JP2004098532A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device which reduces an electric power supply to interfaces not used. <P>SOLUTION: A power supply control means 14 and a connection detecting means 21 are set. When the connection detecting means 21 judges that a target interface is in a non use state, the power supply to the interface is stopped by the power supply control means 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus that controls power supply to an interface as an energy saving technology.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, an interface with a host (hereinafter, I / F) has been diversified. For example, there are IEEE1284, RS232C, Ethernet (registered trademark), USB, IEEE1394, IEEE802.11b, Bluetooth, and the like. While the image forming apparatus is provided with one to three I / Fs as standard, a plurality of I / Fs can be optionally provided. However, in most cases, one or two I / Fs are actually used after the image forming apparatus is installed, and very few I / Fs are used. In the conventional image forming apparatus, unnecessary power is consumed because the I / F circuit operates so that data can always be input even to an I / F that is not used without being connected to a cable. There were drawbacks.
In some cases, power consumption is reduced in a standby state (see Patent Document 1). However, when used as a network printer, there is an I / F that is not used even if it is supplied with power as described above, even in an actual use state.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-6-255213
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that reduces power consumption even in an actual use state, for example, when used as a network printer. Specifically, each claim has the following purpose.
[0005]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power output control unit that does not supply a power output to the I / F, and a connection detection unit that detects a connection status of each I / F to the outside. An object is to reduce power consumption of the image forming apparatus by not supplying a power output to the determined I / F.
[0006]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power output control unit that does not supply a power output to the I / F, and a connection detection unit that detects a connection state to the outside even when there is no power output to each I / F. The object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption of the image forming apparatus and improve the convenience when the I / F is connected during use by not supplying the power output to the I / F determined to be not connected to the outside. I do.
[0007]
According to the third aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, the power supply output is supplied in an emergency by temporarily enabling the power supply output to the I / F to which the power supply output is not supplied. The purpose is to be able to use no I / F.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces to which data is externally input, a power output control unit that does not supply a power output to one or more interfaces, It is characterized by having connection detection means for detecting the connection status of each interface to the outside.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces to which data is externally input, a power output control unit that does not supply a power output to one or more interfaces, and a power output supply to each interface It is characterized by having a connection detecting means for detecting a connection status to the outside even if there is no connection.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the power supply output can be temporarily supplied to an interface to which the power supply output is not supplied.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 2 denotes a process cartridge detachable from the image forming apparatus 5 and includes a photoconductor 11, a charging roller 3, a cleaning unit and a waste toner collecting unit 6, a developing unit and a toner storage unit 4, and the like. An optical system 1 includes a polygon motor, a polygon mirror, an Fθ lens, a laser diode, a mirror, and the like. The recording paper 9 stored in the paper feed cassette 8 by the paper feed roller 7 is conveyed to the photoconductor 11. The photoreceptor 11 is driven to rotate in a clockwise direction. At that time, the surface is charged by the charging roller 3, and the optical system 1 irradiates a laser beam to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor. This latent image is visualized by the toner when passing through the developing means and the toner storage unit 4. This visible image is transferred by the transfer roller 10 to the recording paper 9 conveyed to the photoreceptor 11, and then conveyed to the fixing roller 12 to fix the visible image on the recording paper 9, and to the outside of the image forming apparatus 5. The paper is ejected.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 5 includes a CPU 13 for controlling the apparatus and communicating with the outside, and a ROM 15, a RAM 16, and a non-volatile memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) for storing software, programming data, image data, setting values, and the like. NVRAM) 17, a plurality of I / F circuits for inputting external data, I / F A18, I / F B19, I / F C20, and power supply control for controlling supply of power to each I / F. It comprises means 14 and connection detecting means 21 for detecting whether each I / F is connected to the outside.
[0014]
The I / F A18, I / F B19, and I / F C20 can each input external data. In actual use, for example, when used as a network printer, Ethernet (registered trademark) ( Since only the I / F is used (for example, the I / F C20), the supply of the power output to the I / F A18 and the I / F B19 is useless power. Therefore, the I / F that is not connected to the outside is detected by the connection detecting means 21 and the supply of the power output to the I / F is stopped.
[0015]
