JP2015006778A - Image forming apparatus, image forming control method, and image forming control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately and efficiently form an image using battery power.SOLUTION: In a multifunction apparatus 1, a printer unit 4 forms an image on a sheet on the basis of image data and an image forming mode designated for the image data with battery power of a battery 10 used as operating power. In the multifunction apparatus 1, a residual quantity detection unit detects a residual power storage quantity of the battery 10 before and after the printer unit 4 forms the image in the image forming mode designated for the image data on the basis of image data on one page. The multifunction apparatus 1 calculates power consumption required for a page of the image as unit power consumption from the detected residual power storage quantity. Furthermore, the multifunction apparatus 1 calculates the number of pages by which the image can be formed in the image forming mode from the unit power consumption and the residual power storage quantity after image formation.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming control method, and an image forming control program, and more specifically, an image forming apparatus, an image forming control method, and an image forming control program that appropriately and efficiently perform image forming using battery power. About.

  There is an image forming apparatus that mounts a battery and performs an image forming operation using the power of the battery, such as a battery-driven printer apparatus.

  In such a battery-driven image forming apparatus, if the remaining battery power runs out during the image forming operation, the image forming operation stops at that time, and the image forming quality and the proper operation of the image forming apparatus are reduced. It is not preferable to perform the image forming operation until the battery power is exhausted.

  Therefore, conventionally, the remaining amount of power stored in the battery is detected, and the amount of remaining power stored is compared with a fixed amount of power required for image formation that is set in advance as the amount of power required to form an image of one page. The image formation is controlled (see Patent Document 1).

  However, in the above prior art, image formation control is performed by comparing a fixed amount of power required for image formation and the remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery. However, image formation includes various image formation modes such as a high-speed mode, a normal mode, and a high image quality mode, and electric power required for image formation in each image formation mode is different. As a result, there has been a need for improvement in performing appropriate image formation.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it performs appropriate image formation control in accordance with the remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery and the image formation mode.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 is specified for image data and the image data, using battery power to supply battery power and battery power from the battery as operating power. An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium based on an image forming mode, a remaining amount detecting unit that detects a remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery, and the image forming unit forms the image data in a predetermined unit amount. Consumption for calculating the power consumption required for image formation of the predetermined unit amount of image data in the image formation mode as the unit power consumption from the remaining power amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit before and after image formation in the mode Image forming capable of calculating the amount of image data that can be formed in the image forming mode from the power amount calculating means and the unit power consumption amount and the remaining power storage amount after the image formation It is characterized in that it comprises a calculation means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform appropriate image formation control in accordance with the remaining amount of charge in the battery and the image formation mode.

1 is an external perspective view of a composite apparatus to which one embodiment of the present invention is applied. The principal part top view of a compound apparatus. The principal part front schematic block diagram of a composite apparatus. The circuit block block diagram of a compound apparatus. The circuit block diagram of a power supply part. The figure which shows the other example of the electrical storage residual amount detection method. The figure which shows an example of an electrical storage residual amount notification. The figure which shows an example of a power consumption table. 5 is a flowchart showing image formation control processing. Explanatory drawing of power consumption. 6 is a flowchart showing image formation control processing for obtaining the number of pages for each page. The figure which shows an example of the printable sheet number display output. The figure which shows an example of the printable sheet number display output by a table format and a graph format. 5 is a flowchart showing image formation execution control processing. 10 is a flowchart showing another image formation execution control process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating image formation control processing that is periodically executed.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The range of this invention is unduly limited by the following description. However, not all the configurations described in the present embodiment are essential constituent elements of the present invention.

  1 to 16 are diagrams showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus, an image forming control method, and an image forming control program according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus, an image forming control method, and an image according to the present invention. 1 is an external perspective view of a composite apparatus 1 to which an embodiment of a formation control program is applied.

  In FIG. 1, a composite apparatus (image forming apparatus) 1 includes a scanner unit 3 disposed on an upper part of a main body housing 2, and a printer unit 4, a paper feeding unit 5, and a paper discharge unit 6 in the main body housing 2. In addition, an ink cartridge storage portion 7 and the like are provided. In addition, the multifunction device 1 is provided with an operation display unit 8 on the upper front surface of the main body housing 2, and the operation display unit (notification unit, operation unit) 8 is provided with various keys 8a. A display 8b is provided. The operation display unit 8 has its display 8b used to output various information in an image formation control method of the present invention, which will be described later, and the key 8a is used to input various information in the image formation control method. .

  As the scanner unit 3, for example, a scanner using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) as a photoelectric conversion element is used, and scans a document to read an image of the document.

  As the printer unit (image forming unit) 4, for example, a printer that forms an image in units of bytes with a predetermined line as 1 byte is used, such as an ink jet system. The printer unit 4 supplies paper based on image data of a document read by the scanner unit 3 and image data transmitted from an external host device HS such as a computer (see FIG. 4) via a wired or wireless network. An image is formed on a sheet P (see FIG. 2) which is a recording medium sent from the unit 5 and is discharged to the paper discharge unit 6.

  The multifunction device 1 is provided with an opening / closing cover 9 on the front side of the main body housing 2, and a battery (battery) 10 is stored in the main body housing 2 of the opening / closing cover 9 in a replaceable state. .

  The composite apparatus 1 is provided with a charge amount notification unit 11 that displays the charge amount (remaining amount of charge) of the battery 10 on the front surface of the main body housing 2 and above the open / close cover 9. A USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector 12 is provided below 9.

  For example, the charge amount notification unit 11 includes a plurality of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) arranged in the horizontal direction, and notifies the charge amount of the battery 10 based on the number of lighting of the LEDs.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the composite apparatus 1 has a guide rod 22 and a stay 23 (see FIG. 3) spanned between the left and right side plates 21 a and 21 b constituting the frame 21 in the main scanning direction. . The guide rod 22 and the stay 23 support the carriage 24 so as to be movable in the main scanning direction.

