JP2003223082A - Power source control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the usability of a power source device in which the power is automatically turned off after the lapse of a prescribed time. <P>SOLUTION: Whether or not a vender (a device that allows use of a device suitable for quantity of inserted money by insertion of money) is connected with an electric appliance to be controlled, is judged (S50) and when the vender is judged to be connected, whether or not the remaining money is in the vender is judged (S51). In the case of YES, automatic power-off is prohibited (S55). Thus, the trouble that the automatic power-off is performed when the remaining money is in the vender and the remaining money is cleared, is prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

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 device, and more particularly to a power supply control device for automatically turning on / off a power supply of an electric device to be controlled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a device (hereinafter referred to as an automatic power supply device) for automatically turning on / off a power source of an electric device (for example, a copying machine) has been known. The automatic power supply device is used for the purpose of automatically turning off the power of the device in order to save power when the user does not input the device for a certain period of time.

[0003]

When a vendor device (a device that permits a customer to use the device as much as the amount of money thrown in by money is permitted. The same applies hereinafter) is connected to such an electric device. The following problems arise.

If the power of the device is turned off while the power of the device is being supplied to the vendor device, the power of the vendor device is also turned off. Therefore, even if the remaining money such as coins remains in the vendor device, the remaining money becomes invalid.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve the usability of a device for controlling the power supply of the device to be controlled.

Another object of the present invention is to effectively control a device to which a vendor device is connected.

To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a power supply control device is a power supply for a device to which a vendor device is connected and which has an automatic power-off function for automatically turning off the power supply after a lapse of a predetermined time. The power control device for controlling the power supply control device, the determining means for determining whether or not the vendor device has a balance, and if the determining means determines that the vendor device has a balance, auto power off is performed. And a control means for controlling the power supply of the device to be controlled so as not to operate.

According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the vendor device has the remaining money, and when it is determined that the vendor device has the remaining money, the device to be controlled is controlled so that the auto power off is not performed. Power is controlled. That is, since the power supply of the device to be controlled is controlled according to the presence or absence of the remaining money of the vendor device, the power supply of the device to be controlled is effectively controlled.

Preferably, the control circuit included in the device is
When the power of the device to be controlled is off,
When the determination circuit determines that there is a remaining amount of money, control is performed so that the power of the device to be controlled is turned on.

According to the present invention, when the power of the device to be controlled is off and the vendor device has a balance, the power of the device to be controlled is turned on. As a result, the device to be controlled can be effectively controlled.

Preferably, the power supply control device is built in the device to be controlled. Preferably, the device to be controlled is a copying machine.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an electrophotographic copying machine is taken as an example of a device to be controlled, but the present invention can be applied to any device that is driven electrically.

FIG. 1 is a combination of a sectional view showing an outline of an electrophotographic copying machine 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention and a view showing an outline of a coin bender 200 connected to the electrophotographic copying machine. It is a figure.

The structure of the copying machine main body 100 is basically the same as that of the conventional electrophotographic copying machine. That is, the copying machine body 1
00, the photosensitive drum 103 that can be rotationally driven.
Is provided. Although not shown, a main eraser lamp, a charger, an inter-image eraser lamp, a developing device, a transfer charger, a transfer paper separating charger, a cleaner device, and the like are arranged around the photosensitive drum. The photoconductor drum 103 is irradiated with light by an eraser lamp for each transfer, and is charged by passing through a charging charger. Then, the inter-image eraser removes charge from the front end and the rear end of the image area. Receive image exposure.

In the copying machine main body 100, automatic sheet feeding cassettes 107 to 110 are arranged at respective sheet feeding ports. The copy paper in the automatic paper feed cassette is selectively supplied into the main body 100 of the copying machine by the respective paper feed rollers, is conveyed to the timing roller 102 in the pressure-bonded state through the respective conveyance roller pairs, and once stands by there. To do.

