JP2011118826A - Electric apparatus, power consumption display method of the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To comparatively display actual power consumption during a predetermined period and power consumption simulated for saving power. <P>SOLUTION: The electric apparatus, wherein a plurality of operation conditions consuming power differently including a power supply-on state and a power supply-off state changes, includes: an actual measurement data storage part 103 storing actual measurement data associating the operation condition with a continuing time when the operation condition continues; a simulation data generation part 104 changing the actual measurement data to generate simulation data according to a user instruction or predetermined setting; a power consumption calculation means calculating an actual power consumption based on the actual measurement data and a power consumption based on the simulation data; and a display part 109 comparatively outputting the actual power consumption based on the actual measurement data, which are calculated by the power consumption calculation means, and the power consumption based on the simulation data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric device, a power usage display method thereof, and a program.

  Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 is known as a power management control device for a printer that can greatly reduce the amount of wasted power used by the printer without impairing the convenience of the user.

  Patent Document 1 is a printer power management control device that waits for a print job to be received from a host device and starts printing. If a print job is not received for a certain period of time, the printer is shifted to a sleep mode. This is a device that allows the user to set whether to turn off the power.

  Specifically, the user sets in advance a time period for shifting to power off. When the print job is not received for a certain period of time, the printer power management control device determines whether or not the current time is within a preset time zone. If it is time, shift from normal mode to sleep mode. If the time is within the time zone, the printer is turned off.

  As a result, in a time zone set in advance by the user, the printer can be automatically turned off when a certain period of time has elapsed without receiving a print job, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption of the printer. .

JP 2008-142942 A

  In the above prior art, the printer state is automatically controlled depending on whether or not it is within the time zone set by the user. Such a control method is effective when the time period when the printer is not used is roughly determined.

  However, this is true not only for printers but also for electrical equipment in general. For example, depending on the usage status and usage environment of electrical equipment, the time periods when it is not used often change day by day, and some are not used every day. Such an electric device has a problem that it cannot be flexibly adapted to a user's usage state only by automatic control by setting a time zone as in the above-described prior art.

  In addition, know how to save power consumption of the electrical equipment, and know how much power consumption will be saved by using these methods, and also share that information. In addition, there was a request from the user to change the setting by himself.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an electric device capable of comparing and displaying the actual power usage for a predetermined period and the power usage simulated for power saving, and a method and program for displaying the power usage. With the goal.

  An electrical device according to an embodiment of the present invention is an electrical device in which a plurality of operating states with different power consumption transition including a power-on state and a power-off state, and the operating state and the operating state are continued. Measured data storage means for storing measured data associated with duration, simulation data generating means for generating simulation data by changing the measured data according to a user instruction or predetermined setting, and the measured data Power consumption calculation means for calculating the actual power consumption based on the simulation data and the power consumption calculation means based on the simulation data; actual power usage based on the actual measurement data calculated by the power consumption calculation means; and simulation data Display means for comparing and outputting the power consumption based on the above.

  In a preferred embodiment, the electrical device is an image forming apparatus.

  In a preferred embodiment, a condition relating to the transition of the operation state is defined, and the actual measurement data is data indicating a result of transition according to the condition, and the simulation generation means is a user instruction or predetermined. The simulation data is generated according to the change of the condition based on the setting.

  In a preferred embodiment, the power consumption is one of power consumption and electricity charges.

  In a preferred embodiment, the power consumption is a power consumption and an electricity bill.

  In a preferred embodiment, the display means outputs an advice to the user from a comparison of the actual power usage based on the actual measurement data and the power usage based on the simulation data.

  An actual measurement for generating the actual measurement data by calculating the duration of each operation state based on the time from the detection unit for detecting the transition of the operation state, and the transition to each operation state detected by the detection unit And a data generation means.

