JP5899736B2 - Power shutdown device, image forming apparatus, power shutdown method, and program for power shutdown device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power shutoff device that shuts off an external power supply after the operation of a predetermined load is stopped.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is known that an image forming apparatus as an example of an information processing apparatus realizes processes such as paper conveyance, toner image formation, transfer, and fixing by control using a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Yes. In this case, the image forming apparatus supplies the power supplied from the external power source to a motor, a fan, and a heater as an example of a load, and operates them to realize each of the above processes.

  When the external power supply is shut down (shut down) in the image forming apparatus, a process for stopping the system in a safe state is executed so that the apparatus operates normally when the power is turned on next time. This process includes a process for completing the printing process being executed and a process for stopping the operation of the motor, the fan, the heater, and the like.

  However, with the increase in the number of functions of the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus has a new load corresponding to a new function. For this reason, the number of loads that need to be stopped before the external power supply is shut off has increased, and the time required to shut down the image forming apparatus has increased.

  In recent years, a first control unit that executes a part of the shutdown process in response to the power-off instruction, and a second part that executes the remaining part of the shutdown process in response to the execution instruction by the user. An image forming apparatus including a control unit is proposed. According to this proposal, since a part of the shutdown process is executed before the execution instruction is received, it is possible to shorten the time from when the execution instruction is given until the shutdown process is completed.

  However, even if the user requests a predetermined confirmation during the shutdown process by the conventional method, the total number of processes necessary for the shutdown process before and after the request is not reduced. For this reason, the subject that the time which shutdown processing requires cannot be reduced substantially occurred.

The invention according to claim 1 is a reception unit that receives a request to shut off an external power source, and a determination unit that determines whether a predetermined load is operating when the reception unit receives a request to shut off the external power source. When it is determined by the determination unit that the predetermined load is in operation, the predetermined unit is requested to stop the operation of the predetermined load. On the other hand, when it is determined that the predetermined load is not in operation, the predetermined load is A stop requesting unit that does not request stopping of the operation of the load, an inertia determining unit that determines whether the load requested to stop is an inertial operation load, and the load requested to stop by the inertia determining unit Is determined to be an inertial load, the load is considered to have stopped, and the external power supply is shut off, while the load requested to stop is determined not to be an inertial load. Was Expediently, a power cutoff device characterized by having a cut-off portion to cut off the external power supply after receiving the information indicating the stop of the load.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising the power shut-off device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the power shut-off device accepts a request for shutting off an external power source, and when the request for shutting off the external power source is accepted by the accepting step, it is determined whether a predetermined load is operating. And determining that the predetermined load is operating by the determining step, it is determined that the predetermined load is not operating while requesting to stop the operation of the predetermined load. Then, in the stop request step that does not request the stop of the operation of the predetermined load, the inertia determination step that determines whether the load requested to be stopped is a load that performs inertia operation, and the inertia determination step, If it is determined that the requested load is an inertial load, the load is considered to have stopped and the external power supply is shut off, while the load requested to stop is inertially active. When the load is determined not to be that is a power cut-off method characterized by having a blocking step of blocking the external power source from the reception of the information indicating the stop of the load.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the power shutoff device accepts a request for shutting off the external power supply, and when the request for shutting off the external power supply is accepted by the accepting process, it is determined whether a predetermined load is operating. When the determination process determines that the predetermined load is in operation, it is determined that the predetermined load is not in operation while requesting to stop the operation of the predetermined load. Then, in the stop request process that does not require the stop of the operation of the predetermined load, the inertia determination process that determines whether the load requested to stop is an inertial operation load, and the inertia determination process, If it is determined that the requested load is an inertial load, the load is considered to have stopped and the external power supply is shut off, while the load requested to stop is inertially active. When the load is determined not to be that is a power cutoff device program for causing to execute a blocking process of blocking the external power source from the reception of the information indicating the stop of the load.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the power shut-off device determines whether a predetermined load is operating when a request for shutting off the external power supply is accepted. Further, when it is determined that the predetermined load is operating, the power shut-off device requests to stop the operation of the predetermined load. As a result, the power shut-off device can make an operation stop request for a load whose operation has been stopped, so that the time required for the shutdown can be shortened.

1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus including a control unit as an example of a power shut-off device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is a hardware block diagram of the control part as an example of the power-supply-cutoff apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control part as an example of the power-supply-cutoff apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows a state management table. It is a conceptual diagram which shows a rank management table. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an inertia management table. FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus after receiving a request for shutdown processing. It is the conceptual diagram which showed the shutdown process by 1st mode. It is the conceptual diagram which showed the shutdown process by 2nd mode. FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating a process for managing the operating state of each load of the image forming apparatus. It is a processing flow figure showing processing which demands stop of load. It is a processing flowchart which showed the process of the preparation stage which interrupts | blocks a power supply.

