JP2001084065A - Power control system for computer peripheral device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize low power consumption of a power control system by turning on a power switch means with an output signal from a device driver on the side of a computer so as to start a data processing means on the side of a peripheral device by a controller. SOLUTION: When the power source of a printer 3, namely a power switch means 32, is in an off state, the means 32 is turned on via an auto line field pin 23X. After driving a controller 31 with it, at the time of outputting an instruction for turning on a power switch means 34 to the controller 31, the controller 31 turns on the means 34 in response to this instruction. As the result, the power source of the means 33 being a data processing means is turned on and then, in accordance with a printer driving signal outputted from a printer driver 21, the means 33 is operated to printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply control system for controlling on / off of the power supply of peripheral devices connected to a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a peripheral device such as a printer connected to a computer is used and when the use is terminated,
It is necessary for the user to switch the power of the peripheral device on and off.If the computer outputs the processing signal of the application when using the peripheral device, the computer is turned off when the power of the peripheral device is turned off. Is notified that the power is off, the application processing is canceled, and the power supply waits.

[0003] In particular, when the peripheral device is not installed near the user, the user moves to the place where the peripheral device is installed at the initial stage of using the peripheral device and at the end of work. It is necessary to turn on and off the power of peripheral devices.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for the operation of the printer after inputting an instruction (print command) from the computer in such a conventional printer. Here, first, when the user operates a mouse or the like to input an instruction for causing the printer to execute printing to the printer driver on the computer (PC) side (step D1), the user inputs the instruction via the parallel port driver. The output signal is supplied to the controller of the printer (step D2). If the power of the controller is on (step D3), the process proceeds to step D8. On the other hand, if the power of the printer is off (step D3), there is no response to the activation signal from the controller, so the printer driver on the computer confirms that the controller is off and proceeds to step D8. On the other hand, if the power of the printer is off (step D3), the display unit indicates that "the power of the printer is off" and that the user can select to continue / stop printing (step D4).

When the user confirms the information notified by the display unit and stops the printing process (step D).
5), the print command is discarded, and printing by the printer is not executed, and the operation shown in FIG. 6 ends (step D).
7).

On the other hand, when the user selects to continue printing (step D5), the user first turns on an external power switch provided in the printer and instructs the printer to execute printing again. input. As a result, the print data is output from the printer drive of the computer to the controller of the printer. At this stage, at least the power of the controller is in the ON state, and thereafter, the printer is driven to execute printing.

[0007]

Here, in order to improve the operability of the peripheral device of the user, that is, the user interface, for example, the peripheral device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-275613 is used. A device for controlling the power on / off of a printer has been proposed.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the device described in this publication. Here, the printer 14 is provided with a signal monitoring circuit 15 and a power on / off circuit (power switch means) 16 for switching the power on and off, and the signal monitoring circuit 15 is provided by an external host computer. The power on / off circuit 16 constantly monitors the power on / off signal output from the power supply 12, and the power on / off circuit 16 controls the power on / off of the printer based on the control signal output from the signal monitoring circuit 15.

However, a power supply for supplying electric power must always be connected to a signal monitoring circuit provided in the power on / off control device of the printer (peripheral device). For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the power consumption of the power supply control system for peripheral devices, and improvement of these has been desired.

[0010] The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and has as its object to reduce the power consumption of a power supply control system for peripheral devices.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention operates a controller of a peripheral device according to an instruction output from a computer, thereby turning on a power supply of the peripheral device. State, and when performing data processing, the power switch means for supplying power to the controller of the peripheral device is turned on by an output signal from a device driver on the computer side. The processing means is configured to start up.

Further, in the present invention, a signal for turning off the power switch means is given from the device driver after a predetermined time after performing data processing in accordance with an instruction from the computer.

