JP6526111B2 - Printing apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a control method thereof, in particular, when the power switch is turned off, it relates to a printing apparatus and a control how transitions to state capable of high-speed launch.

  In recent image forming apparatuses and information processing apparatuses, there is a problem that it takes a long time from when the user operates the power switch to the actual operation after the user operates the power switch for multifunctionalization.

  In response to this problem, a function called suspend that suspends the operation of the program being executed so that it can return in the same operating state as the current operating state when the user turns off the power switch. Some have (suspend mode).

  In addition, there is also one having a function called resume that is activated in an operation state at the previous end time point, that is, returns to a state just before the end time point when the user turns on the power switch.

  According to the suspend function, the image forming apparatus in the normal operation mode can shift to the suspend mode in which the operation of each unit is suspended while holding the state immediately before the operation is suspended.

  Further, according to the resume function, it is possible for the image forming apparatus in the suspend mode to return to the normal operation mode immediately before the transition to the suspend mode.

  That is, by using the function as described above, in an image forming apparatus such as a digital multi-functional peripheral, high-speed activation is possible, and it is possible to quickly return to the previous operation state.

  If this suspend mode is used when the power switch is turned off, the restart processing will not be executed even if the power is turned off, even if the switch is turned off due to a memory leak, improper operation processing, etc. There is a risk that it can not recover from the normal inoperable state.

  Therefore, there has been proposed a method of entering the suspend mode after shutting down and restarting the OS once at the time of turning off the power switch (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As a result, since the OS is restarted, the memory is in a clean state, and it is possible to shift to the suspend mode in a state where a normal operation inoperable state such as a memory leak is eliminated.

JP 2007-293806 A

  However, if the OS is shut down once and then restarted when the power switch is turned off, the shutdown and restart operations occur each time the power switch is turned off, and the transition to the suspend mode takes a long time. There is a problem of

An object of the present invention, when the power switch is turned off to provide a migratable printing apparatus and its control how fast startup that is ready in a shorter time.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to claim 1 has a printing unit for printing an image, a control unit, a storage unit, and a power switch operated by a user, the control unit and the control unit A printing apparatus operable in a first power state in which power is supplied to a storage unit, and a second power state that consumes less power than the first power state, the first power state After the first operation of the user on the power switch in the printing apparatus is detected to store data used for activating the printing apparatus in the storage unit and then the printing apparatus is shut down a first processing means for transitioning start to the second power state without the senses the second operation of the user with respect to the power switch, using said data stored in said storage unit The Start printing device from the second power state that is the transition by said first processing means, second processing means for activating said printing apparatus of the first power state in which the boot Shut down , And is characterized by.

According to the present invention, when the power switch is turned off, it is possible to quickly shut down and start the printing apparatus by high-speed start in a shorter time.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing a schematic configuration of an MFP controller unit in FIG. 1; It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the power supply control part in FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of activation control processing executed by the MFP controller unit in FIG. 1; It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the power supply control part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, and CPU part. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation control processing executed by the MFP controller unit in FIG. 1 according to the second embodiment; FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as “MFP”) 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The MFP 100 has multiple functions such as a copy function, a printer function, and a scanner function.

  In FIG. 1, the MFP controller unit 12 controls the entire MFP. The printer unit 13 performs image processing according to, for example, an electrophotographic method. The scanner unit 11 optically reads an image from a document and converts it into a digital image.

  Further, the power supply unit 10 supplies power to each control unit. The operation unit 15 operates the present apparatus. The power switch unit 14 allows the user to perform an on / off operation of the power, and controls the power state of the MFP 100.

  The above-described configuration constitutes an MFP having a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and the like. Note that the recording method is not limited to the electrophotographic method as long as the printer unit 13 can perform image processing on both sides of a sheet-like recording medium (for example, recording paper), and other recording methods, for example, Alternatively, an inkjet method, a thermal transfer method, or the like may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the MFP controller unit 12 in FIG.

  In the following description, the explanations of the already mentioned symbols are omitted.

  In FIG. 2, the power control unit 23 has a function of notifying the CPU unit 27 that the power switch unit 14 is turned on or off as an interrupt. Further, the power control unit 23 performs control to shut off the power of each part at the time of transition to the power saving mode and to supply the power to each part at the recovery of the power saving mode.

  The reset unit 24 is a reset control unit that issues a reset to the CPU unit 27 or the entire system based on a control signal from the power supply control unit 23 and executes a restart process. The FET 20 is a switch for turning on and off the power supply to the power supply system B21.

