WO2012013140A1

WO2012013140A1 - Image generation controller card and image generation device

Info

Publication number: WO2012013140A1
Application number: PCT/CN2011/077624
Authority: WO
Inventors: 尹爱国; 余成柱
Original assignee: 珠海赛纳打印科技股份有限公司
Priority date: 2010-07-27
Filing date: 2011-07-26
Publication date: 2012-02-02
Also published as: CN102346722B; CN102346722A

Abstract

Provided are an image generation controller card and an image generation device. The image generation controller card comprises: a main control unit and a USB interface module. The main control unit comprises a CPU, and the USB interface module has at least two USB ports. The CPU communicates with an external device via the USB interface module. The image generation device comprises the image generation controller card. The controller card and the device are capable of expansion to a USB port of an image generation device provided with the image generation controller card, thereby solving the inconvenience experienced when using an existing image generation device having a single subordinate USB port, facilitating a convenient usage of the image generation device by multiple users, conserving energy when multiple host devices simultaneously use one image generation device, and ensuring the security of the contents being processed.

Description

Image forming control card and image forming apparatus

Technical field

The present invention relates to printing technology, and more particularly to an image forming control card and an image forming apparatus. Background technique

As one of the important devices in the existing office environment, image forming equipment has become a must-have device for offices and homes. However, since an existing image forming apparatus such as a printer generally provides only one slave USB interface, a printer can be connected only to one host device such as a computer, that is, only one host device can locally control and print the printer. Work, can not meet the needs of multiple host devices to use the printer.

In the prior art, when multiple host devices are required to perform print jobs through the printer, there are generally two ways to solve the problem: one way is to pull out the USB cable connected to the first host device and insert it into Printing is performed in the second host device, and it is obvious that the operation mode is less convenient.

The second way is to share the way, that is, the first host device connected to the printer has the shared feature by setting the device attribute, and the second host device controls the printer through the first host device based on the sharing mode. To achieve a print job. However, the premise of this mode of operation is that the first host device must be in a working state. In order to enable the second host device to print and the first host device is always in working state, it is obviously wasteful of energy. At the same time, the print job is realized by sharing, and there is also a security risk of the printed content. In addition, especially in some offices with high confidentiality requirements, one person has two computers, one of which is connected to the other, and the other is not connected to the network. This requires two printers to meet the work requirements, which not only occupies a large space. More waste of resources. The inconvenience caused by the existing image forming apparatus providing only one slave USB interface needs to be solved. Summary of the invention The present invention provides an image forming control card and an image forming apparatus for solving the above-mentioned drawbacks in the prior art and realizing the expansion of the USB interface in the image forming apparatus.

The present invention provides an image forming control card, including a main control unit, the main control unit includes a CPU, the image forming control card further includes a USB interface module, and the USB interface module has at least two USB interfaces, and the CPU Communicate with the peripheral device through the USB interface module.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the USB interface is a slave USB interface and/or a USB-OTG interface.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the USB interface module is disposed outside the main control unit, the main control unit further includes a communication control module, and the CPU passes the communication control module and the USB interface Module communication.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the USB interface module is one or more USB interface chips.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the USB interface module is integrated in the main control unit.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the USB interface module includes at least two sets of USB interfaces that are extracted from the CPU.

An image forming control card as described above, wherein another USB interface module is further disposed outside the main control unit, the main control unit further includes a communication control module, and the CPU passes the communication control module and the Another USB interface module communicates.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the USB interface module integrated in the main control unit includes one or more sets of USB interfaces led out from the CPU; and is disposed outside the main control unit The other USB interface module is one or more USB interface chips.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the CPU includes a priority processing module for storing operation priority information of each USB interface in the USB interface module.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the CPU further includes a first setting module, and the first setting module is configured to set operation priority information of each USB interface. The image forming control card as described above, wherein the operation priority information is determined according to a number order of each USB interface.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the CPU further includes:

A polling module connected to the priority processing module for polling each USB interface. The image forming control card as described above, wherein the CPU includes an availability configuration module, and the availability configuration module is configured to store availability configuration information for identifying whether each USB interface in the USB interface module is currently available.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the CPU further includes a second setting module, and the second setting module is configured to set the availability configuration information.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the CPU includes a first processing module, and the first processing module is configured to store execution order information of the file to be printed determined according to the feature information of the file to be printed.