It is a figure which shows the connection state with PC of the printer to which the power usage-amount display method concerning 1st embodiment of this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the electric power consumption display apparatus incorporated in the printer of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure stored in the actual measurement data storage part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a process of the measurement data measurement part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the simulation screen displayed on the printer of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a simulation setting item. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure stored in the simulation data storage part 111 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a process of the simulation data generation part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure in the actual measurement total time table and simulation total time table of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure in the power consumption memory | storage part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the result calculated by the power consumption amount calculation part 106 of FIG. An example of the data structure stored in the electricity bill storage unit of FIG. 2 is shown. It is a figure which shows an example of the result calculated by the electricity bill calculation part. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content output by the display part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content output by the display part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content output by the display part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content output by the display part of FIG.

  Hereinafter, as an electrical apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a printer as an image forming apparatus, in particular, a printer 1 having a built-in power usage display device 10 will be described as an example and described in detail with reference to the drawings. . In the present embodiment, the printer 1 including the power usage amount display device 10 will be described. However, the portion related to the power usage amount display device 10 may be installed in the printer driver as a program.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram in which the printer 1 is connected to the PC 2.

  A display 2b and a printer 1 are connected to the PC main body 2a. On the LED screen 1a of the printer 1, for example, the usage status of the printer 1 including the actual power consumption is displayed. The display of the usage status of the printer 1 may be displayed not only on the LED screen 1a but also on the display 2b, or may be displayed on the display 2b instead of the LED screen 1a. On the LED screen 1a and the display 2b in the illustrated example, a “selection screen” for selecting a screen of usage status display, usage status printing, advice, simulation, etc. of the printer 1 is displayed. For example, “usage status display” is a screen that displays the actual power usage, “usage status printing” is a screen that prints the usage status display screen, and “advice” is the actual power usage. Is a screen that compares and displays the power usage amount as a simulation result based on a predetermined setting, and “Simulation” is a power consumption as a simulation result based on the actual power usage amount and a user instruction. It is a screen which compares and displays the amount used. Here, the amount of power used is a concept that includes not only the amount of power consumption but also the electricity bill for the amount of power consumption. And the case of referring to both. The same applies to the following description.

  In the printer 1, a plurality of operation states with different power consumption transition including a power-off state and a power-on state. The operating state includes a power-on state with the switch turned on, a power-off state with the switch turned off, and a plug-off state with the outlet disconnected. The power-on state further includes a printing state in which printing is performed and a standby state in which printing is not performed. In addition, the power-on state automatically switches when the standby state continues for a certain period of time. A reduced low power state is also included.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the power usage amount display device 10 built in the printer 1.

  The power usage amount display device 10 mainly includes a detection unit 101, an actual measurement data measurement unit 102, an actual measurement data storage unit 103, a simulation data generation unit 104, a power consumption storage unit 105, a power consumption amount calculation unit 106, and an electricity bill storage unit. 107, an electricity bill calculation unit 108, and a display unit 109. The power consumption display device 10 also includes, for example, a timer 110, a simulation data storage unit 111, a total processing unit 112, an actual measurement total time storage unit 113, a simulation total time storage unit 114, a user instruction reception unit 115, and an advice setting storage. Part 116 is included.

  Below, each element in the electric power consumption display apparatus 10 of FIG. 2 is demonstrated one by one.

  The timer 110 notifies time measurement information to an actual measurement data measurement unit 102, which will be described later, and also notifies date measurement information to the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 when 0:00 is reached. When the operation state changes, the detection unit 101 detects this, and notifies the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 together with the changed operation state as state transition information.

  The actual measurement data storage unit 103 stores actual measurement data in which the operation state 204 is associated with the duration 207 during which the operation state 204 has continued. In the illustrated example, the actual measurement data table 20 is stored in the actual measurement data storage unit 103.

  The actual measurement data table 20 is generated by the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 and stored in the actual measurement data storage unit 103. The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 receives the time information and date change information from the timer 110 and also receives the transition information of the operating state detected by the detection unit 101, and generates the actual measurement data table 20 based on these information. To do.

  An example of the actual measurement data table 20 is shown in FIG.

