A detection unit detects a presence of an individual near an image forming apparatus during a sleep mode in which an image forming unit, an image reading unit, and a user interface unit enter a sleep state of non-conduction. An individual specifying unit specifies the individual detected by the detection unit. A determination unit determines whether there is a printing job corresponding to the individual specified by the individual specifying unit. A control unit warms up a heater by causing the fixer to transition from the sleep state to a ready state when the determination unit determines that there is the printing job corresponding to the individual specified by the individual specifying unit. Conversely, the control unit maintains the fixer in the sleep state when the determination unit determines that there is no printing job corresponding to the individual specified by the individual specifying unit.

An input apparatus comprises a touch panel, a hardware key, a sensor, and a controller. The sensor detects a signal indicating an operation by a user received by the touch panel. The controller determines whether or not an external noise is contained in the signal. The controller controls operations of the touch panel and the hardware key based on a determination result.

In one embodiment, an image forming apparatus has a discharge portion and a guide member. The discharge portion has a space surrounded by wall surfaces of a chassis, and a side opening portion to open the space. The discharge portion receives a sheet to be discharged from a discharge port of the chassis, and houses the sheet in the space so that the sheet can be taken out from the side opening portion. The guide member is arranged at an end portion in the side opening portion, and extends toward upward from the rear side toward the front side of the chassis.

A method for uniquely identifying mailpieces having non-personalized enclosures during an inserting and printing process in a mailpieces production system, the method including: creating a Job file containing at least a mailing list of addresses to be printed on mailpieces, allocating a distinct mailpiece identifier for a mailpiece, allocating a temporary machine identifier to a non-personalized enclosure extracted from an insert feeder of the mailpiece production system, associating said temporary machine identifier with said distinct mailpiece identifier and recording the mailpiece identifier as being in process, creating the mailpiece by inserting at least the non-personalized enclosure into an envelope, printing on the envelope an address associated with the mailpiece identifier, and recording the mailpiece identifier as being inserted.

Generally, a job management apparatus of the present embodiment which sends a print job to an image forming apparatus comprises a communication section and a controller. The communication section communicates with the image forming apparatus and a delivery apparatus configured to deliver a sheet printed by the image forming apparatus to a delivery destination. The controller calculates printing time relating to completion of execution of the print job by the image forming apparatus and first arrival time when the delivery apparatus reaches the image forming apparatus and enables the image forming apparatus to execute the print job at a timing when the image forming apparatus can complete the execution of the print job by the first arrival time.

A remote editing card printing system by using mobile handsets includes a card printer for printing cards having a specific size. The card printer includes a transformer for transferring instructions into machine codes for instructing a printing unit of the card printer to print cards with predetermine drawings or texts on cards; A layout editor installed on the electronic computer device; the layout editor causing a user to input printing instructions or layout instructions through an I/O device of the electronic computer device to edit a layout of a card and thus causing the printing unit to print the cards based on the layout and printing instructions. The layout editor may be installed on an electronic computer device or a cloud device, and an APP is installed on a handset to be connected to the layout editor so that a user may edit the instructions directly on the APP, or the layout editor is installed on the handset directly.

A braille tactile sensation presenting device includes a tactile sensation presenting unit, a camera, a finger location specifying section, a braille conversion section, and a control section. The tactile sensation presenting unit applies ultrasonic stimulation to a finger of a user and causes the user to feel a tactile sensation. The camera shoots the user. The finger location specifying section specifies, from an image shot by the camera, a position of the finger of the user being held out in the air. The braille conversion section converts given character string into braille. The control section performs control of automatic scrolling on the braille converted by the braille conversion section and control of causing the tactile sensation presenting unit to output, to the position of the finger of the user specified by the finger location specifying section, ultrasonic stimulation representing each character of the braille to be automatically scrolled.

A touch operation device displays a lock release screen on a touch screen. The lock release screen includes a plurality of guides which are arranged according to a predetermined rule and a plurality of symbols which are arranged around the guides. One of the guides is set to a start guide. Release symbols are arranged around the start guide. The touch operation device releases lock state when the first guide of an input pattern agrees with the start guide and the shape of the input pattern agrees with the shape of a release pattern.

An information processing apparatus in which a plurality of applications operate, the apparatus comprising: a detection unit which detects a change, in a display unit, of screens respectively corresponding to the plurality of applications; and a control unit which performs control when, in accordance with a screen of an application displayed in the display unit, the application exclusively uses a USB device USB-connected to the information processing apparatus; wherein if a change of the screen is detected by the detection unit, the control unit performs control so as to forcibly close usage of the USB device by an application for which usage of the USB device is permitted, and permit usage of the USB device to an application corresponding to a screen after the change.

An image forming apparatus includes an image formation unit that executes image formation processing to form an image, a control unit, and an interface unit including a display unit and a touch panel. The touch panel includes first detection points and second detection points. The control unit can control the image formation unit in accordance with a first mode of accepting a first instruction from the touch panel, and a second mode of accepting the second instruction from the touch panel. The control unit permits switching from the first mode to the second mode when contact with the eleven or more first detection points is detected and when contact with the one or more second detection points is not detected.