<< Overall Configuration of Embodiment >>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus including a control unit as an example of a power shut-off device according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the overall configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a sheet feeding cassette 111 on which sheets as an example of a recording medium to be fed are stacked, and sheets stacked on the sheet feeding cassette 111 one by one. A sheet feeding roller 112 that feeds the sheet and a sheet feeding roller motor 113 that drives the sheet feeding roller 112 are provided.

  The image forming apparatus 1 also includes a transport roller 121 that transports the paper fed by the paper feed roller 112, a transport roller motor 122 that drives the transport roller 121, and a leading end of the paper transported by the transport roller 121. And a pair of timing rollers 123 for feeding the sheet to a toner transfer position at a predetermined timing. The paper transport path is provided with a guide member (not shown) that guides the paper to be transported.

  The image forming apparatus 1 also includes an image forming unit 130a that develops using a developer having yellow toner and an image forming unit 130b that develops using a developer having cyan toner at predetermined intervals. An image forming unit 130c that develops using a developer having magenta toner, an image forming unit 130d that develops using a developer having black toner, and irradiates light based on the image data to write a latent image. A writing unit 133.

  In the present embodiment, the “image forming unit 130” is used to indicate an arbitrary image forming unit among the image forming units (130a, 130b, 130c, 130d). Further, in the present embodiment, the toner means resin particles that are charged or contain a coloring material such as a pigment or a dye and have a charging property.

  In FIG. 1, the four image forming units 130 have substantially the same mechanical configuration except that the developers used are different. The image forming unit 130 is provided so as to rotate clockwise, and includes a photosensitive drum (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) on which a latent image and a toner image are formed, and a photosensitive drum (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d). On the surface of the charger (132a, 132b, 132c, 132d) for uniformly charging the surface and the photosensitive drum (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) charged by the charger (132a, 132b, 132c, 132d), A developing unit (134a, 134b, 134c, 134d) for developing a latent image formed by irradiating light by the writing unit 133 into a toner image, and a photosensitive drum (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) are provided opposite to each other. The toner images formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 131 are primarily transferred to a transfer medium. Of the primary transfer rollers (135a, 135b, 135c, 135d) and the static eliminators (136a, 136b, 136c) for neutralizing the surfaces of the photosensitive drums (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) after the primary transfer of the toner image. 136d) and cleaners (137a, 137b, 137c) that remove transfer residual toner remaining on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) that have been neutralized by the static eliminators (136a, 136b, 136c, 136d). , 137d).

  In the present embodiment, the “photosensitive drum 131” is used to indicate any photosensitive drum among the photosensitive drums (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d). The “charger 132” is used when an arbitrary charger is shown among the chargers (132a, 132b, 132c, 132d). Further, in the case where an arbitrary developing device among the developing devices (134a, 134b, 134c, 134d) is indicated, "developing device 134" is used. Further, in the case of indicating an arbitrary primary transfer roller among the primary transfer rollers (135a, 135b, 135c, 135d), the “primary transfer roller 135” is used. Further, in the case of indicating any static eliminator among the static eliminators (136a, 136b, 136c, 136d), the “static eliminator 136” is used. Further, in the case where an arbitrary cleaning device is shown among the cleaning devices (137a, 137b, 137c, 137d), the “cleaning device 137” is used.

  The writing unit 133 includes an LD (laser diode) 133x that generates laser light based on image data, and a polygon mirror that reflects the laser light generated by rotating in a predetermined direction to irradiate each photosensitive drum 131. 133y and a polygon motor 133z for driving the polygon mirror 133y are provided.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 is a transfer medium that circulates in a state where the toner images that are sequentially transferred from the surface of the photosensitive drum 131 are held on a plurality of rollers 141 and a secondary opposing roller 142. As an example, an intermediate transfer belt 143 and a secondary transfer roller 144 provided to face the secondary opposing roller 142 with the intermediate transfer belt 143 interposed therebetween are provided. As a result, a secondary transfer bias is applied to the sheet sandwiched between the secondary transfer roller 144 and the intermediate transfer belt 143, whereby the toner image held on the intermediate transfer belt 143 is transferred to the sheet.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a heating roller 152 provided with a heater 151 for heating paper, a fan 153 for exhausting heat generated by the heating roller 152 to the outside of the apparatus, and a heat roller 152 that presses the heating roller 152 rotatably. A pressure roller 154 that forms a contact surface (nip portion) by applying pressure, and a fixing unit motor 155 that rotationally drives the heating roller 152 and the pressure roller 154.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a double-sided printing unit 161 having a mechanism for reversing a sheet on which toner has been fixed and feeding it to a conveyance path to the timing roller 123 in order to perform double-sided printing. The duplex printing unit 161 switches back the paper on which the toner has been fixed and sends it to the conveyance path to the timing roller 123 to reverse the paper, a reverse roller motor 163 that drives the reverse roller, It has.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 discharges the paper discharged by the paper discharge roller 164 that discharges the paper on which the toner is fixed, the motor 165 for the paper discharge roller that drives the paper discharge roller 164, and the paper discharge roller 164. A paper receiving tray 166 for storing the paper.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a document feeding unit 171 that accommodates a document to be fed, a scanner 172 that reads an image of the fed document, and a document ejection that ejects the document from which the image is read. Part 173.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 180 as an example of a power shut-off device including a storage device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) described later. doing.

