Image formation device

Abstract

To provide an image formation device capable of determining that transition processing to make the image formation device change into an energy-saving state within a predetermined time is incomplete.SOLUTION: A control device 9 of an image formation device 100 comprises a transition processing unit 91, a detection unit 92, a timer unit 93, and a determination unit 94. The transition processing unit 91 performs transition processing to make the image formation device 100 change into an energy-saving state. The detection unit 92 detects the transition processing being completed. The timer unit 93 starts operating once the transition processing starts to clock a predetermined time. The determination unit 94 determines that the transition processing is incomplete within the predetermined time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus that transitions to a mode (sleep mode) in which the temperature of a fixing unit is lowered and image output is on standby. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-316517 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, while the image forming apparatus is in energy saving control such as a sleep mode, the control may stop due to an abnormality in device access or the like (deadlock). Patent Document 1 does not disclose a means for determining that the energy saving control has not ended within a predetermined time due to the occurrence of a deadlock or the like.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of determining whether transition processing for transitioning the image forming apparatus to an energy saving state has not been completed within a predetermined time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a transition processing unit, a detection unit, a timing unit, and a determination unit. The transition processing unit performs transition processing to transition the image forming apparatus to an energy saving state. The detection unit detects that the transition processing has ended. The timing unit starts timing when the transition processing starts, and times a predetermined time. The determination unit determines that the transition processing has not ended even when the predetermined time has been timed. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of determining whether the transition process for transitioning the image forming apparatus to an energy saving state has not been completed within a predetermined time. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control device of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing state transitions of a control device. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing a control flow of a control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0010] With reference to FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 forms an image on a sheet.

[0012] The image forming apparatus 100 includes a document reading device 1, an image forming device 2, a sheet feeding section 3, a sheet transport section 4, an image forming function section 5, a fixing section 6, a sheet discharge section 7, a sheet discharge tray 8, a control device 9, and a display section 10.

[0013] The document reading device 1 reads an image formed on a sheet and outputs image data.

[0014] The image forming device 2 forms an image on a sheet.

[0015] The sheet feeding section 3 is capable of feeding a plurality of types of sheets to the image forming function section 5.

[0016] The sheet feeding section 3 includes, for example, a feeding tray and a feeding roller.

[0017] The feed tray stores the sheets. The feed roller picks up the sheets and supplies them to the conveying path.

[0018] The sheet conveying section 4 conveys the sheet fed by the sheet feeding section 3 to the image forming function section 5 .

[0019] The sheet transport section 4 includes a transport path and a transport roller.

[0020] The sheet conveying unit 4 is formed of, for example, a metal plate, and the sheet is conveyed along a conveying path by conveying rollers. For example, the conveying rollers are provided at a plurality of positions on the conveying path at intervals, and convey the sheet toward the image forming unit 5.

[0021] The image forming function unit 5 forms a toner image on a sheet.

[0022] When the image forming apparatus 100 is of an electrophotographic type, the image forming function section 5 includes a toner supply unit and an image forming section.

[0023] The toner supply unit includes, for example, a toner bottle, which may be a toner cartridge including a container and a mechanism for supplying toner.

[0024] The image forming section includes a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a photoconductor, a cleaning device, a charge removing device, and a transfer device.

[0025] The charging device charges the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor to a predetermined potential. One example of the charging device is a corona discharger.

[0026] The exposure device irradiates a laser beam onto the photosensitive layer of the photoconductor to expose it. The exposure device exposes the photosensitive layer of the photoconductor based on image data acquired from the control device 9. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor. An example of the exposure device is an LED (Light Emitting Diode).

[0027] The developing device develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor with toner based on image data.

[0028] An example of the photoconductor is a photoconductor drum. The photoconductor drum has a photosensitive layer on its outer circumferential surface. An example of the photoconductor drum is a selenium drum or an OPC (Organic Photoconductor).

[0029] The transfer device transfers the toner image from the photoreceptor to a sheet or intermediate transfer medium.

