Image Forming Apparatus Shift Timer Extension for Job Acceptance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face challenges in maintaining power saving properties while ensuring reliable job acceptance from external requests, often resulting in failed job receptions due to premature shifts to power saving modes, which can lead to missed notifications and incomplete facsimile receiving jobs.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus implements a state control mechanism that switches between a normal standby state and a power saving state based on a shift timer period, extending this period when consecutive job acceptance failures occur, calculated from the differential time between failed request receptions to improve reliability and reduce power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the shift timer period is set to be shorter to achieve further reduction in power consumption, then power consumption is reduced, but job acceptance reliability deteriorates due to premature transitions to power saving state
Solution Approach 1:
The shift timer period is made dynamic rather than fixed. The controller extends the shift timer period when job acceptance failures occur, allowing the system to adapt the timer duration based on actual operational conditions. This resolves the contradiction by enabling short timers for power savings during normal operation while automatically extending them when reliability issues arise.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by monitoring job acceptance results and using this information to adjust the shift timer period. When job acceptance fails, the controller extends the timer period based on the feedback from the failure event. This feedback mechanism allows the system to balance power consumption and reliability by learning from past performance.
2Reliability
If the shift timer period is set to be longer to avoid job acceptance failure, then job acceptance reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shift timer period transitions from a static long duration to a dynamic value that adjusts based on operational needs. The controller extends the timer only when necessary (upon job acceptance failure) and maintains shorter periods during successful operation, thereby improving reliability when needed while minimizing power consumption during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the timer period parameter dynamically based on job acceptance outcomes. Instead of using a fixed long timer period that continuously increases power consumption, the system adjusts the timer parameter upward only when job acceptance failures occur, thereby achieving reliability improvement without sustained power consumption increase.
3Reliability
If the image forming apparatus returns from power saving state to normal standby state upon receiving execution request, then job acceptance capability is restored, but the return time is considerable and may cause job acceptance failure
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by extending the shift timer period before the apparatus needs to return from power saving state. By proactively adjusting the timer to prevent premature transitions to power saving mode, the system ensures the apparatus remains in normal standby state and ready to accept jobs, avoiding the time loss associated with state transitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by preventing the premature transition to power saving state that would cause job acceptance failure. The controller extends the shift timer period in advance to counteract the potential harmful effect of early power saving mode activation, thereby maintaining job acceptance capability without experiencing the delay of state recovery.
Data Source
AI summary
In an image forming apparatus, when a first state (which allows a process of accepting a job involving image processing) continues over a shift timer period without reception of an execution request for the job, a state control part performs an operation of shifting from the first state to a second state (which is lower in power consumption than the first state). Moreover, in a case where job acceptance started in the second state on the basis of a first execution request is failed and job acceptance started in the second state on the basis of a second execution request is also failed, the shift timer period is extended on the basis of a differential value of a difference between a first execution request reception time and a second execution request reception time, and a third execution request for the job in the first state is awaited.