JP2016007716A - Image forming device and power saving control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which can perform power saving control without damaging convenience of a user.SOLUTION: An image forming device 1 includes an operation part 13 for receiving user operation, and has one or a plurality of power saving functions. The image forming device 1 includes: a statistical value receiving part (a statistical value reception control part 10a and a communication part 15) which receives a statistical value through a network N from an external information processing device such as a server device 3 which stores the statistical value 30 on an operation time indicating an operation interval or a required time of the user operation received by a plurality of other image forming devices 2 or by the plurality of other image forming devices 2 and the image forming device 1; and a time changing part 10b which changes a transition time from a time point of receiving the user operation by the operation part 13 or from a time point of finishing processing at a section, that can transition in a power saving state by the power saving function, to transition to the power saving state by the power saving function in response to the statistical value.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a power saving control method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus and a power saving control method in the image forming apparatus.

  Image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimile machines, copiers, and multifunction peripherals (MFPs) consume a large amount of power mainly when printing on paper. Therefore, in the case where the image forming apparatus has not been used for a certain period of time, for example, the power supply to other parts (such as a network interface) that is necessary for receiving image data is left and the power supply to other parts is cut off. Various power saving measures are taken.

  In addition, in such an image forming apparatus, there is an image forming apparatus in which the time until transition to the power saving state (transition time) can be changed from a default value. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an operation time extension key for setting a transition time to a power saving mode in an image forming apparatus capable of operating in a power saving mode in which power consumption is reduced compared to a standby mode waiting for input of image data. The technique of extending by this is disclosed.

JP 2007-282117 A

  However, in the conventional image forming apparatuses including the technique described in Patent Document 1, a value uniquely determined by the manufacturer of the image forming apparatus is set as the default transition time, which is not an optimal value. Thus, it is difficult to say that power saving control can be performed without causing the user to wait and without losing user convenience.

  In the conventional image forming apparatus, since the user needs to perform a change operation to change the transition time from the default value, a uniform default value or change value is used even when the use scene is different. Therefore, it is difficult to say that power saving control can be performed without impairing the convenience of the user from these points.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is an image forming apparatus capable of performing power saving control without impairing user convenience, and saving in the image forming apparatus. It is to provide a power control method.

  In order to solve the above problem, a first technical means of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that includes an operation unit that receives a user operation and has one or a plurality of power saving functions, and a plurality of other images. From an external information processing apparatus that stores statistics about operation time indicating the operation interval or required time of a user operation received in the image forming apparatus or a plurality of other image forming apparatuses and the necessary time. A statistical value receiving unit that receives a statistical value, and the power saving function from the time when a user operation is accepted by the operation unit, or from the time when processing at a part that can be shifted to a power saving state by the power saving function is completed And a time changing unit that changes the transition time until the transition to the power saving state according to the statistical value.

  According to a second technical means of the present invention, in the first technical means, the information transmitting unit transmits the operation time measured for the user operation accepted by the operation unit to the external information processing apparatus. It is characterized by that.

  According to a third technical means of the present invention, in the first or second technical means, the image forming apparatus and the other image forming apparatus are a multifunction machine having a plurality of types of image processing functions, and the statistical value Is a value classified for each image processing function, and the time changing unit changes the transition time for each image processing function in the image forming apparatus according to the statistical value. Is.

  According to a fourth technical means of the present invention, in any one of the first to third technical means, a user information input unit for inputting user information is provided, and the statistical value is the other image forming apparatus or the other. Image forming apparatus and user information indicating the type of user who uses the image forming apparatus, and the time changing unit sets the transition time for each type in the image forming apparatus as It is characterized by changing according to the statistical value.

  According to a fifth technical means of the present invention, in the second technical means, the information processing unit includes a user information input unit that inputs user information indicating a type of a user who uses the image forming apparatus, and the information transmission unit includes the operation unit. The operation time measured with respect to the user operation received in the step is transmitted to the external information processing apparatus together with the user information input by the user information input unit, and the statistical value is the other image forming apparatus. Or the values classified based on the user information about the other image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus, and the time changing unit sets the transition time for each type in the image forming apparatus as the statistical value. It is characterized by changing according to.

  According to a sixth technical means of the present invention, in the fourth or fifth technical means, the user information input unit includes a camera that captures the face of the user, and an image of the face image captured by the camera is displayed. The user information is acquired by performing a recognition process.

  According to a seventh technical means of the present invention, in any one of the fourth to sixth technical means, the user information includes one or more of a user's gender, age, race, language used, and area of use. It is characterized by including.

  An eighth technical means of the present invention is a power saving control method in an image forming apparatus having an operation unit that accepts a user operation and having one or a plurality of power saving functions, the statistical value receiving unit of the image forming apparatus Is a plurality of other image forming apparatuses, or a plurality of other image forming apparatuses, and an external information processing apparatus that stores statistical values of operation times indicating operation intervals or required times of user operations received in the image forming apparatuses From the reception step of receiving the statistical value via the network and the time change unit of the image forming apparatus when the user operation is accepted by the operation unit or by the power saving function. The transition time from the end of the processing at a certain part to the transition to the power saving state by the power saving function is the received time in the reception step. Is obtained by further comprising a, a changing step of changing in response to the value.

