JP2002254765A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus which plans to lower a consumption of electric power of a controller. SOLUTION: An apparatus of this invention is provided with an interface control 5 and a controlling section 10 spreading an image data received in RAM area and transmitting the data to an engine plot section through an engine I/F control section 8 as a VIDEO data. And the apparatus is provided with ROM section 3 in which a program of the apparatus is accommodated, CPU section 1 carrying the center of the controller of this apparatus, an operating section 6 feeding a setting information, an indicating section 7 indicating the information and ASIC section 2 controlling each device of the controller. As to this structure, a memory residual value of standard embarkation is calculated according to detection of memory residual value and a source for increased memory is ON/OFF controlled when a memory capacity is insufficient. Lowering consumption of electric power is planed to make by ON/OFF control of the source for increased memory.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having a power control unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image forming apparatuses have generally been required to reduce power consumption. In particular, in recent image processing apparatuses, low power consumption has been demanded by the Energy Conservation Law and international energy stars. Until now, many devices including printers have been developing products for providing the energy saving mode function, but further reduction in power consumption is required in the future.

In such a situation, a plurality of slots for additional memories are provided on a board of a general image forming apparatus, and one additional memory module has a memory capacity of several hundred megabytes. If a plurality of slots for additional memory are provided, the total capacity of future controller boards may be in the order of gigabytes.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, on the other hand, just because the memory is added does not mean that the capacity is always used 100%, but the operating state of the controller and the type of image data to be developed are not always utilized. The required memory capacity varies depending on the data amount and the image development method. For example, when printing a single text document or the like that does not require a large amount of memory in the standby state, the standard memory capacity is sufficient, and an additional memory area is not required.

According to the present invention, when the memory capacity of the additional memory is required, the power supply to the additional memory is turned on.
Control means for turning off the power supply to the additional memory is provided. Accordingly, it is an object to provide an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing power consumption of an additional memory module and reducing power consumption of a controller.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the received image data is provided in the RAM area with the interface control for controlling the communication with the external device, and is converted into VIDEO data to the engine plotting section via the engine I / F control section. A ROM that has a control to send out, and stores a program of the apparatus and a CPU that plays a central role in the printer controller
And an operation unit for inputting setting information, a display unit for displaying the input setting information and apparatus status information, and an ASIC unit for controlling each device of the controller. An object of the present invention is to provide a control means for calculating a quantity value, turning ON the power for the additional memory when the memory capacity is insufficient, and performing ON / OFF control of the power for the additional memory.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the first aspect, when there are a plurality of slots for an additional memory, the remaining amount of the available standard mounted memory is detected by the memory remaining amount detecting means. Means for turning ON only the additional memory power supply slots for the required memory capacity when it is determined that the memory capacity is insufficient, that is, power ON / OFF control can be performed for each slot according to the required memory capacity With the goal.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the first or second aspect, a timer means for turning off the additional memory power only for a certain period of time based on a set value or a timer input from the operation unit is provided. Also, after the specified time has passed since the end of the printing operation, the additional memory power supply is turned off.
It is an object to have control means for performing FF control.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an interface control unit for controlling communication with an external device, and expands received image data into a RAM area to convert the image data into VIDEO data. A control unit for sending to an engine plotting unit via an engine I / F control unit, a ROM unit in which a program of the image forming apparatus is stored, and a CP serving as a center of the printer controller.
U unit and operation unit for inputting setting information, display unit for displaying the input setting information and device status information, ASIC unit for controlling each device of this controller, and standard memory remaining amount by memory remaining amount detecting means It is characterized by comprising a means for calculating a value and turning on the power for the additional memory when the memory capacity is insufficient, that is, a means for turning on / off the power for the additional memory.

[0010] According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect,
In the image forming apparatus described above, when there are a plurality of slots for additional memory, when the remaining amount of the available standard mounted memory is detected by the memory remaining amount detecting means, and it is determined that the memory capacity is insufficient. Means for turning ON only the additional memory power supply slot for the required memory capacity, that is, the power supply for each slot according to the required memory capacity.
A control unit for performing N / OFF control is further provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the additional memory power supply is turned off only during a certain period of time or a set value input from the operation unit.
It is characterized by further comprising timer means for performing F control, and control means for controlling to turn off the power supply of the additional memory after a specified time has elapsed from the end of the printing operation.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a CPU unit 1, an ASIC unit 2, a ROM unit 3,
It comprises a RAM unit 4, an external device I / F control unit 5, an operation unit 6, a display unit 7, an engine I / F control unit 8, an additional memory unit 9, an engine plot control unit 10, and a timer unit 11. You.

