KR20050035429A - Multi-function device for selectively warming-up and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A composite printing apparatus is disclosed. The composite printing apparatus includes a scanner module for executing a scan job, a printer module for executing a print job, a panel unit including a switch for allowing a user to select one of the scanner module and the printer module to warm up, the composite printing device Is turned on, the microcomputer outputs a control signal to warm up only the selected module through the panel unit, and a power supply unit controlled by the control signal to supply warm-up power only to the selected module of the scanner module and the printer module. do. Accordingly, power waste may be prevented by selectively performing a warm up operation.

Description

Multi-function printing device for selectively warming up the internal module and its method {Multi-Function device for selectively warming-up and method}

The present invention relates to a hybrid printing apparatus having a print, copy, and scan function, and more particularly, to a hybrid printing apparatus and a power saving method for allowing a user to select a driving module to reduce unnecessary warm-up power.

Thanks to the development of computer technology, a multi-function printer (or multifunction machine) has been introduced that combines copying and scanning functions in general printers. Users can take advantage of all these functions by purchasing and using a single composite printing device without having to purchase a copy machine, a printer, a scanner, and so on, and develop a composite printing device because it is much more advantageous in terms of space and cost. And use is surging.

Such a composite printing apparatus basically includes a scanner module performing a function of scanning a document and a printer module performing a function of printing. Therefore, only a printer module is used when operating as a printer, only a scanner module is used when operating as a scanner, and both a scanner module and a printer module are used when performing a copy operation.

In the conventional hybrid printing apparatus, when the user applies power to perform a specific task, the scanner module and the printer module are warmed up at the same time. The warm-up refers to an operation in which the printer module and the scanner module have a standby state in which the print and scan commands are dropped and ready to perform the operation. In the case of the printer module, the fuser heater lamp and the motor are turned on until the temperature appropriate for printing is reached, and when the target temperature is reached, the warm-up is completed and a standby state is obtained. On the other hand, in the case of the scanner module, after turning on each of the CCD fluorescent lamp and the scan motor, after a predetermined time, the warm-up ends and enters the standby state.

1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of such a composite printing apparatus. As shown in the figure, when the user turns on the multifunction printer (S10), the warm-up of the printer and the scanner module is performed (S20), respectively. When the warm up is completed, the standby state is entered and the user waits for a print command and a scan command (S30).

On the other hand, when an individual user uses the composite printing apparatus, there are many cases in which the power is not turned on except when working. When the user powers on to perform a particular task, the scanner module and the printer module are both warmed up whatever the task is to be done. That is, in order to maintain the fixing temperature of the printer module, a heater lamp or a motor is driven, and a high voltage for cleaning is performed. In the case of the scanner module, a CCD fluorescent lamp and a scan motor are performed. It will be performed to drive the operation.

However, in the multifunction device, both the printer module and the scanner module are used only for the COPY operation, so that the warming-up of the printer module is unnecessary for the scanning operation and the warm-up of the scanner module is unnecessary even for the printing operation. . That is, there is a problem that always warming up the entire scanner module and the printer module brings unnecessary power consumption.

In order to solve this problem, conventionally, a method of activating only a module to be used with a power save setting function has been used, but even in this case, in order to set a power save, if all warm-up operations are not completed and in a standby state Therefore, there was a problem in that power consumption from power supply to power save key operation cannot be prevented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a composite printing apparatus and a power saving method for preventing power waste by selectively performing warm-up of a scanner module and a printer module with a simple switch operation. will be.

The composite printing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the scanner module for performing a scan job, a printer module for executing a print job, a panel unit that allows the user to select a module to warm up from the scanner module and the printer module And a microcomputer outputting a control signal to warm up only the module selected through the panel unit, and a power supply unit controlled by the control signal to supply warm-up power only to a selected module of the scanner module and the printer module.

Preferably, the display module may further include a display unit displaying a warm-up state of the scanner module and the printer module. The panel unit may select one of the scanner module and the printer module to be warmed up using any one of several button switches, rotary switches, and slide switches.

In a power saving method of a composite printing apparatus according to the present invention, a user may select a module to be warmed up among a scanner module and a printer module of a composite printing apparatus, and when the composite printing apparatus is turned on, checking a selection state of the module. And supplying warm-up power only to a selected module of the scanner module and the printer module according to the module selection state.

Preferably, the method may further include displaying a warm-up state of the scanner module and the printer module. Meanwhile, the process of selecting a module by the user may be performed using any one of several button switches, rotary switches, and slide switches.

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

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a composite printing apparatus according to the present invention. According to the drawing, the hybrid printing apparatus includes a scanner module 210, a printer module 220, a power supply unit 230, a microcomputer 240, a panel unit 260, and a display unit 250.

The scanner module 210 is a part that functions to scan a document and convert it into image data. A CCD (Charge Coupled Device), a scan motor, and the like are used as main components. The printer module 220 is a part for performing an operation of printing image data on a paper as opposed to the scanner module 210. In the case of a laser printer, a laser beam scanning unit (LSU), a developing unit, a charging unit, a transfer unit, Fusing unit is used as the main component.

In the case of the scanner module 210, in order to perform a scan operation, a preliminary preparation state such as turning on a fluorescent lamp of the CCD and driving a scan motor should be prepared. In the case of the printer module 220, a print job is performed. In order to do so, it is necessary to prepare a preliminary preparation state such as heating the fixing lamp of the fixing unit to an appropriate temperature or driving a motor.

On the other hand, the panel unit 260 is provided with a power key and various function selection, change keys, etc. to allow the user to use the multi-function printer according to the purpose, in the present invention, in particular, the user wants to warm up in advance A switch for selecting a module is further provided. 3 shows a switch embodiment of such a panel unit.