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the power of the image forming apparatus 5 is turned on as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, a power output is supplied to each I / F, and the connection status of each I / F to the outside is detected. Since the I / F A18 is not connected, the power supply output to the I / F A18 is stopped. Also, since the I / F B19 is not connected, the power output to the I / F B19 is also stopped. Since the I / FC 20 is connected, the power output to the I / FC 20 is not stopped. Therefore, the I / FC 20 can be used, and the power consumption can be reduced. When the power supply output to the I / F is stopped, the connection of the I / F cannot be detected, but the power required for the connection detection can also be reduced.
In the present invention, a plurality of I / Fs will be described as three. However, the same applies to two or four or more I / Fs.
[0016]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart in FIG. 4 may be the case where the initial setting at the time of power ON may be opposite to that in FIG. When the power of the image forming apparatus 5 is turned on, the power output to each I / F is stopped, but the connection status of each I / F to the outside is detected. Since the I / F A18 is not connected, no power output is supplied to the I / F A18. Further, since the I / F B19 is also not connected, the power output to the I / F B19 is not supplied. Since the I / FC 20 is connected, the power supply to the I / FC 20 is supplied. Therefore, as in FIG. 3, the I / FC 20 can be used, and the power consumption can be reduced. When the I / F is connected, the power supply is supplied to each I / F, and the image forming apparatus 5 is in a print standby state, so that an image can be formed at any time.
According to the present invention, when a notebook PC or the like is brought near the image forming apparatus to a USB I / F that is not normally used, and the I / F can be detected as connected when printing is desired, the I / F that is not normally used is detected. / F can be easily printed and power consumption can be reduced.
[0017]
The third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The image forming apparatus 5 includes an I / F return signal that can be input from an operation panel or the like. When the I / F return signal is input, a power output is supplied to each I / F, and the I / F that cannot be used is enabled. The time after the return is measured, and if the time exceeds a predetermined time T, the output of the power supply to the I / F A18 is stopped because the I / F A18 is not connected based on the connection state detection. Also, since the I / F B19 is not connected, the power output to the I / F B19 is also stopped. Since the I / FC 20 is connected, the power output to the I / FC 20 is not stopped. Therefore, the I / FC 20 can be used, and the power consumption can be reduced again.
According to the present invention, a notebook PC or the like can be brought near the image forming apparatus to a USB I / F that is not usually used, and the I / F can be easily returned from an operation panel or the like when printing is desired. Therefore, printing can be easily performed even with an I / F that is not usually used, and power consumption can be reduced. In the above description, the control is performed based on the power supply information when the predetermined time T is exceeded. However, when printing is performed, the power output to the I / F is naturally stopped after printing is completed. In addition, when printing is performed for time measurement, time measurement may be started again after printing is completed. The predetermined time T may also be stored in the NVRAM 17 so that the user can change the time.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power supply output control unit that does not supply a power supply output to the I / F and a connection detection unit that detects a connection state of each I / F to the outside, and determines that the connection to the outside is not made. By not supplying the power output to the I / F, the power consumption of the image forming apparatus can be reduced.
[0019]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power supply output control unit that does not supply a power output to the I / F, and a connection detection unit that detects a connection state to the outside even when there is no power supply supply to each I / F, The power consumption of the image forming apparatus can be reduced by not supplying the power output to the I / F determined to be not connected to the outside. Further, when an I / F that is not normally used is connected, the connection is detected and a power output is supplied, so that printing can be easily performed even from an I / F that is not normally used.
[0020]
According to the third aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, the power supply output is supplied in an emergency by temporarily enabling the power supply output to the I / F to which the power supply output is not supplied. No I / F can be used.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus 5;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart related to stopping supply of power output.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart relating to supply of a power output.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart related to stopping supply of power output using a return signal.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical system 2 Process cartridge 3 Charging roller 4 Developing means and toner storage part 5 Image forming apparatus 6 Cleaning means and waste toner collecting part 7 Feed roller 8 Feed cassette 9 Recording paper 10 Transfer roller 11 Photoconductor 12 Fixing roller 13 CPU
14 Power supply control means 15 ROM
16 RAM
17 NVRAM
18 I / F A
19 I / F B
20 I / FC
21 Connection detection means

Claims (3)

In an image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces to which data is externally input, a power output control unit that does not supply power output to one or more interfaces and a connection detection unit that detects a connection status of each interface to the outside are provided. An image forming apparatus comprising: In an image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces to which data is externally input, a power output control unit that does not supply power to one or more of the interfaces, and an external connection even when there is no power output to each interface An image forming apparatus comprising connection detecting means for detecting a situation. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a power output can be temporarily supplied to the interface to which the power output is not supplied.

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