The external device I / F control unit 5 has a Centro I / F
F, a serial I / F, a network I / F, and a control unit that enables communication with external devices such as an image data, a drawing command, and drawing information transmitted from the external device. Image data. The image-developed data is converted into VIDEO data via the engine I / F control unit 8 via the engine plot control unit 10.
Is plotted.

The ROM section 3 stores a program for controlling the image forming apparatus. The operation unit 6 and the display unit 7 include button switches, LEDs, a liquid crystal panel, a touch panel, and the like, and input setting conditions for the image forming apparatus, and refer to and notify setting conditions and states of the image forming apparatus. can do.

The setting and reference of ON / OFF control of the additional memory are also performed by the operation unit 6 and the display unit 7. Engine I / F
The interface of the VIDEO data transmitted from the engine I / F control unit 8 and the transmission and reception of the information of the VIDEO data, the status information of each control unit, and the command are performed between the control unit 8 and the engine plot control unit 10. It has an interface.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example at the time of power-on. In FIG. 3, a sequence at power-on will be described. When the power is turned on, the additional memory power supplies are enabled by enabling the control signals b, c, and d to enable the buses of the bus cutoff controllers b, c, and d. Power supply B, C, D
By applying N (apply), the power supply rises at the same timing as the normal power supply (power supply to devices other than the additional memory).
When the power is turned on, each device of the controller is checked and initialized (step S1). After the initialization of each device, the capacity (A) of the standard memory is detected (step S2). The detection of the standard memory capacity is possible even before initialization.

Next, access is made to the additional memory module (additional memory section 9) via the slot of each additional memory,
The memory capacity of each additional memory module is detected (Step S3, Step S4). The additional memory capacity can be detected by accessing a serial presence detect (SPD) device mounted on the SDRAM-DIMM module and obtaining data in which SDRAM-DIMM module information is stored in advance. Here, a description will be given assuming that three slots (slots b, c, and d) are provided as additional slots, and additional memory modules b, c, and d are mounted in the respective slots.

The memory capacity (capacity B, C, D byte) of the slots b, c, and d is detected by the above-described additional memory capacity detection (step S5). Here, it is determined what kind of memory configuration of this system (how much capacity is installed in the standard memory, and how much memory module is installed in each additional memory slot) Then, the memory configuration information is stored in a register in the ASIC, a series of power-on processing is completed, and a transition is made to a standby state (steps S6, S7, S8).

When shifting to the standby state, first, the power control time zone information of the additional memory set in the ASIC section is read in advance (for example, if the time zone flag in the ASIC is set (if the flag bit is 1, ), The power of the additional memory can be turned off), and it is detected that the power supply can be turned off, and the power of each additional memory is turned off.
F (step S9, step S10).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a printing operation. The flow at the time of the printing operation will be described with reference to FIG. The description will be made on the assumption that the printer is in a standby state before printing is started, and the memory power supply for expansion is turned off.

Image data is received by starting print printing from the terminal device via the external device I / F control unit 5 (step S11). The received image data is sent to the CPU
The unit 1 and the ASIC 2 expand the data into the RAM unit 4 (step S12). This data is used as an image development work area that has a standard memory capacity of A (actually, XM bytes are used for storage areas for system programs, etc., and program work areas, etc.). The work area is A-XMbyte, which is described here as X = 0 for convenience.)
Here, assuming that the developed data capacity is A ', the remaining memory available in the standard memory area A is AA'.
It becomes.

Next, it is determined whether the additional memory B is necessary (step S14). It is determined whether the capacity of the additional memory B is necessary. As this determination means, the determination is made based on the ratio (%) of the remaining capacity to the total capacity of the standard mounted memory. For example, if the remaining capacity becomes 30% or less, it is determined that an additional memory is necessary. In this case, since the remaining memory capacity is AA ′ as described above, if the condition of ((AA ′) image forming apparatus 100) １００A ≦ 30 is satisfied, control to turn on the power of the additional memory B is performed. By this power ON,
The access to the additional memory unit B is enabled by the bus cutoff control unit b (step S15).

Here, the ratio (%) of the remaining capacity with respect to the total capacity of the standard memory, which is used as a criterion, may be set in advance by a program. 6 can be set by the user.

Similarly, it is determined whether or not the capacity of the additional memory C is necessary (step S16). The condition that the capacity of the additional memory C is necessary is that the total capacity is
And the sum of the additional memory B. Therefore, assuming that the developed data capacity (the used data capacity) is B ', when it is determined based on the ratio of the remaining capacity to the total memory capacity of 30%, ((A + B-B')) (A + B )) This is when the image forming apparatus 100 ≦ 30 is established.

When the capacity of the additional memory C is required (step S16 / YES), the power of the additional memory C is turned on,
The access to the additional memory unit C is enabled by the bus cutoff control unit c (step S17).

