KR20080099657A - Image forming apparatus and power control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An image forming apparatus performing active power management and a power control method thereof are provided to enable a user to set priority of supplying power and set waiting time entering a power saving mode. An image forming unit(10) includes a plurality of devices. A power supply unit(20) supplies operating power to the device. A switching unit(30) performs switching so that the operating power is selectively supplied to the plurality of devices. A controller(50) determines the priority of the power supply about the plurality of devices. The controller supplies the operation power to at least one device, in which the sum of consumption power satisfies the maximum power level, according to the priority.

Description

Image forming apparatus and power control method thereof {IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND POWER CONTROL METHOD THEREOF}

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus that performs power control in a serial structure.

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus that performs power control in a parallel structure.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a power control method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: image forming apparatus 10: image forming unit

20: power supply unit 30: switching unit

40: user input unit 50: control unit

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having an active power management function.

An image forming apparatus such as a printer, a multifunction printer, or the like performs printing by forming an image on a sheet based on printing data. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit including a plurality of devices for printing, and a power supply unit supplying operating power of the device.

The image forming apparatus may have a state of stopping power supply to the device (hereinafter referred to as “sleep mode”) in order to reduce power consumption while not performing printing.

The image forming apparatus enters a power saving mode when a predetermined time elapses without printing. In the power saving mode, operating power is supplied from the power supply only for some devices, according to the factory-set priorities.

However, although a user may want to maintain power supply for a specific device having a low priority even in a power saving mode, it is difficult to adapt to various user requirements because the priorities cannot be changed in the conventional image forming apparatus.

In addition, if the standby time to enter the power management mode is set short, it may cause inconvenience that the time required for the print operation is long. On the contrary, when the waiting time is set long, the amount of power used by the image forming apparatus increases, which may cause unnecessary power loss.

However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, since such a waiting time is set uniformly at the time of manufacture, there is a problem that it is impossible to change the waiting time according to the preference of the user.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and a power control method thereof in which a user can set priority of power supply.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a power control method thereof in which a user can set a waiting time for entering a power saving mode.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which power is supplied or cut off in steps to a plurality of devices and a method for controlling the power thereof.

The object is an image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming unit having a plurality of devices; A power supply for supplying operating power of the device; A switching unit for switching the operation power to be selectively supplied to the plurality of devices; Determine a priority of power supply for the plurality of devices, and supply the operating power according to the priority to at least one device whose sum of power consumption among the plurality of devices satisfies a predetermined maximum power level; It is achieved by an image forming apparatus including a control unit for controlling the switching unit.

The apparatus may further include a user input unit, and the priority may be determined by an operation of the user input unit.

In addition, a device to which power should always be supplied among the plurality of devices may be excluded from the priority determination target.

The controller may control the power supply to the plurality of devices in stages according to the priority.

On the other hand, the object is a power supply control method of an image forming apparatus comprising an image forming unit having a plurality of devices and a power supply unit for supplying operating power of the device, the priority of power supply to the plurality of devices Determining; And supplying the operating power to at least one device such that the sum of power consumption among the plurality of devices satisfies a predetermined maximum power level according to the priority. have.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 100 receives printing data from a host device (not shown) and forms an image on a sheet based on the printing data. The image forming apparatus 100 may be implemented as a printer or a multifunction printer.

The image forming apparatus 100 may have a state of stopping power supply to the device (hereinafter, referred to as a “sleep mode”) in order to reduce power consumption while not performing printing.

Here, the image forming apparatus 100 enters a power saving mode by a state in which no printing is performed for a predetermined time or by an operation of the user input unit 40.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include an image forming unit 10, a power supply unit 20, a switching unit 30, a user input unit 40, and a controller ( 50).

The image forming unit 10 includes a plurality of devices such as a motor for performing printing, a laser scanning unit (LSU), and the like.

The power supply unit 20 may be implemented by a switched mode power supply (SMPS) and the like, and generates and outputs a predetermined operating voltage supplied to each device so that the image forming unit 10 may operate.