  The CPU unit 27 is a control unit that controls the entire MFP 100. The memory unit 25 is a volatile memory such as a DDR SDRAM.

  The image processing unit 28 is a control unit that performs processing such as compressing data from the scanner unit 11 and outputting image data processed by the CPU unit 27 to the printer unit 13. The HDD unit 26 is an external storage device, for example, a hard disk (HDD).

Next, a power supply system of the MFP controller unit 12 will be described. In the embodiment of the present invention, although the case where the power consumption is lower than the normal state and the start-up time is fast, the suspend method for holding data in the memory unit 25 is applied, other methods, for example, A hibernation method or the like may be used. As described above, when the off operation of the power switch unit 14 is detected, the MFP 100 stores the first state when the off operation is detected. Then, MFP 100 shifts the state of MFP 100 to the second state where it can return to the first state when the on operation of power switch unit 14 is detected next. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the first state is the normal state, and the second state is the suspended state. Further, as described above, the power consumption of the MFP 100 in the suspended state is smaller than the power consumption of the MFP 100 in the normal state.

Power system A22 power supply control unit 23 and a reset section 24, that to supply power to a part of the memory unit 25, CPU section 27. The power supply system A 22 manages the power supply state of the entire MFP 100 and realizes recovery from the power saving mode. Therefore, the power is not shut off in any power saving mode.

Power system B21 is that to supply power to a CPU 27 and image processing unit 28, HDD unit 26. Control of power supply cutoff / supply of the power supply system B21 is realized by controlling the FET 20 via a control signal output from the power supply control unit 23.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the power supply control unit 23 in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, the power state management unit 30 detects an off operation of the power switch unit 14 and notifies the CPU unit 27 of the state of the power switch unit 14 via the interrupt signal 34.

  The CPU unit 27 notified of the state by the interrupt signal 34 executes transition processing to the suspended state, which is a state of high-speed start-up, in which power consumption is lower than that of the normal state.

  After completing the suspend transfer process, the CPU section 27 notifies the power control section 23 that the suspend transfer process has been completed, by means of a suspend process end signal 36.

  When notified of the suspend processing end signal 36, the power supply state management unit 30 controls the FET 20 via the FET control signal 35 to cut off the power supply to the power supply system B21. Further, when the on operation of the power supply switch unit 14 is detected, the FET 20 is controlled via the FET control signal 35 to start the power supply to the power supply system B21.

  After the power supply switch unit 14 is turned off, the timer unit 31 starts time measurement from the time when the suspend transition process is completed. The OFF time monitoring unit 32 measures the period of the OFF state of the power switch unit 14, and acquires the timer value of the timer unit 31 when the power switch unit 14 is turned on in order to recover from the suspended state.

  When the acquired timer value is equal to or less than the threshold value, the off time monitoring unit 32 determines that the MFP 100 falls into the normal operation inoperable state and the user operates the power switch unit 14 to restart.

  Then, the off time monitoring unit 32 issues a system reset to hardware including the CPU unit 27 via the reset unit 24 and shifts to a restart process.

  On the other hand, when the timer value is larger than the threshold value, the OFF time monitoring unit 32 determines that the restart process is not necessary, and notifies the CPU unit 27 by the resume signal 37 that the power switch unit 14 is turned on.

  The CPU unit 27 notified of the resume signal 37 executes resume processing, which is processing for returning from the suspended state, and returns the MFP 100 to the normal state.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation control process executed by the MFP controller unit 12 in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, when the power control unit 23 detects that the user has turned off the power switch unit 14, the CPU unit 27 is notified of the interrupt signal 34. When notified of the interrupt signal 34, the CPU unit 27 executes suspend transition processing (step S401). This step S401 corresponds to the transition means.

After shifting to the suspend state, the CPU unit 27 notifies the power control unit 23 of a suspend processing end signal 36. When the power control unit 23 is notified of the suspend processing end signal 36, the power supply to the power supply system B 21 is shut off to shift to the suspended state, and the timer unit 31 starts time measurement (step S402 ).

  When the power control unit 23 detects that the power switch unit 14 is turned on (YES in step S403), the power supply of the power system B21 is started, and the time measurement value t is acquired (step S404). This step S404 corresponds to acquisition means.