  In the actual measurement data table 20, the section 203, the operation state 204, the start time 205, the end time 206, the duration 207, and the number of times of printing 202 of the day are stored for each date 201 as the data items. Is done. Here, each date 201 is from 0:00 on that day to 0:00 on the next day, but in the following description and illustrated examples, for convenience, from 0:00 to 24:00 on that day. To do.

  The section 203 is sequentially updated in association with the operation state 204 every time the operation state 204 transitions. In the illustrated example, the section 203 is from X1 to Xn.

  The operation state 204 is updated together with the above-described section 203 at each transition. In the illustrated example, when the printer 1 is turned off as St1, the power is turned off, when St2 is switched on, the printer 1 is not operated, and when St3 is in a standby state for a certain period of time, automatically. In FIG. 4, four operation states 204 are illustrated: low power with lower power consumption than in the standby state, and printing during print execution as St4. Although not shown, the operation state 204 includes a state of plug-off in which the power outlet of the printer 1 is disconnected as St5.

  The start time 205 stores the time when the state transition from the previous operation state 204 to the operation state 204 is stored, and the end time 206 also stores the time when the state transition from the operation state 204 to the next operation state 204 occurs.

  The duration 207 stores the time that the operation state 204 has continued, that is, a value obtained by subtracting the start time 205 from the end time 206 of the operation state 204.

  The number of times of printing 202 is counted as the number of times of transition to the printing state in one day. Here, the number of times of printing is the number of times of transition from another operation state to the printing state, and does not mean the number of print jobs. For example, even if a plurality of print jobs are executed, if a plurality of print jobs are continuously executed without any other operation state between the print jobs, the number of times of printing is one. Will be counted. In the illustrated example, on December 01, 2009, the print state is changed three times.

  Here, a process of generating the actual measurement data table 20 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 generates the actual measurement data table 20. FIG. 4A is a process when the state transition information is received from the detection unit 101, and FIG. 4B is a process when the date change information is received from the timer 110.

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 waits for notification of state transition information from the detection unit 101 or date change information from the timer 110. Since the current state ends and the next state starts due to the state transition, the measured data is kept waiting for the state transition information or the date change information to be notified, that is, while the current state continues. 20, the current state section 203, the operation state 204, and the start time 205 are recorded.

  When the state transition information is notified from the detection unit 101 (FIG. 4A, Start), the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 receives this (step S1).

  The actual measurement data measuring unit 102 records the end time 206 in the actual measurement data table 20 based on the time information from the timer 110 in the current section (step S2).

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 calculates a duration 207 obtained by subtracting the start time 205 from the end time 206 for the current section, and records it in the actual measurement data table 20 (step S3).

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 moves up one section and performs start processing for the next section (step S4). The start process is a process of recording the section 203, the operation state 204 based on the state transition information received from the detection unit 101, and the start time 205 of the state. When the start process ends (FIG. 4A, End), the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 also waits for notification of state transition information from the detection unit 101 or date change information from the timer 110. Become.

  When the date change information is notified from the timer 110 (FIG. 4B, Start), the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 receives this (step S11).

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 records the end time 206 based on the date change information from the timer 110 in the current section (step S12). In this case, the end time 206 is 24:00 regardless of whether the operating state has changed.

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 calculates a duration 207 obtained by subtracting the start time 205 from the end time 206 for the current section, and records it in the actual measurement data table 20 (step S13).

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 calculates the number of times of printing 202 for the day (step S14). The actual measurement data measuring unit 102 calculates and records the number of printings 202 by counting the number of “St4: printing” recorded in the actual measurement data table 20.

  The actual measurement data measurement unit 102 shifts to the next section and updates the date by one day, and performs a start process for the next section on the next day (step S15). Since the start process in step S15 is the first section of a new day, the date 201, section 203, operation state 204, and operation state 204 are recorded. In this case, X1 is recorded in the section 203, and 0:00 is recorded at the start time 205. When the start process ends (FIG. 4B, End), the actual measurement data measurement unit 102 also waits for notification of state transition information from the detection unit 101 or date change information from the timer 110. Become.

