JP2008209824A - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus achieving reduction of power consumption in a backlight when a control panel is not used in restoration from a power saving mode to an ordinary mode; and to provide a control program therefor. <P>SOLUTION: A main body part 101, which performs image forming processing is provided with a detection means 207 for detecting the operation of the main body part 101. In the power saving mode, a controller 200 controls the backlight 210 to be in a fully lit state when an operation signal is input from the control panel 208 for giving various instructions to the main body part 101, and controls the backlight 210 to be in a darker state than in the fully lit state by determining that the control panel 208 is not operated when a detection signal is given from the detection means 207. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that performs backlight control of an operation panel when returning from a power saving mode to a normal operation mode.

  In general, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine having these functions, a main body unit including a reading unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and the like that executes an image forming process, and the main body unit Are provided with an operation panel for giving various instructions, a power supply unit for supplying power to the main body unit and the operation panel, and a controller for controlling these units.

  In such an image forming apparatus, in order to reduce wasteful power consumption as much as possible and save energy, conventionally, when there is no drive of the main unit or operation input to the operation panel for a predetermined time, the controller is connected to the power supply unit. Is provided with a power saving function that controls the power supply to shift to a power saving mode that restricts power supply to the main body and the operation panel.

  Here, when returning to the normal operation mode from the state of shifting to the power saving mode, if the power is supplied so that all parts of the apparatus are movable, the user is not accompanied by the execution of the image forming process. Even when the operation is intended (for example, when the platen cover is opened / closed or when the paper feed cassette is opened / closed), the power supply is resumed for all parts of the main body, Unnecessary power is consumed.

Therefore, in the prior art, when an operation not directly related to the execution of the image forming process is performed, such as the opening / closing operation of the platen cover as described above or the opening / closing operation of the paper feed cassette, There has been proposed an apparatus in which the power supply is resumed only for the backlight provided on the operation panel and the backlight is turned on while the supply is stopped (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-135878 A

  However, in the case of the conventional technique described in Patent Document 1, when the operation panel is returned from the power saving mode to the normal mode, normal power supply is always resumed even when the operation panel is not used. As a result, the backlight is fully lit, so that wasteful power is still consumed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can reduce wasteful power consumption of the backlight when the operation panel is not used when returning from the power saving mode to the normal mode. An object is to provide a forming apparatus and a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a main body that executes image forming processing, a backlight for backlighting, and an operation panel that gives various instructions to the main body, A power source that supplies power to the main body and the operation panel; a detection unit that detects an operation on the main body; and when there is no operation of the main body and the operation panel for a predetermined time, When the operation signal from the operation panel is input in the power saving mode, the backlight is fully turned on. In addition, when a detection signal is given from the detection means in the power saving mode, the power supply is set so that the backlight is darker than the full lighting state. Controlling the a controller.

  In particular, the state in which the backlight is darker than the fully lit state may be a half lit state with an intermediate amount of light between the unlit state and the fully lit state.

  Further, the processing steps of the control operation by the controller can be executed by a computer control program provided in the controller.

  According to the present invention, when the operation panel is used for executing the image forming process when returning from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the backlight is turned on as usual, but the image forming is not performed. When an operation of the main body that is not directly related to the execution of the process is performed, the operation panel is not used, so that the backlight is controlled to be in a darker state than the full lighting state.

  As described above, when returning from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the backlight is maintained in the dark state when the operation panel is not used, so that wasteful power consumption can be reduced.

  In particular, when the backlight is turned off in the power saving mode, even if the main unit does not directly perform the image forming process, the backlight is turned off. In this case, it is possible to check the contents of the key display and message display on the operation panel to some extent, assuming that there is a high possibility that the operation panel will be operated in the next stage while reducing the power consumption of the backlight. This is convenient.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention corresponds to, for example, a copier, a printer, a facsimile, and a multifunction machine having these functions. Here, a configuration and operation in a case where copying is performed by a multifunction machine as an example of an image forming apparatus will be briefly described.

