JP2003251885A - Digital camera integrating printer and its controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera integrating a printer in which power consumption is saved by performing detection control improved for the consumables information of a consumables pack being set removably in the printer. <P>SOLUTION: The range capable of on/off control of power supply by a user interface is set to exclude a printer section of high power consumption. Power supply to the printer section of high power consumption is limited to a minimum necessary period of actual print out and power supply to the printer section is interrupted during other periods. Furthermore, only when it is required to acquire the consumables information from a consumables pack at the time of setting print, for example, power is supplied to the printer and the consumables information is read in. More than required power supply to the printer section is suppressed by additionally providing a consumables information holding means, and a means for discriminating already read out consumables information in a camera. <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 printer-integrated digital camera and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to improved power consumption control by performing improved detection control of consumable information attached to a printer. Printer integrated digital camera and control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer-integrated digital camera in which a printer unit and a camera unit are housed in an integral housing, an image captured by the camera unit is converted into a visible image on a recording sheet from the integrated printer unit. It can be printed out. At this time, normally, the liquid crystal display of the camera unit and the operation buttons around this liquid crystal display are
It is used as an interface and operated by the user. When outputting the captured image of the subject from the printer unit, the user first operates the buttons and switches of the user interface unit to specify the print, and then prints based on the paper and ink information installed in the printer unit. Image processing is performed, and after this image processing, the captured image is finally printed on the paper. Here, the printer information required for the image processing includes the paper quality (paper type) of the paper loaded in the printer unit, the paper size, the paper application type, the remaining number of sheets, the ink type, and the like.
Image processing is performed based on these pieces of information so that an optimum visible image is printed on the recording paper.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-41 proposed by the present applicant
550 publication, at least one color ink
Consumable cartridge with tank and manual paper feed
The consumable cartridge unit is configured to be detachable from the printer-integrated digital camera device body. Then, the cartridge unit has a rewritable output sheet number memory, which is added to the output sheet number memory for each print output, and the remaining amount of the print sheet is checked after the print output. If there is no print sheet, Has a warning display on the liquid crystal display panel of the camera section prompting the replacement of the consumable cartridge. In this consumable material cartridge, an ink tank containing four color inks of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black as consumable materials, printer paper wound in a roll shape, and coaxially arranged with the printer paper. It has a power supply battery and waste liquid absorption paper. The device disclosed herein also puts the user interface in the camera mode when the mounting of the consumable cartridge is not detected, and the print mode when the mounting of the consumable cartridge is detected. Further, a plurality of types of cartridge units can be mounted, and in the print mode, the paper conveyance of the photographing device with the printer is performed based on a signal from the nonvolatile memory (output number memory) in the mounted cartridge unit. Also, the control of the printing operation is changed according to the type of the cartridge unit. Therefore, it is possible to switch the operation mode of the printer-integrated digital camera by attaching and detaching the cartridge unit, and by simply replacing the cartridge unit, the most suitable paper conveyance and printing operation can be automatically performed. It is configured so that it can be done.

However, when the cartridge unit is mounted, it cannot be used as a camera, and by mounting the cartridge unit, power is supplied to the entire printer-integrated digital camera including the printer engine and printer controller. Therefore, there is a problem in effectively using the limited power capacity. That is, there is a problem that unnecessary power is supplied to the printer unit before the actual printing operation is performed, and battery consumption is accelerated.

Further, since the cartridge has a rewritable non-volatile memory, and the memory holds paper, ink, and these information, the information of the consumable cartridge (pack) is stored in the camera section. In order to obtain, while supplying power to the printer,
It was necessary for the printer unit to read the memory information of the consumable item pack and the camera unit to obtain the information from the printer.

[0006]

However, in a digital camera integrated with a printer, since it is important to improve portability by miniaturization, the power battery is also miniaturized, so that the capacity of the power battery is limited. Has become. Therefore, if the printer power is turned on when the print settings are made on the digital camera side and the printer's paper and ink information is acquired, power is consumed in addition to the original print operation, and the power supply battery There was a problem of reducing the operating time of.

[0007] Also, in response to the user's attachment / detachment or replacement of the consumable pack of the printer,
In other words, in order to make changes to the settings and processes other than the printer section, the power supply on the printer side must be constantly turned on and monitored, which causes a problem of further increasing power consumption.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to cover a range in which power ON / OFF control can be performed by a user interface, excluding a printer section which consumes a lot of power. The power supply to the printer, which consumes a lot of power, is limited to the minimum necessary period for actual print output, and the power supply to the printer is controlled to be off during the period other than that. To provide a digital camera with a built-in printer that saves power consumption by supplying power to the printer and reading the consumable information only when it is necessary to obtain the consumable information from the consumable pack. With the goal.