At the time of transfer, the copy paper fed by the timing roller 102 is transferred to the photosensitive drum 1 at the transfer portion.
03, the toner image is transferred by corona discharge of the transfer charger, and then separated from the photosensitive drum 103 by the corona discharge of the separation charger and the rigidity of the transfer paper itself. Subsequently, the copy sheet is sucked onto the conveyance belt 104 provided with the air suction means, and is conveyed leftward in the drawing as the belt 104 rotates.

Next, the conveyed sheet is passed through the fixing device 105 so that the toner image is fused and fixed.
It is discharged to the outside of the copying machine main body 100.

Coin vendor main body 2 connected to a copying machine
00 is a display unit 201 that displays the balance of the inserted money.
A coin insertion slot 202 for inserting coins, a coin return button 203 for returning the inserted coins, and a coin return slot 2 for ejecting the returned coins.
04 and. On the display 201 of the coin vendor,
The balance is displayed as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of a power supply unit provided in the copying machine main body 100. Referring to the figure, the power supply unit is a power supply control unit (24V power supply) 301 for controlling the voltage of the power supply input from the AC power supply AC, and a main switch 303 (reference numeral in FIG. 1) provided in the main body of the copying machine. 111), a main relay 302 controlled by the CPU of the copying machine, and a control unit (5V power supply) 304 for converting the 24V voltage output from the power supply control unit 301 via the main switch 303 into 5V. Prepare

Main relay 30 controlled by CPU
By turning 2 on / off, the power of the copying machine main body can be turned on / off, and the power saving mode can be turned on / off.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration around a CPU included in the copying machine.

Referring to the drawing, the CPU 401 includes a key input section 40 including a ten-key pad, a start key, and the like.
2 and a display unit 403 for displaying the status and mode of the copying machine
A copy control unit 404 for controlling the feeding, exposure, development, transfer and fixing of copy sheets, and a ROM 4 in which a program for controlling the apparatus itself is written.
05, a RAM 406 including a non-volatile memory for storing control data and the like, and a communication interface 407 for exchanging information such as the number of copies, paper size, paper discharge, connection state of the vendor and presence / absence of coins with the coin vendor. With. The CPU 401 operates based on the program written in the ROM 405.

The CPU 401 is supplied with 5V power. Further, the CPU 401 sends a control signal to the main relay 302 to turn on / off the power of the apparatus itself.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration around the CPU of the coin vendor. Referring to the figure, CP
The U501 includes a key input unit 502 including a coin return button and the like, a display unit 503 for displaying the balance of inserted coins, a coin control unit 504 for controlling inserted coins and returned coins, ROM 50 storing a program for controlling a coin vendor
5 and a RAM 506 configured by a non-volatile memory for storing control data and the like, and communication for exchanging information such as the number of copies, paper size, paper discharge, vendor connection status and presence / absence of coins with a copying machine. Interface 507.

CPU 501 operates based on a program stored in ROM 505.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an outline of the processing performed by CPU 401 shown in FIG.

Referring to the figure, when the CPU is reset (power-on, reset by a reset button, etc.) and the program is executed, the CPU is first initialized by clearing the RAM and setting various registers ( Step S30). At this time, the count value TIME of the auto power off timer is also set to the initial value T.
The value of SET is set. Next, an internal timer built in the CPU and having its count value set in advance by initialization is started (step S31).

Next, various subroutine processes necessary for the copy process are performed. That is, the display process (step S3
2), input processing (step S33), copy control (step S34), processing of transmitting and receiving data to and from the vendor (step S35), processing of controlling power on / off (step S36), and other processing ( Step S
37) is sequentially performed.

When all subroutine processing is completed,
Waiting for the completion of the time measurement of the internal timer that was initially set (step S38), ending one routine, and then executing step S38.
Return to 31. Using the length of time of this one routine, various timers appearing in each of the subroutines are measured.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a specific process performed in the power supply control process (step S36) of FIG.