[0030] In the case of the direct transfer type, the transfer device directly transfers the toner image from the photoreceptor bearing the toner image to the sheet. In the case of the indirect transfer type, the transfer device primarily transfers the toner image to an intermediate transfer body (not shown), and then secondarily transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer body to the sheet conveyed through the conveying path. The transfer device may have a transfer roller that presses the sheet or the intermediate transfer body against the photoreceptor.

[0031] The cleaning device removes residual toner remaining on the photoconductor after transfer.

[0032] The charge removing device removes charge from the photosensitive surface of the photoconductor.

[0033] Next, when the image forming apparatus 100 is an electrophotographic type, the fixing unit 6 heats and presses the toner image developed on the sheet to fix the toner image to the sheet. The fixing unit 6 has, for example, a fixing roller, a heater, and a press roller.

[0034] The fixing roller is a hollow cylindrical roller. The fixing roller is pressed against a press roller. The press roller and the fixing roller form a nip portion. The press roller is driven to rotate by a drive unit (not shown), and forms a nip portion with the fixing roller, thereby rotating the fixing roller.

[0035] The heater receives power from a power source (not shown) and heats the fixing roller. The heater is disposed close to the inner circumferential surface of the fixing roller. The sheet conveyed to the fixing unit 6 is heated by the heater as it passes through the nip, and the toner image is fixed.

[0036] The sheet discharge section 7 discharges the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming function section 5 to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100. The sheet discharge section 7 has a sheet discharge roller. The sheet discharge roller discharges the sheet conveyed from the fixing section 6 by the conveying device to a sheet discharge tray 8. The sheet discharge tray 8 stores the discharged sheets.

[0037] An example of the display unit 10 is a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or the like.

[0038] Next, the configuration and control of the control device 9 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 in addition to FIG.

[0039] First, a description will be given of the configuration of the control device 9. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the control device 9 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 9 includes a storage unit 90, a transition processing unit 91, a detection unit 92, a timer unit 93, a determination unit 94, a generation unit 95, and a startup unit 96.

[0041] The storage unit 90 includes, for example, a non-volatile memory cell array and a control circuit, both of which are not shown.

[0042] An example of the timing unit 93 is a timer.

[0043] The transition processing unit 91, the detection unit 92, the determination unit 94, the generation unit 95, and the startup unit 96 may each be realized by an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0044] The specific operations of the transition processing unit 91, the detection unit 92, the timing unit 93, the determination unit 94, the generation unit 95, and the startup unit 96 will be described later.

[0045] Next, the control of the control device 9 and deadlock will be described.

[0046] The memory cell array of the storage unit 90 holds programs and data used by the control device 9 to control the image forming apparatus 100. The control circuit accesses the memory cell array to read and write data.

[0047] Examples of memory cells include DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), flash memory, and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0048] The control circuit may access the memory cell array to process multiple processes (such as an image reading process and an image forming process) simultaneously. The control circuit may execute multiple programs simultaneously to process multiple processes simultaneously. Each of the multiple programs may require certain resources (such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, storage, network bandwidth, and input / output devices).

[0049] However, for example, when multiple processes are processed simultaneously, one process may continue to wait for the resources of the other process. Also, due to an abnormality in access to each component of the image forming apparatus 100, the processing of both programs may not be able to proceed, resulting in a deadlock in which the program progress stops.

[0050] When image forming apparatus 100 processes a task such as an image processing job, the control circuit may transition some of the components of image forming apparatus 100 into an energy saving state (which may also be referred to as a sleep state, a READY state, or a standby state) in order to reduce power consumption of image forming apparatus 100.

[0051] As an example, if the control circuit deadlocks when image forming apparatus 100 transitions to an energy saving state, it may become difficult to return operation of image forming apparatus 100 to normal, causing image forming apparatus 100 to enter a down state where operation of image forming apparatus 100 stops, resulting in downtime.

[0052] Furthermore, if there is a problem with a particular component, it may go down every time energy saving control is performed, resulting in downtime.

[0053] One method for resolving deadlocks is to restart the device, but restarting the device makes it difficult to identify the reason why the transition process to the energy-saving state was not successful, and this may not provide a fundamental solution to reduce downtime.