  When a user prints an original on a transfer medium such as printing paper using a multifunction machine, the original is placed on the original table 103 or the mounting table 105 shown in FIG. The operation panel 208 is operated to instruct printing. When an instruction is given to the operation panel 208, printing is performed by operating each of the following drive units excluding the operation panel 108, that is, the main body unit 101.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment includes a main body 101 that executes image forming processing and a backlight for backlighting separately from the main body 101 and includes a main body. An operation panel for giving various instructions to 101.

  A platen cover 102 is disposed above the main body 101, and a document table 103 is provided on the upper surface. The document table 103 is opened and closed by the platen cover 102. The platen cover 102 is provided with an automatic document feeder 104, a placing table 105, and a sheet discharging table 109.

  The automatic document feeder 104 includes a document conveyance path 108 formed inside the platen cover 102, a pickup roller 106 and a conveyance roller 107 provided inside the platen cover 102, and the like. The document conveyance path 108 is a document conveyance path that leads from the mounting table 105 to the sheet discharge table 109 via a reading position P where reading is performed by the reading unit 110 provided in the main body unit 101.

  The automatic document feeder 104 pulls out each document placed on the placing table 105 to the inside of the conveyance path 108 by the pickup roller 106, and ejects the document drawn by the conveyance roller 107 and the like through the reading position P. The paper is discharged onto the table 109. When the document passes the reading position P, the document is read by the reading unit 110.

  The reading unit 110 is provided below the document table 103. The reading unit 110 includes a light source 111 that illuminates the document table 103 in the main scanning direction, mirrors 112, 113, and 114 that guide light from the document table, and an image sensor 115 that images light guided by the mirror. Has been.

  When the automatic document feeder 104 conveys a document, the light source 111 moves to a position where the reading position P can be irradiated and emits light. Light from the light source 111 is reflected by a document that passes through the document table 103 and passes through the reading position P, and is guided to the image sensor 115 by mirrors 112, 113, and 114. The image sensor 115 captures received light to generate image data of the original.

  The reading unit 110 can read not only the document conveyed by the automatic document feeder 104 but also the document placed on the document table 103. When reading a document placed on the document table 103, the reading unit 110 moves the light source 111 in the sub-scanning direction while emitting light, and irradiates the entire document table 103. In order to guide the reflected light from the document table 103 to the image sensor 115, the mirror 112 moves together with the light source 111, and in order to make the optical path length from the light source 111 to the image sensor 115 constant, the mirrors 113 and 114 include the light source 111 and The mirror 112 moves at half the speed.

  The image sensor 115 reads the image data of the document placed on the document table 103 based on the light guided to the mirrors 112, 113, 114, as in the case of the document conveyed to the automatic document feeder 104. Generate.

  A printing unit 120 that prints image data is provided below the reading unit 110 constituting the main body unit 101. Image data that can be printed by the printing unit 120 is generated by the image sensor 115 as described above, or transmitted from a terminal such as a personal computer connected to the image forming apparatus 100 and a network such as a LAN. .

  As a printing method performed by the printing unit 120, for example, an electrophotographic method is used. That is, the photosensitive drum 121 is uniformly charged by the charger 122, and then the photosensitive drum 121 is irradiated by the laser 123 to form a latent image on the photosensitive drum 121, and toner is attached to the latent image by the developing device 124. Printing is performed by forming a visual image and transferring the visible image onto a sheet by the transfer roller 125.

  The paper on which the visible image is printed is placed on a paper feed tray such as the manual feed tray 131 and the paper feed cassettes 132, 133, and 134.

  When performing printing, the printing unit 120 pulls out one sheet of printing paper from any one of the paper feed trays using the pickup roller 135, and transfers the drawn printing paper to the photosensitive drum 121 by the transport roller 137 or the registration roller 138. Feed between rollers 125.

