Multi-Circuit Power Management for Printer Warm-Up Latency
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses take a long time to return from a power-saving mode to a printable state, which hinders compliance with energy conservation standards and increases the time required for printing processes.
Innovation Solution
The image forming apparatus includes a first control circuit that communicates with an information processing device, a second control circuit that communicates with the first control circuit, and a third control circuit that controls a printer. During a power-saving mode, the first control circuit receives print information and controls the start of the second control circuit, which then controls the power supply to the third control circuit and transmits a warm-up start instruction based on the print information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the image forming apparatus enters power-saving mode to reduce energy consumption, then energy efficiency is improved, but the time required to return to printable state increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control circuit is segmented into multiple independent control circuits (first control circuit, second control circuit, third control circuit) that can be independently activated. This allows selective power supply to only the necessary control circuits during power-saving mode, reducing energy consumption while enabling rapid activation of the printing function when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The first control circuit is kept in a standby state during power-saving mode, ready to immediately activate the second and third control circuits when a print request is received. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need to power up all control circuits from scratch, significantly reducing the print return time while maintaining energy efficiency.
2Loss of energy
If the power supply is cut off to the printer unit during power-saving mode to save energy, then energy consumption is reduced, but the initialization time increases when printing is required
Solution Approach 1:
The third control circuit, which controls the printer unit, is kept in a standby state during power-saving mode rather than being completely powered down. This allows the printer unit to maintain its initialization state and be quickly activated when a print request is received, reducing the initialization time while still achieving energy savings compared to full operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The power supply state of the third control circuit is dynamically adjusted based on the print request. Instead of a static power-off state, the system transitions from a reduced-power standby state to full operation state, optimizing both energy consumption and initialization speed.
3Speed
If the entire system board power is restored when a packet is received to enable communication, then communication responsiveness is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system board power management is segmented into selective control circuits that can be independently activated. When a packet is received during power-saving mode, only the first control circuit is activated to handle communication, while other control circuits remain powered down, achieving fast communication responsiveness without restoring full system power.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of restoring power to the entire system board when a packet is received, the system applies partial action by activating only the specific control circuit needed for communication handling. This minimizes energy consumption while maintaining adequate communication responsiveness.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a first control circuit, a second control circuit, and a third control circuit. The first control circuit communicates with an information processing device. The second control circuit is configured to communicate with the first control circuit. The third control circuit is configured to communicate with the second control circuit and control a printer. The first control circuit is configured to receive print information from the information processing device during a power-saving mode and control the start of the second control circuit based on the print information. The second control circuit is configured to control a power supply to the third control circuit based on the start by the first control circuit and transmit, to the third control circuit, a warm-up start instruction for the printer based on the print information acquired from the first control circuit after communication with the third control circuit becomes possible.