  The carriage 24 is moved in the main scanning direction indicated by a double arrow in FIG. 2 via a timing belt (not shown) by a main scanning motor 121 (see FIG. 4).

  The carriage 24 has a recording head 25 mounted thereon, and the recording head 25 discharges four ink droplets of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). Discharge heads 25Y, 25C, 25M, and 25K are provided. Each of the droplet discharge heads 25Y, 25C, 25M, and 25K includes an ink discharge port arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction. Each of the droplet discharge heads 25Y, 25C, 25M, and 25K discharges ink droplets from the ink discharge port (ink nozzle) toward the lower sheet P.

  Note that various methods can be used as the pressure generating method for generating the pressure for discharging the droplets for the recording head 25. For example, the recording head 25 includes a piezoelectric actuator using a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator using a phase change caused by film boiling of a liquid using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor, and a shape using a metal phase change caused by a temperature change. A memory alloy actuator, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like can be used.

  Note that the composite apparatus 1 may be driven by dividing it in terms of time in addition to simultaneously driving all the ink discharge ports when discharging ink droplets. In other words, when all the ink discharge ports are driven simultaneously, the recording quality is reduced due to the influence of crosstalk between all the ink discharge ports, and the capacity of the power source is increased by temporarily requiring a large current. There may be disadvantages. However, these disadvantages can be avoided by time-division driving.

  The carriage 24 is mounted with a head driver 26 (see FIG. 4) such as a driver IC for driving each ink ejection port of the recording head 25, and a harness (see FIG. 4) is connected to the control board 100 (see FIG. 4). Flexible printed cable) 27.

  In addition, the carriage 24 is equipped with a sub tank 28 for each color for supplying ink of each color to the recording head 25. Each color sub-tank 28 is supplementarily supplied with ink of each color from the ink cartridge 30 of each color stored in the ink cartridge storage section 7 via the ink supply tube 29 of each color. The ink cartridge storage unit 7 includes a supply pump unit (not shown) for feeding ink in the ink cartridge 30. The ink supply tube 29 is held by a locking member 31 attached to the rear plate 21c constituting the frame 21 in the middle of scooping.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the multifunction apparatus 1 is configured so that the paper feeding unit 5 faces the half-moon roller (paper feeding roller) 42 that separates and feeds the paper P one by one from the paper stacking unit 41 and the paper feeding roller 42. A separation pad 43 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided. In the sheet feeding unit 5, the separation pad 43 is urged toward the sheet feeding roller 42, and the sheet feeding roller 42 rotates to rotate the uppermost stage loaded on the sheet stacking unit 41 of the sheet feeding unit 5. The paper P is sent out.

  The sheet feeding unit 5 further includes a guide member 44, a counter roller 45, a conveyance guide member 46, a pressing member 48 having a tip pressure roller 47, a conveyance belt 49, a conveyance roller 50 over which the conveyance belt 49 is stretched, and a tension. A roller 51 and the like are provided. The paper feed unit 5 conveys the paper P sent out from the paper stacking unit 41 onto the conveyance belt 49 by a pressing member 48 having a guide member 44, a counter roller 45, a conveyance guide member 46 and a tip pressure roller 47. .

  The conveyance belt 49 is an endless belt, is stretched between the conveyance roller 50 and the tension roller 51, and is circulated and conveyed in the belt conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) shown in FIG. The conveyor belt 49 is, for example, a surface layer that is a sheet adsorbing surface formed of a resin material such as pure ETFE pure material having a thickness of about 40 μm that is not subjected to resistance control, and resistance control by carbon is performed using the same material as the surface layer. And a back layer (medium resistance layer, ground layer).

  The surface of the conveyor belt 49 is charged by the charging roller 52 disposed in the vicinity of the conveyor roller 50, and the sheet P is adsorbed and conveyed. The transport roller 50 is grounded and is disposed in contact with the middle resistance layer (back layer) of the transport belt 49, and also serves as an earth roller.

  The transport belt 49 is transported in the belt transport direction (sub-scanning direction) shown in FIG. 2 when the transport roller 50 is rotationally driven by the sub-scanning motor 123 (see FIG. 4).

  In the composite apparatus 1, a guide member 53 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 49 in a state of facing the carriage 24 so as to correspond to the printing area by the recording head 25. The guide member 53 is disposed in a state in which the upper surface protrudes toward the recording head 25 from the tangent line of the two rollers (the conveyance roller 50 and the tension roller 51) that support the conveyance belt 49. Is maintained.

  The composite apparatus 1 includes a separation claw 61 for separating the paper P from the conveyance belt 49, a paper discharge roller 62, and a paper discharge roller 63 in the vicinity of the tension roller 51 as the paper discharge unit 6. A paper discharge tray 64 is provided below 62. When the paper P on which an image is formed is conveyed to the tension roller 51 by the transport belt 49, the paper discharge unit 6 separates the paper P from the transport belt 49 by the separation claw 61, and discharges the paper discharge roller 63 and the discharge roller 63. The paper P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 64 by the paper roller 62.

  Further, the apparatus main body 1 has a double-sided unit 71 detachably mounted on the back surface thereof. The duplex unit 71 takes in and reverses the paper P returned by the reverse rotation of the transport belt 49 and feeds it again between the counter roller 45 and the transport belt 49. The upper surface of the duplex unit 71 is a manual feed tray 72 for manually feeding the paper P.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the multifunction apparatus 1 maintains and recovers the state of the ink discharge port of the recording head 25 in the non-printing area on one side in the scanning direction of the carriage 24 to recover. Is arranged. The maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 includes a cap 82 for capping each ink discharge port surface of the recording head 25, a wiper blade 83 for wiping the ink discharge port surface, and an empty discharge for receiving a droplet when the thickened recording liquid is discharged in an empty manner. A receiver 84 and the like are provided.

  Then, the composite apparatus 1 receives the recording liquid waste generated by the maintenance and recovery operation by the maintenance and recovery mechanism 81, the ink discharged to the cap 82, the ink attached to the wiper blade 83 and removed by the wiper cleaner, and the idle ejection receiver 84. The discharged ink is discharged and stored in a waste liquid tank (not shown).