  Next, it is determined whether the time measurement value t is equal to or less than a predetermined time T (step S405). As a result of the determination in step S405, when the time measurement value t ≦ time T (YES in step S405), the power control unit 23 issues a system reset via the reset unit 24, and the CPU unit 27 executes the restart process. (Step S406), this processing ends. After the restart processing is completed, the normal state is restored.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S405, when time measurement value t> time T (NO in step S405), power supply control unit 23 sends resume signal 37 to CPU unit 27, and CPU unit 27 executes resume processing. Then (step S407), the process ends. After the resume processing is completed, the normal state is restored. The above step S405~407 corresponds to the control section.

  The predetermined time T is a time during which the MFP 100 can operate in the normal operation state when returning from the suspend state to the normal state.

Therefore, the time T is different for each device depending on various conditions such as the hardware configuration and software configuration of the MFP 100. Therefore, the time when the MFP 100 can be operated in the normal operation state is determined by experiment or the like, and the predetermined time T is determined using it.

  According to the process of FIG. 4, the MFP 100 is restarted or restored to the normal state stored according to the acquired time measurement value. Specifically, when the time measurement value is equal to or less than a predetermined time, MFP 100 is restarted and restored to the stored normal state.

  As a result, when the power switch unit 14 is turned off, it is possible to shift to a state in which high-speed start is possible in a shorter time than in the case of always restarting.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment described above, it is necessary to mount dedicated intelligent hardware such as the timer unit 31 and the off time monitoring unit 32 in the power control unit 23 shown in FIG. 3. In the second embodiment, instead of the hardware, an embodiment in which the same effect is obtained by software will be described. Therefore, the configurations of the power supply control unit 23, the power supply system A, and the CPU unit 27 are different from those of the first embodiment. Although these configurations will be described, the description of reference numerals indicating the same contents as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the power supply control unit 23 and the CPU unit 27 according to the second embodiment.

  5 differs from FIG. 3 in that the timer unit 31 and the off time monitoring unit 32 in FIG. 3 are removed and the power control unit 23 is only the power state management unit 30. Further, the reset unit 24 is configured to exchange only with the CPU unit 27.

  The CPU unit 27 further includes a CPU 42, a backup battery 43, a switch 44, and an RTC 39.

  The power supply state management unit 30 in FIG. 5 detects the off operation of the power supply switch unit 14 and notifies the CPU 42 of the state of the power supply switch unit 14 by the interrupt signal 34.

  The CPU 42 notified of the state by the interrupt signal 34 executes a transition process to the suspend state, which is a high-speed start state in which the power consumption is lower than the normal state.

  After completing the suspend transfer process, the CPU 42 notifies the power control unit 23 of the completion of the suspend transfer process by means of a suspend process end signal 36.

  When notified of the suspend processing end signal 36, the power supply state management unit 30 controls the FET 20 via the FET control signal 35 to cut off the power supply to the power supply system B21, and the power supply system A22 continues to be energized.

  In the second embodiment, the suspend method is employed, and since the memory unit 25 is included in the power supply system A, the memory unit 25 stands by while holding the value in the power saving state. That is, the last state in which the CPU 42 was operating is stored in the memory unit 25, and the technology that can be activated at high speed by returning to that state at the time of resumption is the suspend technology.

  The RTC 39 is a calendar IC called a real time clock. The current calendar information, that is, the information on the date of the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second is stored in the register. This IC has a function of updating calendar information while power is on. The RTC 39 is implemented to realize the clock function.

  Therefore, when the switch 44 detects that the supply of power to the power supply system B 21 is shut off, that is, the voltage around the RTC 39 of the CPU 27 is lowered, the supply voltage of the RTC 39 can be switched to the backup battery 43. That is, even if the power supply to the power supply system B21 is shut off, the RTC 39 keeps updating the calendar information.

  In the suspend state, when it is detected that the power switch unit 14 is turned on, the FET control signal 35 controls the FET 20 to start power supply to the power supply system B21. At the same time, the CPU unit 27 to which the resume signal 37 has been notified executes the resume process in the process of returning from the suspended state, and restores the MFP 100 to the normal state.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation control process executed by the MFP controller unit 12 in FIG. 1 according to the second embodiment.

In FIG. 6, when the power control unit 23 detects that the user has turned off the power switch unit 14, the interrupt signal 34 is notified to the CPU 42. CPU42 an interrupt when the signal 34 is notified, acquires the current time t1 from RTC 39 (step S601), the current time t1 is Ru stored in the memory unit 25 as a temporary variable.