  According to the present invention, power saving control can be performed in an image forming apparatus without impairing user convenience.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an external view illustrating an example of an operation unit in an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the statistical value table which the image forming apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention receives. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example in an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a statistical value table received by the image forming apparatus in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 5. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus such as a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, a copying machine, or a multifunction peripheral (MFP). Here, the MFP is a device having a plurality of types of functions such as a document reading function from a scanner, a copy function, a print function, and a facsimile (FAX) function. The MFP generally has an image forming function such as a copy function and a print function, and in this case, it can be said that it is a multifunctional image forming apparatus. The document reading function includes a storage function for storing the read image data in a storage device or an external storage medium inside the MFP, and an email transmission function (Internet FAX) for transmitting the read image data attached to an e-mail (Email). Function) is added.

  Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described by taking an MFP as an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, but basically, other types of image forming apparatuses can be similarly applied. However, what is premised on multiple functions as in the second embodiment to be described later cannot be applied to a single-function image forming apparatus.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a control unit 10 that controls the whole and an operation unit 13 that receives a user operation, and has one or a plurality of power saving functions. In order to provide a power saving function, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a power control unit 17.

  The image forming apparatus 1 illustrated here is a device having a plurality of types of functions, that is, an MFP. For this purpose, for example, the image processing unit 11, the printing unit 12, the document reading unit 14, the communication unit 15, and an external memory are used. A connection unit 16 is provided. Depending on the function provided to the image forming apparatus 1 as an MFP, for example, the communication unit 15 and the external memory connection unit 16 may not be provided, or the image forming apparatus 1 may have other parts.

  The control unit 10 stores a control program (firmware) for controlling the entire image forming apparatus 1 in the program storage area, and performs various controls by operating the control program. For example, the control unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a work area, and a control device such as a storage device that stores the control program and various settings. It can also be mounted as an integrated circuit / IC (Integrated Circuit) chip set. Examples of the storage device include a flash ROM (Read Only Memory), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM: registered trademark), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like, and a storage unit such as an HDD for storing an image (see FIG. (Not shown) can also be used.

  The document reading unit 14 is configured by a CCD (charge-coupled device) or the like, and is a part that optically reads an image of a document (paper) to be read, and is also called a scanner unit. The document reading unit 14 is provided, for example, on the lower surface of a document table on which a document is placed, optically reads a document image on a sheet placed on the document table, and the data (image data) is read by the image processing unit 11 or the like. Output to the subsequent stage.

  The image forming apparatus 1 can also be provided with an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) on the document table. The ADF is a device for automatically transporting a document, and an image of the automatically transported document is read by the document reading unit 14. Of course, a separate document reading unit 14 may be provided in the ADF. Here, the ADF includes devices called SPF (Single Pass Feeder) and RSPF (Reversing Single Pass Feeder).

  The image processing unit 11 is a part that performs image processing on a print target image. As this image processing, when the image to be printed input to the image processing unit 11 is not in a format printable by the printing unit 12, conversion to that format, processing to convert the file to a format saved in the storage destination, etc. Is mentioned. Similarly to the control unit 10, the image processing unit 11 itself can be configured by a control device operated by firmware, and can also be mounted as an integrated circuit / IC chip set. The image processing unit 11 can be mounted on the image forming apparatus 1 as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

  The printing unit 12 inputs image data directly from the document reading unit 14 or inputs image data after image processing is performed on the image data from the document reading unit 14 by the image processing unit 11 and prints the image. Print on paper. Examples of the printing method in the printing unit 12 include an electrophotographic method and an inkjet method.

  The operation unit 13 includes an operation button 13a and an operation panel 13b. The user can input setting values and the like and execute processing when using the image forming apparatus 1 from the operation unit 13. The operation button 13a is a hardware key for accepting a user operation, and can also be called a key operation unit.

  The operation panel 13b is, for example, a touch panel unit, and includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence display, and a touch sensor unit that detects a touch operation on the display area of the display unit by the user. As the sensor provided as the touch sensor unit, various types of sensors such as a capacitance type sensor and a resistance film type sensor can be applied.

  A UI (User Interface) image is displayed on the display unit, and when a touch is detected on the UI image by the touch sensor unit, a process indicated by an image in the UI image corresponding to the touch position is executed. At the same time, transition of the UI image is performed as necessary. For example, the UI image can be changed by pressing the operation button 13a.

  The operation panel provided in the image forming apparatus 1 may be any UI as long as it can display a UI image and characters. The operation panel includes only a display unit (display panel) without a touch sensor unit, and operation input is an operation button. It can also be configured to accept only from 13a.

  The communication unit 15 is a wired or wireless network interface for communicating with external devices such as an external PC (Personal Computer), various server devices, and FAX devices. The image forming apparatus 1 receives a print job from a PC via the communication unit 15, accesses a print server device via the communication unit 15, acquires a file for printing, and stores a file of image data as a file server. Transmission to an apparatus or PC using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or a protocol derived therefrom is possible.

  The external memory connection unit 16 is a connection interface for connecting an external memory to the image forming apparatus 1. As the external memory, various memories such as a universal serial bus (USB: registered trademark, hereinafter the same) memory and a memory card such as an SD memory card can be applied. The image forming apparatus 1 can acquire a file stored in the external memory for printing via the external memory connection unit 16 and can store the image data read by the document reading unit 14 in the external memory. It has become.