Referring to the figure, in step S40, it is determined whether or not the vendor device is connected to the copying machine. Specifically, this determination can be made by detecting that a vendor's connector is connected to the copying machine, or by transmitting / receiving a signal via the communication interfaces 407 and 507.

If NO in step S40, it is determined in step S41 whether the copying machine is copying. If YES in step S41, it is determined in step S42 whether or not all the keys of the copying machine are off. If YES in step S42, the time TIME until the power is automatically turned off is counted down by 1 in step S43 (step S43). In step S45, it is determined whether TIME is 0 or not. If YES, the power of the copying machine is turned off by turning off the main relay in step S46.

Next, in step S47, it is determined whether or not the main relay is off. If YES, it is determined in step S48 whether or not a coin has been inserted.

If YES in step S48, the main relay is turned on and the power of the copying machine is turned on in step S49.

If YES in step S40 or NO in step S41 or S42, the initial value TSET preset as the value of TIME is set in step S44. Then, the processing from step S47 is performed.

If NO in step S45, the processes from step S47 are performed.

If NO in either step S47 or S48, the processing here is terminated.

The copying machine according to the present embodiment has an automatic power-off function for automatically turning off the power after a predetermined time has passed. However, when the coin vendor is connected, the automatic power-off is not performed. Is controlled. As a result, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience caused when the vendor is connected to the copying machine or the like.

When the main relay is off and a coin is inserted, the main relay is automatically turned on. As a result, the user can use the device only by inserting a coin, and the usability of the device can be improved.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a modification of the flow chart shown in FIG. Referring to FIG.
The flowchart is different from that shown in FIG.
In step S50, it is determined whether or not the vendor is connected, and if YES, step S51
It is a point to judge whether or not the vendor has a balance.

If YES in step S51, the process from step S55 is performed, and if NO, the process from step S52 is performed.

If NO in step S50, the processes from step S52 are performed.

Incidentally, steps S41 to S in FIG.
Since the process at 49 corresponds to the processes at S52 to S60 in FIG. 8, the description thereof will not be repeated here.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 8, control is performed so that the auto power off function does not work only when the vendor has a balance. As a result, it is possible to prevent the problem that the auto power off is performed when the vendor has a balance and the balance is cleared.

It should be noted that such a device for controlling the power supply can be effectively used even in an energy star compatible device which needs to be equipped with an auto power off function.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a copying machine and a coin vendor connected to the copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of contents displayed on a display unit 201 of FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a power supply circuit included in the copying machine 100 of FIG.

4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit included in the copying machine 100 of FIG.

5 is a block diagram of a control circuit included in the coin vendor 200 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process performed by CPU 401 in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a power supply control process (S3 shown in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a process performed in 6).

8 is a flowchart showing a modified example of the flowchart shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 copier, 200 coin bender device, 301,
304 power supply circuit, 302 main relay, 303 main switch, 401, 501 CPU, 407, 507
Communication interface.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G07F 9/00 G03G 21/00 392 17/26 G06F 1/00 334F F term (reference) 2C061 AP04 AQ06 HH11 HJ10 HK19 HT02 HT07 2H027 DA28 DA40 DA43 DA50 DE09 EE10 EF16 EF18 EJ06 EJ18 EJ19 3E044 AA20 BA01 CA01 DB01 DD06 5B011 EA10 KK01 KK02 MA01 MB17

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A power supply control device for controlling the power supply of a device to which a vendor device is connected and which has an auto power-off function for automatically turning off the power supply after a lapse of a predetermined time, wherein the vendor device has a balance. Determining means for determining whether or not there is remaining money in the vendor device by the determining means, and controls the power supply of the device to be controlled so that the auto power off is not performed. A power supply control device comprising: a control means. 2. The control means turns on the power source of the device to be controlled when the determining means determines that there is a balance when the power source of the device to be controlled is off. The control is performed so that
The power supply control device according to. 3. The power supply control device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply control device is built in the device to be controlled. 4. The power supply control device according to claim 1, wherein the device to be controlled is a copying machine.