The second object of the present invention is to:
Further, when the consumable item information has already been read, the acquisition operation of the consumable item information is also suppressed to minimize the printer power-on time and provide a printer-integrated digital camera that saves power consumption. The purpose is to

The third object of the present invention is to:
Further, in the case where the consumable item information has already been read, the printer power supply is maintained in the OFF state until the print image generation unit generates a print job, and a printer integrated digital camera that saves power consumption is provided. With the goal.

The fourth object of the present invention is to:
Furthermore, if the consumable information has already been read, the generated print image data, that is, the presence or absence of the print job is detected, and when the print job is no longer detected, the power supply to the printer unit is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera integrated with a printer which is stopped and saves power consumption.

The fifth object of the present invention is to:
In addition, it is possible to detect the consumables pack attachment / detachment operation efficiently and not to use the read consumables information when non-attachment is detected. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer-integrated digital camera that performs preprocessing so as to obtain consumable item information from a pack.

The sixth object of the present invention is to:
It is another object of the present invention to provide a printer-integrated digital camera that immediately updates the held consumable item information when the consumable item pack changes from the non-attached state to the attached state.

The object of the seventh invention of the present application is to:
In addition, after the print job is generated, before the start of printing, the consumable item information is read and collated with the consumable item information used when the print job was generated, so that control to save power consumption can be executed. Regardless, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer-integrated digital camera that suppresses inaccurate print operations and performs accurate print operations.

A further object of the eighth invention of the present application is to provide a printer-integrated digital camera which can easily and surely detect the attachment / detachment of a consumable pack.

A ninth object of the present invention is to provide a printer-integrated digital camera capable of detecting the subsequent mounting of a consumable pack when the power is turned on after the power is turned off. To aim.

[0017]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a camera unit for picking up and recording an optical image and reproducing the recorded image.
A printer-integrated digital camera comprising: a printer unit for receiving an image signal from the camera unit to print on a sheet; and a power supply unit for supplying power to the camera unit and the printer unit. Power control means for controlling power on / off to parts other than the printer part, and when power supply to parts other than the printer part is on, power control means for controlling on / off power supply to the printer part, and detachable to the printer part Consumable pack detection for detecting the attachment / detachment state of the consumable pack of the printer unit and the built-in consumable pack storing a non-volatile memory for storing information about the consumable unit without supplying power to the printer unit. Means, a consumables information reading means for reading information from a memory in the consumables pack mounted in the printer section, and an image from the camera section When sending to the printer unit and printing on paper, a print setting unit that determines various settings at the time of printing by using the consumable item information, and a print setting unit from the camera unit based on the print setting from the print setting unit. A print job generation unit that converts an image using the consumable item information read from the consumable item reading unit and generates a print job; and the consumable item pack detection unit detects mounting of the consumable item pack. On the basis of the above, the power supply control means and the control means for controlling the consumable goods information reading means so as to obtain the consumable goods information used at the time of the print setting are provided.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
5. The printer-integrated digital camera according to, wherein the consumable item information holding unit that holds the consumable item information obtained by controlling the consumable item information reading unit is provided. Information acquisition flag means for indicating the acquisition status of consumables information from the consumables pack to the consumables information holding means, and data indicating unread when the detection result of the consumables pack detection means indicates non-mounting Is set to, the detection result of the consumables pack detection means indicates mounting, and the consumables information obtained by controlling the consumables information reading means is written in the consumables information holding means Information acquisition flag means set in the data to be represented, the detection result from the consumable goods pack detecting means indicates that the consumable goods pack is in a mounted state, and the consumable goods information When the information acquisition flag means indicates that the data has not been read, the control means controls the power supply control means to start supplying power to the printer, and then controls the consumables information reading means to read. The consumable item information is stored in the consumable item information holding unit, the power source control unit is controlled so as to stop the power supply to the printer after the reading is completed, and the print setting unit has already read the information acquisition flag unit. Is displayed, the information stored in the consumable item information holding unit is used as the information read from the consumable item information reading unit.