  The power control unit 17 controls power supply for turning on / off the power of the image forming apparatus 1 and for one or more power saving functions provided in the image forming apparatus 1. Here, one power saving function refers to a function that cuts off or restricts power supply for one part of the image forming apparatus 1 such as the fixing unit in the printing unit 12 and the operation panel 13b due to the arrival of a transition time described later. Point to. A part of the power control unit 17 may be provided in the operation unit 13 for the operation unit 13 or in the printing unit 12 for the printing unit 12 as long as it is related to the power saving function. May be provided. Of course, any power saving function may be provided in the image forming apparatus 1. After being blocked or restricted, power supply is resumed, for example, triggered by data reception at the communication unit 15 or operation of the operation button 13a.

  The transition time refers to the transition to the power saving state by the power saving function from the time when the user operation is accepted by the operation unit 13 or from the time when the processing at the part that can be shifted to the power saving state by the power saving function ends. Time (time until the power mode is changed to the power saving state), which is a preset value. In the image forming apparatus 1, when a plurality of power saving functions are provided, a transition time is set for each of the plurality of power saving functions.

  The transition time may be any one that matches the power saving function. For example, shut-off transition time, auto power shut-off transition time, preheating mode transition time, transition time when the operation panel 13b is turned off, operation panel For example, a transition time for lowering the display luminance of 13b (backlight emission luminance in the case of a liquid crystal panel) can be applied. Here, the shut-off refers to a power saving function that cuts off all power supply other than the communication unit 15 and the operation button 13a of the image forming apparatus 1. Auto power shut-off refers to a power saving function that turns off the operation panel 13b and the fixing unit when not being operated and stands by in a state of lowest power consumption. The preheating mode refers to a power saving function that lowers the temperature of the fixing unit and stands by with low power consumption. In the preheating mode, the power saving rate is lower but the recovery time is shorter than when auto power shutoff is performed.

  When power supply is limited to one part, one or a plurality of power control values may be used. Specifically, when the transition time set for each power control value arrives, the power supply may be limited using the power control value corresponding to the transition time. Here, the power control value refers to a value such as a voltage value or a control interval. Moreover, you may provide the power saving function which interrupts | blocks an electric power supply with respect to this site | part. In this case, the transition time (transition time until shutting off) may be set longer than the longest transition time corresponding to the power control value of one or more stages. In the following, description will be made assuming that a plurality of power saving functions are provided even when the power supply to the same part can be changed in multiple stages.

  As a main feature of the present invention, the image forming apparatus 1 includes the following statistical value receiving unit and time changing unit. The statistical value receiving unit receives a statistical value, which will be described later, from an external information processing apparatus (hereinafter, exemplified by the server apparatus 3) via a network. In the example of FIG. 1, the statistical value reception control unit 10 a controls the communication unit 15 and receives statistical values from the server device 3 via the network N. Here, an example is described in which the statistical value receiving unit includes the statistical value reception control unit 10a and the communication unit 15 in the control unit 10, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 makes a transmission request to the server apparatus 3 periodically, every time a user operation is received, or each time one user finishes the process (logs out), thereby obtaining the above statistics. What is necessary is just to acquire a value. Of course, the statistical value may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 periodically or at a predetermined timing from the server apparatus 3 side. These transmissions and receptions may be performed by designating a destination IP (Internet Protocol) address, for example.

  In order to be able to receive the statistical value, the server device 3 stores the statistical value (shown as the statistical value 30). The statistical value 30 is a statistical value for an operation time indicating an operation interval or a required time of a user operation received in a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 2 or a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 2 and the image forming apparatus 1. Here, not only user operations accepted by other image forming apparatuses 2 but also user operations accepted by the image forming apparatus 1 that receives the statistical value 30 are subject to statistical processing (also referred to as aggregation processing). Give an example. The operation time can be said to be one piece of information indicating the apparatus usage status, and the collection from the image forming apparatuses 1 and 2 will be described later.

  The operation interval refers to an interval (time lag) until the user performs the next operation from one operation. Here, one operation refers to an operation of pressing one operation button 13a or touching one button (icon) on the operation panel 13b. The next operation refers to an operation on one operation button 13a or one displayed button, which is performed on a UI image (also referred to as guidance or a wizard) to be displayed after the one operation is performed. The required time indicates the time required for the user to perform an operation in order to execute one image process (that is, one job). Both the operation interval and the required time are values that can be calculated (measured) and stored as an operation history.

  What kind of statistical processing is adopted may be determined in advance. For example, values such as the average value, the mode value (the most frequent value), the median value, and the maximum value of the operation time can be adopted as the statistical value 30. The statistical value 30 is a value obtained by performing statistical processing on so-called “big data” collected from a large number of image forming apparatuses installed in a company, a store, a public institution, or the like. It is. Therefore, this statistical value 30 can be used as the optimum value of the operation time.

  And the time change part 10b changes the said transition time (time until it transfers to a power saving state) according to the statistical value 30 received by the statistical value reception control part 10a and the communication part 15. FIG. The transition time of the change source (before change) is a default value or a value changed last time. Here, an example is given in which the time change unit 10b is included in the control unit 10, but this is not a limitation. Note that this change process may be executed at a predetermined timing if the statistical value 30 is received, and the transition time may be calculated before the change process is executed.

