JP2008070609A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which excels in portability and which is restored speedily from an energy saving mode. <P>SOLUTION: A timer counter signal path 131 is provided between an engine board 120 that is an image-forming engine and a controller board 110 which controls the entire apparatus separately from a bus interface 130 between an engine and a controller which mainly transfers data. When the controller board 110 receives a signal that is the factor of restoration from the energy saving mode from an operation part 101 or an ADF 102 or the like in such a state that the apparatus is shifted to the energy saving mode, a trigger signal including information such as a condition whether or not calibration is performed is transmitted through the timer counter signal path 131 without waiting for the opening of the bus interface 130 between the engine and the controller. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having functions of shifting to an energy saving (hereinafter referred to as energy saving) state and returning.

  A device that has an energy saving function, such as a printer, copier, or MFP (multi-functional printer) (including equipment that has an image processing function such as a facsimile function or a scanner function). As a result, the rise time and engine control change greatly.

  At the time of executing the engine calibration operation, the power supply to the fixing heater must be reduced because the DC power consumption for the process drive system is large. The calibration operation is executed under certain conditions, and the elapsed time from the end of the previous job is included in these conditions.

In the energy saving mode (when the engine board is powered off), there is no means for measuring the elapsed time on the engine side, so it is necessary to acquire elapsed time information from the controller side. When the calibration operation is started after the fixing reload is completed, if the opening of the engine / controller bus interface is delayed from the fixing reload time, a waiting time from the completion of the fixing reload to the start of the calibration operation occurs.
FIG. 2A is a diagram conceptually showing the startup time in the method of the prior art.

Further, for example, there is an image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 as a conventional invention that is intended to return from an energy saving mode at high speed.
The conventional image forming apparatus includes a data holding unit capable of holding information for a predetermined time even when the power supply is stopped, and uses the information stored in the data holding unit to perform a return process from the energy saving mode. It was a configuration to do. The data holding means is preferably a single stage semi-volatile memory.

In particular, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, there is an image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 2, for example, as a conventional invention that intends to return from the energy saving mode at high speed.
This conventional image forming apparatus has a built-in fixing heater (corresponding to the “heating element of the fixing unit” described in Patent Document 2) so that it can be kept within the control temperature range, and the print job is first executed after returning to the energy saving mode. When executed, the maximum toner adhesion amount was made smaller than usual.
JP 2005-340879 A JP 2006-038916 A

  The above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2 both have a unique configuration and exhibit the function and effect corresponding thereto. However, both of them include a controller unit and an image forming engine unit that control the entire image forming apparatus (these are: It was not intended to pay attention to the waiting time that occurs until the data bus returns from the energy-saving mode and is opened. Also, focusing on the data bus itself did not make a better proposal for portability and manufacturing costs.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that is excellent in portability and that can quickly return from an energy saving mode.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a bus interface and a timer counter signal path are connected between an engine unit that drives various units in a device and a controller unit that controls the engine unit. Energy saving mode transition means for stopping power supply to the bus interface when the equipment is not used, and when the equipment is in the energy saving mode by the energy saving mode transition means, the controller unit outputs at least one energy saving return factor signal in the equipment. Energy receiving mode return means for issuing a trigger signal for transmitting a calibration condition to the engine unit without waiting for the opening of the bus interface when received from two or more units, and the trigger signal is the timer counter signal From the controller unit to the engine unit via the road The image forming apparatus according to claim Rukoto.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, after the driving operation of the various units in the device is completed, the engine unit starts the driving operation from the controller unit via the bus interface. The timer for measuring how much time has passed is set, and the energy saving mode return means determines the calibration condition according to the state of the timer, and the calibration condition is passed through the timer counter signal path by a trigger signal. To the engine unit.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the controller unit has a subCPU that operates even in an energy saving mode state by the energy saving mode transition unit, and the subCPU is in an energy saving mode. When a signal that causes the recovery of the signal is received from various units in the device, the trigger signal is emitted to the engine unit via the timer counter signal path.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the bus interface is a general-purpose parallel interface.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the bus interface is a general-purpose serial interface.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, the setting of the timer is recorded in advance on a recording medium of the controller unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that is excellent in portability and that can return from the energy saving mode at high speed.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
First, the principle of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a signal line for notifying that a predetermined time has elapsed from various events in the image forming apparatus has been provided by a command after the engine-controller bus interface has been opened. By passing information to the engine before the interface is opened, the goal is to change the energy-saving return method from the conventional method and start it at high speed so that the user can use it.

[First Embodiment]
The image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is particularly preferably an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine / printer / facsimile equipped with a fixing device that fixes toner onto transfer paper with heat and pressure. The power consumption during driving is large, and it is significant to have an energy saving mode transition / return function.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 corresponding to the present embodiment.
The image forming apparatus 100 includes a controller board 110, an engine board 120, an operation unit 101, a power supply unit 107, an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) 102, a plotter 103, a fixing heater 104, and a fixing cooling fan 105.