[0054] Next, the configuration and operation of each unit of the control device 9 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment will be described. As described above, the control device 9 further includes a transition processing unit 91, a detection unit 92, a timing unit 93, a determination unit 94, a generation unit 95, and a startup unit 96 in addition to the storage unit 90.

[0055] The transition processing unit 91 performs transition processing for causing the image forming apparatus 100 to transition to an energy saving state.

[0056] The transition processing unit 91 reads out a program required for executing the transition processing from the storage unit 90 and executes the program. Specifically, as an example, the transition processing unit 91 stops receiving an input signal and turns off the power of functional units consuming large amounts of power, such as the image forming function unit 5, the fixing unit 6, and the display unit 10 described in FIG.

[0057] The detection unit 92 detects that the transition process has ended.

[0058] Specifically, the detection unit 92 detects that the transition processing unit 91 has finished executing a program necessary for executing the transition processing, and outputs detection information to the determination unit 94.

[0059] The timing unit 93 starts timing when the transition process is started, and keeps timing a predetermined period of time.

[0060] The timer unit 93 can be realized, for example, by a timer IC (Integrated Circuit) (not shown). The timer IC is composed of an oscillator circuit, a timing circuit, a pulse width modulation circuit, a frequency division circuit, and the like (not shown).

[0061] When a trigger signal is input, the timer IC starts counting and outputs a pulse signal at a constant frequency for a specified time. The specified time and pulse width can be set by adjusting the values ​​of resistors and capacitors (not shown).

[0062] The determination unit 94 determines that the transition process has not ended even if the predetermined time has elapsed.

[0063] For example, based on not receiving detection information from the detection unit 92, the determination unit 94 determines that the transition processing unit 91 has not finished executing a program necessary for executing the transition process.

[0064] According to the present embodiment, it is possible to determine whether the transition process for transitioning the image forming apparatus 100 to an energy saving state has not been completed within a predetermined time. As will be described later, the control device 9 can start dealing with a deadlock that occurs due to the transition process not being completed.

[0065] Specifically, as an example, the determination unit 94 monitors a program counter (not shown).

[0066] When the transition processing unit 91 finishes executing the program, the value of the program counter indicates the memory address of the final instruction of the program. The determination unit 94 detects that the value of the program counter has reached the memory address of the final instruction and determines that the processing of the program has finished.

[0067] On the other hand, when a deadlock occurs, for example, the program counter may stop and the program may enter an infinite loop.

[0068] As one example, the determination unit 94 determines that the program counter has stopped.

[0069] The generation unit 95 generates a log of the transition process when it is determined that the transition process has not ended even after the predetermined time has been clocked.

[0070] According to this embodiment, if the transition process is not completed within a predetermined time, a log of the transition process can be generated.

[0071] The logs can be used to identify the cause of the deadlock.

[0072] The log includes, by way of example, a timestamp, process / thread information, resource information, a stack trace, lock information, and a log level.

[0073] The timestamp indicates the time when the deadlock occurred.

[0074] The process / thread information shows information about the process / thread that caused the deadlock.

[0075] The resource information indicates the type, identifier, state, etc. of the resource involved in the deadlock.

[0076] The stack trace shows information about the functions and methods that each thread was executing at the time the deadlock occurred.

[0077] The lock information indicates information such as locks and semaphores held by each thread at the time when the deadlock occurred.

[0078] The log level indicates the importance or severity of the deadlock information.

[0079] If the log indicates that the transition process is deadlocked, the display unit 10 displays an error code based on the log.

[0080] According to this embodiment, an error code indicating that a deadlock has occurred can be displayed on the display unit 10 based on the log. For example, a user can analyze the error code to implement measures to resolve the deadlock, as described below.

[0081] The error code is, for example, a combination of a number and a character string such as "Error."

[0082] If the log indicates that the transition process is deadlocked, the startup unit 96 restarts the image forming apparatus 100 based on the log.

[0083] According to this embodiment, when the deadlock timer times out, the image forming apparatus is restarted, thereby eliminating the deadlock.

[0084] After timing a predetermined time, the timing unit 93 stops timing and resets the timing.

[0085] According to this embodiment, by resetting the timer, the image forming apparatus 100 can prepare for the next occurrence of a deadlock.

