Image forming device and image forming method

Abstract

An image forming device and an image forming method are provided. The image forming device has an image forming unit, a fixing unit, a reading unit, and a control unit. The image forming unit forms a visible image on a sheet. The fixing unit performs a fixing process to fix the visible image on the sheet. The reading unit performs a reading process to read the image. When a predetermined condition for the transition of the action mode of the device is satisfied, the control unit starts measuring the time until the transition to the power saving mode, and when the measured time exceeds a predetermined set time, the action mode is transitioned to the power saving mode that suppresses power consumption. The control unit stops measuring the time during the execution of a printing process that is a process accompanied by the execution of the fixing process, and continues measuring the time during the execution of a reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments described herein generally relate to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method. Background Art

[0002] Among image forming apparatuses, there are image forming apparatuses that can operate in a power saving mode without heating a fixing device, etc., in order to achieve energy saving. Such image forming apparatuses start measuring the time for transitioning to the power saving mode when image formation is completed. And the image forming apparatus transitions to the power saving mode when a predetermined time has passed. However, an image forming apparatus having an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) function stops measuring the time for transitioning to the power saving mode even when performing OCR processing (manuscript reading) without image formation. Therefore, the time until transitioning to the power saving mode becomes longer, and there is a possibility of energy waste. Summary of the invention

[0003] The image forming device comprises an image forming unit, a fixing unit, a reading unit and a control unit. The image forming unit forms a visible image on a sheet. The fixing unit performs a fixing process to fix the visible image on the sheet. The reading unit performs a reading process to read the image. When a predetermined condition for the transition of the operation mode of the device is satisfied, the control unit starts measuring the time until the transition to the power saving mode, and when the measured time exceeds a predetermined set time, the operation mode is transitioned to the power saving mode for suppressing power consumption. The control unit stops measuring the time during the execution of a printing process that is a process accompanied by the execution of the fixing process, and continues measuring the time during the execution of a reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Figure 1 1 is an external view showing an example of the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.

[0005] Figure 2 1 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.

[0006] Figure 3 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the image forming unit 160 and the fixing unit 170 according to the embodiment.

[0007] Figure 4 This is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of OCR processing in the embodiment.

[0008] Figure 5 This is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.

[0009] Figure 6 This is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the power saving timer process in the embodiment.

[0010] Figure 7 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the power saving timer process in the modification. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus and an image forming method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Figure 1 1 is an external view showing an example of the overall structure of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a multifunction printer. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a display 110, a control panel 120, a printer unit 130, a sheet storage unit 140, and an image reading unit 200. The image forming apparatus 100 forms an image on a sheet using a developer such as a toner. The sheet is, for example, paper or label paper. The sheet may be any object as long as the image forming apparatus 100 can form an image on its surface.

[0013] The display 110 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, etc. The display 110 displays various information related to the image forming apparatus 100 .

[0014] The control panel 120 has a plurality of buttons. The control panel 120 receives user operations. The control panel 120 outputs a signal corresponding to the user operations to the control unit of the image forming apparatus 100. It should be noted that the display 110 and the control panel 120 may also be configured as an integrated touch panel.

[0015] The printer section 130 forms an image on a sheet based on image information generated by the image reading section 200 or image information received via a communication line. The printer section 130 includes an image forming section 160 and a fixing section 170, which will be described later. The printer section 130 forms an image using a developer such as a toner. It should be noted that the sheet for image formation may be a sheet stored in the sheet storage section 140 or a sheet manually inserted.

[0016] The sheet storage section 140 stores sheets used for image formation in the printer section 130 .

[0017] The image reading unit 200 reads the image information of the reading object as the brightness of light. The image reading unit 200 records the read image information. The recorded image information can be sent to other information processing devices via a network. The recorded image information can also be formed into an image on a sheet by the printer unit 130.

[0018] Figure 2 1 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 includes an image reading unit 200 , a control panel 120 , a communication unit 150 , an image forming unit 160 , a fixing unit 170 , a storage unit 180 , and a control unit 190 .

[0019] The communication unit 150 includes a communication interface for connecting the device to an external device. The communication unit 150 communicates with the external device wirelessly or by wire, and outputs the received information to the control unit 190. For example, the communication unit 150 receives a print job. The print job may include image information.

[0020] The control unit 190 is configured using a processor such as a CPU and a memory. The control unit 190 operates by executing a program through the processor. The control unit 190 controls the operation of each functional unit of the image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 190 controls, for example, the power supplied to the fixing unit 170. The power supplied to the fixing unit 170 is, for example, the power supplied to the halogen lamp. The control unit 190 performs, for example, OCR (Optical Character Recurling) processing. The control unit 190 controls, for example, the operation of the image reading unit 200.

[0021] The image forming unit 160 and the fixing unit 170 operate according to the control of the control unit 190 .