  Returning to the description of each element of the power consumption display device 10 again. The user instruction receiving unit 115 receives an instruction from the user and generates a simulation setting item 30 based on the instruction. The instruction from the user is an instruction to be performed by the user in order to change a condition related to a predetermined operation state transition. The user inputs conditions to be changed. In this case, the user may input from the “condition input” screen displayed by selecting the “simulation” screen displayed on the LED screen 1 a or the display 2 b of the printer 1. FIG. 5 shows an example of the “condition input” screen. "Condition input" screen, for example, as a simulation period, items to select "day", "week", "month", items to change the duration of the low power state, change the power off state to plug off state An item or the like for selecting whether or not to simulate the case may be displayed.

  An example of the simulation setting item 30 is shown in FIG. The simulation setting item 30 is an item that is generated by a user instruction and is a condition for generating the simulation data by changing the actual measurement data 20. The simulation setting item 30 includes, for example, a simulation period 31, a change item 32, a pre-change 33, and a post-change 34 as data items. In the simulation setting item 30 in FIG. 6A, the duration of the data for one week is changed from “30 minutes” to “10 minutes”, and the “power off state” is set to “plug” The conditions for “off state” are set.

  The advice setting storage unit 116 stores a default simulation setting item 30 ′ as a predetermined setting. The default simulation setting item 30 ′ is an item that is set in advance and serves as a condition for generating simulation data by changing the actual measurement data 20. As shown in FIG. 6B, the default simulation setting item 30 'may be a data item similar to the simulation setting item 30 according to an instruction from the user. In the illustrated example, the simulation period 31 is selected by the user in units of “day”, “month”, and “week”. For these periods, “standby state” is set to “power off state”. "And a condition when the number of times of printing is changed to" 1 "is set. Note that the number of printings 33 before the change is reflected each time, for example, based on the number of printings 202 in the actual measurement data table 20.

  The simulation data storage unit 111 stores a simulation data table 40 generated by a simulation data generation unit 104 described later. FIG. 7 shows an example of the simulation data table 40 stored in the simulation data storage unit 111. The data items of the simulation data table 40 are the same as those of the actual measurement data table 20 shown in FIG. 3, for example. In this case, for example, the actual measurement data table 20 in the actual measurement data storage unit 103 is first copied to the simulation data storage unit 111, and then the simulation data generation unit 104 is transferred from the user instruction receiving unit 115 or the advice setting storage unit 116. The actual measurement data table 20 in the simulation data storage unit 111 may be changed to the simulation data table 40 based on the instruction.

  The simulation data generation unit 104 generates simulation data by changing measured data in accordance with a user instruction. Simulation data is data generated by changing measured data according to a predetermined condition. For example, the simulation data generating unit 104 generates the simulation data table 40 by changing the actual measurement data table 20 according to the simulation setting item 30 received by the user instruction receiving unit 115.

  Further, the simulation data generation unit 104 generates simulation data by changing the actual measurement data based on a predetermined setting. For example, the simulation data generation unit 104 generates the simulation data table 40 by changing the actual measurement data table 20 according to the default simulation setting item 30 ′ stored in the advice setting storage unit 116.

  Here, an example of a process in which the simulation data generation unit 104 generates the simulation data table 40 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for shortening the standby time.

  The simulation data generation unit 104 acquires the simulation setting item 30 or the default simulation setting item 30 ′ from the user instruction receiving unit 115 or the advice setting storage unit 116. (Step S21). For example, the upper part of FIG. 6A shows a simulation setting item 30 for shortening the standby time. This is because the duration of the standby state for one week in the simulation setting item 30 is changed from “30 minutes” to “10 minutes”, and when the duration of the standby state is 10 minutes or more, it is later than 10 minutes. The operation state is set to change from the “standby state” to the “low power state”.

  The simulation data generation unit 104 sets the waiting time after change to t0 (step S22). Here, “10 minutes” is set to t0.

  The simulation data generation unit 104 extracts the actual measurement data table 20 from the simulation data storage unit 111 (step S23). Here, the latest “week” data, that is, data for one week before the previous day is extracted.