[0086] Next, the processing of the control device 9 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment will be further described with reference to FIGS.

[0087] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing state transitions of the control device 9 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the control flow of the control device 9.

[0088] As shown in FIG. 3, the state transition of the control device 9 includes states 1 to 6.

[0089] 3, the image forming apparatus 100 is in a steady state. In this state, an energy saving state transition event (job, task) occurs. The state transitions to state 2.

[0090] In state 2, the transition processing unit 91 starts the process of transitioning to the energy saving state. The state transitions to state 3 without any conditions.

[0091] In state 3, the timer unit 93 functions as a deadlock timer, and starts timing after being reset. State 3 transitions to state 4 without any conditions.

[0092] The transition processing unit 91 performs transition processing in state 4. When the transition processing to the energy saving state is completed, state 4 transitions to state 5.

[0093] In state 5, the timing unit 93 stops timing. State 5 transitions to state 1 without any conditions.

[0094] If the process of transitioning to the energy saving state is not completed in state 4, the state 4 is looped. If the timer unit 93 times out, state 4 transitions to state 6.

[0095] In state 6, the generation unit 95 generates a log, the display unit 10 displays an error code, and the startup unit 96 restarts the image forming apparatus 100 as necessary.

[0096] Next, FIG. 4 includes steps S10 to S20.

[0097] 4, the transition processing unit 91 starts the process of transitioning to the energy saving state. Then, the process proceeds to step S11.

[0098] In step S11, the timer unit 93 times a predetermined time. The process proceeds to step S12.

[0099] In step S12, a transition process to an energy saving state is requested for each component (device) of image forming apparatus 100. The process proceeds to step S13.

[0100] In step S13, the determination unit 94 determines whether or not the transition process has ended. If it is determined that the transition process has ended (Yes in step S13), the process proceeds to step S14.

[0101] If it is determined that the process has not ended (No in step S13), the process proceeds to step S16.

[0102] If the answer is Yes in step S13, the timing unit 93 stops timing in step S14, and the process proceeds to step S15.

[0103] In step S15, the transition processing unit 91 ends the transition processing, and the processing ends.

[0104] Next, if the result in step S13 is No, then in step S16, it is determined whether or not the timer unit 93 has timed out (whether or not a predetermined period of time has been timed).

[0105] If a timeout has occurred (Yes in step S16), the process proceeds to step S17. If a timeout has not occurred (No in step S16), the process returns to step S13.

[0106] If a timeout has occurred (Yes in step S16), the generation unit 95 generates a log in step S17. The process proceeds to step S18.

[0107] In step S18, the generation unit 95 generates an error code. The process proceeds to step S19.

[0108] In step S19, the startup unit 96 acquires the log. The process proceeds to step S20.

[0109] In step S20, the startup unit 96 restarts each device of the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the process ends.

[0110] The embodiments of the invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The drawings are mainly schematic illustrations of the respective components for ease of understanding, and the number of each component shown in the drawings may differ from the actual number due to the convenience of drawing. Furthermore, the components shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and are not particularly limited, and various modifications are possible without substantially departing from the effects of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0111] The present invention can be used in the field of image forming apparatuses. [Explanation of symbols]

[0112] 100 Image forming device 1 Image forming device main body 9. Control Device 90 Memory section 91 Transition section 92 Detection unit 93 Timing Department 94 Judgment Department 95 Generation Department 96 Starter 10 Display unit

Claims

1. a transition processing unit that performs a transition process for transitioning the image forming apparatus to an energy saving state; A detection unit that detects that the transition process has ended; a timer unit that starts timing when the transition process is started and times a predetermined time; a determination unit that determines whether the transition process has not ended even if the predetermined time has elapsed; An image forming apparatus comprising:

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a generation unit that generates a log of the transition process when it is determined that the transition process has not ended even after the predetermined time has been counted.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a display unit that displays an error code based on the log when the log indicates that the transition process is deadlocked.

4. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a restart unit that restarts the image forming apparatus based on the log when the log indicates that the transition process is deadlocked.

5. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timer section stops the time measurement and resets the time measurement after the predetermined time period has elapsed.

Images