The image forming control card as described above, wherein the feature information of the file to be printed includes: a character included in a file name of the file to be printed, and/or a file type of the file to be printed.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus including the image forming control card described above.

The image forming control card and the image forming apparatus provided by the present invention can expand the USB interface of the image forming apparatus provided with the image forming control card, and solve the inconvenience caused by the use of the single slave USB interface of the existing image forming apparatus. It makes it more convenient for multiple users to use the image forming apparatus; when a plurality of host devices simultaneously use one image forming apparatus, energy is saved, and the security of the processed content is also ensured. DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural view of Embodiment 1 of an image forming control card according to the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of an image forming control card according to the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 3 of an image forming control card according to the present invention;

4 is a structural block diagram of communication between a main control unit and a host device according to the present invention; 5 is a schematic diagram of a working procedure of a control program of an image forming control card according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a workflow diagram of the printer performing a print job. detailed description

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

With the general demand for the image forming apparatus in the modern office, the setting of the single slave USB interface of the existing image forming apparatus can not meet the requirements of the multi-user for conveniently and independently using the image forming apparatus, and the embodiment of the present invention provides an image forming. The control card and the image forming apparatus provided with the image forming control card, by expanding the USB interface thereof, solve the inconvenience caused by the use of the single slave USB interface of the existing image forming apparatus, and avoid or reduce the simultaneous use of the plurality of host devices. When an image forming device is used, it causes waste of energy and insecure processing content. The image forming apparatus including the image forming control card according to various embodiments of the present invention may be an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, an ink jet image forming apparatus or the like. For the sake of convenience, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail by taking a printer as an example.

The image forming control card provided by the embodiment of the present invention is disposed in an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, for receiving a print command sent by a peripheral device such as a host device, and parsing the received print command to implement a print control function. The image forming control card of the embodiment of the invention includes a main control unit, which includes a central processing unit (CPU) and other functional devices connected to the CPU. The image forming control card further includes a USB interface module having at least two USB interfaces. The CPU communicates with a peripheral device such as a host device through the USB interface module described above. Since the USB interface module in the image forming control card includes at least two USB interfaces. The number of USB interfaces of the image forming apparatus can be expanded, which solves the inconvenience caused by the use of the single slave USB interface of the existing image forming apparatus, and makes it more convenient for the multi-user to use the image forming apparatus. The USB interface included in the above USB interface module may be a slave USB interface and/or a USB-OTG interface, and is specifically set according to actual conditions. The USB interface module included in the image forming control card provided in this embodiment may be disposed outside the main control unit or in the main control unit, and the settings of the USB interface module are respectively described in the following embodiments.

In the first case, the USB interface module is set outside the main control unit. In this case, the main control unit further includes a communication control module, and the CPU communicates with the USB interface module through the communication control module. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of an image forming control card according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming control card 11 includes a main control unit 12, and the main control unit 12 includes a CPU 14 and a communication control module 15, and a main control unit. A first USB interface module 16 is also provided in addition to the 12, and the CPU 14 communicates with the first USB interface module 16 via the communication control module 15. The main control unit 12 further includes functional components such as an image processing module, a data compression/decompression module, a clock module, a reset module, a program memory, and a data memory, all of which are connected to the CPU 14. As shown in the figure, the first USB interface module 16 disposed outside the main control unit 12 includes N (N is a natural number greater than 1) USB interfaces, respectively being the first slaves

USB interface al, second slave USB interface a2 N slave USB interface aN. The first slave USB interface a1, the second slave USB interface a2, and the Nth slave USB interface aN are respectively connected to the corresponding host device 13 through the main USB interface in the host device 13, so that users of different hosts can perform respective printing operations. Achieve simultaneous communication with N peripherals.