  A hardware configuration of the control unit 180 of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the control unit 180 as an example of the power shutoff device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 180 includes an engine 181 that controls the conveyance of a sheet and driving of a mechanism unit for performing image formation during a power-off process, and a controller 182 that makes various requests to the engine 181. The engine 181 and the controller 182 are connected by a PCI bus 1800 as an example of a bus.

  The engine 181 includes an engine CPU 1811 that controls the overall operation of the engine 181, an engine ROM 1812 that stores programs for causing the engine 181 to implement various functions or various means, an engine RAM 1813 that is used as a work area for the CPU 1811, A nonvolatile engine NVRAM (Non-volatile Random Access Memory) 1814 for storing various data, a motor (113, 122, 133z, 155, 163, 165), a heater 151, and a fan 153 by outputting predetermined signals And an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 1815 for controlling the driving of the above.

  The controller 182 includes a controller CPU 1821 that controls the overall operation of the controller 182, a controller ROM 1822 that stores programs for causing the controller 182 to implement various functions or various means, and a controller RAM 1823 used as a work area for the controller CPU 1821. , A non-volatile controller NVRAM 1824 for storing various data, a display operation panel 1825 having both a display panel for notifying the user of operation contents and an operation panel for receiving operation input from the user, and devices such as an external information processing apparatus And an interface (I / F) 1826 for data transmission, and a bus line 1827 such as an address bus and a data bus for electrically connecting the above components as shown in FIG. To have.

<< Functional Configuration of Embodiment >>
Next, the functional configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus 1 as an example of the power cutoff device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Functional configuration of engine>
The engine 181 of the control unit 180 of the image forming apparatus 1 includes a state detection unit 1831, a motor control unit 1832, a heater control unit 1833, and a fan control unit 1834. Each of these units is a function or means realized by any one of the components shown in FIG. 2 operating according to a command from the engine CPU 1811 according to a program stored in the engine ROM 1812.

<Functional parts of the engine>
The state detection unit 1831 periodically detects the operating state of each load of the image forming apparatus 1 according to a command from the engine CPU 1811 according to a program stored in the engine ROM 1812. In the present exemplary embodiment, the load means an item that consumes electrical energy, and specifically includes the conveyance roller motor 122, the fan 153, the heater 151, and the like of the image forming apparatus 1. In addition, the operation in the present embodiment means that the load functions when power is supplied.

  The motor control unit 1832 outputs a signal from the ASIC 1815, the feed roller motor 113, the transport roller motor 122, the polygon motor 133 z, the fixing unit motor 155, the reverse roller motor 163, and the paper discharge roller motor 165. Control operation.

  The heater control unit 1833 controls the operation of the heater 151 by outputting a signal from the ASIC 1815. The fan control unit 1834 controls the operation of the fan 153 by outputting a signal from the ASIC 1815.

<Functional configuration of controller>
The controller 182 of the control unit 180 of the image forming apparatus 1 includes a state management unit 1841, a stop determination unit 1842, a rank determination unit 1843, an inertia determination unit 1845, an external power switch 1846, a storage read processing unit 1847, have. Each of these units is a function or means realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 2 operating according to a command from the controller CPU 1821 according to a program stored in the ROM 1822. Further, the controller 182 has a storage unit 185 constructed by the controller NVRAM 1824 shown in FIG.

(Status management table)
In the storage unit 185, a state management DB (Data Base) 1851 configured by a state management table as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a state management table. In the status management table of FIG. 4, load information indicating a load that needs to be stopped before the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is shut down is associated with status information indicating the operating state of the load. Managed. The state information includes “0” indicating that the load is not operating and “1” indicating that the load is operating. The state management table shown in FIG. 4 indicates that the paper feed roller motor 113 of the image forming apparatus 1 is not operating.

(Rank management table)
In the storage unit 185, a rank management DB 1852 configured by a rank management table as shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a rank management table. In the order management table of FIG. 5, load information indicating a load that needs to be stopped before the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is shut down, and rank information indicating a stop order when stopping the operation of the load. And are managed in association with each other. In the rank management table of FIG. 5, as the rank information value increases, the load stop rank is managed later. The order management table shown in FIG. 5 indicates that the feed roller motor 113 stops operating before the reverse roller motor 163.

(Inertia management table)
In the storage unit 185, an inertia management DB 1853 configured by an inertia management table as shown in FIG. 6 is constructed. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing the inertia management table. In the inertia management table of FIG. 6, load information indicating a load that needs to be stopped before the external power source of the image forming apparatus 1 is shut down, and a load that remains in an inertial operation even after requesting the load to stop the operation. The inertia information indicating whether or not is associated and managed.

