MFP Wake-Up Reservation for Print Job Completion

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Solution Overview

Problem

Image forming apparatuses face issues where they may enter a suspend state before completing print jobs, leading to incomplete printing due to uncertainty in packet transmission from host PCs, resulting in user inconvenience and unnecessary retransmission of jobs.

Innovation Solution

An information processing apparatus with a shift unit, return unit, and reservation unit that automatically processes requests before entering a power-saving state, ensuring that pending print jobs are completed without user intervention by reserving the return to the active state if a wake-up event occurs during the transition to the suspend state.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Use of energy by stationary object

If the apparatus enters suspend mode to reduce power consumption, then power saving is improved, but print jobs may remain incomplete and require user intervention

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepower consumptionVSAvoidprint job completion

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by stationary objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by checking for pending print jobs before entering suspend mode, and by transmitting a wake-up packet to ensure the apparatus wakes up to complete the printing task. This prevents the contradiction by proactively handling the potential issue of incomplete print jobs before the power-saving state is activated.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If the apparatus checks for print jobs before suspend to ensure completion, then print job completion is improved, but power consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprint job completionVSAvoidpower consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial action by performing only the essential check for pending print jobs rather than fully processing or analyzing all packets. This minimal intervention is sufficient to determine whether a wake-up is needed, thereby maintaining print job reliability while minimizing the additional power consumption during the pre-suspend check.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Reliability

If the apparatus transmits a wake-up packet to ensure job completion, then print job completion is improved, but network communication complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprint job completionVSAvoidnetwork communication

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The wake-up packet serves as an intermediary mechanism between the host PC and the printing apparatus. Instead of requiring complex continuous communication or user intervention, the simple wake-up packet acts as a mediator to reliably signal the apparatus to complete its print job, thereby improving reliability without significantly increasing network communication complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS10409356B2Printing device handling wake up event received immediately before shifted to a low power mode

Publication Date: 2019.09.10 CANON KK

AI summary

It is an object to enable a request received from an outside to be automatically processed immediately before shifting to a power saving state such as a suspend state. On the way of a shift from a normal state to the suspend state and in a state where the shift cannot be interrupted, when a predetermined request such as a print job is received from an external interface, an MFP reserves a return to the normal state by turning on a wake-up reservation flag and continues a suspend process. When shifting to the suspend state, if the wake-up reservation flag is ON, a power supply control unit performs a return (resume) to the normal state even if no wake-up factor occurs.