  The conversion formula from the received statistical value 30 to the transition time may be basically determined arbitrarily, but is preferably determined in accordance with the definition of the operation time to be collected and statistical processing. For example, when an operation interval is applied as the operation time, the transition time may be determined by adding a predetermined time α (for example, 5 seconds) to the average value, maximum value, or median value of the operation intervals. Note that this predetermined time is a time (a margin value) for providing a margin. When the maximum value is used as the statistical value 30, it may not be added, a shorter time (for example, 0.5 seconds) may be added, or a short time (for example, 1 second) may be subtracted.

  In addition, for example, an equation for multiplying a statistical value by a predetermined coefficient (β) may be adopted as the conversion equation. For example, a standard deviation γ (separate from a statistical value composed of an average value and a standard deviation to an average value) It is also possible to adopt an expression for adding a (predetermined coefficient) multiple.

  Of course, as the conversion formula, a formula for further performing statistical processing from the received statistical value 30 may be included. Therefore, as an extreme example, the statistical value 30 may be simply data collected for each manufacturer or each model, for example, for the operation time. In this case, statistical processing is performed only on the image forming apparatus 1 side. Just do it.

  Furthermore, the conversion formula needs to be determined in accordance with a power saving function (for example, a time required for returning from the power saving state) corresponding to the transition time. For example, when the shut-off transition time is determined to be 30 seconds with respect to a statistical value of a certain operation time, the auto power shut-off transition time may be determined as 15 seconds, the preheating mode transition time as 7 seconds, and the like.

  Further, the statistical value 30 may be a statistical value calculated using a time zone, a day of the week, a day, or the like as a parameter. In this case, the time changing unit 10b determines the parameter based on the date / time information inside the image forming apparatus 1. May be received (or extracted from the received values), and the transition time may be changed according to the statistical values.

  The collection of the operation time in the server device 3 will be described. In order to enable this collection, the image forming apparatuses 1 and 2 include the following information transmission unit. The information transmission unit transmits the operation time (that is, a value indicating an operation interval or a required time) measured for the user operation received by the operation unit 13 to the server device 3. In the example of FIG. 1, the information transmission control unit 10 c controls the communication unit 15 and transmits the operation time to the server device 3 via the network N. Although the example in which the information transmission unit includes the information transmission control unit 10c and the communication unit 15 in the control unit 10 is given, the present invention is not limited to this. The image forming apparatus 2 is also provided with parts such as the information transmission control unit 10 c and the communication unit 15.

  The image forming apparatuses 1 and 2 send the measured operation time to the server apparatus 3 periodically, every time a user operation is accepted, or every time one user finishes processing (logs out). That's fine. Of course, the server apparatus 3 may make a transmission request for the operation time to the image forming apparatuses 1 and 2 periodically or at a predetermined timing. These transmissions and receptions may be performed by designating the destination IP address, for example.

  In the above description, the difference between the models of the image forming apparatus 1 and the other image forming apparatuses 2 is not particularly considered. Of course, the image forming apparatus 1 may receive a statistical value calculated from big data collected without being classified by model and use it for changing the transition time. However, in that case, it is preferable to use big data collected only from image forming apparatuses of the same manufacturer in order to set a suitable transition time. Furthermore, it can be said that it is preferable that the UI images are almost the same because a suitable transition time can be set as compared with the case where the UI images are completely different.

  Furthermore, it can be said that it is more preferable that the image forming apparatus 1 receives the statistical value calculated from the big data of the same model and changes the transition time accordingly. This is because the optimal transition time can be set by using big data of the same model.

  In particular, for example, when a new model is released, it is considered that the guideline of the operation time is not clear, which is beneficial. However, since there is no or little data storage at first, it is necessary to avoid changing the transition time using the default value until a predetermined period has elapsed since the introduction of a new model or until a predetermined number of units are installed. Good. As an alternative process, it was calculated from big data of other models or models with similar operation units (including UI images) from the introduction of a new model until a predetermined period has elapsed or until a predetermined number of models have been installed. A statistical value may be used. Regardless of which processing method is used, when a predetermined period has elapsed since the introduction of a new model, or when a predetermined number of units are installed, the statistical value calculated from the big data of only that model may be used.

  If the information such as the model and manufacturer of the image forming apparatus is added to the information indicating the operation time and transmitted to the server apparatus 3, the statistical value for each model or manufacturer can be calculated. Then, the image forming apparatus 1 that receives the statistical value in order to change the transition time may specify information indicating the model or manufacturer and transmit a statistical value transmission request to the server apparatus 3. When the statistical value is transmitted from the server apparatus 3 side, the server apparatus 3 registers information indicating the model or manufacturer in association with the IP address for the image forming apparatus 1 of the transmission destination, or the transmission destination The information may be requested from the image forming apparatus 1 and a statistical value matching the received information may be transmitted.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the operation time data is accumulated enormously and used as big data, and the transition time for shifting to the power saving state based on the transition time obtained from the optimum value of the operation time is set. Because it is determined and no user operation is required to change the transition time, it is possible to perform power saving control while preventing the user from losing convenience due to waiting and stressing. It becomes possible.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that the image forming apparatus 1 and the other image forming apparatus 2 have a plurality of types of functions (an image processing function or an image forming function for distinguishing from a power saving function). This is based on the assumption that this is a multifunction machine with a Although the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, description of the same parts as those of the first embodiment will be omitted. 2 is an external view showing an example of an operation unit in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a statistical value table received by the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the statistical values used for changing the transition time are varied depending on the image processing function being used or about to be used. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1 needs to be able to change the image processing function. For example, on the operation panel 13b, a menu image for allowing the user to select a function to be executed from among the plurality of types of image processing functions may be displayed. This menu image is generally displayed as an initial screen, and may be displayed as one of the UI images.