  Next, a suspend transition process is performed (step S602). After shifting to the suspend state, the CPU unit 27 notifies the power control unit 23 of a suspend processing end signal 36. When notified by the power control unit 23 that the suspend processing end signal 36 is received, the power supply to the power supply system B 21 is shut off to shift to the suspended state, and the switch 44 starts power supply from the backup battery 43 to the RTC 39. The memory unit 25 keeps storing the memory value (including the current time t1) in the low power state. The step S602 saves the first state when the off operation is detected when the current time t1 is acquired, and then returns to the first state when the on operation of the power switch is next detected. This corresponds to the transition means for transitioning the state of the MFP 100 to the two states. The first state corresponds to the normal state, and the second state corresponds to the suspended state. Therefore, the power consumption of the MFP 100 in the second state is smaller than the power consumption of the MFP 100 in the first state.

  When the power control unit 23 detects that the power switch unit 14 is turned on (YES in step S603), the power supply of the power system B21 is started (step S604). At that time, the power supply control unit 23 notifies the CPU unit 27 of the resume signal 37, and the CPU unit 27 executes the resume process (step S605), and returns from the suspend state to the normal state. When the return is completed, the CPU 42 operates in a state substantially equivalent to the state before the execution of the suspend transition process of S602, so that it is possible to refer to the current time t1 stored in the memory unit 25.

Next, the CPU 42 acquires the current time t2 from the RTC 39 immediately after returning from the suspend state (step S606 ).

Then, the current time t1 which has been obtained before the suspend process execution is the difference between the current time t2, that to calculate the time measurement value (t2-t1). This (t2−t1) is also the time elapsed from the first timer value (t1) to the second timer value (t2).

  The RTC 39 keeps operating with the backup battery 43 at all times, and since it is possible to obtain time by date, hour, hour, minute and second, the time measurement value of (t2-t1) is the time of suspended state + suspend transition time + resume of resume It will be obtained as time.

  Next, it is determined whether or not (t2−t1) ≦ T (step S607). This T indicates a predetermined time, and the details will be described later. As a result of the determination in step S607, when (t2-t1)> T (NO in step S607), the present process ends. After termination, the normal state continues. Thus, when the time (t2-t1) elapsed from the first timer value (t1) to the second timer value (t2) is longer than the predetermined time T, the MFP 100 is not restarted. 1 Continue the state.

On the other hand, if (t2−t1) ≦ T (YES in step S607), CPU 42 shuts down MFP 100 and notifies reset unit 24 of reset signal 41 to execute restart processing (step S608). , it exits the process.

  The predetermined time T will be described. T is a time during which the MFP 100 can operate in the normal operation state when returning from the suspend state to the normal state.

  In the second embodiment, since the time measurement value (t2-t1) includes the suspend transition time + resume return time, a fixed value obtained by adding the suspend transition time + resume return time is adopted as T. May be Also, when the suspend transition time + resume return time is sufficiently smaller than T, they can be ignored.

  Therefore, T is different for each device according to various conditions such as the hardware configuration and software configuration of the MFP 100. Therefore, the time when the MFP 100 can be operated in the normal operation state is obtained by experiment etc., and the predetermined time T is determined using it.

  According to the process of FIG. 6, in accordance with the acquired time measurement value, the MFP 100 is restarted or restored to the normal state stored. Specifically, when the time measurement value is equal to or less than a predetermined time, MFP 100 is restarted and restored to the stored normal state.

  As a result, when the power switch unit 14 is turned off, it is possible to shift to a state in which high-speed start is possible in a shorter time than in the case of always restarting.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the shutdown operation to the restart are performed in S608, a system-healthy restart method can be performed.

  Note that the memory unit 25 is included in the power supply system A 22 because the second embodiment has been described using the suspend method, but the method described in the second embodiment is applied as it is to the arbitration method. It is also possible.

  In the hibernation method, the memory unit 25 is included in the power supply system B21. While the suspend method shuts off the power supply system B 21 while holding data in the memory unit 25, the hibernation method causes the HDD unit 26 to store the memory value stored in the memory unit 25 before the power supply system B 21 is turned off. Transfer data

  At the time of resume processing, data transfer from the HDD unit 26 to the memory unit 25 makes it possible to store the memory value in the memory unit 25 as a result without continuing the energization of the memory unit 25. It becomes a state.

By adding the transfer processing to the HDD unit 26 to such a suspend method, it is possible to perform the same operation as the suspend method which is delayed by the HDD transfer time. That is, since the current time t1 is stored in the HDD unit 26, the second embodiment can be applied to hibernation as it is.

  In general, since the normal CPU unit is provided with the RTC, the above-described second embodiment can be realized without adding the cost required for the new hardware to the normal CPU unit.

