JP2006205657A - Image printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image printing device which saves the power consumption of input/output terminals by clearly grasping the using states of respective input/output terminals, and at the same time, can save the consumption of a main power source of the overall device as well. <P>SOLUTION: First, a detector which detects the connection/disconnection of respective input/output terminals is provided. Next, a basic power source control circuit which turns on/off the power source of a basic input/output terminal in response to the connection/disconnection of the basic input/output terminal is provided. Also, there is provided an auxiliary power source control circuit which turns on/off the power source of one auxiliary input/output terminal in response to the connection/disconnection of the one auxiliary input/output terminal, and at the same time, cuts off the power source of other auxiliary input/output terminals when the one auxiliary input/output terminal is turned on. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image printing apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a multifunction machine that is used by being connected to a network.

  In recent years, in offices, etc., a technology that connects multiple image printing devices such as printers, copiers, and multifunction devices to multiple personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as “PCs”) and allows them to be shared and used by multiple users Is frequently used.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of connection between such an image printing apparatus and a PC. In FIG. 3, the image printing apparatus 40 and the PC 41 are connected by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable K1, and the image printing apparatus 40 and the PC 42 are connected by a parallel cable K2. The PC 41 and the PC 42 are connected to the network hub 43 by LAN (Local Area Network) cables L1 and L2, respectively, and are connected to the image printing apparatus 40 by the LAN cable L3 through the network hub 43.

  In this way, in addition to the LAN cable, if the PC 41, 42 and the image printing apparatus 40 are individually connected by the USB cable K1 or the parallel cable K2, each PC 41, 42 can be connected without following the LAN protocol (protocol). And the image printing apparatus 40 can be individually exchanged individually, for example, image data can be transmitted and received. Therefore, the general image printing apparatus 40 is provided with a plurality of input / output terminals for connecting various cables such as USB, parallel, and LAN as described above.

  In addition, these input / output terminals are provided at the end of a cord that can be wound up, and for the input / output terminals that are not used, the cord is wound inside the casing of the image printing apparatus 40, whereby the image printing apparatus 40 is A technique for protecting from dust and the like has also been developed, and is disclosed in the following patent document (Patent Document 1).

By the way, in recent years, in response to a request for power saving, a number of power saving techniques in such an image printing apparatus have been developed. For example, the following patent document discloses a technique in which a clock of an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) is stopped and a power saving mode is entered when a certain period of time has elapsed in the standby mode (see Patent Document 2).
JP-A-5-343859 JP 2000-307784 A

  However, the above power saving technology has the following problems.

  The standby mode refers to a state in which no command is input to the MPU. In this standby mode, each input / output terminal for receiving a command is in an operating state. Each input / output terminal must always be supplied with power since it must release the MPU clock stop state and start normal processing when a command is received. Therefore, the power consumption of each input / output terminal cannot be saved.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and clearly understands the usage state of each input / output terminal, saving power consumption of this input / output terminal and saving the main power supply of the entire apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image printing apparatus that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following means.

  The present invention is premised on an image printing apparatus having one basic input / output terminal and a plurality of auxiliary input / output terminals. Here, the basic input / output terminal is assumed to be a connection terminal of the LAN cable. The auxiliary input / output terminal is assumed to be a connection terminal for the USB cable or the parallel cable.

  First, a detector for detecting connection / release of each input / output terminal is provided.

  Next, a basic power supply control circuit for turning on / off the power of the basic input / output terminals according to connection / release of the basic input terminals is provided. That is, when the connection of the LAN cable is released, the power of the connection terminal of the LAN cable is turned off.

  Auxiliary power supply that turns on / off the power supply for one auxiliary input / output terminal and disconnects the power supply for the other auxiliary input / output terminals when this auxiliary power supply is turned on / off. A control circuit is provided. That is, for example, when a USB cable is connected, the power of the connection terminal of the USB cable is turned on and the power of the connection terminal of the parallel cable is cut off.

  The reason why the input / output terminals are distinguished from the basic input / output terminals and the auxiliary input / output terminals is that the basic input / output terminals are always connected and used in many cases.

  As a result, the power supply of the input / output terminals that are clearly not used by the user is cut off, and power consumption can be saved.

  Further, a main power supply control circuit is provided for cutting off the main power supply of the image printing apparatus when the power supply of the basic input / output terminal and all auxiliary input / output terminals is cut off. That is, when it is clear that all the input / output terminals are not used, the main power supply is turned off to save power consumption.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to clearly grasp the usage state of each input / output terminal, save power consumption of the input / output terminal, and save the main power supply of the entire image printing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a power supply circuit diagram of the image printing apparatus of the present invention. The connection between the image printing apparatus of the present invention and the personal computer is as shown in FIG. 2 as in the background art.

  The present invention is premised on an image printing apparatus including one basic input / output terminal 23 and a plurality of auxiliary input / output terminals 33a and 33b. There may be three or more auxiliary input / output terminals, but in the following, two cases will be described as an example for simplicity.