The invention described in claim 3 is the same as that of claim 2
The printer-integrated digital camera according to [1], wherein the information acquisition flag means indicates that the consumable information has been read, the print setting means causes the consumable goods to continue even after the printer power supply is stopped. Processing is performed using the consumable item information held in the information holding means, and the control means controls the power supply control means until the print job generation means generates a print job, and keeps the printer power supply stopped. After completion of the print job generation, the power supply control means is controlled to start the printer power supply to execute the printing on the paper, and after the completion of the printing, the power supply control means is controlled to supply the printer power. It is characterized by controlling so as to stop.

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as that of claim 2
The printer-integrated digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition flag means indicates that the consumable goods information has been read, and the printout is performed by using the consumable goods information held in the consumable goods information holding means. The print job generated by the job generating means, the print job being erased after being printed out by the print section, further includes print job detecting means, and the control means When the print job detection means stops detecting the print job after the job detection, the power supply control means is controlled to stop the printer power supply.

The invention described in claim 5 is the invention according to claim 2.
The printer-integrated digital camera according to Item 4, wherein the control unit periodically inputs the detection result of the consumable item information detecting unit, and the input detection result indicates that the consumable item pack is not attached. In addition, the information acquisition flag means is set to data indicating unread.

The invention according to claim 6 is the same as claim 2
The printer integrated digital camera described in (1) above, wherein the control means periodically inputs the detection result of the consumable goods information detecting means, and the inputted detection result indicates the mounting of the consumable goods pack, When the detection result indicates that the printer is not mounted, the power supply control means is controlled to start supplying power to the printer, and then the consumable goods information reading means is controlled to read the consumable goods information, and the read consumable goods information is consumed. It is characterized in that it is held in the article information holding means and the information acquisition flag means is set to data indicating that the reading has been completed.

The invention described in claim 7 is the same as claim 3
Or the printer-integrated digital camera described in 4, wherein the control means, when the print job generation means generates a print job using the information held in the consumables information holding means, (1) When the detection result of the consumables information detection means indicates mounting, the power supply control means is controlled to start power supply to the printer,
Thereafter, by controlling the consumable item information reading unit, the consumable item information read and the consumable item information held in the consumable item information holding unit are collated, and (a) when they match, the generated print is generated.・ Print the job,
(B) If they do not match, execute the defect handling process,
If the print result of the print job is ended or the print execution of the print job is ended according to the content of the mismatch, and (2) the detection result of the consumable item information detection means indicates non-attachment, the print job of the generated print job is It is characterized in that it is controlled so as to end the print execution.

The invention described in claim 8 is the same as claim 1.
The printer-integrated digital camera according to [4], wherein the consumable pack detecting means is configured to mount / contain the consumable pack.
It is characterized by including two terminals that transit between conduction and non-conduction according to non-attachment.

The invention described in claim 9 is the same as claim 2
The printer-integrated digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising initialization means for setting the information acquisition flag means to data indicating unread after turning on the power supply from the power supply part to the parts other than the printer part. It is characterized by being provided.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a digital camera integrated with a printer, comprising a camera section for picking up and recording an optical image and reproducing the recorded image.
A printer-integrated digital camera comprising: a printer unit for receiving an image signal from the camera unit to print on a sheet; and a power supply unit for supplying power to the camera unit and the printer unit. Power supply control step for controlling power on / off to parts other than the printer section, and on / off control to supply power to the printer section when power supply to the section other than the printer section is on, and detachable to the printer section A consumable product pack detecting step for detecting the attachment / detachment state of a consumable product pack that is configured and has a consumable product of the printer unit and a non-volatile memory that stores information about the consumable product without supplying power to the printer unit. And a consumables information reading step of reading information from the memory in the consumables pack attached to the printer unit, and an image from the camera unit. When sending to the printer unit to print on paper, a print setting step of determining various settings at the time of printing using the consumable item information, and the camera unit based on the print setting set in the print setting step Image is converted using the consumables information read in the consumables reading step to generate a print job, and the consumables pack is attached in the consumables pack detection step. It is characterized by further comprising a control step of controlling the power supply control step and the consumables information reading step so as to obtain the consumables information used at the time of the print setting based on the detection.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital camera integrated with a printer of the present invention. Reference numeral 101
Represents a printer-integrated digital camera, and this printer-integrated digital camera is an internal digital camera unit (hereinafter simply referred to as camera) 102.
A printer unit indicated by reference numeral 103 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a printer), a power control circuit indicated by reference numeral 104, a battery indicated by reference numeral 105, a power switch indicated by reference numeral 106, paper, ink, and a memory holding these pieces of information are incorporated. A consumable pack indicated by reference numeral 107, a pack interface indicated by reference numeral 108 for electrically and mechanically coupling the printer 103 and the consumable goods pack 107, and a mounting indicated by reference numeral 109 by which the camera 102 detects mounting of the consumable pack 107. It is composed of a detection signal line and a communication line 110 for communicating between the camera 102 and the printer 103.