In this case, as an embodiment of the present invention, a parallel port driver for supplying an output signal from the device driver to a peripheral device controller includes an auto line field pin which is not used for the peripheral device. On the other hand, it is effective that the output signal is supplied and the corresponding power switch means on the peripheral device side is turned on / off.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an output signal from the device driver is a signal for activating a controller on the device side, and the power switch means is turned on prior to or simultaneously with the signal. Control signal, the latter being supplied to an unused auto line field pin in the parallel port driver, and furthermore, after the data transmission to the data processing circuit is completed, After a lapse of time, it is preferable that the power switch unit be turned off by an output signal from the device driver. As a specific configuration, the peripheral device is a printer and the data processing unit is a printing unit. Cases can be mentioned.

Therefore, in the present invention, the computer side
At the time of a command to start up the peripheral device, the power of the peripheral device can be turned on, and the drive of the peripheral device can be stopped by a command from the computer. In this stopped state, the controller of the peripheral device and the processing means Are turned off, so that the power control system of the peripheral device can achieve low power consumption.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printer power supply control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The printer power control system includes, for example, a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a PC) 2, a printer (peripheral device) 3 connected to the PC 2, an instruction to cause the printer 3 to execute printing, and power on of the printer 3. An input device 1, such as a mouse or a keyboard, for inputting an instruction to turn off is provided.

Further, the PC 2 includes a printer driver 21 for outputting output signals such as a printer driving signal and a data signal for causing the printer 3 to execute printing based on an instruction input by the input device 1, and a printer driver 21. 21
And a timer 24 for stopping the driving of the controller 31 under certain conditions.

The PC 2 has a port 23 having a plurality of pins (not shown) for inputting and outputting a printer drive signal, a data signal, and the like between the parallel port driver 22 and the printer 3. Note that among the plurality of pins, there is usually an unused auto line field pin 23X, which is connected to a part of the parallel port driver.

The printer 3 has a controller 31.
Printing means (data processing means) 3 driven by the control of
3 and a power switch means 34 for a printing means 33 which is turned on / off under the control of the controller 31.

In such a configuration, when the power of the printer 3 is off, the power is not supplied to both the controller 31 and the printing means 33, thereby reducing the power consumption of the system.

Next, the operation of the printer power supply control system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. When, for example, a print command is output from the computer 2 side, it is confirmed whether the power of the printer 3 is on or off. If the power of the printer 3, that is, the power switch means 32 is in the off state, the power switch means 32 is turned on via the auto line / field pin 23x or by a control signal passed therethrough.

Accordingly, the controller 31 is driven.
Output an instruction to turn on the controller 31
Turns on the power switch means 34 in response to this instruction. Thereby, the power of the printing means 33 is turned on,
Thereafter, printing can be performed by operating the printing means 33 in accordance with the printer drive signal output from the printer driver 21.

The power switch means 3 on the printer 3 side
If it is confirmed that the printer 2 is in the ON state, the printing unit 33 can be operated to execute printing in accordance with the printer drive signal output from the printer driver 21 thereafter.

When the printing (data processing) is completed, a signal to the effect that the printing is completed is output to the printer driver 21.
Upon receiving the signal, the printer driver 21 outputs a signal for causing the timer 24 to measure time. Timer 24
Uses the signal as a trigger to measure time.

Thereafter, again within a predetermined time,
If an output signal for driving the printer 3 is not sent from the input device, the auto line field pin 2
A control signal is sent to the power switch means 32 via 3x to turn off the power. On the other hand, if an output signal for driving the printer 3 is sent within a certain time, the printer driver 21 resets the time measured by the timer 24, and then repeats the procedure from the end of printing. .

As described above, in the printer power supply control system according to the present embodiment, the automatic line
By providing a control signal to the printer (peripheral device) 3 using the field pin 23X, the controller 3
1 can be turned on, so that the computer not only controls the power on / off of the printer, but also when the computer is in a non-use state for a long time, such as after work.
A complete power-off state is obtained on the printer side, and low power consumption of the system can be achieved.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
A computer and a peripheral device such as a printer are provided with a required configuration to perform the same functions as those of the above-described embodiment.

In the power supply control system here, based on a command inputted to the CPU 25 by the input device 1, the printer 3 executes printing or confirms whether the power of the printer 3 is on or off; A controller power-on means 27 for switching on and off the power of the controller 31 and a power supply switching means 28 for a printing means for switching on and off the power of the printing means 33 are provided.