That is, FIG. 3A shows an embodiment utilizing several button switches. A button in the figure indicates a printer module, for example, and when the user presses it and turns on the multifunction printer, only the printer module is warmed up, and the scanner module enters the standby state without being warmed up.

3B and 3C show an embodiment utilizing a rotary switch and a slide switch, respectively. If the user selects any one of the printer mode, scanner mode, copy mode and ALL OFF mode in the figure, when the multi-function printer is turned on, it warms up selectively according to the selected state. For example, in the copy mode, both the printer module 220 and the scanner module 210 are warmed up, and in the ALL OFF mode, not all of them are warmed up. The switch illustrated in FIG. 3 illustrates an example in which a user can conveniently select a module by using an existing switch. In addition, the switch may be implemented using another type of switch. On the other hand, it may be implemented to select by utilizing a button that is previously used for other purposes without having a separate switch.

On the other hand, the switch may be configured to warm up the remaining modules except the selected module. The configuration is freely selectable by the developer.

Meanwhile, information about the module selected by the panel unit 260 is input to the microcomputer 240, and the microcomputer 240 controls the power supply unit 230 based on the information. That is, the microcomputer 240 determines whether the power of the composite printing apparatus is turned on, and once the power is turned on, determines the selection state of the panel unit 260. When the selection state information is input, the control signal corresponding thereto is sent to the power supply unit 230.

The power supply unit 230 selectively supplies warm-up power to the scanner module 210 and the printer module 220 according to the control signal. The power supply unit 230 may use a general switching mode power supply (SMPS).

On the other hand, when the selective warm-up is made by the microcomputer 240, the display unit 250 may indicate the warm-up state through a predetermined display. The display can be an LCD screen or a simple LED (Light Emitted Diode).

On the other hand, Figure 4 shows a flow chart for explaining a method for performing a selective warm-up in the composite printing apparatus according to the present invention. According to the drawing, once the microcomputer 240 determines that the power of the multifunction printer is turned on (S310), it is determined sequentially which module of the printer module 220 and the scanner module 210 is selected. This module selection should be set by the user in advance through a switch provided in the panel unit 260. As the switch, as described above, any one of the general button switch, the rotary switch, and the slide switch shown in FIG. 3 may be used.

If it is determined that the printer button on the panel unit 260 is turned on (S320), the power supply unit 230 is controlled to warm up the printer module 220, and the printer module 220 supplies warm-up power from the power supply unit 230. In response, the fixing unit lamp is equalized, and a warm-up operation such as driving a motor is performed (S330).

On the other hand, if the printer button is not in the ON state, the printer module 220 waits once in a sleep state (S340).

Next, it is determined whether the scanner button is turned on (S350). If it is in the ON state, the scanner module 210 is warmed up (S360), and enters the standby (Stand-by) state (S380). On the contrary, if the scanner is in the OFF state, the scanner module 210 is placed in the sleep state (S370).

As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, if the selected state of the panel unit 260 is in the COPY mode, both the printer button and the scanner button are in the ON state, and both modules are warmed up. It becomes a state (S380). In addition, if the printer mode and the scanner mode are set, only the module corresponding to the set mode is warmed up.

Then, it is determined whether a job to be processed exists (S390), and if there is a job to be performed (S395).

As described above, the arithmetic flow shows an example of the microcomputer processing. Therefore, the operation flow can be designed to be in a sleep state when the button is turned on and to warm up when it is turned off.

In addition, although the above-described and described with respect to a composite printing apparatus in which only the printer module and the scanner module are selectively warmed up, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the general module (ie, the first module, the second module, In a device having n modules, it may also be applied when warming up of each module is required when power is applied.

On the other hand, when any one module is in a sleep state and wants to use such a module, the panel unit 260 may be operated to select a mode corresponding to the module, or a COPY mode may be selected to warm up the module. It can also be warmed up by opening / closing the printer cover or scanner cover, or by issuing a print or scan command via a PC, thus making it easy to use both modules.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the case of turning on the complex printing apparatus, by only warming up a selected module among the scanner module and the printer module, it is possible to prevent waste of power due to unnecessary warm-up. If a user wants to use another module, the module can be warmed up immediately with a simple key operation, thereby saving power and using a complex printing device.

In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the conventional composite printing apparatus;

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a composite printing apparatus according to the present invention;

3A, 3B and 3C illustrate various embodiments of a switch for performing a selective warm-up operation in the composite printing apparatus of the present invention, and

4 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of the composite printing apparatus according to the present invention.

Claims (7)

In the composite printing apparatus comprising a first module and a second module driven independently, A panel unit having a switch for allowing a user to select one of the first module and the second module to warm up; A microcomputer outputting a control signal to warm up only the selected module by checking a module selection state of the panel unit; and And a power supply unit controlled by the control signal to supply warm-up power only to a selected one of the first module and the second module. The method of claim 1, And the first module is a scanner module for executing a scan job, and the second module is a printer module for executing a print job. The method of claim 1, And a display unit displaying a warm-up state of the first module and the second module. The method of claim 1, The panel unit, And selecting one of the first module and the second module to warm up using any one of several button switches, rotary switches, and slide switches. In the composite printing apparatus comprising a first module and a second module driven independently, Selecting a module to be warmed up by the user from the first module and the second module; Checking the module selection status; and And supplying warm-up power to only one of the first module and the second module according to the module selection state. The method of claim 5, And the first module is a scanner module for executing a scan job, and the second module is a printer module for executing a print job. The method of claim 5, And displaying the warm-up state of the first module and the second module.