Although not shown, a user interface as a printer-integrated digital camera is assumed to be included in the camera section as described above in FIG.

The camera 102 and the printer 103 are controlled by separate CPUs, communicate with each other via the communication line 110, and send and receive control commands, status, data, and the like. Further, the camera 102 detects whether or not the consumable pack 107 is attached to the printer 103 via the attachment detection signal line 109. Although the mounting detection signal line 109 is output from the printer unit, the mounting detection signal line 109 is configured to appear on the mounting detection signal line 109 without supplying power to the printer 103. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the detection signal 109 pulled up to the power source of the camera unit by the pull-up resistor 201 is grounded via the terminals 202 and 203 of the pack interface 108 when the consumable pack is attached. The circuit may be configured in. When the consumables pack 107 is attached, the terminals 202 and 203 are short-circuited, and when the consumables pack 107 is not attached, the terminals 202 and 203 are open, and the presence or absence of the attachment can be detected from the signal level regardless of the printer power supply state. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, a switch 301 may be provided on the printer side of the pack interface 108 to control the grounding of the detection signal 109. In this case, the output terminal of the switch 301 is normally open, and the plunger 302 is mechanically pushed to be closed only when the consumable pack 107 is attached.

The consumable pack 107 includes paper, ink,
And a memory (E) that holds those information (consumable information).
Built-in EPROM). When the printer 103 is powered on, the consumable item information can be read and written from this memory. This memory holds paper type, size, layout, paper remaining information, ink remaining information, and the like as consumable information. The camera 102 uses the communication line 11
0 to communicate with the printer 103, but the printer 10
When receiving a memory information acquisition command for the consumable item pack 107 from the camera 102, the information 3 reads information from this memory via the pack interface 108 and returns the read memory information to the camera 102 via the communication line 110.

The above-mentioned print settings will be described. From the user interface of the camera section,
(1) Designation of image to be printed, (2) Number of images to be printed on paper (for example, 1 image or 8 divided images), (3) Bordered / None, (4) Dated / None, (5) The number of prints, etc. are set. When the borderless border is selected as the printout form and the trimming function is provided, it is also assumed that an operation of setting the trimming amount while referring to the liquid crystal display is also executed. In these settings, the switches are usually operated according to the contents displayed on the liquid crystal display of the camera section. It should be noted that the 8-division image is a mode for 8-division sticker paper, and the other modes are for papers different from the sticker paper.

When using the printer-integrated digital camera, the power switch 106 is operated to start the camera 10 first.
Turn on the power of 2. This switch may be a soft power ON switch in which the power supply control circuit 104 supplies power to a part of the camera 102 after the battery 105 is mounted, and the power supply is turned on softly, or the power supply switch 106 directly controls the power supply control circuit 104. It is also possible to use a hardware power ON switch to turn on the camera power. At the time when the camera power is turned on, the power control circuit 104 is not supplying power to the printer 103. The power supply to the printer 103 is instructed to the power control circuit 104 from the user interface of the camera 102, or the CP of the camera is supplied.
It is controlled by U.

(Initialization Processing for Consumables Pack at Power-on of Camera) FIG. 4 shows an operation sequence example regarding acquisition of consumables information of the camera CPU after only the camera 102 is first powered on. After turning on the power (S401),
The information acquisition flag indicating the acquisition status of the consumables information from the consumables pack is cleared (S402) and initialized to the unacquired state. After that, when the consumable item pack is attached, the consumable item information acquisition process (S403) is performed. After that, in order to detect the consumable item information periodically, the consumable item information acquisition process equivalent to S403 is registered as a cyclic activation handler (S40).
4), start of cyclic activation (S405) is set. If the consumable item pack is not attached, the consumable item information acquisition process (S403) is skipped and the above-described step S40 is performed.
The processes of 4 to S406 are sequentially executed. This processing is, for example, registering a handler program for acquiring consumable item information in the periodic timer interrupt setting and the periodic activation processing when an interrupt occurs. As a result, it is possible to periodically read the mounting state of the consumables pack and the consumables information at the time of mounting.