  The simulation data generation unit 104 performs processing for the first day in the designated period (step S24). Here, the data for the previous day is processed.

  First, the section X is set to 1 (step S25). The simulation data generation unit 104 determines whether or not the section 1 is on standby (step S26). When the section 1 is not standby (S26: No), the simulation data generation unit 104 proceeds to the next section (step S31). If the section 1 is on standby (S26: Yes), it is determined whether the duration t1 of the section 1 is longer than t0 (step S27).

  If the duration t1 of the section 1 is t0 or less (S27: No), the process proceeds to the next section (step S31). When the duration t1 of the section 1 is longer than t0 (S27: Yes), the duration t1 of the section 1 is changed to t0 (step S28).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the next section (section 2 in this case) is in a low power state (step S29). When the next section is not in the low power state (S29: No), the process proceeds to the next section (step S31). If the next section is in a low power state (S29: Yes), the duration t2 is changed (step S30). The change in the duration t2 of the low power state is calculated by adding a value obtained by subtracting the set time t0 from the duration t1 of the section 1 to the duration t2 of the low power state.

  When step S30 ends, the process proceeds to the next section (step S31). Subsequent to step S31, it is determined whether or not the section is n, that is, the last section (step S31). If the section is n, and there is a day to be processed subsequently, the process returns to S24 and the same steps are performed for the previous day. If there is no day to process, the process ends.

  Returning to the description of each element of the power consumption display device 10 again. The total processing unit 112 calculates a total value of durations of the actual measurement data and the simulation data for each operation state for each predetermined period. For example, the total processing unit 112 is based on the actual measurement data table 20 stored in the actual measurement data storage unit 103 and the simulation data table 40 stored in the simulation data storage unit 111, and the actual measurement total time table 50 and the simulation total time table 50 ′. Is generated. For example, the total processing unit 112 may totalize the durations 207 of the respective operation states 204 in the actual measurement data table 20 and the simulation data table 40 for each date 201. An example of the data structure of the actual measurement total time table 50 and the simulation total time table 50 'is shown in FIG.

  In the actual measurement total time table 50 and the simulation total time table 50 ′, for example, a print time 52, a standby time 53, a low power time 54, a power-off time 55, and a plug-off time 56 are stored for each date 51. The

  The actual measurement total time table 50 and the simulation total time table 50 ′ generated by the total processing unit 112 are stored in the actual measurement total time storage unit 113 and the simulation total time storage unit 114, respectively.

  The power consumption storage unit 105 stores, for example, power consumption for each operation state. A power consumption table 60 is shown in FIG. 10 as an example of an internal data structure of the power consumption storage unit 105. In the power consumption table 60 of FIG. 10, the power consumption is “50 W” when the operation state is “printing state”.

  The power consumption calculation unit 106 calculates the actual power consumption based on the actual measurement data and the power consumption based on the simulation data. At this time, for example, data in the actual measurement data table 20 or the actual total time table 50 may be used as the actual measurement data. For example, data in the simulation data table 40 or the total simulation time table 50 ′ may be used as the simulation data. May be used.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result calculated by the power consumption amount calculation unit 106. For example, the power consumption amount calculation unit 106 refers to the power consumption table 60 in the power consumption storage unit 105, and the actual measurement total time table 50 of the actual measurement total time storage unit 113 and / or the simulation total time storage unit 114. Based on the simulation total time table 50 ′, the operation time 51 to 56 of each operation state on the predetermined date 51 is multiplied by the power consumption 62 corresponding to the operation state 61 to consume the operation state on the predetermined date 71. The amount of electric power 72 is calculated.

  The electricity bill storage unit 107 stores the unit price of the electricity bill. FIG. 12 shows an example of the data structure of the electricity bill 80 stored in the electricity bill storage unit 107. For example, in the electricity rate storage unit 107 of FIG. 12, the unit price of the electricity rate for each region is stored as a fixed electricity rate table 80. For example, the electricity rate storage unit 107 is connected to a network so as to cope with fluctuations in the electricity rate. The electricity price list may be updated.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result calculated by the electricity rate calculation unit 108.