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the composite apparatus 1 discharges droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the recording liquid thickened during recording or the like to the non-printing area on the other side in the scanning direction of the carriage 24. An empty discharge receiver 85 for receiving droplets when discharging is disposed.

  The composite apparatus 1 drives the recording head 25 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 24 in the main scanning direction, and ejects ink droplets onto the stopped paper P, thereby recording an image for a predetermined number of rows. To do. When the multifunction apparatus 1 performs image recording for a predetermined number of lines, it conveys the sheet P for the predetermined number of lines and then records an image for the next predetermined number of lines. When receiving the recording end signal or the signal that the trailing edge of the paper P has reached the recording area, the multifunction apparatus 1 ends the recording operation and discharges the paper P to the paper discharge tray 64.

  Further, in the standby state for printing (image formation), the multifunction apparatus 1 moves the carriage 24 to the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 side so that the cap 82 is capped on the recording head 25 to keep the ink discharge port in a wet state. Prevent ejection failure due to ink drying. Further, the composite apparatus 1 performs a recovery operation in which the recording liquid is sucked from the ink discharge port by a suction pump (not shown) while the recording head 25 is capped with the cap 82 and the thickened recording liquid and bubbles are discharged. Further, the composite apparatus 1 maintains a stable ejection performance of the recording head 25 by performing an idle ejection operation for ejecting ink that is not related to the recording before the start of recording or during the recording.

  In the composite apparatus 1, a control board 100 shown in FIG. The control board 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, an NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) 104, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 105, an I An / O (input / output) 106, a host I / F (interface) 107, a printing control unit 108, a main scanning motor driving unit 109, an AC bias supply unit 110, a sub scanning motor driving unit 111, and the like are mounted. The units 101 to 111 on the control board 100 are connected by a bus 112. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the composite apparatus 1 includes a main scanning motor 121, a linear encoder 122, a sub scanning motor 123, a wheel encoder 124, and the like.

  The main scanning motor 121 is rotationally driven to move the carriage 24 in the main scanning direction indicated by a double arrow in FIG. 2 via a timing belt (not shown).

The linear encoder 122 detects the rotation of the main scanning motor 121 and outputs the detection result to the CPU 101 via the I / O 106.
It is carried around in the feeding direction (sub-scanning direction).

  The wheel encoder 124 detects the rotation of the sub-scanning motor 123 and outputs it to the CPU 101 via the I / O 106.

  The host I / F 107 transmits / receives data to / from a host device HS such as a computer using a USB (Universal Serial Bus), a LAN (Local Area Network), or the like under the control of the CPU 101.

  The ROM 102 stores a basic program as the composite apparatus 1, the image formation control program and system data of the present invention, and various data necessary for executing the image formation control program.

  The RAM 103 is used as a work memory for the CPU 101 and stores various data necessary for the processing of the CPU 101. The RAM 103 stores, in particular, image data output and formed by the printer unit 4 under the control of the CPU 101 as print data in byte units.

  The NVRAM (storage means) 104 generally stores initial setting values for each function of the multifunction device 1 and various data necessary for the operation of the multifunction device 1 under the control of the CPU 101. The NVRAM 104 stores various data necessary for executing the image formation control method of the present invention. For example, the NVRAM 104 stores, under the control of the CPU 101, power consumption necessary for forming a predetermined amount of image data, for example, A4 size 1 page image data for each image forming mode.

  The CPU 101 controls each unit of the composite apparatus 1 based on a program in the ROM 102, executes basic processing as the composite apparatus 1, and executes the image formation control method of the present invention.

  That is, the composite apparatus 1 includes a ROM, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM, a flash memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable), a DVD ( An image formation control program for executing the image formation control method of the present invention recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a digital versatile disk (SD), a secure digital (SD) card, or a magneto-optical disc (MO) is read. By being installed in the ROM 102 or the like, it is constructed as an image forming apparatus that executes an appropriate image forming control image forming control method according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image forming mode in image forming using the battery 10 described later. ing. This image formation control program is a computer-executable program written in a legacy programming language such as assembler, C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark), an object-oriented programming language, or the like, and is stored in the recording medium. And can be distributed.

  Then, the CPU 101 performs a remaining amount detection unit 135 (see FIG. 5), which will be described later, before and after performing a predetermined amount (for example, one page) of image formation based on the image formation mode and image data by the printer unit 4 as image forming means. The power consumption amount required for the image formation of the predetermined amount in the image formation mode is calculated from the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10 detected by, and functions as power consumption calculation means.

  Further, the CPU 101 calculates an image data amount that can be formed from the amount of power consumption and the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10 after the image formation, and functions as an image formable amount calculation unit.

  The CPU 101 stores unit power consumption, which will be described later, in the NVRAM 104 for each image forming mode, and functions as a storage control unit.

  Then, the CPU 101 determines the image data for which image formation is requested from the remaining amount of the battery 10 (remaining power storage amount) detected by the remaining amount detection unit 135 and the power consumption in each image formation mode of the NVRAM 104. The number of images that can be formed in the image forming mode specified by the forming request is calculated. The image forming mode is, for example, a high speed mode, a fast mode, a beautiful mode, a high image quality mode, or the like.

  The ASIC 105 performs various image processing such as various signal processing and rearrangement on the image data using the RAM 103 and outputs the image data to the print control unit 108 as drive data for the recording head 25. Further, the ASIC 105 processes input / output signals for controlling the entire composite apparatus 1.

  A host device HS such as a personal computer that sends print data (image data) to the composite apparatus 1 and causes the composite apparatus 1 to perform printing (image formation) is connected to the host I / F 107 via a dedicated line or a LAN (Local Area Network). Etc. are connected. The host device HS generates image data and a control signal by the printer driver installed therein, and transfers the image data and the control signal to the host I / F 107.