  The operation unit 101 has a display screen, a touch panel, hard keys, and the like, and serves as a user interface with the operator.

  The ADF 102 reads a large amount of original images in a short time at a portion called an automatic original feeder that performs scanning by fixing the reading optical system and moving the original when optically scanning the original. Further, in the present embodiment, there is also a configuration having detection means (not shown) that automatically detects insertion of a document by the operator and sends an energy saving return factor signal to the controller board. Instead of (or in addition to) the automatic document feeder, a reading unit of a type that scans a document by fixing the document with a pressure plate and moving a reading optical system may be used.

  The plotter 103, the fixing heater 104, and the fixing cooling fan 105 together constitute the main part of the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus 100. This image forming unit forms an image by an image forming method called an electrophotographic method. More specifically, after a laser beam is scanned on a photoconductor (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image and toner is attached, the toner image is transferred onto a transfer sheet by pressing and heating a fixing unit (not shown) heated by the fixing heater 104. The The plotter 103 is a part that prints and outputs. The fixing cooling fan 105 is a fan provided to prevent overheating because the fixing heater 104 generates heat as described above.

  The power supply unit 107 is supplied with AC power from the AC power source 200 outside the image forming apparatus 100. If the main power switch 108 is switched on, the AC power source is rectified to rectify the AC power source, the engine board 120, the controller board 110, and the operation unit. DC power is supplied to 101 and the like.

  The controller board 110 has a function of controlling the entire apparatus, and a CPU 112 and an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 111 are connected by a system bus. A RAM 114, a ROM 113, an HDD 106, and a sub CPU 115 are connected to the ASIC 111. The controller board 110 is configured to receive an energy saving return factor signal generated by the operation unit 101 or the ADF 102 via the ASIC 111. The HDD 106 may be provided in the image forming apparatus 100 that is not on the controller board 110.

  The engine board 120 has a function of controlling the drive of the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus 100, particularly the plotter 103, and the CPU 122 and the ASIC 121 are connected by a system bus. A RAM 124 and a ROM 123 are connected to the ASIC 121.

  The ASIC 111 and the ASIC 121 are connected between the controller board 110 and the engine board 120 by an engine / controller bus interface 130. Similarly, a timer count signal line 131 is connected between the controller board 110 and the engine board 120 separately from the engine / controller bus interface 130.

  The image forming apparatus 100 is configured as described above, and operates as described below.

[Energy saving mode transition operation]
The image forming apparatus 100 shifts to the energy saving mode when various image forming / processing functions including a print job and facsimile transmission / reception are not used for a certain period of time and are in an idle state. The program for shifting to the energy saving mode is stored in the ROM 113, and is called by the CPU 112 and executed using the temporary storage in the RAM 114 as appropriate.
The energy saving mode of the present embodiment not only turns off the power of a portion with large power consumption such as the fixing heater 104 but also cuts off the supply of power to the engine board 120 and the engine / controller bus interface 130.

[Energy saving mode return operation]
When the image forming apparatus 100 is in the above-described energy saving mode, the timer count signal line 131 indicates that the controller board 110 outputs an energy saving return factor signal and at least one or more of the devices such as the ADF 102 and the operation unit 101. When received from the unit, a trigger signal for transmitting the calibration condition to the engine board 120 is issued without waiting for the engine-controller bus interface 130 to be opened.
The calibration condition is represented by a variable “Timer_UP_n” having a value of 0 or 1.

  By performing the configuration and operation as described above, as shown in FIG. 2A, the waiting time that occurs when the conventional energy saving mode is restored can be shortened as shown in FIG. 2B.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, when the calibration condition is transmitted via the timer count signal line 131 without waiting for the opening of the engine-controller bus interface 130 at the time of returning to the energy saving mode, what kind of operation depends on the difference in the calibration condition. The second embodiment will be described with respect to whether or not to do this.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for returning from the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment after shifting to the energy saving mode after the end of the print job.

  In FIG. 3, after the end of the print job (step S0), the ASIC 121 notifies the ASIC 111 of the start of the timer count through the engine / controller bus interface 130, and the subCPU 115 starts counting (step S1).

  Thereafter, after shifting to the energy saving mode (step S2), an energy saving return factor is detected from the operation unit 101, the ADF 102, etc., and a return operation is started (step S3).

  After the engine board 120 is activated (step S4), the state of the timer count signal line 131 is confirmed (step S5).

  When the timer count signal line 131 is 1 (No in step S5), the engine does not perform the calibration operation because the elapsed time for which the timer count has been set has not elapsed.

  When the signal line is 0 (step S5, Yes), since the elapsed time for which the timer count is set has elapsed, the engine calibration operation is performed (step S6). The engine-controller bus interface 130 is opened (step S7), and normal startup is performed (step S8).