  Examples of the UI image displayed on the initial screen include a UI image 20 including a button group (icon group) as shown in FIG. The UI image 20 includes a copy function selection button (copy mode selection button) 21, an Email transmission function (Internet FAX function) selection button 22, a FAX function selection button 23, an FTP / Desktop transmission function selection button 24, a document filing function selection button ( Buttons for using image processing functions provided in the image forming apparatus 1 such as a document filing mode selection button 25 and a scan storage function selection button 26 (scan storage mode selection button) 26 are displayed so as to be selectable by the user. In the operation unit 13 illustrated in FIG. 2, an example in which a power key, a power saving key, and a home screen shift key are provided as the operation buttons 13 a is not limited thereto.

  When the user selects the FTP / Desktop transmission function selection button 24, the UI image for selecting the transmission destination is displayed, and then the user designates the transmission destination, so that the file server or the user uses the FTP. The read image data can be transmitted to a PC or the like. When the user selects the document filing function selection button 25, the screen is changed to a UI image for selecting a storage destination. After that, the user designates the storage destination, and prints and faxes the read image data. In addition to executing processing such as Email transmission (Internet FAX transmission), the image data can be transmitted to a storage destination designated by the user for filing.

  When the user selects the scan storage function selection button 26, the screen changes to a UI image for selecting a storage destination, and then the user specifies the storage destination, and the scanned image data is stored by the user. It becomes possible to save it first. For example, when a USB memory is inserted, the USB memory may be automatically selected as the storage destination.

  The UI image 20 can also display other functions when the user presses the arrow button 28. In addition, the UI image 20 also displays a button group 27 for setting a character size, a language, and the like, so that other buttons can be displayed when the user presses the arrow button 29. It has become.

  Furthermore, the statistical value 30 received by the image forming apparatus 1 in the present embodiment is a statistical value classified for each image processing function, and includes, for example, a statistical value table 30a illustrated in FIG. Note that the statistical value reception control unit 10a may receive only the transition time of the image processing function necessary for changing the transition time from the server device 3 instead of the statistical value table 30a.

  This statistical value is a value calculated as a statistical value of operation time for each image processing function, and can be called a functional statistical value or a characteristic statistical value because the difficulty and effort required for the operation differ for each image processing function. . This statistical value is a value obtained by analyzing a difference in operation time characteristics (long and short) for each image processing function by statistical processing on data having a large number of parameters. Therefore, this statistical value can be used as the optimum value of the operation time for each image processing function.

  Here, data collection in the server device 3 will be described. The information transmission unit of the image forming apparatus 1 or the image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment may transmit the operation information to the server apparatus 3 together with information indicating the currently selected image processing function. As a result, the server device 3 can calculate the statistical value of the operation time for each image processing function, and the image forming device 1 sets the optimum transition time for each image processing function based on the statistical value as described above. Can do.

  Then, the time changing unit 10b in the present embodiment changes the transition time for each image processing function in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the received statistical value. An example in which the value indicated by the statistical value table 30a is used as the statistical value will be described. Until the image processing function is selected, the default value of the transition time or the transition time determined as in the first embodiment may be set.

  In the statistical value table 30a, for the sake of simplification, an example in which statistical values of only the copy function, the FAX function, and the Email transmission function are described is given. For those image processing functions, statistical values of operation time (for example, average values) ), 2 seconds, 3 seconds, and 4 seconds are respectively described. The time changing unit 10b calculates the transition time with reference to the statistical value table 30a.

  Specifically, the time changing unit 10b sets the transition times when the copy function selection button 21, the email transmission function selection button 22, and the FAX function selection button 23 are selected to 2 seconds, 3 seconds, and 4 seconds, respectively. A value obtained by adding time (for example, 5 seconds) is calculated. A typical example of other functions is a photo print function. In this photo print function, since the photo confirmation time is longer than that in the normal copy function, the operation interval increases. For example, if it takes about 5 seconds on average, the predetermined time is added to calculate a transition time of 10 seconds.

  The calculation of the transition time may be performed at a predetermined timing after receiving the statistical value table 30a from the server device 3, and the transition time corresponding to each image processing function may be stored in the internal memory. When the image processing function is selected, the transition time corresponding to the selected image processing function can be read and set to the transition time. Of course, the timing for calculating the transition time may be the time when the user performs a user operation to select an image processing function.

Next, a processing example in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the statistical value reception control unit 10a controls the communication unit 15 and acquires the statistical value of the operation time for each image processing function from the server device 3 via the network N (step S1). Next, the time changing unit 10b calculates a transition time (for example, statistical value + α) for each image processing function (step S2). Also in the present embodiment, the conversion formula for calculating the transition time is not limited to this, as in the first embodiment.