  Here, the basic input / output terminal is assumed to be a connection terminal of a LAN (Local Area Network) cable. Further, the auxiliary input / output terminal is assumed to be a connection terminal of the USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or the parallel cable. The reason why the input / output terminals are distinguished from the basic input / output terminals and the auxiliary input / output terminals is that the basic input / output terminals are often connected and used in many cases.

  First, when the LAN cable L3 is connected / released to / from the basic input / output terminal 23, the detector 24 detects this connection / release. Then, the basic power supply control circuit 20 turns on / off the power supply 21 of the basic input / output terminal 23 according to the connection / release. As a result, the power supply 21 is turned on only when the basic input / output terminal 23 is connected, so that the power consumption of the basic input / output terminal is saved.

  The method in which the detector 24 detects connection / release of the LAN cable L3 can be realized by detecting a change in the resistance value of the basic input / output terminal 23 due to this connection / release. In addition, as described in the background art above, when the basic input / output terminal 23 is provided at the end of a cord that can be wound, the connection / release can be detected by winding the cord.

  Next, when the USB cable K1 is connected to the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a, the detector 33a detects this connection as described above (the detection method of the connection of the detector 33a is the same as that of the detector 24). Then, the auxiliary power supply control circuit 30 turns on the power supply 31a of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a according to this connection.

  In this state, when the parallel cable K2 is connected to the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b, the detector 33b detects this connection as described above. Then, according to this connection, the auxiliary power supply control circuit 30 turns on the power supply 31b of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b and turns off the power supply 31a of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a (see the power supplies 31a and 31b in FIG. 2).

  That is, unlike the case where the basic input terminal 23 is always connected and used, the auxiliary input / output terminals 33a and 33b have a high probability that the terminal connected most recently is used. Therefore, in the above example, only the power supply 31b of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b connected most recently is turned on, and even if the USB cable K1 is connected to the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a, the power supply 31a is disconnected. It ends up.

  Conversely, when the USB cable K1 is connected to the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a while the parallel cable K2 is connected to the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b (the power supply 31b is turned on), the auxiliary power supply control circuit 30 The power source 31a of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a is turned on, and the power source 31b of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b is turned off (returned to the power sources 31a and 31b in FIG. 1).

  On the other hand, when the connection of the USB cable K1 is released from the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a, the auxiliary power supply control circuit 30 cuts off the power supply 31a of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33a. When the connection of the USB cable K2 is released from the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b, the auxiliary power supply control circuit 30 cuts off the power supply 31b of the auxiliary input / output terminal 33b. This disconnection process is the same as that of the basic power supply control circuit 20.

  In this way, the auxiliary input / output terminals 33a and 33b are turned on only for the one terminal connected most recently, and the other terminals are turned off, so that the terminal is not expected to be used by the user. About can save power.

  The processing is performed when both of the auxiliary input / output terminals 33a and 33b are connected at the same time. In this case, since both are likely to be used, both power sources 31a and 31b are turned on. However, since the connection of the cables K1 and K2 is a manual operation by the user even if it is said to be simultaneous, the connection during the time difference of about 10 seconds is considered as simultaneous.

  Further, when all of the basic input / output terminal 23 and the auxiliary input / output terminals 33a and 33b are disconnected, the main power supply control circuit 10 disconnects the main power supply 11 to thereby reduce the power consumption of the image printing apparatus as a whole. Can be saved.

  As described above, the image printing apparatus according to the present invention clearly grasps the usage state of each input / output terminal, saves power consumption of the input / output terminal, and has a main power supply for the entire image printing apparatus. It is possible to save. Therefore, it is useful as a printer, a copying machine, a multi-function machine, etc. used by connecting to a network.

FIG. 3 is a power supply circuit diagram of the image printing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a power supply circuit diagram of the image printing apparatus of the present invention. Diagram showing how the image printing device and PC are connected

Explanation of symbols

・ Main power supply control circuit ・ Main power supply ・ Basic power supply control circuit ・ Power supply
23 Basic input / output terminals ・ Detector ・ Auxiliary power control circuit
31a, 31b power supply
33a, 33b Auxiliary input / output terminals
34a, 34b detector
L3 LAN cable
K1 USB cable
K2 parallel cable

Claims (2)

In an image printing apparatus having one basic input / output terminal and a plurality of auxiliary input / output terminals,
A detector for detecting connection / release of each input / output terminal;
A basic power supply control circuit for turning on / off the power of the basic input / output terminal according to the connection / release of the basic input terminal;
Auxiliary power supply for turning on / off the power of the one auxiliary input / output terminal according to connection / release of the one auxiliary input / output terminal, and for turning off the power of the other auxiliary input / output terminal at the time of turning on An image printing apparatus comprising: a control circuit. The main power supply control circuit for cutting off the main power supply of the image printing apparatus when the power supply of the basic input / output terminal and all the auxiliary input / output terminals is cut off. Image printing device.

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