[Third Embodiment]
In addition, the embodiment according to the present invention has a computing device having an assistant role in the controller board 110, and aims at a faster return from the energy saving mode. This will be described with reference to the third embodiment.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment quickly returns from the energy saving state using the subCPU 115.

  In FIG. 4, when printing is finished (step S9) and printing is finished (step S10, Yes), the timer count start notification is sent from the ASIC 121 on the engine board 120 side to the subCPU 115 through the ASIC 111 on the controller board 110 side (step S10). S11).

At that time, Timer_UP_n = 1 is set (step S12). The subCPU 115 determines whether or not the set time has elapsed (step S13). If it has elapsed (step S13, Yes), Timer_UP_n = 0 is set (step S15).
If it has not elapsed (step S13, No), it is determined whether the print job has started (step S14), and if it has started (step S14, Yes), the process proceeds to step S9 and the print job is performed. When that is not right (step S14, No), it transfers to step S12.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Moreover, this invention can also be implemented as follows.
In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the engine / controller bus interface 130 is configured using PCI.
By using such a general-purpose interface, portability is improved.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Moreover, this invention can also be implemented as follows.
In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the engine-controller bus interface 130 is configured using PCI-Express.
By doing so, in addition to improving portability, higher-speed communication becomes possible.

[Sixth Embodiment]
Moreover, this invention can also be implemented as follows.
In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the above-described embodiment, the controller board 110 stores the elapsed time setting from the end of the print job unique to the engine board 120 in advance. As the recording medium, the HDD 106 is used.
In this way, the counter operation can be performed without setting the elapsed time every time.

The operation of the first to sixth embodiments will be described below.
According to the above-described embodiment, since a signal different from the engine-controller bus interface is provided, the calibration condition can be notified (to the engine board side) regardless of the interface opening.

  In addition, according to the above embodiment, since another signal is used for the timer, the calibration condition can be notified without waiting for the bus interface to be opened at the time of energy saving recovery, and the startup time can be shortened.

  In addition, according to the above-described embodiment, by using a subCPU that operates even during an energy saving operation for the timer counter on the controller board, the counter operation can always be performed even when other portions of the controller board are energy saving.

  Further, according to the embodiment, portability is improved by using a general-purpose parallel interface, which is a general-purpose interface, for the engine-controller bus interface.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, by using a general-purpose serial interface which is a general-purpose interface for the engine-controller bus interface, portability is improved and further high-speed communication can be performed.

  Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the elapsed time setting from the end of the print job unique to the engine is stored in advance by the controller, so that the counter operation can be performed without setting the elapsed time every time.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 corresponding to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a timing diagram showing the starting operation from the controller board to the engine board in the embodiment of the prior art, and (b) is a timing diagram showing the starting operation in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for returning from the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment after transitioning to an energy saving mode after the end of a print job. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment returns from the energy saving state at high speed using the subCPU 115.

Explanation of symbols

100 Image forming apparatus 101 Operation unit 102 ADF (Automatic Document Feeder)
103 Plotter 104 Fixing Heater 105 Fixing Cooling Fan 106 HDD
107 Power supply unit 108 Main power SW
110 Controller board 111 ASIC
112 CPU
113 ROM
114 RAM
115 subCPU
120 engine board 121 ASIC
122 CPU
123 ROM
124 RAM
130 Bus interface between engine and controller 131 Timer count signal line 200 AC power supply

Claims (6)

A bus interface and a timer counter signal path are connected between an engine unit that drives various units in the device and a controller unit that controls the engine unit,
Energy saving mode transition means for stopping power supply to the bus interface when the device is not used;
When the controller unit receives an energy saving return factor signal from at least one unit in the device when the device is in the energy saving mode by the energy saving mode transition means, the controller does not wait for the bus interface to be opened. Energy-saving mode return means for issuing a trigger signal that conveys calibration conditions;
And the trigger signal is emitted from the controller unit to the engine unit via the timer counter signal path. The engine unit sets a timer for measuring how much time has elapsed from the end of the drive operation to the controller unit via the bus interface after the drive operation of various units in the device is completed.
The energy saving mode return means determines the calibration condition according to the state of the timer, and transmits the calibration condition to the engine unit via the timer counter signal path by a trigger signal. The image forming apparatus described. The controller unit has a subCPU that operates even in an energy saving mode state by the energy saving mode transition means,
The subCPU, when receiving a signal that causes a return from the energy-saving mode from various units in the device, issues the trigger signal to the engine unit via the timer counter signal path. 2. The image forming apparatus according to 2.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bus interface is a general-purpose parallel interface.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bus interface is a general-purpose serial interface.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the timer setting is recorded in advance on a recording medium of the controller unit.

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