  In this embodiment, the inertial operation means an operation that continues unless an external force is applied. In the present embodiment, the inertia management table manages the inertia information indicating the inertia allowed to shut off the power supply during the inertia operation. The inertia information includes “0” indicating a load that does not perform inertia and “1” that indicates a load that performs inertia. The inertia management table shown in FIG. 6 indicates that the polygon motor 133z is a load for inertia operation.

<Functions of the controller>
The state management unit 1841 updates the state of each load managed in the state management table (see FIG. 4) according to an instruction from the controller CPU 1821 in accordance with a program stored in the controller ROM 1822. The stop determination unit 1842 determines the load for each load that needs to be stopped before the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is shut down by an instruction from the controller CPU 1821 according to a program stored in the controller ROM 1822. Determine whether the operation has been stopped.

  The rank determining unit 1843 has a rank for stopping the operation of the load determined not to be stopped by the stop determining unit 1842 by an instruction from the controller CPU 1821 according to the program stored in the controller ROM 1822. Judge.

  The stop request unit 1844 makes a load stop request to the engine 181 by an instruction from the controller CPU 1821 according to a program stored in the controller ROM 1822.

  The inertia determining unit 1845 determines whether the load requested to be stopped by the stop requesting unit 1844 is an inertial operation load according to an instruction from the controller CPU 1821 according to a program stored in the controller ROM 1822.

  The external power switch 1846 switches between a state in which the image forming apparatus 1 is connected to the external power source 200 and a state in which the image forming apparatus 1 is disconnected according to a command from the controller CPU 1821 according to a program stored in the controller ROM 1822.

  The storage read processing unit 1847 stores various data in the storage unit 185 and reads various data stored in the storage unit 185 according to instructions from the controller CPU 1821 in accordance with a program stored in the controller ROM 1822. .

<< Processing and Operation of Embodiment >>
Subsequently, a processing method in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the network I / F 1826 of the image forming apparatus 1 receives image formation request information including image data and printing conditions transmitted from the image output terminal via the communication network. In the present embodiment, a case where the image data is RGB image data will be described. The printing conditions include paper size, printing surface (single side or double side), and the like.

  When the network I / F 1826 receives the image formation request information, the controller 182 receives yellow (Y), black (K), cyan (C), and the like according to a command from the controller CPU 1821 according to a program stored in the controller ROM 1822. And image data of an image formed by each toner of magenta (M).

  In this case, the controller 182 performs color conversion processing on the RGB image data included in the image formation request information, and generates CMYK image data including color separation data corresponding to each color (C, M, Y, K) of toner. . Note that the controller 182 may execute known image processing such as color correction processing and spatial frequency correction processing in addition to color conversion processing on image data. When the generation of the image data is completed, the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to form an image based on the generated image data.

  Based on this request, the motor control unit 1832 of the engine 181 controls the power supply to the paper feed roller motor 113. As a result, the paper feed roller 112 is driven by the paper feed roller motor 113 to feed the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 111 one by one to the transport path in the image forming apparatus 1.

  Subsequently, the motor control unit 1832 controls power to be supplied to the conveyance roller motor 122. Accordingly, the transport roller 121 is driven by the transport roller motor 122 and transports the fed paper toward the transfer unit 140. The timing roller 123 sandwiches the leading end portion of the sheet conveyed by the conveying roller 121 and waits until the timing at which the sheet is secondarily transferred at the transfer position.

  On the other hand, each image forming unit 130 creates a toner image of each toner (C, M, Y, K) based on the generated image data. In this case, the charger 132 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 131 that rotates counterclockwise.

  The motor control unit 1832 performs control so that electric power is supplied to the polygon motor 133z. As a result, the polygon mirror 133y is driven to rotate by the polygon motor 133z. The LD 133x irradiates a rotating polygon mirror with laser light based on the color separation data of the generated image data.

  The irradiated laser light is reflected while its reflection direction is changed by a rotating polygon mirror. The reflected laser beam scans the surface of the charged photosensitive drums (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d). Thereby, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image indicated by each color separation data (C, M, Y, K) is formed on the charged photosensitive drums (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d).

  When each electrostatic latent image is formed, the developing device 134 develops the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum (131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) using toner (C, M, Y, K), and the toner. An image (C, M, Y, K) is created.

  The developed toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 143 that is circulated in a clockwise direction in FIG. 1 by being applied with a primary transfer bias by the primary transfer roller 135 (primary transfer). After the toner image is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 143, the surface of the photosensitive drum 131 is neutralized by the neutralizer 136. Further, the transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 131 that has been neutralized is removed by the cleaner 137.

  The primarily transferred toner image moves while attached to the intermediate transfer belt 143, and is transferred onto the sheet by applying a secondary transfer bias by the secondary transfer roller 144 (secondary transfer). This sheet is sent out by the timing roller 123 at the timing when the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 143 moves. When the secondary transfer is completed, the sheet is conveyed to the fixing position.