  The print control unit 108 controls the driving of the head driver 26 based on the drive data. The head driver 26 controls the ink droplets corresponding to the image data from the ink ejection openings of the respective recording heads 25 under the control of the print control unit 108. To form an image on the paper P. That is, the print control unit 108 generates a drive waveform for driving the recording head 25, and also outputs image data for selectively driving a pressure generation unit (not shown) of the recording head 25 and various data associated therewith for 1 byte. Serially output to the head driver 26. Based on the image data and various data, the head driver 26 controls the operation of the ink discharge port of each recording head 25 to discharge ink droplets. Note that the composite apparatus 1 may generate dot pattern data for image output, for example, by storing font data in the ROM 102, or image data is converted into bitmap data by a printer driver on the host apparatus HS side. The data may be expanded and transferred to the multifunction apparatus 1, but in the present embodiment, it is assumed to be performed by a printer driver.

  Specifically, the print control unit 108 includes a D / A converter and an amplifier that perform D / A conversion on drive pulse pattern data stored in the ROM 102 and read by the CPU 101 for generating a drive waveform. The print control unit 108 outputs a drive waveform composed of one drive pulse or a plurality of drive pulses to the head driver 26. The head driver 26 constitutes a drive pulse that constitutes a drive waveform supplied from the print control unit 108 based on image data (dot pattern data) corresponding to one byte (a predetermined number of lines) of the recording head 25 input serially. Is selectively applied to the pressure generating portion of the recording head 25 to drive the recording head 25. The head driver 26, for example, shifts the level of the shift register that receives a clock signal and serial data that is image data, a latch circuit that latches the register value of the shift register using a latch signal, and the output value of the latch circuit. A level conversion circuit (level shifter) and an analog switch array whose on / off is controlled by the level shifter are provided. The head driver 26 selectively applies a required drive pulse included in the drive waveform from the print control unit 108 to the pressure generation unit of the recording head 25 by controlling on / off of the analog switch array.

  The main scanning motor drive unit 109 controls the movement of the carriage 24 in the main scanning direction by controlling the driving of the main scanning motor 121 under the control of the CPU 101.

  The linear encoder 122 detects the rotation of the main scanning motor 121 and outputs the detection result to the CPU 101 via the I / O 106.

  The AC bias supply unit 110 applies an alternating voltage that alternately repeats a positive output and a negative output to the charging roller 52. The charging roller 52 alternately charges the conveying belt 49 in a strip shape with a predetermined width in the sub-scanning direction, which is the circumferential direction, by the alternating voltage in the sub-scanning direction that is the circumferential direction. Since the conveyance belt 49 is alternately charged with plus and minus, the sheet P on which the sheet P has been fed onto the conveyance belt 49 is attracted to the conveyance belt 49, and the sheet P is sub-scanned by the circular movement. Transport in the direction.

  Under the control of the CPU 101, the sub-scanning motor driving unit 111 controls the driving of the sub-scanning motor 123 to control the conveyance of the conveyance belt 49, and the wheel encoder 124 detects the rotation of the sub-scanning motor 123, The data is output to the CPU 101 via the I / O 106.

  The operation display unit 8 includes various operation keys 8a and a display 8b (for example, a liquid crystal display). The operation display unit 8 performs various operations necessary for operating the multifunction device 1 from the operation keys (operation means) 8a, and the operation content from the operation keys 8a and the multifunction device are displayed on the display (notification means) 8b. 1 to display various information notified to the operator. In particular, the operation display unit 8 outputs various information necessary for the image formation control processing of the present invention to the display 8b under the control of the CPU 101, and is input from the operation keys 8a and the touch panel of the display 8b. The CPU 101 is notified of various instruction operation contents.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the composite apparatus 1 includes a power supply unit 130. The power supply unit 130 includes a switching / charging circuit 131, DC / DC converters 132 and 133, the battery 10, and the battery 10 Are provided with a remaining amount detecting unit 134 and a memory 135 attached to the AC adapter 136 having a power plug 136a at the tip.

  A connector (not shown) provided at the tip of the cord of the AC adapter 136 is detachably inserted into the switching / charging circuit 131. In the AC adapter 136, a plug 136a that is inserted into an AC 100V commercial power outlet is connected to the other end of the cord. The AC adapter 136 converts AC 100 V commercial AC power to DC and supplies it to the switching / charging circuit 131.

  The switching / charging circuit 131 is connected to the DC / DC converters 132 and 133, the battery 10 is detachably connected, and the AC adapter 136 is detachably connected.

  The switching / charging circuit 131 includes a field effect transistor (FET), a control IC, and the like, and controls the control IC by the ASIC 105 of the control board 100, thereby providing a DC power supply source to the DC / DC converters 132, 133. , Switching to the AC adapter 136 and the battery 10. The switching / charging circuit 131 detects the insertion / non-insertion state of the connector of the AC adapter 136, and switches the DC power supply source to the DC / DC converters 132, 133 between the AC adapter 136 and the battery 10. Further, the switching / charging circuit 131 charges the battery 10 with the DC power supplied from the AC adapter 136 and charges the battery 10 based on a control signal from the CPU 101 of the control board 100. As the battery 10, for example, a lithium ion battery, a nickel metal hydride battery, or the like is used.

  The DC / DC converters 132 and 133 perform DC / DC conversion on the direct current power supplied via the switching / charging circuit 131 to generate a voltage used in the control board 100, head drive, paper conveyance, and the like. Supply.

  The remaining amount detection unit (remaining amount detection means) 134 uses, for example, a fuel gauge IC (Integrated Circuit), and detects the amount of charge to the battery 10 and the amount of discharge from the battery 10 to 10 power consumption is detected finely.

  The memory 135 is a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory or an EEPROM, and can be accessed from the ASIC 105 of the control board 100 by an I2C bus, an SPI signal, or the like.

  The memory 135 accumulates the current electricity storage remaining amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 and the power consumption converted from the electricity storage remaining amount, and stores the accumulated value so that the current electricity storage remaining amount and the battery are stored. It is possible to know how many times the charging / discharging at 10 has been repeated. Therefore, the CPU 101 can know the current remaining amount of electricity stored by referring to the remaining amount of electricity stored in the memory 135, and can refer to the remaining amount of life of the battery 10 (hereinafter referred to as appropriate) by referring to the accumulated power consumption. The remaining life can be calculated.