In this embodiment, the USB interface module can be a USB interface chip, and the number can be selected according to actual needs. The USB interface chip can be a normal USB interface chip or a USB-OTG interface chip. The common USB interface chip has a slave USB interface (as shown in FIG. 1), and the USB-OTG interface chip has a USB-OTG. Interface, of course, the USB-OTG interface chip can also include a slave USB interface as needed. The at least two USB interfaces of the USB interface module may be implemented by one USB interface chip including at least two USB interfaces, or may be at least two USB interface chips, and each USB interface chip includes at least one USB interface. achieve. FIG. 1 shows only the case where the image forming control card includes the slave USB interface. For the case where the image forming control card includes at least two USB-OTG interfaces, those skilled in the art can refer to the implementation, and details are not described herein again. In the second case, the USB interface module is set in the main control unit. In this case, the main control unit includes a USB interface module, wherein the USB interface module includes at least two sets of USB interfaces that are taken from the CPU. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of an image forming control card according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming control card 11 includes a main control unit 12, and the main control unit 12 includes a CPU 14 and a second USB interface module 16, The CPU 14 communicates with the host device 13 through the second USB interface module 16. The main control unit 12 further includes functional components such as an image processing module, a data compression/decompression module, a clock module, a reset module, a program memory, and a data memory, all of which are connected to the CPU 14. As shown in the figure, the second USB interface module 16 disposed in the main control unit 12 includes N (N is a natural number greater than 1) USB interfaces, which are respectively derived from the CPU 14, and are respectively the first slave USB interfaces a1, Two slave USB interface a2 Nth slave USB interface aN. The first slave USB interface a1, the second slave USB interface a2, and the Nth slave USB interface aN are respectively connected to the corresponding host device 13 through the main USB interface in the host device 13, so that users of different hosts can perform respective printing operations. Achieve simultaneous communication with N peripherals.

The difference between this embodiment and the above embodiment is that the USB interface module in the embodiment includes a USB interface formed by multiple sets of USB buses drawn by the CPU itself, and different CPUs can form a USB bus to form a slave USB. The interface (shown in Figure 2) can also lead to the USB-OTG bus to form a USB-OTG interface (not shown). Each set of USB buses, such as data lines (D+, D-) or (OTG-D+, OTG-D-), form a set of USB interfaces. FIG. 2 only shows the case where the image forming control card includes the slave USB interface. For the case where the image forming control card includes at least two USB-OTG interfaces, those skilled in the art can refer to the implementation, and details are not described herein again.

In the third case, this situation is a combination of the above two cases. Specifically, the main control unit includes a USB interface module, and the main control unit further includes another USB interface module. The main control unit further includes a communication control module, wherein the CPU communicates with the USB interface module outside the main control unit through the communication control module; the main control unit includes a USB interface module, wherein the USB interface module includes at least two from the CPU Group of USB interfaces. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 3 of an image forming control card according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming control card 11 includes a main control unit 12, and the main control unit The element 12 includes a CPU 14, a communication control module 15, and a second USB interface module 16, and the CPU 14 communicates with the corresponding host device 13 via the second USB interface module 16. A first USB interface module 16 is further disposed outside the main control unit 12, and the CPU 14 communicates with the first USB interface module 16 through the communication control module 15. The main control unit 12 further includes functional components such as an image processing module, a data compression/decompression module, a clock module, a reset module, a program memory, and a data memory, all of which are connected to the CPU 14.

As shown, the first USB interface module 16 disposed outside the main control unit 12 includes a USB interface, i.e., a first slave USB interface al, which is coupled to the corresponding host device 13 via a primary USB interface in the host device 13. The second USB interface module 16 disposed in the main control unit 12 includes a USB interface that is derived from the CPU 14, that is, the second slave USB interface a2, which is connected to the corresponding host device 13 through the main USB interface in the host device 13. The image forming control card in this embodiment is respectively provided with two USB interface modules inside and outside the main control unit, so that users of different hosts can perform respective printing operations, thereby achieving the purpose of being able to communicate with a plurality of peripheral devices at the same time. In this embodiment, each USB interface module has a USB interface as an example, and is of course not limited thereto.

It can be seen that, in the image forming control card in this embodiment, the first USB interface module disposed outside the main control unit can select the USB interface module in the first case, that is, one or more USB interface chips, The second USB interface module in the main control unit may select the USB interface module in the second case, that is, one or more sets of USB interfaces that are extracted from the CPU. For details, refer to the above introduction. Narration.

In addition, since the USB-OTG interface can be used as the main USB interface and can also be used as the slave USB interface, if the printer uses USB-OTG technology, not only can a printer have multiple USB interfaces, but also reduce the dependence on the host device. For example, USB devices such as USB flash drives and cameras can be directly inserted into the printer to easily print the data that needs to be printed.