(Processing of Handler Program for Acquiring Consumables Information) Handler for acquiring the above-mentioned consumables information
FIG. 5 shows a sequence example in which the program acquires consumable item information. First, the detection process for mounting the consumable pack (S50
Perform 2). When the mounting of the consumable item pack is not detected, the information acquisition flag is cleared (S504), and the process ends. When the mounting of the consumable item pack is detected, the information acquisition flag is confirmed (S505), and when the flag = 1 (information has been acquired), the process ends. If the flag is 0 (information not acquired), it is confirmed whether the printer power supply is already in the ON state (S506). If it is already in the ON state, the printer power supply flag is set to 1 (S507), and it is OFF. The printer power supply flag = 0 (S508)
Then, the printer power is turned on (S509). This printer power supply flag holds the printer power supply state before this acquisition processing. Next, the consumable item information is read (S510). Confirm normal read completion (S51
1) When the reading is completed, the consumable information is displayed on the camera 10
2 is held (S512), and the information acquisition flag = 1 is set (S513). Next, the presence / absence of a print job is detected (S514), and if there is a job, the consumable item information acquisition process is terminated while the printer power is on. If there is no print job, the printer power flag is confirmed (S515). When the printer power supply flag = 1, it means that the printer power supply was in the ON state for some reason before the processing was started, and the processing is ended as it is. If the printer power supply flag = 0, the printer power supply was turned on at the start of this process, and the printer power supply was turned off again.
(S516), the consumables information acquisition process ends.

(Processing During Printing Including Print Setting by User) FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processing sequence during printing including print setting by the user. After the power is turned on, the user operates the user interface of the camera 102 to take a picture. When printing the photographed image, the user interface is operated to first select the print setting mode (S602) and perform various printing settings (S603). At this time, various settings are made according to the paper size, layout (for example, sticker paper, etc.), remaining number of sheets, ink remaining status, etc., and print setting information is generated. When the print setting information is generated, the consumable item information that is acquired and held in the camera 102 is used.

When the print setting is completed and the operation to start printing is performed, the consumable information is used to print
Job generation is started (S606). Then, the print job generation process is completed. Subsequent step S6
The processes from 10 onward are processes including a fail-safe process when printing is performed on the printer unit.

First, it is confirmed that the consumable pack is attached (S60
8) Is done. Here, if the consumable item pack is not attached, the print process is stopped and the process returns to the state where the first print setting is selected (S602). When the consumable pack is attached, power is supplied to the printer unit (S60
9). Here, since the conditions for reading the consumable item information from the consumable item pack are complete, the consumable item information is acquired again (S
610), and compares and collates with the consumable item information used in the processing so far (S612).

Here, the reason why the comparison of the old and new consumable information is executed will be described. At this stage, that is, at the time of printing, the consumable item information may be different from that at the time of setting. For example, when the power supply of the camera is maintained ON, the mounted consumable pack is exchanged for another consumable pack within the interval period of the acquisition processing of the consumable information that is periodically activated. If it is assumed, the consumable item information of the latest consumable item pack cannot be acquired until the next power-on by only the processes shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The probability that such a thing will occur is estimated from the relationship between the above-mentioned interval period and the time required for replacement work from removal to completion of mounting. always,
If the relationship of interval period <time required for replacement work is established, such a probability will be zero. For example, if the interval period is 20 seconds, it can be removed within 20 seconds and a new consumable pack installed. Is possible,
It cannot be said that the probability is zero. However, even if the consumable item information of the attached consumable item pack is not acquired, the consumable item information that is read out in the past and held internally and the consumable item information of the currently attached consumable item are substantially The same case can be clearly assumed. For example, it is assumed that the number of printed sheets is set to three, but the number of remaining sheets in the consumable item information of the new consumable item pack is one. In this case, one sheet can be printed without any problem. However, if it is intended to perform sticker printing (for example, eight-division image) and the paper in the consumable pack that is installed is not sticker paper, it must be said that there is a problem in printing as it is. It can also be assumed that the user will often replace consumable packs of the same type.

Assuming an acquisition error of the latest consumable item information of such a consumable item pack, and even if an acquisition error is made, it is not necessarily the same as the consumable item information acquired by the above-described consumable item information acquisition process that is periodically activated. The processing that is supposed to be the same is executed. Therefore, as described above, the consumable item information that has already been acquired is used to make print settings and the like, and a confirmation operation is performed when printing is started.