  The heater 151 of the fixing roller is supplied with power in advance under the control of the heater control unit 1833 and generates heat with a predetermined output. As a result, predetermined heat is applied to the sheet passing through the contact surface (nip portion) formed by the heating roller 152 and the pressure roller 154, and the toner (C, M, Y, K) is plasticized. Further, pressure is applied to the plasticized toner and the paper by the pressure roller 154, so that the toner adheres to the paper and is fixed by entering between the fibers of the paper.

  Further, the fan 153 is supplied with power in advance under the control of the heater control unit 1833, and rotates at a predetermined output. As a result, the fan 153 exhausts the heat generated by the heater 151 out of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The conveyance path of the sheet on which the toner is fixed is switched to a first path toward the duplex printing unit 161 or a second path toward the paper discharge roller 164 by a switching unit (not shown). In this case, the switching unit switches the transport direction based on the printing conditions included in the image formation request information.

  When the conveyance path is switched to the first path, the motor control unit 1832 controls the power to be supplied to the reverse roller motor 163. As a result, the reverse roller 162 is driven by the reverse roller motor 163 to rotate in a direction in which the paper is drawn into a predetermined reverse portion. Further, the motor control unit 1832 controls the reverse roller motor 163 to reverse. As a result, the reverse roller 162 is driven in the opposite direction by the reverse roller motor 163, and sends the paper to the conveyance path that reaches the timing roller 123.

  When the conveyance path is switched to the second path, the motor control unit 1832 performs control so that power is supplied to the paper discharge roller motor 165. As a result, the paper discharge roller 164 is driven by the paper discharge roller motor 165 to discharge the paper on which the toner has been fixed onto the paper discharge tray 166.

  Next, processing of the image forming apparatus 1 after the display operation panel 1825 has received a request for shutdown processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing the process of the image forming apparatus 1 after accepting the request for the shutdown process.

  When the display operation panel 1825 receives a power-off request (shutdown) from the user, the controller 182 determines a shutdown mode (shutdown mode) (step S1). This shutdown mode has a first mode in which the power is shut off based on fail-safe control, and a second mode in which the power is shut down by shortening the time compared to the first mode.

  The method by which the controller 182 determines the shutdown mode is not particularly limited. For example, the controller 182 may determine whether to execute the shutdown in the first mode or the second mode based on the time when the execution of the shutdown is received from the user.

  For example, when the controller 182 receives a shutdown execution during a predetermined period of high use frequency of the image forming apparatus 1 (for example, 9:00 to 18:00), the controller 182 shortens the time and cuts off the power. You may decide to run the mode. As a result, when it becomes necessary to use the image forming apparatus 1 again during execution of the shutdown of the image forming apparatus 1, the time until the image forming apparatus 1 is restored is shortened because the shutdown time is shortened. .

  When the determined shutdown mode is the first mode (YES in step S2), the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to shut down in the first mode (step S3). When the determined shutdown mode is the second mode (NO in step S2), the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to shut down in the second mode (step S4).

  Next, the shutdown processing in the first mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing a shutdown process in the first mode. First, the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to complete a process being executed and to safely stop the load (safe stop process). For example, when the image forming apparatus 1 is executing printing, the engine 181 makes a request to stop the load after all the sheets being printed are discharged by the discharge roller 164.

  When the safety stop process is completed, the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to stop the operation for all loads that need to be stopped before shutting off the external power supply based on the fail-safe control. do. In this case, the controller 182 makes a stop request to all the loads without distinguishing between the active load and the stopped load stopped by the safety stop process, for example.

  When the controller 182 receives information indicating that the load is stopped from the engine 181, the controller 182 determines that the stop process has been completed. As shown in FIG. 8, for a load that performs inertial operation even after a stop request, such as the polygon motor 133z, it takes time for the inertial operation to stop. Becomes longer.

When all the load stop processes are completed, the controller 182 shuts off the power supply of the image forming apparatus 1. The shutdown time T _{1 in} the first mode is the sum of the safe stop processing time t ₁₁ and the stop processing time t _{12 for} each load.

  Next, the shutdown processing in the second mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a shutdown process in the second mode. First, similarly to the first mode, the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to safely stop the load.

  When the safety stop process is completed, the controller 182 requests the engine 181 to stop the operating load, and does not request the stop to the stopped load. A method for the controller 182 to determine the stop of the load will be described later.

  When the controller 182 receives information indicating that the load is stopped from the engine 181, the controller 182 determines that the stop process has been completed. Note that for a specific load that performs inertial operation even after a stop request, the controller 182 determines that the stop process has been completed without waiting for the inertial operation to stop. A method by which the controller 182 determines a load that performs an inertia operation will be described later.

When the stop processing for all loads except for a specific load is completed, the external power switch 1846 shuts off the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1. Shutdown time T ₂ are according to the second mode, security and stop processing time t _21, the sum of the stopping process time t ₂₂ of each load. In this case, the shutdown time T ₂ of the mode 2 is not a stop request for the stopped load, since it does not wait for the stopping of the load for a particular load, than the shutdown time T ₁ of the mode 1, It is reduced by the amount of time T _3.