4 is a structural block diagram of communication between a main control unit and a host device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the CPU completes data transmission through a data bus (reusable as an address bus) and a control bus, and the USB interface. The module reorganizes the data transmitted by the host device according to the requirements of the USB protocol to complete the data transmission with the image forming control card.

Since the image forming control card in each of the above embodiments has a plurality of USB interfaces, it is necessary to uniformly and effectively manage a plurality of USB interfaces in order to avoid a disorder of processing programs when a plurality of USB interfaces simultaneously receive a print job. So that it can achieve the sharing of printers in an orderly manner. The following is an example in which the image forming control card has a plurality of slave USB interfaces, and those skilled in the art can understand that the USB-OTG interface has the same working principle.

Of course, if the image forming control card has only one slave USB interface, there is no need to prioritize it. Only when the sum of the number of slave USB interfaces of the image forming control card is at least two, it is necessary to manage the operation priorities of the plurality of slave USB interfaces. The CPU in the image forming control card includes a priority processing module and a polling module connected to the priority processing module, wherein the priority processing module is configured to store operation priority information of each USB interface in the USB interface module, The polling module is used to poll each USB interface. The image forming control card manages at least two USB interfaces on the USB interface module through its priority processing function and polling function.

Taking the image forming control card structure shown in FIG. 3 as an example, the operation priority information of each slave USB interface on the first USB interface module 16 and the second USB interface module 16 is set in the priority processing module of the CPU 14. The operation priority information of each slave USB interface can be set according to the number order of each slave USB interface, for example, the first slave USB interface al, the second slave USB interface a2, the N slave USB interface aN operation priority information is sequentially lowered. In this embodiment, the operation priority of the first slave USB interface al is higher than that of the second slave USB interface a2. Of course, the operation priority information can also be set according to other requirements according to actual needs. Specifically, it can be completed by the first setting module included in the CPU. The first setting module is connected to the priority processing module, and is configured to set operation priority information of each USB interface.

The polling module uses polling to detect whether each slave USB interface receives the master.

Data transmitted from the USB interface. If the printer has job A being processed, then there is another Its main USB interface is sent to print job B, and the printer starts processing job B after completing job A. If two slave USB interfaces or more slave USB interfaces receive data transmitted by the corresponding master USB interface at the same time, the image forming control card 11 presets the operation priority information according to the priority processing module. The processing tasks are serially processed, and the processing is serial. For details, refer to the working flow of the control program of the image forming control card in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.

In the image forming control card provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the CPU may further include an availability configuration module, where the availability configuration module is configured to store availability configuration information for identifying whether each USB interface in the USB interface module is currently available.

The image forming control card can configure the availability of each USB interface through the availability configuration module. If there are three interfaces of the first slave USB interface a1, the second slave USB interface a2, and the third slave USB interface a3, the availability configuration information is provided. Configured as 0, 1, and 0 respectively. Assuming that 0 is not enabled and 1 is enabled, the image forming control card judges by reading the availability configuration information of each USB interface, and only responds to the print job received through the USB interface of the availability configuration information of 1, that is, printing is passed. The file to be printed received by the enabled second slave USB interface a2; the image forming control card does not perform the task even if there is a print job received through the first slave USB interface a1 and the third slave USB interface a3.

In the image forming control card provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the attributes of each USB interface, such as priority, availability, etc., are configured or modified by a control device such as a control panel, a remote controller, a connected computer, or the like of the image forming control card. The first setting module configures operation priority information of each USB interface by using information input by the control device. For example, the image forming control card initially configures the operation priority information of the first slave USB interface a1, the second slave USB interface a2, and the third slave USB interface a3 to be 001, 010, and 011, respectively, when the image forming control card passes through the 3 When the USB interface receives the print task, the printer first compares the priority configuration information, and then executes it according to the preset priority execution order. For example, the preset priority execution order is the small to large configuration according to the USB interface priority. In order, the printer will first execute the received through the first slave USB interface a1 The print job, after all execution is completed, executes the print job received through the second slave USB interface a2; and so on, finally executes the print job received through the third slave USB interface a3. In another example, the priority execution order set in advance is the time sequence received through the USB interface, and when the print task is simultaneously received according to the priority configuration of the USB interface, when the image forming control card simultaneously receives the first slave When the print tasks A1 and B1 are respectively received by the USB interface a1 and the second slave USB interface a2, the print job A1 is executed first, and the print job B1 waits; if the print task A1 is not executed, the first slave is received. The print job A2 received by the USB interface a1, at this time, the image forming control card executes the print job B1 first, and then executes the print job A2.