It is checked whether or not the print setting information read in step S610 is consistent with the latest consumable information already held in the camera 102 (S612). If there is no inconsistency, print processing (S614) is performed. When the mismatch occurs, the user is notified, for example, when only one of the set number of sheets can be printed, the user is notified using the liquid crystal display. Alternatively, if the paper type is different, the print setting information is corrected with new information, and a mismatch handling process (S616) such as recreating a print job is performed, and it is determined whether to continue printing according to the content of the mismatch ( S617). For example, in the case of the remaining number of sheets or the type of sheet, the above-described mismatch handling processing is executed, and then the printing processing (S614) is executed.
For example, when the remaining amount of paper is zero and the output image expected by the user cannot be output, it is determined that the process cannot be continued and the process ends.

In FIG. 6, the print job (S614) is shown to be executed after the print job generation processing (S606) is completed, that is, after the processing of all the images to be printed is completed. Generation process (S6
06) and the print processing (S614) are performed in parallel, for example, after the processing of a partial print job is completed, that portion is printed and the remaining portion is processed during printing. To be

When the print processing (S614) is completed,
The power supplied to the printer unit is turned off.

As described above, the print processing of the photographed image is (1) the print setting processing by the user on the premise of the consumable item information, and (2) the consumable item based on the print setting. The process includes a print job generation process using information, (3) and finally, a print process of actually printing on paper using the generated print job. In the above steps (1) and (2) of the above steps, acquisition of consumables information that is premised or used, periodical detection of the mounting of consumables, and mounting Scans, and prohibits scanning if the device is still attached, avoiding exhaustion of the battery as a power source and always using the latest consumable information even when the consumable pack is replaced. Processing can be performed.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the two processes of detecting the mounting of the consumable item pack and reading the consumable item information are performed in the same process (the program shown in FIG. 5) that is periodically activated. It is also possible to separately configure. The second embodiment shows a case where the above two processes are separated. An example of the processing sequence in the case of the second embodiment is shown in FIGS. Here, the camera 102 registers the sequence program shown in FIG. 7 as a cyclic activation handler in the processing shown in FIG. The program shown in FIG. 7 detects whether or not a consumable pack is attached (702), and if it is attached, ends the process as it is, and if not installed, clears the information acquisition flag (704) and ends. is there.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a consumables information reading sequence, which is a subset of the program shown in FIG. This reading sequence is activated at the time when the consumable information is required at the time of print setting, at the start of printing, or the like. In this sequence, the result of the processing shown in FIG. 7 is checked. Step S802
In, information acquisition flag = 0 (information not acquired)? Is confirmed. Only when the information acquisition flag = 0 and the mounting of the consumables pack is detected, the consumables information is acquired from the consumables pack. In this case, the process of step 403 is unnecessary in the initialization process when the power is turned on shown in FIG. In other words, except when the consumable item information is needed, the information acquisition flag is only set to zero by the periodic non-attachment detection of the consumable item pack, and the consumable item is attached only when the consumable item information is required. Confirm that the consumable item information will be acquired.

Here, since the non-wearing of the consumables pack is detected periodically, as described above, the non-wearing state of the consumables pack is shortened due to the relationship between the cycle interval and the replacement time of the consumables pack. There is a possibility that can not be detected. However, also in the second embodiment, the presence of this possibility can be ignored by performing the processing shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, the process shown in FIG. 8 is executed at the time of step S603 shown in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 6 is usually operated by the user so as to be a continuous process in terms of time. Therefore, when the processing in step S603 is performed,
It is assumed that there is no time gap between when 610 is executed. Therefore, in the second embodiment, step S61 of the sequence as shown in FIG.
In 0, the information acquisition flag is confirmed and the information acquisition flag is 0.
Unless otherwise, it is not necessary to read the consumable item information processing, and the processing can be simplified.

[0048]

As described above, according to the first invention of the present application, the range in which the power ON / OFF control can be performed by the user interface is the range excluding the printer section which consumes much power, The power supply to the printer that consumes a lot of power is limited to the minimum necessary period for actual print output, and the power supply to the printer is controlled to be cut off during periods other than that. The power is supplied to the printer to read the consumable information only when it is necessary to acquire the consumable information, so that unnecessary power supply can be eliminated and the power can be saved.