  When the visible image is transferred to the printing paper fed between the photosensitive drum 121 and the transfer roller 125, the printing unit 120 sends the printing paper to the fixing device 127 by the conveyor belt 126 in order to fix the visible image. The fixing device 127 includes a heating roller 128 with a built-in heater and a pressure roller 129 pressed against the heating roller 128 with a predetermined pressure. When the printing paper passes between the heating roller 128 and the pressure roller 129, the visible image is fixed on the paper by heat and pressing force on the printing paper. The printing unit 120 discharges the printing paper that has passed through the fixing device 127 to the paper discharge tray 130.

  The basic printing (image formation) processing in the image forming apparatus 100 has been described above.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 202, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 203, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), as shown in the schematic configuration diagram of FIG. 204 and a driver 205 corresponding to each drive unit in the printing process are connected via an internal bus 206.

  The CPU 201 uses, for example, the RAM 202 as a work area, executes a program stored in the ROM 203, the HDD 204, etc., and exchanges data and commands with the driver 205 based on the execution result, as shown in FIG. The operation of each driving unit is controlled.

  Next, main functions of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of main functions of the image forming apparatus 100.

  In this embodiment, the main body 101 that executes image forming processing includes, for example, an opening / closing operation of the platen cover 102, an opening / closing operation of a paper feed tray such as the manual feed tray 131, the paper feed cassettes 132, 133, and 134, A detection unit 207 including a plurality of sensors and switches for detecting the operation of each part of the main body 101 such as a document set on the mounting table 105 of the paper device 104 is provided. .

  On the other hand, the operation panel 208 for giving various instructions to the main body 101 has various key displays such as a mode key for selecting a function, a numeric keypad for inputting numbers, a start key for starting printing, and a reset key for returning to a standard state. In addition, a touch panel 209 having a liquid crystal display unit for displaying messages of these key operations is provided, and a backlight 210 for backlighting the touch panel 209 is provided. Power for operation is supplied from the power supply unit 211 to the main body unit 101, the controller 200, and the operation panel 208.

  The controller 200 is composed of a RAM 202, a ROM 203, and an HDD 204 with the CPU 201 described above as a main component. The controller 200 executes a predetermined program stored in the ROM 203, the HDD 204, or the like, thereby controlling the power source unit 211 when there is no operation on the main unit 101 or the operation panel 208 for a predetermined time. It has a power saving function that becomes a power saving mode for restricting power supply to the unit 101 and the backlight 210. The controller 200 is always supplied with a direct current via a DC / DC converter (not shown) in the power supply unit 211 even in the power saving mode, so that the controller 200 is maintained in an operable state.

  Further, in this embodiment, the controller 200 executes a predetermined program so that the backlight 210 is turned off in the power saving mode, and the operation signal from the operation panel 208 is received in the power saving mode. When input, the backlight 210 is fully turned on using this as a trigger. Further, when a detection signal is given from the detection means 207 in the power saving mode, the backlight 210 is set using this as a trigger. The power supply unit 211 is controlled so as to be in a half-lit state with an intermediate light quantity between the unlit state and the fully lit state.

  Next, in the image forming apparatus 100 having the above configuration, the control operation of the power supply unit 211 by the controller 200 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition, the code | symbol S means each process step.

  First, the controller 200 determines whether or not a main power switch (not shown) of the power supply unit 211 is turned on (S1). If the main power switch is turned on, the operation panel 208 is operated during a predetermined time T0. It is determined whether or not there is an operation input from or a detection signal input from the detection means 207 (S2).

  Here, if there is no input of an operation signal from the operation panel 208 or a detection signal from the detection means 207 for a predetermined time T0, the controller 200 determines that the main body 101 or the operation panel 208 has not been operated at all, The power supply 211 is controlled to cut off the power supply to the main body 101 and shift to the power saving mode (S3). At that time, since the power supply to the backlight 210 is also cut off, the backlight 210 is turned off (S4).