  In FIG. 5, the battery 10 is provided with a remaining amount detection unit 134 such as a fuel gauge IC and a memory 135 to detect the remaining amount of the battery 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an AD converter 140 is provided on the control board 100, and the voltage of the battery 10 is input to the AD converter 140. The AD converter 140 performs AD (Analog / Digital) conversion on the input voltage of the battery 10 and outputs it to the CPU 101 as a battery voltage value. For example, the CPU 101 obtains the remaining battery charge value from the table of the voltage value stored in the ROM 102 and the remaining battery charge, for example. In this case, the AD converter 140, the CPU 101, and the ROM 102 function as remaining amount detection means. In the following description, it is assumed that the remaining amount detection unit 134 shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The composite apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can be driven by the battery 10, calculates the power consumption for each image forming mode, and calculates the number of images that can be formed for each image forming mode by the remaining power amount of the battery 10. calculate.

  In the composite apparatus 1, an AC adapter 136 that converts commercial AC power to DC and supplies it as external DC power to the composite apparatus 1 is connected to the switching / charging circuit 131 in a detachable manner. When the AC adapter 136 is connected, the composite apparatus 1 performs various image processing operations using the DC power obtained by converting the external DC power from the AC adapter 136 by the DC / DC converters 132 and 133. Further, the composite apparatus 1 can charge the battery 10 by the switching / charging circuit 131 when the AC adapter 136 is connected.

  On the other hand, in the composite apparatus 1, when the AC adapter 136 is not connected, the switching / charging circuit 131 supplies the battery DC power of the battery 10 to the DC / DC converters 132, 133, and the DC / DC converter 132, Various image processing operations are performed using the power converted in 133 as operating power.

  That is, when the AC adapter 136 is connected, the composite apparatus 1 operates with external DC power and charges the battery 10 according to the operation status. Further, when the AC adapter 136 is not connected, the composite apparatus 1 operates with the battery DC power source of the battery 10 and is discharged from the battery 10.

  When the composite apparatus 1 performs image formation using the battery 10 as operating power, the power consumption consumed in image formation differs depending on the image formation mode.

  In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the composite apparatus 1 also displays the remaining power storage amount according to the number of lighting of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) of the charge amount notification unit 11. I don't know how many remaining images can be formed in the image forming mode.

  Therefore, in the composite apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, first, when the printer unit 4 forms an image based on the image data sent from the host apparatus HS or the image data read by the scanner unit 3, the CPU 101 The image forming mode of formation is acquired. Then, in the multifunction apparatus 1, the CPU 101 detects the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10 detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 before and after image formation in correspondence with the image formation mode, for example, as shown in FIG. The power consumption table Tb1 is stored in a nonvolatile memory such as the ROM 102 or the NVRAM 104. In the following description, it is assumed that the composite apparatus 1 stores the power consumption table Tb1 in the NVRAM 104 as a nonvolatile memory. In FIG. 8, “high speed”, “fast”, “beautiful”, and “high image quality” are described as the image forming modes, but the image forming modes are not limited to these. In FIG. 8, “high speed” has the highest power consumption, and “high image quality” has the lowest power consumption, that is, “high speed”> “fast”> “beautiful”> “high image quality”. Yes.

  Then, the CPU 101 calculates the remaining number of pages that can be formed from the current remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery 10 and the image formation mode of the image formation designated for the image data to be image formed. The CPU 101 displays the calculated number of image formable pages on the display 8b of the operation display unit 8 or outputs a notification by voice output.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, when an image formation request is generated, the CPU 101 first stores the current storage of the battery 10 that is detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 and stored in the memory 135 prior to image formation. The remaining amount (the remaining amount of electricity stored before image formation) is detected (step S101).

  Next, in response to the image formation request, the CPU 101 forms an image in the image formation mode requested by the image formation request (step S102). This image forming process may be for one page or multiple pages.

  When the image formation is completed, the CPU 101 detects the current remaining charge amount (the remaining charge amount after image formation) of the battery 10 detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 and stored in the memory 135 (step S103).

  The CPU 101 uses the remaining power before image formation, the remaining power after image formation, and the number of images to be formed. The power consumption used for image formation, in particular, image formation of a predetermined amount of image data, in this embodiment, image formation for one page. Power consumption (hereinafter simply referred to as unit power consumption as appropriate) is calculated (step S104). That is, as shown in FIG. 10, when the remaining amount of electricity before image formation (before printing) and after image formation (after printing) changes, the CPU 101 calculates the difference as the power consumption necessary for image formation. The unit power consumption in this case is the unit power consumption when an image is formed in the image formation mode in the current image formation.

  The CPU 101 calculates the number of images that can be formed (the number of printable sheets in FIG. 9) from the unit power consumption required for image formation of a predetermined amount of image data (hereinafter referred to as image formation for one page) and the remaining power after image formation. Calculate (step S105). The CPU 101 calculates the number of images that can be formed by, for example, dividing the remaining power amount after image formation by unit power consumption.

  The CPU 101 notifies the user by displaying the calculated number of images that can be formed on the display 8b of the operation display unit 8 (step S106).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the CPU 101 calculates the unit power consumption in the image formation mode in the image formation for each page of image formation, stores it in the nonvolatile memory 104, and stores the number of images that can be formed. You may use for calculation of.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 11, when an image formation request is generated, the CPU 101 first stores the current battery 10 stored in the memory 135 detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 prior to image formation. The remaining amount (the remaining amount of electricity stored before image formation) is detected (step S201).

  Next, in response to the image formation request, the CPU 101 starts image formation (printing) in the image formation mode requested by the image formation request (step S202).

  When the image formation (printing) for one page is completed (step S203), the CPU 101 detects the remaining power storage amount of the battery 10 (after unit image formation) detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 and stored in the memory 135. The remaining amount of power storage is detected (step S204).