According to the second invention of the present application,
Furthermore, when the consumable item information has already been read, the acquisition operation of the consumable item information is also suppressed, so that the printer power-on time can be minimized and power consumption can be saved.

According to the third invention of the present application,
Further, when the consumable item information has already been read, the printer power is kept off until the print image generating means generates a print job. In other words, the power is supplied to the printer immediately before the true printing. Therefore, the power consumption can be saved.

According to the fourth invention of the present application,
Furthermore, if the consumables information has already been read, the generated print image data, that is, the presence or absence of a print job is detected, and the power supply to the printer is stopped when the print job is no longer detected. As a result, power consumption can be saved.

Further, according to the fifth and sixth inventions of the present application, since the consumables pack attaching / detaching operation is efficiently detected, the consumables pack immediately after the next one is consumed is consumed. Pre-processing can be performed to obtain product information.

According to the seventh invention of the present application,
Furthermore, after generating a print job and before starting printing, consumable information is read after power is supplied to the printer and collated with the consumable information used when generating the print job to save power consumption. In spite of executing the control, it is possible to suppress an incorrect print operation and perform an accurate print operation.

According to the eighth invention of the present application,
The attachment / detachment of the consumable pack can be detected easily and reliably by using the power supply on the camera side.

According to the ninth invention of the present application,
Even if the user removes or replaces the consumables pack while the camera power is off, after the power is on, the consumables information is read from the consumables pack as long as the consumables pack is installed or after the replacement. Product information can be updated.

Also in the tenth invention according to the present application, as in the first invention, unnecessary power supply can be eliminated to save power.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mounting detection unit for a consumable item pack in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a mounting detection unit for a consumable product pack.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation sequence regarding acquisition of consumable item information at the time of initialization after the power of the camera is turned on.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a consumables pack mounting detection and consumables information reading sequence.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processing sequence at the time of printing including print settings by a user.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing detection of consumable item pack mounting according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a consumable item information reading sequence according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Printer integrated digital camera 102 Digital camera section 103 printer section 104 power supply control circuit 105 batteries 106 power switch 107 Consumables Pack 108 pack interface 201 pull-up resistor 202 electrical contacts 203 electrical contacts 301 switch

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 3/12 G06F 3/12 W H04N 5/76 H04N 5/76 EF term (reference) 2C055 CC01 CC03 CC05 2C061 AP10 HH11 HK08 HT07 HT11 5B021 AA30 MM01 5C052 AA11 CC01 DD02 FA02 FA03 FA04 FA09 FB01 FE07 FE08 FE09