In a similar manner, it is determined whether the additional memory D is necessary (step S18). Further, as another criterion for determining whether an additional memory is necessary, it is possible to make a determination based on a preset threshold value Y. When the remaining memory capacity becomes Y or less, the power supply of the additional memory is controlled to be ON (step S19).

FIG. 2 shows an example of a block configuration of the ASIC unit 2, the RAM unit A (standard memory unit), and the additional memory units B, C and D. Control between the ASIC unit 2 and the memory unit is performed by a data signal, an address signal, and various control signals.
Control signals b, c, and d driven from the ASIC are input as bus release enable signals for the bus cutoff controllers b, c, and d, and the control signals b, c, and d are power ON / OFF controls for the power control unit. It is driven as a signal and opens and closes the bus for the necessary additional memory and powers on / off
F control is performed.

As described above, in the present image forming apparatus, even when the additional memory module is mounted, if the capacity of the additional memory module is not necessary, the power supply to the additional memory and the bus access are cut off. Low power consumption can be achieved.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has an interface control for communicating with an external device, develops the received image data in the RAM area, and converts the received image data into VIDEO data of the engine I / O. A control unit for sending the program to the engine plotting unit via the F control unit, a ROM unit in which a program of the apparatus is stored, a CPU unit serving as a center of the printer controller, an operation unit for inputting setting information, and input setting information thereof Display unit that displays information about the device and the status of the device, and an ASIC unit that controls each device of the controller. The remaining memory value is calculated by the remaining memory detection means, and if the memory capacity is insufficient, it is added. Means for turning on the power supply for the memory, that is, turning on / off the power supply for the additional memory, to achieve low power consumption. Can.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, when there are a plurality of slots for an additional memory, the remaining amount of the standard memory which can be used is determined by the remaining memory detecting means. By detecting and determining that the memory capacity is insufficient, only the additional memory power supply slots for the required memory capacity are turned ON, and power ON / OFF control is performed for each slot according to the required memory capacity. Efficient low power consumption can be achieved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the additional memory power can be controlled to be turned off only for a certain period of time by a set value or a timer input from the operation unit. Means, and by turning off the additional memory power supply after a specified time has elapsed from the end of the printing operation, for example, in a user site where the printing operation is frequently performed in a certain time zone,
Efficient reduction of power consumption can be achieved by invalidating the OFF control of the power ON / OFF additional memory power.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block configuration of an ASIC unit, a RAM unit A (standard memory unit), and additional memories B, C, and D;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example at power-on.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU part 2 ASIC part 3 ROM part 4 RAM part 5 External device I / F control part 6 Operation part 7 Display part 8 Engine I / F control part 9 Additional memory part 10 Engine plot control part 11 Timer part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 1/32 G06F 3/12 K 5B021 1/26 H02J 1/00 307C 5G065 3/12 307E H02J 1/00 307 G06F 1/00 332B 334A 334F F term (reference) 2C061 HH11 HK11 HN15 HT03 HT07 2C087 AB01 AB05 BA03 BC02 BC05 BC07 BD46 DA05 2C187 AE01 2H027 DA03 DA32 DA33 DA35 DA50 DB01 DE07 DE09 EE10 EF07 EF07 ZA07 5B011 EA06 EB08 LL14 MA05 5B021 AA01 MM01 5G065 AA01 EA01 GA04 GA06 KA05 KA06 LA07 MA07

Claims (3)

[Claims] An interface control unit that controls communication with an external device; a control unit that expands received image data in a RAM area and sends the data as VIDEO data to an engine plot unit via an engine I / F control unit; ROM in which the program of the image forming apparatus is stored
Unit, a CPU unit serving as a center of the printer controller, an operation unit for inputting setting information, a display unit for displaying the setting information and information on the apparatus status, and an AS for controlling each device of the printer controller
The standard memory remaining value is calculated by the IC unit and the memory remaining amount detecting means. When the memory capacity is insufficient, the power for the additional memory is controlled to be ON, and the power for the additional memory is turned ON / OFF.
An image forming apparatus, comprising: control means for controlling. 2. When there are a plurality of slots for additional memory, a remaining memory detecting means detects a remaining amount of available standard mounted memory and determines that the memory capacity is insufficient. 2. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for turning ON only an additional memory power supply slot corresponding to a required memory capacity, and performing power ON / OFF control for each slot according to the required memory capacity. Image forming device. 3. A timer means for controlling the turning off of the power supply of the additional memory only for a set value inputted from the operation section or for a predetermined fixed time period, and the additional memory is provided after a lapse of a specified time from the end of the printing operation. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to turn off a power supply of the memory.