  The CPU 101 calculates the unit power consumption used for the image formation for one page from the remaining power before image formation and the remaining power after unit image formation (step S205). The unit power consumption in this case is the unit power consumption when an image is formed in the image forming mode specified in the current image formation.

  The CPU 101 stores the unit power consumption at the memory address corresponding to the image forming mode (described as the print mode in FIG. 11) in the current image formation of the NVRAM 104 (step S206). That is, the CPU 101 registers the unit power consumption acquired this time in association with the image forming mode (printing mode) of the power consumption table Tb1 shown in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 101 calculates the number of images that can be formed in each image forming mode (the number of printable sheets in FIG. 11) from the unit power consumption in each image forming mode and the remaining power amount after unit image formation (step S207). The CPU 101 calculates the number of images that can be formed in each image forming mode by dividing the remaining power amount after unit image formation by the unit power consumption in each image forming mode (step S208).

  When the CPU 101 calculates the image formable number of sheets in each image forming mode, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, the calculated image formable number of sheets in each image forming mode is displayed on the display 8b of the operation display unit 8 in a table format. The user is notified by display output. The notification of the number of images that can be formed is not limited to the display only in the table format as shown in FIG. 12, and for example, one or both of the table format and the graph format are displayed as shown in FIG. You may do so. Further, the composite apparatus 1 may output the notification of the number of images that can be formed not only in the display notification but also in other notification formats such as sound output using a speaker (not shown).

  Also, the composite apparatus 1 executes image formation in the designated image formation mode in response to an image formation request (print request) under the control of the CPU 101 as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. Control based on possible number.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 14, when there is an image formation request (print request), the CPU 101 detects the remaining amount of power storage (described as remaining battery level in FIG. 14) (step S301), and in the image formation mode. The designated image data (described as print mode in FIG. 14) is received (step S302). FIG. 14 shows a case where the image forming mode is the high speed mode.

  The CPU 101 reads from the NVRAM 104 the number of images that can be formed in the requested image formation mode, and checks whether the number of image formations requested to be formed can be formed (printed) (step S303).

  If image formation is possible in step S303 (YES in step S303), the CPU 101 executes the requested image formation (printing) and ends the process (step S304).

  When image formation is impossible in step S304 (NO in step S303), the CPU 101 stops image formation and ends the image formation execution control process (step S305).

  In the above description, when the CPU 101 receives an image formation request, the CPU 101 determines whether or not image formation on all pages of the image formation request is possible in the requested image formation mode. Although execution control is performed, image formation execution control may be performed for each page. That is, the image formation execution control process shown in FIG. 14 calculates the number of images that can be formed every time one page image is formed based on an image formation request, and can the next one page be formed? Judgment may be made to control execution and stop of image formation.

  Further, the CPU 101 may perform image formation execution control in consideration of other image formation modes as shown in FIG. In FIG. 15, the same processing steps as those in FIG. 14 are given the same step numbers to simplify the description.

  In other words, when there is an image formation request (print request), the CPU 101 detects the remaining amount of electricity stored (battery remaining amount) (step S301) and receives image data (print mode) in which the image formation mode is designated (step S301). Step S302). FIG. 15 shows a case where the image forming mode is the high speed mode.

  The CPU 101 reads from the NVRAM 104 the number of images that can be formed in the requested image formation mode, and checks whether the number of image formations requested to be formed can be formed (printed) (step S303).

  If image formation is possible in step S303, the CPU 101 executes the requested image formation (printing) and ends the process (step S304).

  When image formation is impossible in step S304, the CPU 101 checks whether there is an image formable number (printable number) in another image formation mode (printing mode) (step S401). The CPU 101 checks whether there is an image formable number of sheets that can form an image of all pages requested by the image formation request.

  If image formation is possible in another image formation mode in step S401 (YES in step S401), the CPU 101 performs image formation of the image data requested for image formation in the other image formation mode. Then, the process ends (step S402).

  If it is determined in step S401 that image formation is not possible in another image forming mode (NO in step S401), the CPU 101 stops image formation and ends the image formation control process (step S305).

  Also in the description of FIG. 15, when the CPU 101 receives an image formation request, the CPU 101 determines whether image formation of all pages of the image formation request is possible in the requested image formation mode. Although the image formation execution control is performed, the image formation execution control may be performed for each page. That is, the image formation execution control process shown in FIG. 15 calculates the number of images that can be formed every time one page image is formed based on an image formation request, and can the next one page be formed? Judgment may be made to control execution and stop of image formation.

  Further, the CPU 101 consumes the battery 10 even while the multifunction apparatus 1 is waiting for an image formation request. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the CPU 101 sets the number of images that can be formed periodically (every predetermined time). It may be requested and notified.

  That is, when an image formation request is generated, the CPU 101 first detects the remaining amount of power stored in the current battery 10 (charged before image formation) detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 and stored in the memory 135 prior to image formation. (Remaining amount) is detected (step S501).

  Next, in response to the image formation request, the CPU 101 forms an image (printing operation) in the image formation mode requested by the image formation request (step S502).

  When the image formation is completed, the CPU 101 detects the current remaining charge amount (the remaining charge amount after image formation) of the battery 10 detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 and stored in the memory 135 (step S503).

  The CPU 101 calculates power consumption used for image formation, in particular, power consumption (unit power consumption) necessary for image formation in units of pages, from the remaining amount of electricity stored before image formation, the remaining amount of electricity stored after image formation, and the number of images formed (see FIG. Step S504). Then, the CPU 101 calculates this unit power consumption as the unit power consumption when an image is formed in the image formation mode in the current image formation (step S505).

  The CPU 101 calculates the number of images that can be formed (number of printable sheets) in each image forming mode from the unit power consumption in each image forming mode and the remaining power amount after image formation (step S506).

  The CPU 101 notifies the user by displaying the calculated number of images that can be formed on the display 8b of the operation display unit 8 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 (step S507).

  The CPU 101 waits for a predetermined period of time to elapse without reporting the number of image-formable sheets and performing the next image formation to calculate and notify the number of image-formable sheets (step S508). ). When the CPU 101 waits for a certain period of time, it detects the remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery 10 (remaining battery amount) (step S509).