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A camera unit that captures and records an optical image and reproduces the recorded image, a printer unit that receives an image signal from the camera unit and prints on paper, and the camera unit and the printer unit. In a printer-integrated digital camera having a power supply unit for supplying power, the printer controls the power supply from the power supply unit to the units other than the printer unit to be turned on and off, and when the power supply to units other than the printer unit is turned on. A power control unit that controls on / off of power supply to the printer unit, a consumable unit that is detachably attached to the printer unit, and has a built-in consumable item of the printer unit and a nonvolatile memory that stores information about the consumable item. A consumable pack detecting means for detecting the attachment / detachment state with respect to the consumable pack without supplying power to the printer section, and a device in the consumable pack attached to the printer section. Consumables information reading means for reading information from the printer, and print settings for determining various settings at the time of printing by using the consumables information when the image from the camera unit is sent to the printer unit and printed on paper. And a print job generating means for converting an image from the camera section using consumable item information read by the consumable item reading means to generate a print job based on the print setting from the print setting means. And controlling the power supply control means and the consumable goods information reading means so as to obtain the consumable goods information to be used at the time of the print setting based on the consumable goods pack detecting means detecting the mounting of the consumable goods pack. A printer-integrated digital camera, characterized in that it is provided with control means for controlling. 2. A consumable item information holding unit provided outside the printer unit for holding the expendable item information obtained by controlling the expendable item information reading unit, and expendable item information from the expendable item pack. Is an information acquisition flag means indicating the acquisition status of the consumable goods information holding means, and is set to data indicating unread when the detection result of the consumable goods pack detecting means indicates non-attachment, When the detection result of the detection means indicates mounting, and when the consumable information obtained by controlling the consumable information reading means is written in the consumable information holding means, information acquisition set to data indicating read A flag means is further provided, and the detection result from the consumable goods pack detection means indicates that the consumable goods pack is in a mounted state, and the information acquisition means that the consumable goods information has not been read. When the flag means indicates, the control means controls the power supply control means to start supplying power to the printer, and then controls the consumable goods information reading means to read the consumable goods information read as the consumable goods information. The power supply control means is controlled so that the power is supplied to the holding means and the power supply to the printer is stopped after the reading is completed, and the print setting means, when the information acquisition flag means indicates the read, 2. The printer-integrated digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the information held by the consumable goods information holding means is used as the information read by the goods information reading means. 3. When the information acquisition flag means indicates that the consumable goods information has been read, the print setting means holds the consumable goods information in the consumable goods information holding means even after the supply of power to the printer is stopped. Processing using information, the control means controls the power supply control means to keep the printer power supply stopped until the print job generation means generates a print job, and after the print job generation is completed. Controlling the power supply control means to start power supply to the printer to perform printing on a sheet, and control the power supply control means to stop the power supply to the printer after completion of printing. The printer integrated digital camera according to claim 2. 4. The information acquisition flag means indicates that the consumable goods information has been read, and the print job generated by the print job generating means using the consumable goods information held in the consumable goods information holding means. A print job detecting unit that detects the presence or absence of a print job that is a job and is erased after being printed out by the print unit is provided. 3. The printer-integrated digital camera according to claim 2, wherein when the job is no longer detected after being detected, the power supply control means is controlled to stop the printer power supply. 5. The control means periodically inputs the detection result of the consumable goods information detecting means, and when the input detection result indicates that the consumable goods pack is not attached, the information acquisition flag means is set. 3. The printer-integrated digital camera according to claim 2, wherein the data is set to represent unread. 6. The control means periodically inputs the detection result of the consumable goods information detecting means, the inputted detection result shows the mounting of the consumable goods pack, and the previous detection result shows non-mounting. In this case, after controlling the power supply control means to start supplying power to the printer, the consumable goods information reading means is controlled to read the consumable goods information, and the read consumable goods information is held in the consumable goods information holding means, 3. The printer-integrated digital camera according to claim 2, wherein the information acquisition flag means is set to data indicating that the information has been read. 7. When the print job generating means generates a print job by using the information held in the consumable goods information holding means, the control means is (1) the consumable goods information detecting means. If the detection result indicates that the printer is mounted, the power supply control means is controlled to start supplying power to the printer, and then the consumable goods information reading means is controlled to read the consumable goods information and the consumable goods information. The consumable information held in the holding means is collated, (a) if it matches, the generated print job is printed, and (b) if it does not match, trouble handling processing is executed. Then, the printing is executed according to the content of the mismatch, or the print execution of the print job is ended. (2) If the detection result of the consumable item information detecting means indicates non-attachment, the generation is performed. Printer integrated digital camera according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the controller controls so as to terminate the printing run of the print job. 8. The consumable item pack detecting means is configured to include two terminals that transit between conduction and non-conduction in accordance with attachment / non-attachment of the consumable item pack. Item 1. A digital camera integrated with a printer according to item 1. 9. The apparatus further comprises initialization means for setting the information acquisition flag means to data indicating unread after turning on the power supply from the power supply part to the parts other than the printer part. 2. A printer-integrated digital camera according to item 2. 10. A camera unit for picking up and recording an optical image and reproducing the recorded image, a printer unit for receiving an image signal from the camera unit and printing on a sheet, and the camera unit and the printer unit. In a printer-integrated digital camera having a power supply unit for supplying power, the printer controls ON / OFF of power supply from the power supply unit to the units other than the printer unit, and when the power supply to units other than the printer unit is ON, the printer A power control step of controlling on / off of power supply to the printer section, and a consumable component which is detachably attached to the printer section and which includes a consumable item of the printer section and a nonvolatile memory for accumulating information about the consumable item. A consumables pack detection step of detecting the attachment / detachment state of the consumables pack without supplying power to the printer unit, and Consumables information reading step of reading information from the memory unit, and print settings for determining various settings at the time of printing by using the consumables information when the image from the camera unit is sent to the printer unit and printed on paper. And a print setting that is performed in the print setting step, the image from the camera unit is converted using the consumable information read in the consumable reading step to generate a print job. Based on the job generation step and the detection of the mounting of the consumable pack in the consumable pack detection step, the power control step and the consumable information reading so as to obtain the consumable information used for the print setting. A method for controlling a digital camera integrated with a printer, comprising a control step for controlling a step.