  Next, a process in which the controller 182 manages the operating state of each load of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram illustrating a process for managing the operating state of each load of the image forming apparatus 1. First, in the engine 181, the state detection unit 1831 shown in FIG. 3 periodically detects the operating state of each load of the image forming apparatus 1 (step S11).

  In this case, the state detection unit 1831 detects the state of a load that needs to be stopped before the external power supply is shut down in the image forming apparatus 1. These loads are loads managed by the state management table (see FIG. 4). As a method for the state detection unit 1831 to detect the state of the load, for example, the ASIC 1815 applies to each mechanism to operate the motor (113, 122, 133z, 155, 163, 165), the fan 153, the heater 151, and the like. A method for detecting an output signal may be mentioned.

  When the state detection unit 1831 detects the operating state of any load, the state detection unit 1831 transmits load information indicating the load and state information indicating the detected state to the controller 182 side. Upon receiving these pieces of information, the state management unit 1841 of the controller 182 determines whether the received state information matches the state information managed by the state management table (step S12). In this case, the state management unit 1841 searches the state information management table (see FIG. 4) based on the received load information, and acquires corresponding state information. Accordingly, the state management unit 1841 can determine whether or not they match by comparing the received state information with the acquired state information.

  When it is determined that the received state information and the state information managed by the state management table (see FIG. 4) do not match (NO in step S12), the state management unit 1841 is managed by the state management table. The state information is updated to the received state information (step S13). Thereby, the state management table (see FIG. 4) can manage the latest state of each load.

  Next, a process in which the controller 182 requests to stop the load will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a process flowchart showing a process for requesting a load stop. First, the stop determination unit 1842 determines whether the operation of the load is stopped for each load that needs to be stopped before the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is shut off (step S21). In this case, the stop determination unit 1842 refers to the state management table (see FIG. 4), determines that the load whose state information is “0” is stopped, and the load whose state information is “1”. It is judged that it has not stopped.

  The controller 182 does not request to stop the load determined to be stopped (YES in step S21). This eliminates the need to make a stop request for a stopped load, thereby reducing the time required for shutdown.

  For the load determined not to be stopped (NO in step S21), the rank determining unit 1843 determines whether there is a rank to stop (step S22). In this case, the rank determination unit 1843 searches the rank management table (see FIG. 5) for the load determined not to be stopped, using the load information indicating the load as a key, and acquires the corresponding rank information. If the acquired rank information is “0”, the rank determination unit 1843 determines that the load has no rank to be stopped. If the acquired rank information is not “0”, the rank determination unit 1843 determines that the load has a rank to be stopped.

  The stop request unit 1844 of the controller 182 immediately requests the engine 181 to stop the load that has no order of stop (NO in step S22) (step S23). As a result, the stop request unit 1844 can promptly request the engine 181 to stop.

  The stop request unit 1844 requests the engine 181 to stop according to the stop order after the stop order is determined for all loads for loads with the order of stop (NO in step S22) (step S22). S24). In this case, the stop request unit 1844 makes a request to stop a load having a small acquired rank information first. As a result, the load can be stopped in an optimal order, and the occurrence of an error in the image forming apparatus 1 can be prevented.

  When the stop request unit 1844 requests stop of the load, the engine 181 stops each load. For example, when a request for stopping the fixing unit motor 155 is received, the motor control unit 1832 of the engine 181 controls to stop the operation of the fixing unit motor 155. When the state detection unit 1831 detects that the operation of the load is stopped by the control of the motor control unit 1832, the state detection unit 1831 transmits load information indicating the load and state information “0” indicating the state of the load to the controller 182.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 12, a description will be given of processing in a preparation stage in which the controller 182 shuts off the power. FIG. 12 is a process flow diagram showing the preparation stage process for shutting off the power. First, the inertia determining unit 1845 determines whether the load requested to be stopped by the stop requesting unit 1844 is a load that performs an inertia operation (step S41). In this case, the inertia determining unit 1845 searches the inertia management table (see FIG. 6) using the load information indicating the load requested to be stopped by the stop request unit 1844 as a search key, and acquires the corresponding inertia information. The inertia determining unit 1845 determines that the inertia operation is not performed when the acquired inertia information is “0”. The inertia determining unit 1845 determines that the inertia operation is performed when the inertia information is “1”.

  When the inertia determining unit determines that the inertia operation is performed (YES in step S41), the state management unit 1841 updates the state management table without waiting for the inertia operation to stop (step S42). For example, in the first mode, the state management unit 1841 updates the state management table without waiting for the stop time when the state management table is updated after waiting for the stop time determined for each load that performs inertial operation. Switch to the processing method. The state management unit 1841 updates the state information corresponding to the load information of this load to “0” indicating stop in the state management table (see FIG. 4). As a result, the inertial operation load can be regarded as stopped without waiting for the information indicating the stop of the load from the engine 181 and the shutdown process can proceed.

