JP2008209825A - Image forming apparatus and its control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing wasteful power consumption to the utmost, and its control program. <P>SOLUTION: When an identification code for authenticating an individual user or a department to which he (she) belongs is input from a control panel 207 in starting a power source and in restoring from a power saving mode to an ordinary operation mode, a controller 208 controls a power source part 209 to supply power only to a driver which carries out a function whose utilization range is predesignated according to the identification code out of drivers 201 to 205. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a control program therefor, and more particularly, to save power by suppressing wasteful power consumption of a driver that executes various functions such as a scanner function for performing a document reading process and a printing function for performing a printing process. It is related with the technique for aiming.

  Recent image forming apparatuses are required to have various functions according to market needs. For this reason, for example, multifunction peripherals are provided with a copy function, a printer function, a facsimile function, and a data storage function that stores data read from a document as an electronic file on a hard disk or the like without printing. .

  Further, in such an image forming apparatus, from the viewpoint of energy saving, conventionally, when an execution command is not given to a driver for executing each function for a predetermined time, the power to each of the above drivers is determined. A device having a power saving function for shifting to a power saving mode in which supply is restricted is provided.

  In Patent Document 1, in an image forming apparatus having such a power saving function, printing is stopped until the total number of printed pages of a print job accumulated up to now reaches a preset reference page number. A technique has been proposed in which printing is executed for the first time when the number of print pages reaches a preset reference page number, thereby improving the power consumption efficiency.

Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, upper limit values such as power consumption and the number of printed pages are set in advance for each user, and when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit, the current power consumption and the number of printed pages are verified. However, when those values exceed the upper limit value, a technique for notifying the user of the fact and calling attention is proposed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-74530

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, although the number of printed pages and the amount of power consumption are limited to reduce the power consumption, the power is turned on when the main power switch is turned on or the operation is performed. In any case, such as when the panel is operated to return from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode, power is unconditionally supplied to all the drivers so that all parts of the apparatus are movable. For this reason, when a required process is executed, power is supplied to a driver that is not actually used, and wasteful power is still consumed.

  For example, when a document is faxed, it is necessary to supply power to the scanner driver that executes the document reading process and the fax driver that executes the fax transmission process, but it is not necessary to supply power to the print driver that performs the printing process. is there. However, since power is supplied to all the drivers in the conventional technology, useless power is consumed in a print driver that is not used. In particular, since the print driver includes a fixing device that consumes a large amount of power, even if the print driver is not used, a large energy loss occurs when power is supplied.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and in advance identifies the functions that can be used by the user or his / her department when the power is turned on or when returning from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which power is supplied only to a driver corresponding to a necessary function, and wasteful power consumption is reduced, and a control program therefor.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes at least drivers provided for executing various functions including at least a scanner function for performing a document reading process and a printing function for performing a printing process. An image forming apparatus including a power supply unit that supplies power to each driver and a controller that controls the drivers and the power supply unit is assumed.

  In the present invention, authentication means for authenticating a user who uses various functions is provided, and the controller authenticates with the authentication means at power-on or when returning from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode. The power supply unit is controlled so that power is supplied only to a driver that executes a function whose usage range is specified in advance according to authentication information.

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

  According to the present invention, when power is turned on or when returning from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode, power is supplied unconditionally to all the drivers so that all parts of the device are movable as in the prior art. First, individual users and their departments are authenticated, and power is supplied only to drivers that execute functions for which the scope of use is specified in advance for the authenticated users and departments. Therefore, power is not supplied to a driver that executes a function outside the usage range. Therefore, wasteful power consumption can be greatly reduced as compared with the prior art.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention corresponds to, for example, a multifunction machine having a copy function, a printer function, a facsimile function, and the like.

  First, a basic configuration and operation when 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 207 is used to instruct printing. When the instruction is given, printing is performed by the operation of each driving unit described below.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes a main body 101 and a platen cover 102 attached above the main body 101. A document table 103 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 101, and the document table 103 is opened and closed by a 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 of 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 copy processing in the image forming apparatus 100 has been described above.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a characteristic functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, a scanner driver 201 executes a scanner function for performing a document reading process, and corresponds to the reading unit 110 including the automatic document feeder 104 described above. The print driver 202 executes a printing function for performing a printing process, and corresponds to the printing unit 120 including the fixing device 127 described above. Then, the copy process is executed by combining the document reading process by the scanner driver 201 and the print process by the print driver 202.

  The fax driver 203 executes a fax transmission function for transmitting read data obtained by the scanner driver 201 through a telephone line or the like. The network driver 204 executes a network transmission function for transmitting read data obtained by the scanner driver 201 to, for example, a personal computer via a communication network.

  The hard disk driver 205 executes a data storage function for storing the read data obtained by the scanner driver 201 as an electronic file in the hard disk 208b.

  That is, the driver referred to in this application includes a drive unit that provides each function.

  The operation panel 207 inputs various commands for operating the drivers 201 to 205 and an authentication code described later to the controller 208. For example, a touch panel (not shown) having various input keys and a liquid crystal display unit, etc. It has.

  The controller 208 includes a CPU 208a, a RAM and a ROM (not shown), and a hard disk 208b. The CPU 208a of the controller 208 uses, for example, a RAM as a work area, and executes programs stored in the ROM, the hard disk 208b, and the like based on commands from the operation panel 207, whereby the drivers 201 to 205 and the power supply The unit 209 is controlled. In this embodiment, an authentication means is realized by the operation panel 207 and the controller 208.