  In step S2, the transition time may be calculated using a statistical value that does not depend on the image processing function in consideration of the case where the image processing function is not selected as described above. When statistical values that do not depend on the above are not received as in the statistical value table 30a, statistical processing is performed so as to obtain the maximum value, average value, maximum value, etc. for the statistical values for each image processing function. By doing so, it is possible to calculate the statistical value that does not depend on the above, and to calculate the transition time based thereon.

  Next, the time changing unit 10b sets a transition time corresponding to the currently selected image processing function (step S3). Here, when the image processing function is not selected, it may be set to the transition time calculated from the statistical value not depending on the above.

  Subsequent to step S3, the time changing unit 10b determines whether or not the image processing function has been changed (or newly selected) by a user operation (step S4). If YES, the process returns to step S3. In the case of NO in step S4, the power control unit 17 performs the transition time set in step S3 from the time when the last user operation is performed (or when the process at the part capable of shifting to the power saving state is completed). It is determined whether or not elapses (step S5). If YES in step S5, the power control unit 17 shifts to a power saving state corresponding to the elapsed transition time (step S6), and the process ends. If NO in step S5, the process returns to step S4.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the operation time data is accumulated in large amounts for each image processing function and used as big data, and the transition time obtained from the optimum value of the operation time for each image processing function is used. Since the transition time for shifting to the power saving state is determined flexibly according to the characteristics of the image processing function (the characteristics of the scene used), and no user operation is required to change the transition time, user convenience It becomes possible to perform power saving control without impairing the performance.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment of the present invention is based on the premise that the image forming apparatus 1 and other image forming apparatuses 2 can input user information in the first or second embodiment. Although the present embodiment will be described with a focus on differences from the second embodiment with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, the other points are the same. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a statistical value table received by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example in the image forming apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus 1b according to this embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 varies the statistical values used for changing the transition time according to the type of user in use. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1b includes a user information input unit 18 for inputting user information in the image forming apparatus 1 of FIG.

  The user information input unit 18 may be configured to include an authentication processing unit. This authentication processing unit accepts input of the user ID (and password) directly from the operation unit 13 or reads it from an IC card or the like by, for example, an NFC (Near Field Communication) module. After that, this authentication processing unit performs processing for executing user authentication by accessing an external authentication server device or internal authentication data, and associates with the user ID when the user authentication is successful. It is sufficient to read out the stored user information.

  The user information may include any one or more of the user's sex, age, race, language used, and area used. Thereby, between users of different user types that can be distinguished by such user information, familiarity with the image forming apparatus 1, personal differences, usage status differences (for example, whether power saving is recommended) Therefore, the user type transition time changing process described later can be made different based on these pieces of information, and the transition time suitable for the user can be set.

  Here, the language used may be selected by the user as the UI image display language by the user operation, and the area used (information indicating the country or area) is registered in advance as the installation location of the image forming apparatus 1. You may use what you did. Also, in the area of use, the busy area is more frequently used than the depopulated area, the company is more frequently used than the store, and there are more waiters. Information such as intervals may be obtained and used.

  For the input of user information, a mobile terminal device having a wireless communication unit such as a mobile phone (including a so-called smartphone), a mobile PC, or a mobile information terminal can also be used. The image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a short-range wireless communication unit such as an NFC module or an infrared communication module, and when the short-range wireless communication unit detects the establishment of a wireless connection with the mobile terminal device, the mobile terminal device takes the user What is necessary is just to comprise so that information may be read. This portable terminal device is a device used by the user of the image forming apparatus 1, and is particularly useful when printing a file in the portable terminal device.

  As a more preferable example, the user information input unit 18 includes a camera that captures the face of the user, and performs image recognition processing (age, sex, and race determination processing based on face recognition) on the face image captured by the camera. ), The user information may be acquired. That is, user information may be estimated (determined) by image recognition processing. This eliminates the need for the user himself / herself to input user information even when the user information is not automatically input at the time of login with an IC card, for example, in a company. However, in recent years, since IC cards and electronic money cards in stores are widely distributed, user information can also be read from these cards in stores and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the statistical value 30 received by the statistical value reception control unit 10a of the image forming apparatus 1b further indicates the type of the user who uses the other image forming apparatus 2 or the other image forming apparatus 2 and the image forming apparatus 1. For example, a statistical value table 30b shown in FIG. 6 is used. In the statistical value table 30b, as an example to which the second embodiment is applied, statistical values classified not only by user type but also by image processing function are described. The statistical value reception control unit 10a may receive only the transition time of the user type (and image processing function) necessary for changing the transition time from the server device 3 instead of the statistical value table 30b. .

  This statistical value 30 is a value calculated as a statistical value of the operation time for each user type, and can be called a user type statistical value or a characteristic statistical value because the time required for the operation differs for each user type. The statistical value 30 is a value obtained by analyzing a difference in operation time characteristics (long and short) for each user type by statistical processing on data having a large number of parameters. Therefore, the statistical value 30 can be used as the optimum value of the operation time for each user type.

  Here, data collection in the server device 3 will be described. The information transmission unit of the image forming apparatus 1b or the image forming apparatus 2b in the present embodiment may transmit the operation information to the server apparatus 3 together with the user information input by the user information input unit 18. The image forming apparatus 2b includes the user information input unit 18 in the image forming apparatus 2 of FIG. 1 as in the image forming apparatus 1b. As a result, the statistical value of the operation time for each user type can be calculated in the server device 3, and the optimum transition time can be set for each user type based on the statistical value in the image forming apparatus 1b as described later. .