[0022] Figure 3 : is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image forming unit 160 and the fixing unit 170 in the embodiment. The image forming unit 160 operates, for example, as follows. The exposure unit 61 of the image forming unit 160 forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum based on image information as an object of image formation. The developer of the image forming unit 160 forms a visible image (toner image) by attaching a developer to the electrostatic latent image. The primary transfer units 62-1 to 62-5 of the image forming unit 160 transfer the formed visible image to the image carrier (intermediate transfer body) 63. The rotation direction of the image carrier is the direction indicated by the arrow 92. Therefore, the visible image formed on the image carrier is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit 68 by the rotation of the image carrier. The secondary transfer unit 68 of the image forming unit 160 transfers the visible image formed on the image carrier to the sheet conveyed in the direction of the arrow 91.

[0023] The fixing unit 170 fixes the transferred visible image on the sheet. The fixing unit 170 includes, for example, a heating roller having a heat source inside and a pressure roller pressing the sheet against the heating roller. Such a fixing unit 170 fixes the visible image on the sheet by, for example, the following actions. Electricity is supplied to a halogen lamp, which radiates heat. The heating roller is heated by the heat radiated by the halogen lamp. The sheet is pressed against the heating roller by the pressure roller. The pressure generated by the pressing and the heat of the heating roller are applied to the visible image, so that the visible image is fixed on the sheet. The sheet on which the visible image is fixed by the fixing unit 170 is transported to the paper discharge unit 210 and discharged from the inside of the image forming device 100 to the outside.

[0024] The storage unit 180 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 180 stores various values ​​used in the processing of the control unit 190 .

[0025] Figure 4 This is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of OCR processing in the embodiment.

[0026] The image reading unit 200 obtains the image information of the reading object (ACT101). Then, the control unit 190 performs a character conversion process (ACT102). The character conversion process is a process of detecting a character string in the reading object based on the image information. Specifically, the following processes are performed in the character conversion process. First, the area of ​​the text is determined based on the acquired image information. Then, the image of each character in the determined area is extracted. Then, the characters represented by the extracted image are determined. Then, for all the extracted characters, the determination result is output as a character string information (text information). Immediately after ACT102, the detection result (text information) is output to the display 110 (ACT103). It should be noted that the detection result does not necessarily have to be output to the display 110. The detection result can be sent to a predetermined external device via the communication unit 150, and the detection result can also be stored in the storage unit 180.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.

[0028] At a predetermined timing, the control unit 190 determines whether the printing process is being executed (ACT 201). The printing process is a process accompanied by the execution of a fixing process to fix the visible image on the sheet. The printing process is, for example, a process of forming an image on the sheet by the image forming unit 160 and the fixing unit 170.

[0029] When the printing process is being executed (ACT201: Yes), the process is terminated. On the other hand, when the printing process is not being executed (ACT201: No), the control unit 190 starts measuring the elapsed time until the transition to the power saving mode (ACT202). Hereinafter, the elapsed time until the transition to the power saving mode is referred to as the power saving mode transition time. The power saving mode is an action mode that suppresses power consumption. More specifically, for example, the power saving mode is an action mode in which the power supplied to the fixing unit 170 is less than a predetermined power (hereinafter referred to as "reference power"). The power saving mode may also be an action mode in which the power is not supplied to the fixing unit 170. The reference power is the power required for the fixing process. The fixing process is a process in which the fixing unit 170 fixes the visible image on the sheet. The temperature of the heating roller of the fixing unit 170 supplied with the reference power rises to a temperature at which the visible image can be fixed on the sheet. Immediately after ACT 202 , the control unit 190 executes a power saving timer process ( ACT 203 ).

[0030] Figure 6 : This is a flowchart showing an example of the process of the power saving timer processing in the embodiment. The control unit 190 determines whether the printing process is being executed (ACT301). When the printing process is not being executed (ACT301: No), the control unit 190 determines whether the reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process is being executed (ACT302). Hereinafter, the reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process is referred to as the non-printing reading process. The reading process is the process of reading an image by the image reading unit 200. The non-printing reading process is, for example, the process itself of reading an image by the image reading unit 200. The non-printing reading process is, for example, the OCR process. The non-printing reading process is, for example, the read image saving process of saving the image data of the read original document as a file.

[0031] In ACT 302, when the non-printing reading process is being executed (ACT 302: Yes), the control unit 190 continues to measure the power saving mode transition time (ACT 303). Next, the control unit 190 determines whether the power saving mode transition time has passed a predetermined set time (ACT 304). When the power saving mode transition time has passed the set time (ACT 304: Yes), the control unit 190 causes the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 100 to transition to the power saving mode (ACT 305). Next, the control unit 190 resets the power saving mode transition time (ACT 306).

[0032] On the other hand, if the printing process is being executed in ACT 301 (ACT 301 : Yes), the control unit 190 stops measuring the power saving mode transition time (ACT 307 ). Then, the control unit 190 resets the power saving mode transition time (ACT 308 ). After ACT 308 , the process returns to ACT 201 .