  On the other hand, in S <b> 2, when there is a signal input from the operation panel 208 or the detection means 207 within the predetermined time T <b> 0, the controller 200 determines whether the signal input is a signal input from the operation panel 208. (S5).

  Here, in the case of a signal input from the operation panel 208, the controller 200 controls the power supply unit 211 in response to this signal input to turn on the backlight 210 (S6) and to the main body unit 101. Is supplied (S7). For this reason, if the current state is the power saving mode, the normal operation mode is restored.

  In S5, when the signal input to the controller 200 is the detection signal input from the detection unit 207, the controller 200 determines that the operation panel 208 is not operated, and the backlight 210 is turned off and fully turned on. The power supply unit 211 is controlled so as to be in a semi-lighted state with an intermediate light quantity with respect to the state (S8). In addition, the controller 200 supplies power only to a necessary part in consideration of a part where the detection signal is obtained in the driving part in the main body 101 (S9). For example, when a document set on the mounting table 105 of the automatic document feeder 104 is detected, power is supplied to the main body 101, but when an opening / closing operation of the sheet cassettes 132, 133, and 134 is detected. In this case, the power supply to the main body 101 is kept stopped.

  As can be seen from the flowchart of FIG. 4, even when the backlight 210 is in a semi-lighted state in S8, when the operation panel 208 is operated, the normal operation mode is restored and the backlight 210 is completely turned on. The lighting state is set (S6).

  As described above, in this embodiment, when the operation panel 208 is used for executing the image forming process when returning from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the backlight 210 is turned on as usual. However, when the operation of the main body 101 that is not directly related to the execution of the image forming process is performed, the operation panel 208 is not used, so that the backlight 210 is darker than the fully lit state (in this example, half lit) Therefore, useless power consumption of the backlight 210 can be reduced.

  Further, when the detection unit 207 detects that the main body 101 has been operated, it is assumed that the operation panel 208 is likely to be operated subsequently. The standby state is convenient because the contents of the key display and message display on the operation panel 208 can be confirmed to some extent.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, when the controller 200 receives a detection signal from the detection unit 207 in the power saving mode in S5, the backlight 210 is in a semi-lighted state in S8. In this case, since the operation panel 208 is not used, it can be left off.

  Further, in this embodiment, the multifunction apparatus has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus 100. However, the present invention is not limited to such a multifunction apparatus, and other image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine. It can be widely applied to the apparatus.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a multifunction machine as an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of main functions of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation for a power supply unit of a controller in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

100 Image forming device (multifunction machine)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Main body part 200 Controller 207 Detection means 208 Operation panel 209 LCD touch panel 210 Backlight 211 Power supply part

Claims (4)

A main body for executing image forming processing;
An operation panel that includes a backlight for backlighting and gives various instructions to the main body,
A power supply for supplying power to the main body and the operation panel;
Detecting means for detecting an operation to the main body,
When there is no operation of the main body and the operation panel for a predetermined time, the power supply mode is shifted to a power saving mode for restricting power supply to the main body and the operation panel, and the operation is performed in the power saving mode. When an operation signal is input from the panel, the backlight is fully lit, and when a detection signal is given from the detection means in the power saving mode, the backlight is switched from the fully lit state. And a controller that controls the power supply part so that it also becomes dark,
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the state in which the backlight is darker than the fully lit state is a half lit state that is an intermediate light amount between the unlit state and the fully lit state. When an operation signal indicating an operation on the panel is input from an operation panel that gives various instructions to the main body for executing image forming processing to the computer and includes a backlight for backlighting, the backlight is turned on. A step to turn on all lights,
When a detection signal indicating an operation to the main body is given, the step of making the backlight darker than the fully lit state;
A program that executes   4. The program according to claim 3, wherein the darker state than the fully lit state is a half lit state with an intermediate light quantity between the unlit state and the fully lit state.

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