset monitoring region when the user does not capture an image using the image capturing unit.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material,

wherein the image forming unit includes a photosensitive drum, a charger and a developing device;

a camera that captures an image of a user who forms the image;

a controller that causes the camera to capture an image in a preset monitoring region when the user does not capture an image using the camera;

a touch panel that receives an operation input from a user or displays various information with respect to the user; and

an abnormality detecting unit that detects an abnormality in the monitoring region,

wherein the controller causes the camera to capture an image in a condition different from a condition before the abnormality is detected, in a case of causing the camera to capture an image in the monitoring region after the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality; and

a lighting control unit configured to control an external lighting device,

wherein when the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality,

the touch panel is moved in a direction in which the abnormality is generated,

if the external lighting device has been turned off, the lighting control unit turns on the external lighting device, and

if the external lighting device has been turned on, the lighting control unit modifies lighting output of the external lighting device,

wherein the controller is configured to perform the functions of the abnormality detecting unit and the lighting control unit.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the controller causes the camera to intermittently capture an image with time intervals, in a case of causing the camera to capture an image in the monitoring region when the abnormality detecting unit does not detect the abnormality.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the controller causes the camera to capture an image at time intervals shorter than time intervals before the abnormality is detected, or to capture an image in a moving image mode, in a case of causing the camera to capture an image in the monitoring region after the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality by analyzing at least one of:

(i) a voice of the user who forms the image; and

(ii) operation sound of the image forming unit.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality by analyzing at least one of:

(i) a voice of the user who forms the image; and

(ii) operation sound of the image forming unit.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality by analyzing at least one of:

(i) a voice of the user who forms the image; and

(ii) operation sound of the image forming unit.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality by analyzing an image acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a hard disk drive that stores image data which is an origin of the image formed by the image forming unit,

wherein image capturing data acquired by capturing the image in the monitoring region using the camera is stored in the hard disk drive.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lighting control unit modifies the lighting output of the external lighting device by increasing the lighting output of the external lighting device.