  If the second embodiment is realized with a small-scale CPU unit 27 that does not require the RTC 39, the backup battery 43 required for the RTC 39 is expensive, so the following method can be used.

  The method is a method in which a hard timer capable of measuring the time T and accessible from the CPU 42 is provided in a circuit driven by the power supply system A22, and the activation control process shown in FIG. 6 is applied. According to this method, it is possible to realize the second embodiment with the cost increase of only the timer unit.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is also realized by performing the following processing. That is, software (program) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU or the like) of the system or apparatus reads out a program code. It is a process to execute. In this case, the program and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention.

10 power supply unit 12 MFP controller unit 14 power supply switch unit 20 FET
21 Power supply system B
22 Power supply system A
23 power control unit 24 reset unit 27 CPU unit 39 RTC unit 42 CPU
43 Backup Battery Unit 100 Image Forming Apparatus

Claims (15)

A first power state having a printing unit for printing an image, a control unit, a storage unit, and a power switch operated by a user, wherein the control unit and the storage unit are supplied with power; A printing device operable in a second power state, which consumes less power than the first power state, comprising:
The printing apparatus after detecting a first operation of the user on the power switch in the printing apparatus in the first power state, and storing data used for activating the printing apparatus in the storage unit First processing means for transitioning to the second power state without starting after shutdown;
A second operation of the power switch is detected, and the data stored in the storage unit is used to shift the printing apparatus from the second power state transitioned by the first processing unit. A second processing unit that is activated and shuts down and then starts the printing apparatus in the activated first power state;
A printing apparatus characterized by having:   In the processing of shutting down and starting the printing apparatus by the second processing means, the printing apparatus in the first power state is shut down and then transited to the first power state again. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is reset in the process of shutting down and starting the printing apparatus by the second processing unit.   The second processing means detects a second operation of the user on the power switch, and causes the printing apparatus to transition from the second power state to the first power state, and the first power is generated. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the printing apparatus in the state is shut down and then started.   5. The transition from the printing device to the second power state by the first processing means does not involve the shutdown of the printing device in the first power state. The printing device according to item 1.   The second processing unit detects the second operation of the user on the power switch, causes the printing apparatus to transition from the second power state to the first power state, and causes the storage unit to The printing apparatus according to the first power state is activated by resume processing using the stored data, and the printing apparatus started by the resume processing is shut down and activated. The printing device described in.   The second processing unit detects the second operation of the user on the power switch, activates the printing apparatus using the data stored in the storage unit, and performs the first operation. Shut down and then start up the printing apparatus or start up after shutting down the printing apparatus according to the time from when the second operation is detected until when the second operation is detected The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which controls whether or not to perform processing.   The control by the second processing means performs processing for shutting down and starting the printing device when the time is shorter than a threshold, and shutting down the printing device when the time is longer than the threshold. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the process of starting from is not performed.   The first operation is an off operation of the user with respect to the power switch, and the second operation is an on operation after the off operation of the user with respect to the power switch. The printing apparatus according to any one of to 8. In the second power state, the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9 but the power to the controller is not supplied, characterized in that the power Ru is supplied to the storage unit.   The printing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit includes a processor, and the storage unit includes volatile memory.   The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein power is not supplied to the control unit and the storage unit in the second power state.   The printing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control unit includes a processor, and the storage unit includes non-volatile storage. A power control unit configured to control a power state of the printing apparatus;
The control unit and the power control unit function as the first processing unit and the second processing unit, respectively.
The first processing unit causes the control unit to store the data in the storage unit, and the power control unit causes the printing apparatus to transition to the second power state, and the second processing unit is configured to The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the control unit activates the printing apparatus using the data, and shuts down and starts the printing apparatus. A first power state having a printing unit for printing an image, a control unit, a storage unit, and a power switch operated by a user, wherein the control unit and the storage unit are supplied with power; A control method of a printing apparatus operable in a second power state in which power consumption is lower than the first power state and power is not supplied to the control unit,
The printing apparatus after detecting a first operation of the user on the power switch in the printing apparatus in the first power state, and storing data used for activating the printing apparatus in the storage unit A first processing step of transitioning to the second power state without starting after shutdown;
Wherein by detecting the second operation of the user with respect to the power switch, the second power that is the transition at the printing device to said first processing step using the data stored in the storage unit A second processing step of starting from the state and shutting down and starting the printing apparatus in the started first power state;
And controlling the printing apparatus.

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