Image Forming Apparatus Interrupt Job Memory Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face challenges in reliably executing interrupt image forming jobs when the memory capacity is insufficient, limiting the ability to immediately process interrupt instructions without suspending prior jobs.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus employs a dual-memory area strategy, where the job execution circuit suspends prior jobs, generates printable data, writes it to a secondary memory area, deletes the prior job from the primary memory, and executes the interrupt job using the freed primary memory, allowing for efficient resumption of suspended jobs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the image forming apparatus uses a single memory area for image processing, then the device complexity is low, but the reliability of executing interrupt jobs is insufficient when memory capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The memory area is divided into two distinct segments: a first memory area used for image processing and a second memory area different from the first. This segmentation allows the system to store printable data in the second memory area while processing occurs in the first memory area, enabling reliable interrupt job execution without increasing overall device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The second memory area acts as an intermediary storage space that holds printable data generated from suspended prior jobs. This intermediary allows the job execution circuit to reliably execute interrupt jobs by retrieving and processing data from the second memory area without conflicting with active image processing in the first memory area
2Productivity
If the apparatus executes interrupt jobs immediately by suspending prior jobs, then the productivity is improved, but the memory capacity becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a single-dimension memory structure to a two-dimension memory structure by introducing a second memory area. This dimensional change allows the apparatus to maintain high productivity for interrupt job execution while effectively increasing the available memory capacity through the additional storage space
3Ease of operation
If the apparatus suspends prior jobs to execute interrupt jobs, then the ease of operation is improved, but the loss of time for resuming prior jobs increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating printable data from suspended prior jobs and storing it in the second memory area before interrupt jobs are executed. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for time-consuming data regeneration when resuming prior jobs, thereby reducing the time loss while maintaining ease of operation
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus obtains an interrupt execution instruction of an image forming job, the interrupt execution instruction including image data and execution information, suspends a prior image forming job being executed by using a first memory area, generates printable data by applying the execution information to image data of the suspended prior image forming job, writes the generated printable data in a second memory area, deletes the prior image forming job from the first memory area to free the first memory area, executes an interrupt image forming job of the interrupt execution instruction by using the first memory area, the prior image forming job having been deleted from the first memory area, and retrieves the printable data written in the second memory area and forms an image by using the retrieved printable data to execute the suspended prior image forming job.