Thereafter, the operation priority information of the first slave USB interface al, the second slave USB interface a2, and the third slave USB interface a3 can be reconfigured to 010, 001, and 011, respectively, by the first setting module. Then, when the image forming control card receives the print job through the three USB interfaces at the same time, after comparing the operation priority information, the print task received through the second slave USB interface a2 is first executed through the second slave. The USB interface a2 receives the print job of the file to be printed, and then sequentially responds to the print job received through the first slave USB interface a1 and the third slave USB interface a3.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the second configuration module included in the CPU may also modify the availability configuration information of each USB interface in the USB interface module as needed. For example, when multiple USB interfaces are required, the first slave USB interface a1 and the second may be used. The availability configuration information of the slave USB interface a2 and the third slave USB interface a3 are respectively reset to 1, 1, 0, and the first slave USB interface a1 and the second slave USB interface a2 are available. The foregoing is only an embodiment. The enabling or disabling of each USB interface is not necessarily identified by 0 and 1, and any other distinguishing identifier may be used.

Some of the attributes of the USB interface in the above embodiments, such as priority, availability, etc., may also have no initial configuration. The user can adjust the performance of the USB interface by subsequent configuration of the attributes of the USB interface, such as the execution of input information of each USB interface. The order, whether each USB interface is available, etc.

The first setting module and the second setting module mentioned in the above embodiments may also be according to actual needs. As a separate function module, the corresponding operation priority information and the reset of the availability configuration information are implemented. The first setting module and the second setting module of the split setting or the integral setting may configure the operation priority information and/or the availability configuration information by the information input by the control module.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides an image forming system including a host and an image forming apparatus connected to the host and provided with the image forming control card provided by each of the foregoing embodiments, where the image forming apparatus receives the host sending by the control device. After the information is set, the setting information is sent to the first setting module and the second setting module which are separately set or integrated by the control device, and the priority information and/or the availability configuration information are configured by the setting module pair. The setting information sent by the host includes information for setting priority information and/or availability configuration information.

In the image forming control card provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the CPU may further include a first processing module, and the first processing module is configured to store execution order information of the file to be printed determined according to the feature information of the file to be printed. In this embodiment, the operation priority information of each USB interface is no longer used as the execution order, but the print tasks of the USB interfaces are sequentially responded to based on the files to be printed received by the USB interfaces. The feature information of the file to be printed may include characters included in a file name of the file to be printed, and/or a file type of the file to be printed, or other feature information capable of identifying the file to be printed.

Specifically, when the image forming control card receives the print job from the plurality of USB interfaces, the image forming control card may determine the execution order based on the preset priority judgment policy according to the feature of the file to be printed, and sequentially implement the priority policy. The feature information of the file to be printed may be that the file with the special "#" character included in the file name is first printed. According to the ASCII code table, "#" corresponds to 23H, and when the received file to be printed is judged When the file name portion has 23H information, the print job is executed first. For example, if the preset priority judgment strategy is executed in the order that the files to be printed are in the order of xls, doc, and jpg, the print task whose suffix of the file to be printed is xls is executed first, and then the execution suffix is doc to be printed. File, the last execution suffix is jpg file to be printed. Another special The type of file, such as the test file is executed first, then the print task with the suffix of the file to be printed is executed first.