  The electricity bill calculation unit 108 refers to the electricity bill storage unit 107 and calculates the actual power consumption based on the actual measurement data calculated by the power consumption calculation unit 106 and the power consumption based on the simulation data. Calculate electricity charges. At this time, for example, data in the actual measurement data table 20 or the actual total time table 50 may be used as the actual measurement data. For example, data in the simulation data table 40 or the total simulation time table 50 ′ may be used as the simulation data. May be used. The same applies to the following.

  For example, the electricity bill calculation unit 108 refers to the electricity bill table 80 in the electricity bill storage unit 107, and uses the power consumption amount 72 in each operation state on the predetermined date 71 calculated by the power consumption amount calculation unit 106. Each of these electricity charges 92 on a predetermined date 91 is calculated. For example, the electricity bill calculation unit 108 multiplies the power consumption 72 in each operation state on the prescribed date 71 by the electricity bill of the area where the printer is used from the electricity bill 80 in FIG. The electricity bill 92 is calculated. When the area where the printer is used is “A area”, the electricity rate calculation unit 108 calculates the power consumption 72 in each operation state by multiplying “15 yen” per kWh.

  The display unit 109 outputs the actual operation time. For example, the display unit 109 outputs the operation time for each operation state, such as the actually measured printing time, based on the actual measurement total time table 50 stored in the actual measurement total time storage unit 113. The display unit 109 may perform the output based on the actual measurement data table 20. The output result is displayed on the LED screen 1a and the display 2b of the printer 1 as described above. The output result may be displayed every predetermined period, for example, in units of the previous day, last week, last month, etc., retroactively from the latest measured date.

  The display unit 109 compares the actual power consumption based on the actual measurement data calculated by the power consumption calculation unit 106 with the power consumption based on the simulation data, and outputs the result. The display unit 109 compares and outputs the actual electricity rate based on the actual measurement data calculated by the electricity rate calculation unit 108 and the electricity rate based on the simulation data.

  Further, the display unit 109 may output advice to the user based on a comparison of the actual power consumption or electricity charge based on the measured data and the power consumption or electricity charge based on the simulation data.

  The display unit 109 may output the above display as a graph so that the user can easily see the display as necessary.

  Next, the operation of the printer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  When the user wants to know the actual usage status of the printer 1, the user selects a “use status display” screen from the “selection screen” displayed on the LED screen 1 a or the display 2 b in FIG. 1, for example. Next, the user selects a period to be displayed from “Previous Day”, “Last Week”, and “Last Month”. If the user wants to print the “use status display” screen, the user selects “use status print”.

  FIG. 14 is an example of “print status display” output from the display unit 109. In the “print status display” screen, for example, the printing time based on the actual measurement total time table 50 is displayed. The display unit 109 outputs the print time in units of days, weeks, and months, such as “Previous day”, “Last week”, and “Last month”. In the illustrated example, the printing status of the previous day, that is, the total value of the duration of each operation state on the previous day is output. In the illustrated example, a graph based on the actual measurement data table 20 is generated and output.

  When it is desired to display the simulation result based on the default value of the printer 1 with respect to the power usage amount of the printer 1, for example, the user selects “advice” from the “selection screen” displayed on the LED screen 1a or the display 2b of FIG. Select a screen.

  FIG. 15 is an example of “advice” output from the display unit 109. The “advice” screen compares power consumption based on actual measurement data and simulation data. In the illustrated example, the period to be compared is one week, and a simulation result in which the standby state set in the default simulation setting item 30 ′ is changed to the power-off state is output.

  FIG. 16 is another example of “advice”. In the illustrated example, the period to be compared is one day, and a simulation result is output by changing the number of daily printings set to the default simulation setting item 30 'to one.

  When the user wants to display the simulation result based on the user's own instruction regarding the power consumption of the printer, the user changes the “simulation” screen from the “selection screen” displayed on the LED screen 1a or the display 2b in FIG. select.