  The CPU 101 calculates the number of printable images (number of printable sheets) in each image forming mode from the detected remaining power storage and the unit power consumption in each image forming mode (step S510).

  The CPU 101 notifies the user by displaying the calculated number of images that can be formed on the display 8b of the operation display unit 8 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 (step S511). During the standby, the CPU 101 repeats the processing from step S508 to step S511 at regular intervals.

  As described above, the composite apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the battery (battery) 10 that supplies battery power, and the image data and the image specified for the image data using the battery power from the battery 10 as operating power. A printer unit (image forming unit) 4 that forms an image on a sheet (recording medium) P based on the forming mode, a remaining amount detecting unit (remaining amount detecting unit) 134 that detects the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10, and a printer Image formation of the predetermined unit amount of image data in the image formation mode from the remaining power storage amount detected by the remaining amount detection unit 134 before and after performing image formation of the predetermined unit amount of the image data in the image formation mode by the unit 4 A CPU (power consumption calculation means) 101 that calculates the power consumption required for the image as a unit power consumption, and the image based on the unit power consumption and the remaining power storage amount after the image formation. A CPU (imageable amount calculating means) 101 that calculates the image formable amount of image data in forming mode, and a.

  Therefore, the amount of image data that can be formed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode can be obtained, and appropriate image formation control can be performed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode. it can.

  Further, the composite apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uses the battery power supplied from the battery 10 that supplies the battery power as the operating power, and applies it to the paper P based on the image data and the image forming mode specified for the image data. An image forming process step for forming an image, a remaining amount detecting process step for detecting a remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery 10, and an image forming operation for a predetermined unit amount of the image data in the image forming mode are performed by the image forming process step. Power consumption calculation processing for calculating, as unit power consumption, power consumption required for image formation of the predetermined unit amount of image data in the image formation mode from the remaining power storage detected in the remaining amount detection processing step before and after Calculating the amount of image data that can be formed in the image forming mode from the step, the unit power consumption, and the remaining power amount after the image formation. And imageable amount calculation processing step of the image forming control method having the running.

  Therefore, the amount of image data that can be formed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode can be obtained, and appropriate image formation control can be performed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode. it can.

  Furthermore, the composite apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uses the battery power supplied from the battery 10 that supplies battery power to the CPU 101 serving as the control processor as the operating power, and the image data and the image formation designated for the image data. An image forming process for forming an image on the paper P based on the mode, a remaining amount detecting process for detecting the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10, and a predetermined unit amount of the image data in the image forming mode by the image forming process. Power consumption for calculating, as unit power consumption, power consumption required for image formation of the predetermined unit amount of image data in the image formation mode from the remaining power storage amount detected by the remaining amount detection process before and after formation. The amount of image data that can be formed in the image forming mode is calculated from the amount calculating process, the unit power consumption and the remaining power amount after the image formation. And imageable amount calculating process, are equipped with image formation control program for execution.

  Therefore, the amount of image data that can be formed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode can be obtained, and appropriate image formation control can be performed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode. it can.

  In addition, the multifunction apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a CPU that controls image formation by the printer unit 4 based on the amount of image data that can be formed in the image formation mode calculated by the CPU 101 serving as the image formationable amount calculation unit. (Image formation control means) 101 is further provided.

  Therefore, it is possible to perform appropriate image formation control in accordance with the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10 and the image formation mode.

  Further, the multifunction apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a display (notification unit) 8b for reporting and outputting information, and an image data amount that can be formed in the image formation mode calculated by the CPU 101 as the image formationable amount calculation unit. And a CPU (notification control means) 101 that outputs a notification to the display 8b.

  Therefore, the user can recognize the amount of image data such as the number of pages on which image formation is possible, and the usability can be improved.

  Further, the multifunction apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment associates the unit power consumption calculated by the CPU 101 serving as the power consumption calculation unit with the storage unit such as the NVRAM 104 and the ROM 102 that store information, and the image forming mode. A CPU (storage control unit) 101 for storing in the storage unit, and the CPU 101 as the image formationable amount calculation unit is based on the unit power consumption for each image forming mode stored in the storage unit. Thus, the amount of image data that can be formed for each image forming mode is calculated.

  Accordingly, it is possible to accurately and easily determine the amount of image data that can be formed such as the number of images that can be formed in each image forming mode. As a result, it is possible to perform more appropriate image formation control according to the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10 and the image formation mode, and to further improve the usability.

  Further, in the multifunction apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the CPU 101 as the image formation control unit calculates the image data amount that can be formed for each image formation mode calculated by the CPU 101 as the image formationable amount calculation unit, and Image formation based on the image formation mode of the image data is controlled based on the image formation mode of the image data to be formed.

  Therefore, it is possible to perform more appropriate image formation control in accordance with the remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery 10 and the image formation mode.

  Further, in the composite apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the CPU 101 as the image formation control unit has an image formable amount in the image formation mode of the image data equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the image in the image formation mode is displayed. The printer unit 4 is caused to stop image formation of data or form an image of the image data in another image formation mode.

  Therefore, when the image forming amount cannot be appropriately formed, it is possible to appropriately control the image forming, and to perform more appropriate image forming control according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image forming mode. It can be carried out.

  Furthermore, the composite apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a display (notification unit) 8b for reporting and outputting information and a key (operation unit) 8a for inputting and operating information, and the CPU 101 serving as the image formation control unit includes: If the image formable amount of the image data in the image forming mode is less than or equal to a predetermined amount, a message to that effect and a request for selecting another image forming mode is output to the display 8b, and the key 8a is used to output the image forming mode. Is input, the printer unit 4 is caused to form an image of the image data in the image forming mode.

  Therefore, when the image formable amount is equal to or less than the predetermined amount, image formation can be processed according to the user's Internet, and more appropriate image formation control is performed according to the remaining amount of charge of the battery 10 and the image formation mode. be able to.