The image forming control card provided by the embodiments of the present invention can expand the number of USB interfaces of the image forming apparatus provided with the image forming control card, and solves the inconvenience caused by the use of the single slave USB interface of the existing image forming apparatus. It makes it more convenient for multiple users to use the image forming apparatus; when a plurality of host devices simultaneously use one image forming apparatus, energy is saved, and the security of the processed content is also ensured.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an image forming apparatus comprising the image forming control card provided by the above embodiments. Fig. 6 is a view showing the structure of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 6, an image forming apparatus such as a printer 10 includes an image forming system and a plurality of USB interfaces. The printer 10 is connected to different host devices 13 (e.g., PCs) through the slave USB interface, so that different users directly perform different operations on the printer 10 to complete the printing work quickly and safely. Specifically, each of the host devices 13 is used by a different user, and each of the host devices 13 can independently perform respective print jobs without being connected to each other as long as the drivers of the printer 10 are separately installed. The same printer 10 is their local printer for different users. The user only needs to open his own host device, and then turn on the printer 10 to perform his own printing work. Whether other host devices work or not is completely unaffected.

Figure 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the printer to perform a print job. For example: The user issues a print job through the host device, and then the first host device will call the SPOOLSV program of the system to process the print task, and then the first host device calls the print driver, after the processing of the print driver, the initial The print job becomes print information that can be recognized by the printer, and the information is transmitted to the first slave USB of the printer by the main USB of the first host device, which is a complete print process. Other users can perform their own printing work through other host devices. The printer's control software uses polling to detect whether each slave USB interface has print information transmitted from the host device. If the printer is processing print information A from the first host device and there is print information B sent from other host devices, the printer is finished. After becoming A, start processing 8.

If there are two slave USB interfaces or more interfaces receiving the host device at the same time, the processing is serial. For example: According to the position order of the USB interface, the USB interface is numbered, and then the operation priority information of the USB interface is set according to the order of the numbers, so that when the above conflict occurs, the printer processes according to the predetermined priority, for the user, Very convenient.

Of course, the printer can also sequentially execute the print job according to the priority, availability, and the like of each USB interface as mentioned in the above embodiment of the image forming control card. And the printing task is executed in sequence according to the feature information of the file to be printed. For details, refer to the embodiments of the image forming control card, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the above embodiments are only for explaining the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to be limiting; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: The technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments are modified, or some of the technical features are equivalently replaced. The modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

Claim

An image forming control card, comprising a main control unit, the main control unit comprising a CPU, wherein the image forming control card further comprises a USB interface module, and the USB interface module has at least two USB interfaces. The CPU communicates with the peripheral device through the USB interface module.

2. The image forming control card according to claim 1, wherein the USB interface is a slave USB interface and/or a USB-OTG interface.

The image forming control card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the USB interface module is disposed outside the main control unit, the main control unit further includes a communication control module, and the CPU passes through the The communication control module communicates with the USB interface module.

4. The image forming control card according to claim 3, wherein the USB interface module is one or more USB interface chips.

The image forming control card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the USB interface module is integrated in the main control unit.

6. The image forming control card according to claim 5, wherein the USB interface module comprises at least two sets of USB interfaces that are led from the CPU.

The image forming control card according to claim 5, wherein another USB interface module is further disposed outside the main control unit, the main control unit further includes a communication control module, and the CPU passes through the The communication control module is in communication with the other USB interface module.

8. The image forming control card according to claim 7, wherein the USB interface module integrated in the main control unit comprises one or more groups of USB interfaces led out from the CPU. The other USB interface module disposed outside the main control unit is one or more USB interface chips.

The image forming control card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the CPU comprises a priority processing module for storing operation priority information of each USB interface in the USB interface module.

10. The image forming control card according to claim 9, wherein the CPU further The first setting module is configured to set operation priority information of each USB interface.

The image forming control card according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the operation priority information is determined in accordance with the number order of each USB interface.

The image forming control card according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the CPU further comprises:

A polling module connected to the priority processing module for polling each USB interface.

The image forming control card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the CPU includes an availability configuration module, and the availability configuration module is configured to store whether each USB interface in the USB interface module is currently Available availability configuration information.

The image forming control card according to claim 13, wherein the CPU further comprises a second setting module, wherein the second setting module is configured to set the availability configuration information.

The image forming control card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the CPU comprises a first processing module, and the first processing module is configured to store a to-be-printed determined according to feature information of a file to be printed. The order of execution of the file.

The image forming control card according to claim 15, wherein the feature information of the file to be printed comprises: a character included in a file name of the file to be printed, and/or a file to be printed file type.

An image forming apparatus comprising the image forming control card according to any one of claims 1 to 16.