[0033] It should be noted that, when the control panel 120 is operated, a negative determination is made in the processes of ACT 301 and ACT 302 .

[0034] The image forming apparatus 100 configured in this manner includes a control unit 190 that continues to measure the power saving mode transition time even during the execution of a reading process such as an OCR process that is not accompanied by the execution of a printing process. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the time until the power saving mode is transitioned to be prolonged due to the execution of the reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process, and it is possible to eliminate energy waste.

[0035] (Variation Example)

[0036] Power saving timer processing does not necessarily have to be Figure 6 When the set time has passed during the execution of the non-printing reading process, the process of switching to the power saving mode may be executed after the non-printing reading process is completed. Figure 7 The specific processing flow is shown.

[0037] Figure 7 FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of power saving timer processing in a modified example. Figure 6 The same processing is denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0038] and Figure 6The process of ACT301 is similarly executed. When the printing process is not executed (ACT301: No), the control unit 190 determines whether the power saving mode transition time has passed the set time (ACT304a). When the power saving mode transition time has not passed the set time (ACT304a: No), the process returns to ACT301. On the other hand, when the power saving mode transition time has passed the set time (ACT304a: Yes), the control unit 190 determines whether the non-printing reading process is being executed (ACT302a). When the non-printing reading process is being executed (ACT302a: Yes), the control unit 190 continues to measure the power saving mode transition time (ACT303a). Then, the process returns to ACT301. On the other hand, when the non-printing reading process is not being executed in ACT302a (ACT302a: No), the process of ACT305 is executed. After the process of ACT305 is executed, the process of ACT306 is executed. On the other hand, if the printing process is being executed in ACT 301 (ACT 301: Yes), the process of ACT 307 is executed. Figure 6 Same treatment.

[0039] In the fixing section 170 of the present embodiment, a method of fixing the visible image to the sheet by heating via a film-like member may be applied.

[0040] It should be noted that the image reading unit 200 is an example of a reading unit. Figure 5 The condition that the printing process is not being executed is an example of a predetermined condition for transition of the operation mode of the present apparatus. The control panel 120 is an example of an input unit.

[0041] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, waste of energy can be eliminated by including the control unit 190 .

[0042] It should be noted that all or part of the functions of the image forming device 100 may also be implemented using hardware such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The program may also be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Computer-readable recording media include, for example, removable media such as floppy disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into computer systems. The program may also be sent via an electrical communication line.

[0043] Although several embodiments are described, these embodiments are only presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. In fact, these embodiments can be implemented in various other ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the purpose of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and purpose of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An image forming device, characterized in that: have: An image forming unit that forms a visible image on a sheet; A fixing unit that performs a fixing process to fix the visible image on a sheet; A reading unit that performs a reading process of a read image; as well as a control unit that, when a predetermined condition for the transition of the operation mode of the device is satisfied, starts measuring the time until the transition to the power saving mode, and when the measured time exceeds a predetermined set time, causes the operation mode to be transitioned to the power saving mode for suppressing power consumption; The control unit stops measuring the time during execution of a printing process which is a process accompanied by execution of the fixing process, and continues measuring the time during execution of a reading process which is not accompanied by execution of the printing process. The control unit determines whether printing processing is being executed, and if printing processing is not being executed, starts the measurement of the time and executes a power saving timer process. In the power saving timer process, the control unit determines whether a printing process is being executed, and if the printing process is not being executed, determines whether a reading process not accompanied by the execution of the printing process is being executed.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: When the time exceeds the predetermined set time during execution of the reading process without execution of the printing process, the control unit shifts the operation mode to the power saving mode after the reading process without execution of the printing process is completed.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process is an optical character recognition process.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The reading process that is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process is a read image storage process.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The printing process is a process of forming an image on a sheet by the image forming section and the fixing section.

6. The image forming device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: In the power saving mode, a predetermined electric power which is smaller than electric power required for the fixing process is supplied to the fixing section.

7. The image forming device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: In the power saving mode, power is not supplied to the fixing unit.

8. An image forming method, characterized in that: forming a visible image on the sheet; performing a fixing process to fix the visible image on a sheet; Execute a read process of reading an image; as well as The following control is performed: when a predetermined condition for the transition of the operation mode of the present device is satisfied, the time until the transition to the power saving mode is started to be measured, and when the measured time exceeds a predetermined set time, the operation mode is transitioned to the power saving mode for suppressing power consumption, In the execution of the control, the measurement of the time is stopped during the execution of a printing process which is a process accompanied by the execution of the fixing process, and the measurement of the time is continued during the execution of a reading process which is not accompanied by the execution of the printing process. During the execution of the control, it is determined whether or not a printing process is being executed, and if the printing process is not being executed, the measurement of the time is started and a power saving timer process is executed. In the power saving timer process, it is determined whether or not the printing process is being executed. If the printing process is not being executed, it is determined whether or not the reading process without the printing process is being executed.

Images