The power supply unit 20 may be provided with an adapter for using an external power source and an AC / DC converter for generating an operating power of a required level using the external power source.

The power supply unit 20 may generate and output a voltage necessary for the switching unit 30, the user input unit 40, the control unit 50, etc. in addition to the operating voltage.

The switching unit 30 is provided with at least one switch having a turn-on or turn-off state, interposed between the power supply unit 20 and the image forming unit 10, the power to each device of the image forming unit 10 By switching the supply of the supply voltage is selectively supplied to the device corresponding to each switch. When the switch is provided in plurality, it may be connected in series or in parallel, and in some cases, a switch may be formed in a serial / parallel mixed structure.

The user input unit 40 provides an interface for receiving a command for setting a power saving mode from a user, and may be implemented as an operation panel having a key button.

The controller 50 determines the priority of power supply through the manipulation of the user input unit 40 with respect to the plurality of devices constituting the image forming unit 10. The switching unit 30 is controlled to sequentially supply operating power to at least one device among the plurality of devices.

Here, the sum of the power consumptions of the powered devices satisfies the predetermined maximum power level.

On the other hand, the controller 50 sets the power saving mode to a plurality of stages by the operation of the user input unit 40, determines the maximum power level for each stage, and sequentially or independently sets a plurality of switches having a serial / parallel structure. Can be controlled by

Accordingly, the controller 50 controls the power to be supplied or cut off to the plurality of devices step by step according to the priority.

Each step of the power saving mode may be set to proceed to the next step sequentially after a predetermined time elapses, or may proceed to the next step by an operation of the user input unit 40.

Here, the user input unit 40 is set to proceed to the corresponding step of the power saving mode according to the pressing time or the number of pressing of the key button in each step.

And the time to proceed to each step of the power saving mode can be set or changed by the operation of the user input unit (40).

The controller 50 may group a plurality of devices constituting the image forming unit 10 and determine a priority of power supply for each group. Here, the controller 50 may determine the priority of power supply for each device grouped.

Table 1 shows an example for the device group.

TABLE 1

For example, as shown in Table 1, when a plurality of devices are set to seven groups from Group0 to Group6, the devices that need to be powered first and highest are included in Group0.

Herein, a device (eg, a device included in Group0) may be excluded from the priority determination target determined by the user input unit 40 when power is always supplied among the plurality of devices.

That is, the device included in Group0 may be a device that is always powered regardless of the power saving mode.

The device group is set such that the sum of power consumption of the devices included in each group satisfies a predetermined maximum power level, and the number of groups is determined by the operation of the user input unit 40.

Here, the maximum power level for each group may be determined as an appropriate value in consideration of the number of groups, the set power saving mode stage, and the like.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 that performs power control in a serial structure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 having a series structure includes a plurality of switches connected in series to the switching unit 30.

As the power saving mode progresses, the enable signals are sequentially applied to at least one switch so that the switches SW1 and SW2 to SWn corresponding to each of the groups are turned on or turned off.

Table 2 shows an example in which the turn-on and turn-off signals are applied in the power saving mode for each group in the serial structure.

TABLE 2

As shown in Table 2, the operating power is supplied to at least one group in each power saving mode, except for the OFF phase, where the power supply is physically cut off completely.

Specifically, in the normal operation mode PLMn in which all the switches are turned on, the state in which printing is not performed lasts for a predetermined time or the power saving mode PLM (n-1) or PLM is operated by an operation of the user input unit 40. When (n-2) ~ PLM1, PLM0) are entered, the switches are sequentially turned off from SWn which supplies the operating power to Group n having a lower priority.

Accordingly, in the power control of the serial structure, as each step of the power saving mode proceeds, the supply of the operating power is sequentially stopped from the group including the low priority device, and finally, the highest priority device included in Group 0. The operating power is supplied only to.

In this case, the controller 50 may set the last step of the power saving mode according to the operation of the user input unit 40 such that the operation power supply to all devices is stopped such as a physical power off state.

Meanwhile, the image forming apparatus 100 may perform power control by a parallel structure as shown in FIG. 3.