  FIG. 17 is an example of “simulation” output from the display unit 109. When the “simulation” screen is selected, first, the “condition input” screen illustrated in FIG. 5 is displayed. When a condition is input on the “condition input” screen, for example, the “simulation display” screen of FIG. 17 is displayed as a result. The simulation compares the power consumption and the electricity bill based on the actual measurement data and the simulation data. In the illustrated example, the period to be compared is one day, and the simulation result in which the duration of the low power state set in the simulation setting item 30 received by the user instruction receiving unit 115 is changed from 30 minutes to 10 minutes is shown. Output. In addition, a simulation result obtained by changing the power-off state to the plug-off state in this state is also output.

  As described above, various comparisons of power consumption and electricity charges can be performed by creating simulation data from actual measurement data from the simulation setting item 30 or the default simulation setting item 30 ′ based on the user's instruction. it can. If the simulation setting item 30 and the default simulation setting item 30 'are changed, it is possible to output simulation results of various patterns.

  In the present embodiment, a printer as an image forming apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any electric device may be used as long as the operation state changes in power consumption. .

  The above-described embodiments of the present invention are examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art can implement the present invention in various other modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 10 Electric power consumption display apparatus 101 Detection part 102 Actual measurement data measurement part 103 Actual measurement data storage part 104 Simulation data generation part 105 Power consumption storage part 106 Power consumption amount calculation part 107 Electricity charge storage part 108 Electricity charge calculation part 109 Display part 110 timer 111 simulation data storage unit 112 total processing unit 113 actual measurement total time storage unit 114 simulation total time storage unit 115 user instruction reception unit 116 advice setting storage unit

Claims (8)

An electrical device in which a plurality of operating states with different power consumption transition, including a power-on state and a power-off state,
Actual measurement data storage means for storing actual measurement data in which the operation state is associated with the duration for which the operation state has continued;
Simulation data generating means for generating simulation data by changing the actual measurement data according to a user instruction or a predetermined setting;
A power usage calculating means for calculating an actual power usage based on the actual measurement data and a power usage based on the simulation data;
An electric device comprising: display means for comparing and outputting an actual power usage amount based on actual measurement data calculated by the power usage amount calculation means and a power usage amount based on simulation data.   The electrical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrical apparatus is an image forming apparatus. Conditions relating to the transition of the operating state are defined,
The actual measurement data is data indicating a result of transition according to the condition,
The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the simulation generation unit generates the simulation data according to a change in the condition based on a user instruction or a predetermined setting.   The electric device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the power consumption is one of power consumption and electricity charges.   The electric device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the power consumption is a power consumption amount and an electricity bill. Detecting means for detecting a transition of the operating state;
Further comprising: actual measurement data generation means for generating the actual measurement data by calculating the duration of each operation state based on the time from the transition to each operation state detected by the detection means, The electric device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A method of displaying the amount of power used by an electric device in which a plurality of operating states with different power consumption transition including a power-on state and a power-off state,
Storing actual measurement data associating the operation state with the duration of the operation state; and
According to the user's specification, changing the actual measurement data to generate simulation data;
Calculating actual power usage based on the measured data and power usage based on the simulation data;
An electric power of the electric device characterized by having a step of comparing and outputting the actual power usage based on the actual measurement data calculated by the power usage calculation means and the power usage based on the simulation data Usage display method. A program for displaying power usage on an electrical device in which a plurality of operating states with different power consumption transition including a power-on state and a power-off state
Actual measurement data storage means for storing actual measurement data in which the operation state is associated with the duration for which the operation state has continued;
Simulation data generation means for generating simulation data by changing the actual measurement data according to the user's specification;
A power usage calculating means for calculating an actual power usage based on the actual measurement data and a power usage based on the simulation data;
An electric device comprising: display means for comparing and outputting the actual power usage based on the actual measurement data calculated by the power usage calculation means and the power usage based on the simulation data A program that displays power usage.

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