  When it is determined that the inertial operation is not performed by the inertia determining unit (NO in step S41), the state management unit 1841 waits for reception of state information indicating stoppage of load operation transmitted by the state detection unit 1831 of the engine 181. When the state information is received, the state management unit 1841 updates the state information corresponding to the load information indicating this load to “0” indicating stop in the state management table (see FIG. 4) (step S42). .

  When the status information managed in the status management table (see FIG. 4) is updated and the status information corresponding to all loads becomes “0”, the external power switch 1846 shuts off the external power supply 200 of the image forming apparatus 1. To complete the shutdown process.

<< Supplement of Embodiment >>
In the above embodiment, the state detection unit 1831 detects a load based on a signal output from the ASIC 1815 to each mechanism, and the state management table (see FIG. 4) is based on the detection result of the state detection unit 1831. The status of load operation was managed. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The state management table may manage state information based on the earliest request among the load operation request to the engine 181 and the load stop request from the controller 182. Thus, even when the engine 181 does not have the state detection unit 1831, it is possible to determine the operating state of each load.

  In the above embodiment, the state management unit 1841, the stop determination unit 1842, the rank determination unit 1843, the stop request unit 1844, and the inertia determination unit 1845 are provided in the controller 182. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, all or part of the state management unit 1841, the stop determination unit 1842, the rank determination unit 1843, the stop request unit 1844, and the inertia determination unit 1845 may be provided in the engine 181. In this case, each of the components provided in the engine 181 is operated by any of the components shown in FIG. 2 according to a command from the engine CPU 1811 according to a program stored in the engine ROM 1812. Realized. In this case, the main control of the shutdown is executed by the engine 181. The result of this control is managed in each management DB of the storage unit 185 by notifying the controller 182.

  In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 forms an image based on the image data transmitted by the image output terminal via the communication network. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 may form an image based on the image data of the image read by the scanner 172.

  In the above embodiment, the control unit 180 as an example of the power shut-off device is included in the image forming apparatus 1. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The control unit 180 may be provided in another information processing apparatus as long as it has a load that operates by controlling the supply of power. Examples of other information processing apparatuses include a projector including a fan that cools a light source as an example of a load, a display, and a video conference terminal. In this case, by configuring the fan control unit 1834 of the control unit 180 to control the supply of power to the fans of other information processing apparatuses, a shutdown process similar to that in the above embodiment can be realized. .

<< Main effects of embodiment >>
As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when a shutdown request is received, the stop determination unit 1842 is a load that needs to be stopped before shutting off the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1. It is judged every time whether the operation is stopped. The stop request unit 1844 requests the engine 181 to stop operating the load for the load that is determined not to be stopped. When the operation with respect to this load stops, the external power switch 1846 shuts off the external power source 200 of the image forming apparatus 1. As a result, the stop request unit 1844 can not make a request to stop the supply of power to the load that has been stopped from operation, so that the time required for the shutdown can be shortened. Play.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the inertia management table (see FIG. 6) manages the load for the inertia operation even after the stop request. In this case, the state management unit 1841 updates the state management table (see FIG. 4), assuming that the load that performs inertial operation has stopped without waiting for the inertial operation to stop. As a result, the time required for shutdown can be shortened.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the order management table (see FIG. 5) includes load information indicating a load that needs to be stopped before the external power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is shut down, and stops this load. The rank information indicating the rank at which to stop is associated and managed. The rank determination unit 1843 searches the rank management table using the load information indicating the load as a key, and acquires the corresponding rank information. The stop request unit 1844 requests to stop the load according to the order of the acquired order information. As a result, the load can be stopped in accordance with the optimal order, so that an error in the image forming apparatus 1 can be prevented.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the motor control unit 1832 outputs the paper feed roller motor 113, the conveyance roller motor 122, the polygon motor 133 z, the fixing unit motor 155, and the reverse roller motor 163 based on the output of the signal from the ASIC 1815. , And the power supply to the paper discharge roller motor 165 is controlled. The heater control unit 1833 controls the supply of power to the heater 151 based on the output of a signal from the ASIC 1815. The fan control unit 1834 controls the supply of power to the fan 153 based on the output of a signal from the ASIC 1815.