The printer 3 includes a response unit 35 for responding to the confirmation signal from the confirmation unit 26, a switch unit 38 for supplying power to the printing unit 33, and a switch unit 38 for supplying power to the controller 31. Switch means 3
7 and port 3 for inputting and outputting data to and from PC2
6 is provided.

It should be noted that, like the port 23, the port 36 normally includes an unused auto line / field pin 36.
X is provided, which is connected to the switch means 37. In addition, members similar to those shown in FIG.
The same reference numerals are given.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the operation of FIG. Here, the operation of the system of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to these. First, when the user operates the input device 1 to input an instruction to turn on the power of the printer 3, the instruction is output to the confirmation unit 26 via the CPU 25.

When the confirmation means 26 inputs this instruction,
The on / off state of the power of the printer 3 is confirmed by a predetermined application program (step A).
1). Specifically, the confirmation unit 26 outputs a confirmation signal to the printer 3 from a predetermined pin (not shown) provided in the port 23. This signal is input to the printer 3 via the corresponding pin of the port 36.

Then, the reply means 35 replies to the confirmation means 26 with a signal according to the ON / OFF state of the power supply of the printer main body. Thereby, the checking unit 26 can check the on / off state of the power of the printer 3.

If the power of the printer 3 is on (step A2), the checking means 26 ends the processing shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the power of the printer 3 is off (step A2), a signal indicating that the power of the printer 3 is off is output to the power-on means 27 of the controller.

When this signal is input, the controller power-on means 27 outputs a switch-on signal in order to turn on the power of the controller 31 and supply power thereto (step A3). This signal is input to the printer 3 via the auto line field pin 23X of the port 23 and the auto line field pin 36X of the port 36.

Then, the switch means 37 is turned on. Thus, power is supplied from the external power supply to the controller 31 (step A4). When power is supplied, the controller 31 outputs a signal to the effect that power has been supplied to the port 36. This signal is input to the confirmation means 26 via the port 23.

The confirmation means 26 receives this signal,
A command signal for outputting a power-on command to turn on the power of the printing unit 33 is output to the power switching unit 28 of the printing unit. When this signal is input, the power supply switching means 28 of the printing means generates a power-on command and outputs it to the controller 31 via the ports 23 and 36 (step A5). This command turns on the switch means 38 so that power can be supplied to the print means 33, for example.

When this command is input, the controller 31 turns on the switch means 38 in accordance with the command. Then, electric power is supplied from an external power supply to the printing means 33 (step A6).

When the switch means 37 is turned on due to a malfunction, power is supplied to the controller 31. However, since a power-on command is not input to the controller 31, the switch means 38 is not supplied.
Is not turned on, and the power of the printing means 33 is not turned on.

Incidentally, the controller 31 is turned on within a certain time (for example, 5 seconds) after the switch means 37 is turned on.
When the power-on command is not input to the controller 31, the controller 31 turns off the switch means 37 and stops the power supplied to itself. Thus, low power consumption can be achieved even in the case of a malfunction.

Subsequently, when the user operates the input device 1 to input an instruction to turn off the power of the printer 3, the instruction is output to the confirmation means 26 via the CPU 25. When this instruction is input, the confirmation unit 26 checks the power on / off state of the printer 3 according to a predetermined application program, for example, in step A.
Confirmation is performed in the same procedure as in Step 1 (Step B1).

When the power of the printer 3 is off (step B2), the checking means 26 ends the processing shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the power of the printer 3 is on (step B2), a command signal for outputting a power-off command to turn off the power of the printing unit 33 to the power switching unit 28 of the printing unit is output.

When this signal is input, the power switching means 28 of the printing means generates a power-off command and outputs it to the controller 31 via the ports 23 and 36 (step B3). This command is for turning off the switch means 38 so that the electric power supplied to the printing means 33 can be stopped, for example.