Table 3 shows an example in which a signal is applied to each power saving mode step for each group in a parallel structure.

TABLE 3

As shown in Table 3, in the image forming apparatus 100, a state in which printing is not performed lasts for a predetermined time or a power saving mode (PLM (1), PLM (2) to PLM (L) by an operation of the user input unit 40). -1), the PLM (L) is entered.

Here, the waiting time for entering the power saving mode PML for each stage may be determined by the operation of the user input unit 40.

In addition, the power saving mode (PML (1), PML (2) ~ PML (L)) for each stage to set the group to turn on the switch. Here, in the case of the parallel structure, the switch is turned off independently for each group.

Table 4 shows an example of a parallel structure in which the power saving mode is set to four levels.

TABLE 4

In Table 4, if the same group setting (Group0 to Group6) as in Table 1 is maintained, the standby time for entering the power saving mode of the first step without performing the operation or the printing operation of the user input unit 40 (T (1) After 3 minutes set by)), the image forming apparatus 100 enters the PML 1 which is the first step of the power saving mode.

The control unit 50 controls each switch SW so that the operating power is supplied from the group 0 to the group 5 in the PML 1.

When the command to the next stage is input to the user input unit 40 or 30 minutes set as the waiting time T (2) for entering the next stage, the image forming apparatus 100 enters the PML 2. .

The PML 2 controls each switch SW so that the operating power is supplied only to Group0, Group1, Group2, and Group4.

In the same manner, the controller 50 independently turns on or off the respective switches SW1 to SW6 corresponding to Group1 to Group6 according to the elapse of the waiting time or the power saving mode entered by the user's operation.

Accordingly, in the power control of the parallel structure, as each step of the power saving mode proceeds, the operation power can be supplied or stopped independently for each group.

Independently performing power control enables the user to set prioritization in more various ways, thus enabling power control for more diverse environments.

Hereinafter, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the above configuration, the power control process will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the control unit 50 determines the priority for power supply through the user input unit 40 (S10).

Herein, the controller 50 may group the plurality of devices forming the image forming unit 10 to receive power to determine the priority of each group.

In addition, a plurality of power saving modes may be set, and power supply may be sequentially or independently performed for each stage entry time and a corresponding group.

Next, the image forming apparatus 100 enters the power saving mode through the operation of the power saving mode operation key button of the user input unit 40 after a predetermined time elapses without performing the printing operation (S20).

When entering the power saving mode in step S20, operating power is supplied to at least one device corresponding to the corresponding power saving mode step according to the priority determined in step S10 (S30).

Thereafter, the controller 50 proceeds to the next step of the power saving mode by setting a predetermined time elapses or by operating the power saving mode operation button (S40).

As mentioned above, the present invention has been described in detail through preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited thereto and may be variously implemented within the scope of the claims.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can set the priority of the power supply and the standby time, etc., so that more active power management can be performed.

In particular, since the power saving mode is set by the user, power consumption can be reduced while increasing the efficiency of the operation.

In addition, since a plurality of devices are grouped and power is supplied or cut off in steps to each group, power management can be more efficiently performed.

Claims (5)

In the image forming apparatus, An image forming unit having a plurality of devices; A power supply for supplying operating power of the device; A switching unit for switching the operation power to be selectively supplied to the plurality of devices; Determine a priority of power supply for the plurality of devices, and supply the operating power according to the priority to at least one device whose sum of power consumption among the plurality of devices satisfies a predetermined maximum power level; And a control unit for controlling the switching unit. The method of claim 1, Further comprising a user input unit, And the priority is determined by an operation of the user input unit. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And an apparatus to which power should always be supplied from among the plurality of devices is excluded from priority determination. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the control unit controls power supply to a plurality of devices in steps according to the priority. In the power control method of the image forming apparatus comprising an image forming unit having a plurality of devices and a power supply unit for supplying the operating power of the device, Determining a priority of powering for the plurality of devices; And supplying the operating power to at least one device in accordance with the priority so that the sum of the power consumptions of the plurality of devices satisfies a predetermined maximum power level.

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