  The power supply unit 209 supplies power for operation to the drivers 201 to 205, the operation panel 207, and the controller 208. In this case, in both the normal operation mode and the power saving mode, a direct current is supplied to the controller 208 via a DC / DC converter (not shown) in the power supply unit 209. Is always kept operational.

  Next, in the image forming apparatus 100 having the above configuration, the control operation of the power supply unit 209 by the controller 208 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition, the code | symbol S means each process step.

  In this image forming apparatus 100, a function to be used for each user or his / her department is specified from various functions such as the copy function, the scanner function, the print function, the fax function, the network transmission function, and the hard disk storage function. Then, each function in the designated usage range is registered in advance in the ROM or the like of the controller 208 in association with the authentication code as function information. For example, when it is specified that only a scanner function and a network transmission function can be used for a certain user, the specified function information is registered in advance in the ROM of the controller 208 in association with the authentication code of the user or department. Keep it. In addition, it is possible to understand the belonging department as one form of user, and it is not necessary to authenticate each user at the time of authentication, and even when authenticating the belonging department (group), it is the same as the user authentication. .

  Here, when the power saving mode release key is operated (S1) or when the main power switch of the power supply unit 209 is turned on (S2), the controller 208 responds to the liquid crystal of the operation panel 207. The display unit is turned on to display an authentication code input screen to prompt the user to input the authentication code (S3). Then, the user operates the operation panel 207 to determine whether or not an authentication code for authenticating the user or his / her department has been input within a predetermined time (S4).

  If the user does not input the authentication code within a predetermined time, the power saving mode is restored. On the other hand, when the user inputs an authentication code within a predetermined time, the controller 208 reads out usable function information corresponding to the authentication code from a ROM or the like using the authentication code as a key. Based on this function information, it is first determined whether or not the copy function can be used (S5).

  At this time, if the copy function can be used, the controller 208 controls the power supply unit 209 to supply power to the scanner driver 201 and the print driver 202 so as to be movable (S6). On the other hand, when the copy function cannot be used, it is subsequently determined whether or not the scan transmission function can be used (S7).

  If the scan transmission function is available, the controller 208 next determines whether the scan transmission function is the fax transmission function or the network transmission function (S8). If the scan transmission function is the fax transmission function, the controller 208 controls the power supply unit 209. Power is supplied to the scanner driver 201 and the fax driver 203 so as to be movable (S9). If it is a network transmission function, power is supplied so that the scanner driver 201 and the network driver 204 are in a movable state (S10).

  If the scan transmission function cannot be used in S7, the controller 208 determines whether the data storage function can be used (S11). If the data storage function can be used, the controller 208 controls the power supply unit 209 to supply power to the scanner driver 201 and the hard disk driver 205 so as to be movable (S12).

  If the data storage function cannot be used in S11, the controller 208 determines whether or not the printing function can be used (S13).

  At this time, if the print function can be used, the controller 208 controls the power supply unit 209 to supply power to the hard disk driver 205 and the print driver 202 so as to be movable (S14). As a result, the data stored in the hard disk 208b as an electronic file can be printed.

  If the printing function cannot be used in S13, the controller 208 displays on the liquid crystal display unit of the operation panel 207 that all the functions of the apparatus cannot be used, for example (S15), and then the authentication code is input again. It is determined whether or not (S16).

  At this time, if the authentication code is input again, the process returns to S5, and if the authentication code is not input again, the process returns to the power saving mode.

  As described above, in this embodiment, at the time of starting the power supply or at the time of returning from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode, all the parts of the device are in a movable state as in the prior art. Without first unconditionally supplying power, and authenticating individual users or their departments first, and a driver that executes a function for which the range of use is specified in advance for the authenticated users and departments Since power is supplied only to the driver, power is not supplied to a driver that performs a function outside the usage range. Therefore, wasteful power consumption can be greatly reduced as compared with the prior art.

  In the above embodiment, each time the device is used, the authentication code is input by operating the operation panel 207. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an authentication device that performs biometric authentication, for example, is provided. It is also possible to specify a function whose usage range is specified in advance for each user or his / her department in accordance with the authentication data authenticated by the authentication device.

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 functional block diagram illustrating a characteristic functional configuration 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 201 Scanner driver 202 Print driver 203 Fax driver 204 Network driver 205 Hard disk driver 207 Operation panel 208 Controller 209 Power supply part

Claims (2)

Each driver provided to execute various functions including at least a scanner function that performs document reading processing and a printing function that performs printing processing, a power supply unit that supplies power to each of these drivers, and each of the drivers and power supplies An image forming apparatus comprising: a controller that controls a unit;
Authentication means for authenticating a user who uses the various functions is provided, and the controller responds to authentication information obtained by authentication by the authentication means at power-on or when returning from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode. An image forming apparatus that controls the power supply unit so that power is supplied only to a driver that executes a function whose use range is specified in advance. On the computer,
A first step of authenticating a user who uses various functions provided by the image forming apparatus;
When the image forming apparatus is powered on or when returning from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode, the power is supplied only to the driver that executes the function for which the use range is designated in advance for the user authenticated in the first step. A second step of supplying
Control program to be executed.

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