  Further, in the composite apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the CPU 101 as the power consumption calculating unit has the remaining amount detection unit 134 before and after the printer unit 4 forms an image for one page, with one page as the predetermined unit amount. The power consumption required for image formation of one page in the image formation mode designated for the image data is calculated as the unit power consumption amount from the detected remaining power storage amount.

  Accordingly, it is possible to determine whether or not image formation is possible in units of one page, and to perform image formation control, and to perform more appropriate image formation control according to the remaining amount of power stored in the battery 10 and the image formation mode. it can.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Compound apparatus 2 Main body case 3 Scanner part 4 Printer part 5 Paper feed part 6 Paper discharge part 7 Ink cartridge storage part 8 Operation display part 8a Operation key 8b Display 9 Opening / closing cover 10 Battery 11 Charge amount notification part 12 USB connector 21 Frame 21a, 21b Side plate 21c Rear plate 22 Guide rod 23 Stay 24 Carriage 25 Recording head 25Y, 25C, 25M, 25K Droplet discharge head 26 Head driver 27 Harness 28 Sub tank 29 Ink supply tube 30 Ink cartridge 31 Locking member 41 Paper stacking unit 42 Half Moon Roll (Feed Roll)
43 Separating Pad 44 Guide Member 45 Counter Roller 46 Conveying Guide Member 47 Tip Pressure Roller 48 Pressing Member 49 Conveying Belt 49 Conveying Belt 50 Conveying Roller 51 Tension Roller 52 Charging Roller 53 Guide Member 61 Separating Claw 62 Discharging Roller 63 Discharging Roller 64 Paper discharge tray 71 Duplex unit 72 Manual feed tray 81 Maintenance and recovery mechanism 82 Cap 83 Wiper blade 84 Empty discharge receiver 85 Empty discharge receiver 100 Control board 101 CPU
102 ROM
103 RAM
104 NVRAM
105 ASIC
106 I / O
107 Host I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 108 Print control part 109 Main scanning motor drive part 110 AC bias supply part 111 Sub scanning motor drive part 112 Bus 121 Main scanning motor 121 Main scanning motor 122 Linear encoder 123 Sub scanning motor 124 Wheel encoder 135 Remaining quantity detection part 130 Power supply part 131 switching / charging circuit 132, 133 DC / DC converter 134 remaining amount detection unit 135 memory 136 AC adapter 136a power plug 140 AD converter Tb1 power consumption table P paper HS host device

JP 2007-253545 A

Claims (10)

A battery for supplying battery power;
Image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium based on image data and an image forming mode specified for the image data, using battery power from the battery as operating power;
A remaining amount detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery;
The predetermined amount of image data of the predetermined unit amount in the image forming mode is determined from the remaining power amount detected by the remaining amount detecting unit before and after the image forming unit forms the image data of the predetermined unit amount in the image forming mode. A power consumption calculating means for calculating the power consumption required for image formation as a unit power consumption;
An image formable amount calculating means for calculating an image data amount capable of image formation in the image forming mode from the unit power consumption and the remaining power storage amount after the image formation;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus includes:
An image formation control unit that controls image formation by the image forming unit based on an image data amount that can be formed in the image forming mode calculated by the image forming amount calculation unit is further provided. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The image forming apparatus includes:
An informing means for informing and outputting information;
A notification control unit for causing the notification unit to output a notification of an image data amount that can be formed in the image forming mode calculated by the image forming amount calculation unit;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The image forming apparatus includes:
Storage means for storing information;
Storage control means for storing the unit power consumption calculated by the power consumption calculation means in the storage means in association with the image forming mode;
With
The image formable amount calculating means includes:
2. The amount of image data that can be formed for each image forming mode is calculated based on the unit power consumption for each of the image forming modes stored in the storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3. The image formation control means
Based on the image formation mode of the image data based on the amount of image data that can be formed for each image formation mode calculated by the image formationable amount calculation means and the image formation mode of the image data to be formed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming is controlled. The image formation control means
When the image formable amount in the image formation mode of the image data is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the image formation of the image data is stopped by the image formation mode or the image formation of the image data by another image formation mode is performed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image forming unit causes the image forming unit to perform the process. The image forming apparatus includes:
An informing means for informing and outputting information;
An operation means for inputting information;
With
The image formation control means
When the image formable amount of the image data in the image forming mode is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the notification unit outputs a message to that effect and a request to select another image formation mode, and the operation unit outputs the image. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the forming mode is input, the image forming unit is caused to form an image of the image data in the image forming mode. The power consumption calculating means includes
The image formation specified for the image data from the remaining amount of electricity detected by the remaining amount detecting unit before and after the image forming unit forms an image for one page, with one page as the predetermined unit amount. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power consumption required for image formation for one page in the mode is calculated as the unit power consumption. An image forming process step for forming an image on a recording medium based on image data and an image forming mode specified for the image data, using the battery power from a battery for supplying battery power as an operating power;
A remaining amount detecting step for detecting the remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery;
The predetermined unit amount in the image forming mode is determined from the remaining power amount detected in the remaining amount detection processing step before and after the image formation is performed in the image forming mode. Power consumption calculation processing step for calculating the power consumption required for image formation of the image data as unit power consumption;
An image formable amount calculation processing step of calculating an image data amount that can be formed in the image forming mode from the unit power consumption and the remaining power amount after the image formation;
An image formation control method comprising: To the control processor,
An image forming process for forming an image on a recording medium based on image data and an image forming mode specified for the image data, using the battery power from a battery for supplying battery power as an operating power;
A remaining amount detection process for detecting the remaining amount of electricity stored in the battery;
The image of the predetermined unit amount in the image forming mode is determined from the remaining power storage amount detected in the remaining amount detection process before and after the image formation is performed in the image forming mode. Power consumption calculation processing for calculating the power consumption required for data image formation as a unit power consumption;
An image formable amount calculation process for calculating an image data amount that can be formed in the image forming mode from the unit power consumption and the remaining power amount after the image formation;
An image formation control program for executing

Images