  Then, the time changing unit 10b in the present embodiment changes the transition time for each user type in the image forming apparatus 1b according to the received statistical value. An example using the value indicated by the statistical value table 30b as this statistical value will be described. Until the user information is input, the default value of the transition time or the transition time determined as in the first embodiment may be set.

  In the statistical value table 30b, for simplification, an example is described in which statistical values are described in which the user type is divided into 16 categories according to gender and age and divided into three image processing functions. In the statistical value table 30b, for example, for a man aged 16 to 20, a copy function, a FAX function, an Email transmission function, and the whole (function-independent) are each 4 seconds as a statistical value (for example, an average value) of operation time. 5 seconds, 6 seconds, and 4.5 seconds are described. The time changing unit 10b calculates the transition time with reference to the statistical value table 30b.

  Specifically, when the user type indicated by the user information input by the user information input unit 18 is a man who is 16 to 20 years old, the time change unit 10b copies the copy function selection button 21 and Email transmission in the UI image 20. The transition time when the function selection button 22 and the FAX function selection button 23 are selected and the transition time when nothing is selected are predetermined times (for example, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, 6 seconds, and 4.5 seconds, respectively) 5 seconds) is added.

  The transition time is calculated at a predetermined timing after the statistical value table 30b is received from the server device 3, and the transition time corresponding to each user type and each image processing function is stored in the internal memory. Good. When user information is input and an image processing function is selected, the user type indicated by the user information and the transition time corresponding to the selected image processing function can be read and set as the transition time. Of course, the timing for calculating the transition time may be the time when the user information is input or the time when the user information is input and the user operation for selecting the image processing function is received.

Next, a processing example in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the user information input unit 18 determines whether or not user information has been input (step S11), and waits for input of user information before proceeding to step S12.

  In step S <b> 12, the statistical value reception control unit 10 a controls the communication unit 15 and acquires the statistical value of the operation time corresponding to the user information (user type indicated by the user information) from the server device 3 via the network N ( Step S12). At this time, since the image processing function is not selected, the “total” statistical value referred to in the statistical value table 30b is acquired. Next, the time changing unit 10b calculates a transition time (for example, statistical value + α) for the user type (step S13). Also in the present embodiment, the conversion formula for calculating the transition time is not limited to this, as in the first embodiment. Next, the time changing unit 10b sets the calculated transition time (step S14).

  Next, the time changing unit 10b determines whether or not a new image processing function has been selected by a user operation (step S15). In the case of YES in step S15, the statistical value reception control unit 10a controls the communication unit 15 and performs an operation corresponding to the user information (user type indicated by the user information) and the selected image processing function via the network N. A statistical value of time is acquired from the server device 3 (step S16). Then, similarly to steps S13 and S14, the transition time is calculated according to the statistical value acquired by the time changing unit 10b (in this case, the statistical value corresponding to the user type and the image processing function) (step S17). The transition time set is set (step S18).

  Next, processing similar to that in steps S4 to S6 in FIG. 4 is performed (steps S19 to S21). However, if YES is determined in the step S19, the process returns to the step S16. On the other hand, if NO in step S15, the process may proceed to step S20.

  In the statistical value table 30b, an example is described in which statistical values corresponding to the user type and the image processing function are described. However, in the server device 3, a statistical value table (table U and U) corresponding to the user type is used as the statistical value 30. And a statistical value (referred to as table P) corresponding to each image processing function may be held separately. In that case, the image forming apparatus 1b refers to the table U to obtain a statistical value corresponding to the user type, refers to the table P to obtain a statistical value corresponding to the selected image processing function, and then As the conversion formula, for example, a formula for adding the predetermined time α after adding these two statistical values and the like may be adopted to obtain the transition time.

  The example in which the present embodiment is applied to the second embodiment has been described above, but the present embodiment can also be applied to the first embodiment. That is, the image forming apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 includes the user information input unit 18 and the statistical value can be a value classified only based on the user information without depending on the image processing function. In this case, the information transmission unit of the image forming apparatus 1b and the image forming apparatus 2b includes the operation time measured for the user operation received by the operation unit 13 together with the user information input by the user information input unit 18 as a server. What is necessary is just to make it transmit to the apparatus 3. Then, the time changing unit 10b may change the transition time for each user type in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the statistical value.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1b according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first or second embodiment, the operation time data is accumulated in large amounts for each user type and used as big data. Since the transition time for flexibly shifting to the power saving state is determined based on the transition time obtained from the optimum value of the operation time, and no user operation is required to change the transition time, It is possible to perform power saving control without impairing user convenience.

(Other)
As a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in the first to third embodiments, a supplementary description will be given of a mode in which the image forming apparatuses 1 and 1b do not include an information transmission unit. Although the present embodiment will be described with a focus on differences from these embodiments with reference to FIG. 8, the other points are the same. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first to third embodiments, not only user operations accepted by other image forming apparatuses 2 and 2b but also users accepted by the image forming apparatus 1 that receives the above statistical values. As for the operation, examples of statistical processing were given. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, only the other image forming apparatus 2 and the image forming apparatus 2b are targeted.