When this command is input, the controller 31 turns off the switch means 38 in accordance with the command. Thus, the power supplied from the external power supply to the printing unit 33 is stopped. Then, the controller 3
Since there is no signal input / output between the printer 1 and the printer 33, the controller 31 can recognize that the power to the printer 33 has stopped.

Then, the controller 31 uses this as a trigger to turn off the switch means 37. This allows
The supply of power to the controller 31 is stopped, and power is supplied only to the return means 35. Thus, the power of the printer 3 is turned off (step B4).

The embodiment in which the power consumption of the system is reduced by the required configuration has been described above. However, the configuration is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. The controller 31 that recognizes the stop of the power to the power supply 33 may notify the PC 2 of this fact and turn off the controller 31 under the control of the PC 2. By using the timer 24 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, it is possible to further reduce the power consumption of the system.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 5 is a flowchart for a printer operation after a print command is output from the PC 2 to the printer 3 in the system of FIG. Here, first, when the user operates the input device 1,
When an instruction to cause the printer 3 to execute printing is input, the instruction is output to the confirmation unit 26.

When the confirmation means 26 inputs this instruction,
The on / off state of the power of the printer 3 is confirmed by a predetermined application program (step C).
1). The confirmation method is the same as, for example, step A1 (FIG. 2).

When the power of the printer 3 is on (step C2), the checking means 26 proceeds to step C7. On the other hand, when the power of the printer 3 is off (step C2), a signal indicating that the power of the printer 3 is off is output to the power-on means 27 of the controller.

Upon receiving this signal, the controller power-on means 27 outputs a switch-on signal as in step B3 (step C3). This signal is input to the printer 3 and turns on the switch means 37. Thus, power is supplied from the external power supply to the controller 31 (step C4).

Thereafter, as in the second embodiment, the checking means 2
6 outputs a command signal to the power switching means 28 of the printing means to output a power on command.
When this signal is input, the power supply switching means 28 of the printing means generates a power on command and outputs it to the controller 31 (step C5). When this command is input, the controller 31 turns on the switch means 38 according to the command.

Then, electric power is supplied from the external power supply to the printing means 33, and the power supply of the entire printer is turned on (step C6). After the power of the printer 3 is turned on, a print execution command for executing printing is output from the PC 2 to the printer 3 (step C7).
The printing means 33 executes printing according to this command (step C8).

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the power of the peripheral device is turned off, the driving of each of the controller and the data processing means in the peripheral device is stopped. The power consumption of the system can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a power supply control system for a peripheral device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of turning on the power of the printer by the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of turning off the power of the printer by the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a printing operation executed by the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a printer operation of a conventional printer.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a power on / off device of a conventional printer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 input device 2 personal computer (PC) 3, 14 printer (peripheral device) 21 printer driver 22 parallel port driver 23, 36 port 23X, 36X auto line / field pin 24 timer 25 CPU 26 checking means 27 controller power-on means 28 power switching means for printing means 31 reply means 32, 34 power switching means 33 controller 35 printing means 37, 38 switching means

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A controller for a peripheral device is operated in accordance with an instruction output from a computer, whereby a power supply of the peripheral device is turned on, and when processing data, the controller of the peripheral device is transmitted to a controller of the peripheral device. A power switch means for supplying power to the computer, the output signal from a device driver on the computer side being turned on, and the controller is configured to start up data processing means on the peripheral device side. Equipment power control system. 2. A power supply for a computer peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein a signal for turning off said power switch means is given from said device driver after a predetermined time after data processing is performed according to an instruction from a computer. Control system. 3. A parallel port driver for supplying an output signal from the device driver to a controller of the peripheral device includes an automatic port driver not used for the peripheral device.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output signal is supplied to a pin of a line field, and the power switch means on the peripheral device side corresponding to the output signal is turned on / off. A power supply control system for a computer peripheral device according to claim 1. 4. An output signal from the device driver comprises a signal for activating a controller on the device side and a control signal for turning on the power switch means prior to or simultaneously with the signal. 4. The power supply control system according to claim 3, wherein the power is supplied to an unused auto line field pin of the parallel port driver. 5. The power supply control system according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral device is a printer, and the data processing unit is a printing unit.