  The state detection unit 1831 detects the operating state of the load based on the output of the signal from the ASIC 1815. Thereby, the state detection unit 1831 has an effect that it can accurately detect the operating state of the load based on the actually measured signal.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the state management table (see FIG. 4) is based on the state information based on the earliest request among the load operation request and the load stop request from the controller 182 to the engine 181. May be managed. Thus, even when the engine 181 does not have the state detection unit 1831, it is possible to determine the operating state of each load.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 111 Paper feed cassette 112 Paper feed roller 113 Paper feed roller motor 121 Carrying roller 122 Carrying roller motor 123 Timing roller 130 Image forming unit 131 Photosensitive drum 132 Charger 133 Writing unit 133x LD
133y Polygon mirror 133z Polygon motor 134 Developer 135 Primary transfer roller 136 Static eliminator 137 Cleaner 141 Roller 142 Secondary counter roller 143 Intermediate transfer belt 144 Secondary transfer roller 151 Heater 152 Heating roller 153 Fan 154 Pressure roller 155 Fixing unit Motor 161 Duplex Printing Unit 162 Reverse Roller 163 Reverse Roller Motor 164 Paper Discharge Roller 165 Paper Discharge Roller Motor 166 Paper Discharge Tray 171 Document Paper Feed Unit 172 Scanner 173 Document Paper Discharge Unit 180 Control Unit
181 Engine 182 Controller (Example of start request unit)
185 Storage unit 1800 PCI bus 1811 Engine CPU
1812 Engine ROM
1813 Engine RAM
1814 Engine NVRAM
1821 Controller CPU
1822 Controller ROM
1823 Controller RAM
1824 Controller NVRAM
1825 Display operation panel (an example of a reception unit)
1826 I / F
1827 Bus line 1831 State detection unit (an example of a signal detection unit)
1832 Motor control unit (an example of a load control unit)
1833 heater control unit (an example of a load control unit)
1834 Fan control unit (an example of a load control unit)
1841 State management unit 1842 Stop determination unit (an example of a determination unit)
1843 Rank determination unit (an example of a rank acquisition unit)
1844 Stop request unit 1845 Inertia determination unit 1846 External power switch (an example of a cutoff unit)
1847 Storage read processing unit 1851 State management DB
1852 rank management DB (an example of a rank management unit)
1853 Inertia management DB

JP 2010-120322 A

Claims (7)

A reception unit for receiving a request to shut off the external power supply;
A determination unit that determines whether a predetermined load is operating when a request to shut off the external power source is received by the reception unit;
When it is determined by the determination unit that the predetermined load is in operation, the predetermined unit is requested to stop the operation of the predetermined load. On the other hand, when it is determined that the predetermined load is not in operation, the predetermined load is A stop requesting part that does not request stop of the operation of the load of
An inertia determining unit that determines whether the load requested to be stopped is an inertial load;
When the inertia determining unit determines that the load requested to be stopped is a load that performs an inertia operation, the load is regarded as having been stopped and the external power supply is shut off while the load of the stop is determined. A power supply unit comprising: a shut-off unit that shuts off the external power supply after receiving information indicating stoppage of the load when it is determined that the requested load is not a load that performs inertial operation. Shut-off device. A rank management unit that associates and manages load information indicating the predetermined load and rank information indicating a rank at which the operation of the predetermined load is stopped;
A rank acquisition unit that acquires rank information associated with load information indicating the predetermined load from the rank management unit when the stop request unit requests the stop of the operation to the predetermined load; Have
2. The power shut-off device according to claim 1, wherein the stop request unit requests to stop the operation of the predetermined load based on the rank information acquired by the rank acquisition unit. A load control unit for controlling start and stop of operation of the predetermined load by outputting a predetermined signal to the load;
Anda signal detector for detecting the predetermined signal,
The determination unit, on the basis of the detection result by the signal detection unit, the power supply cutoff apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determining whether the predetermined load is running. A start requesting unit for requesting the start of operation of the predetermined load;
The determination unit determines whether the predetermined load is operating based on a first request among the request of the start request unit and the request of the stop request unit. Or the power shut-off device according to 2 above. An image forming apparatus comprising the power cutoff device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The power shut-off device
A reception process for receiving a request to shut off the external power supply;
A determination step of determining whether a predetermined load is operating when a request to shut off the external power source is received by the reception step;
If it is determined by the determining step that the predetermined load is in operation, the predetermined load is requested while the predetermined load is not in operation while the predetermined load is requested to stop. A stop request process that does not require the stop of the operation of the load ,
An inertia determination step for determining whether the load requested to stop is an inertial load;
In the inertia determining step, when it is determined that the load requested to be stopped is a load that performs an inertia operation, the load is considered to be stopped and the external power supply is shut off, while the stop A power supply comprising: a step of shutting off the external power supply after receiving information indicating that the load has been stopped when it is determined that the requested load is not an inertial load Blocking method. In the power shut-off device,
A reception process for accepting a request to shut off the external power supply;
A determination process for determining whether a predetermined load is operating when a request for shutting off the external power supply is received by the reception process;
If it is determined by the determination process that the predetermined load is in operation, the predetermined load is requested while the predetermined load is not in operation while the predetermined load is requested to stop. Stop request processing that does not require stopping the operation of the load ,
Inertia determination processing for determining whether the load requested to stop is an inertial load,
In the inertia determination process, when it is determined that the load requested to be stopped is a load that performs an inertia operation, the load is regarded as having been stopped and the external power supply is shut off while the load of the stop is determined. When it is determined that the requested load is not a load that performs inertial operation, a shutdown process for shutting off the external power supply is performed after receiving information indicating that the load is stopped. Program for power shut-off device.

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