  The image forming apparatus 1c according to the present embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 does not include the information transmission control unit 10c in the image forming apparatus 1b of FIG. However, the other image forming apparatus 2b includes an information transmission control unit 10c. Of course, this embodiment can also be applied to the first or second embodiment. In this case, another image forming apparatus 2 (including the information transmission control unit 10c) is applied instead of the other image forming apparatus 2b. That's fine. As described above, the effects described in the first to third embodiments can be obtained only by using the operation time data only from other image forming apparatuses.

(Other)
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention has been described above. However, as illustrated in the flowchart of the processing flow, the present invention includes an operation unit that receives a user operation and also has an image having one or more power saving functions. A form as a power saving control method in the forming apparatus can also be adopted. The present invention can also take the form of a program for causing a computer to execute the power saving control method or a computer-readable recording medium (non-temporary recording medium) on which the program is recorded.

  This power saving control method includes the following reception step and change step. In the reception step, the statistical value reception unit of the image forming apparatus indicates an operation interval or a required time of a user operation received in a plurality of other image forming apparatuses or a plurality of other image forming apparatuses and the image forming apparatus. In this step, the statistical value is received via the network from an external information processing apparatus that stores the statistical value of the operation time. From the time when the time changing unit of the image forming apparatus accepts a user operation at the operation unit, or from the time when the processing at the part that can be shifted to the power saving state by the power saving function is completed. In this step, the transition time until the transition to the power saving state by the power saving function is changed according to the statistical value received in the reception step. Other application examples are the same as those described for the image forming apparatus, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  In other words, the program is a program for causing the computer of the control unit of the image forming apparatus to execute processing in the power saving control method. Here, in the processing, a plurality of other image forming apparatuses or a plurality of other image forming apparatuses and a statistical value about an operation time indicating an operation interval or a necessary time of a user operation received in the image forming apparatus are stored. A reception step for receiving the statistical value from an external information processing device via a network, and a process at a point where a user operation is accepted by the operation unit or at a part that can be shifted to a power saving state by the power saving function And a change step of changing a transition time from the time when the power saving function is completed to a transition to the power saving state by the power saving function according to the statistical value received in the reception step. Other application examples are the same as those described for the image forming apparatus, and a description thereof will be omitted. Examples of the recording medium include various media such as an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a memory card, and a hard disk. The above program can be downloaded from the Internet and executed, or received from a broadcast wave and executed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1b, 1c ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Other image forming apparatus, 3 ... Server apparatus, 10 ... Control part, 10a ... Statistical value reception control part, 10b ... Time change part, 10c ... Information transmission control part, 11 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Image processing part, 12 ... Printing part, 13 ... Operation part, 13a ... Operation button, 13b ... Operation panel, 14 ... Document reading part, 15 ... Communication part, 16 ... External memory connection part, 17 ... Power control part, 18 ... user information input unit, 20 ... UI image, 30 ... statistical value, 30a, 30b ... statistical value table.

Claims (8)

An image forming apparatus including an operation unit that receives a user operation and having one or a plurality of power saving functions,
From a plurality of other image forming apparatuses or a plurality of other image forming apparatuses and an external information processing apparatus storing statistical values of operation time indicating operation intervals or required times of user operations accepted in the image forming apparatus, A statistical value receiving unit for receiving the statistical value via a network;
Transition time from the time when the user operation is accepted by the operation unit or from the time when the processing at the part that can be shifted to the power saving state by the power saving function is completed to the time when the power saving function shifts to the power saving state. , A time changing unit that changes according to the statistical value,
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an information transmission unit configured to transmit the operation time measured for a user operation received by the operation unit to the external information processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus and the other image forming apparatus are complex machines having a plurality of types of image processing functions,
The statistical value is a value classified for each image processing function,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time changing unit changes the transition time for each of the image processing functions in the image forming apparatus according to the statistical value. A user information input unit for inputting user information;
The statistical value is a value classified based on user information indicating a type of the user who uses the other image forming apparatus or the other image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time changing unit changes the transition time for each type in the image forming apparatus according to the statistical value. A user information input unit for inputting user information indicating a type of a user who uses the image forming apparatus;
The information transmission unit transmits the operation time measured for the user operation received by the operation unit to the external information processing apparatus together with the user information input by the user information input unit,
The statistical value is a value classified based on the user information about the other image forming apparatus or the other image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the time changing unit changes the transition time for each type in the image forming apparatus according to the statistical value.   The said user information input part has a camera which image | photographs a user's face, and acquires the said user information by performing an image recognition process with respect to the image of the face image | photographed with this camera. The image forming apparatus according to 4 or 5.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user information includes one or more of a user's sex, age, race, language used, and area used. A power saving control method in an image forming apparatus that includes an operation unit that receives a user operation and has one or a plurality of power saving functions,
The statistical value receiving unit of the image forming apparatus has a plurality of other image forming apparatuses, a plurality of other image forming apparatuses, and a statistics about an operation time indicating an operation interval or a required time of a user operation received in the image forming apparatus. A reception step of receiving the statistical value from the external information processing apparatus storing the value via the network;
From the time when the time changing unit of the image forming apparatus accepts a user operation at the operation unit, or from the time when the processing at the part that can be shifted to the power saving state by the power saving function is completed, the power saving function A change step of changing a transition time until the transition to the power saving state according to the statistical value received in the reception step;
A power saving control method comprising:

Images