JP7714943B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

Conventionally, image forming devices such as printers have been equipped with an engine control unit that controls the image forming unit and a controller control unit that sends image data and commands to the engine control unit, each configured to operate independently (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2016-55650 A

In order to run the controller control unit and engine control unit independently, the controller control unit and engine control unit must be implemented using separate hardware. However, if the hardware specifications (specifically, input/output specifications) of the controller control unit and engine control unit are different, various information (image data, commands, etc.) cannot be directly exchanged between the controller control unit and engine control unit.

As a result, conventional image forming devices had the problem of having to match the hardware specifications (specifically, input/output specifications) between the controller control unit and the engine control unit.

The present invention takes the above points into consideration and proposes an image forming device that allows information to be exchanged between a controller control unit and an engine control unit, which have different input/output specifications.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a sleep function, comprising a controller control unit that acquires image data, an engine control unit that performs printing processing , a relay unit that relays between the controller control unit and the engine control unit, and a sleep recovery condition signal line for notifying the engine control unit of a sleep recovery condition signal indicating a first value or a second value, wherein the relay unit receives the image data and a command from the controller control unit via a first input/output unit that can communicate with the controller control unit, and transmits the received image data and the command to the engine control unit via a second input/output unit that can communicate with the engine control unit, and the engine control unit performs the printing processing based on the image data and the command received via the relay unit, and upon recovery from sleep, if the sleep recovery condition signal notified from the controller control unit indicates the first value, the engine control unit does not perform warm-up for the printing processing, and if the sleep recovery condition signal indicates the second value, performs the warm-up in parallel with the recovery processing of the relay unit .

This allows the controller control unit and engine control unit, which have different input/output specifications, to communicate via the relay unit.

The present invention makes it possible to realize an image forming device that allows information to be exchanged between a controller control unit and an engine control unit, which have different input/output specifications.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the role of a relay FW according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure during printing by the image forming system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure when the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment returns from a sleep state. 10 is a timing chart of an operation at the time of returning from sleep mode by image formation printing according to the second embodiment. 6 is a timing chart of an operation when the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment returns from a sleep state. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for setting a sleep recovery condition signal by an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

Below, the form for implementing the invention (hereinafter referred to as the embodiment) will be explained in detail using the drawings.

1. First embodiment
[1-1. Configuration and Operation of Image Forming System]
Fig. 1 shows the configuration of an image forming system 1 according to a first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the image forming system 1 is made up of a host PC 100 and an image forming apparatus 200. While Fig. 1 shows the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 200, the configuration of the host PC 100 is omitted. This is because the configuration of the host PC 100 is a general computer configuration.

The host PC 100 is connected to the image forming device 200 via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) or a network, and is configured to send image data to the image forming device 200. The image data is sent from the host PC 100 to the image forming device 200 as a print job.

The image forming device 200 has a controller board 210 and an engine board 220. The controller board 210 is provided with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 211, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 212, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 213, a USB I/F unit 214, and a network I/F unit 215.

The CPU 211 loads into the RAM 213 and executes the controller FW (Controller Unit Firmware) 216, which is one of the programs stored in a non-volatile memory (or ROM 212) (not shown). By executing the controller FW 216, the CPU 211 controls the entire image forming apparatus 200. Specifically, the controller FW 216 includes a controller control unit 217, which receives image data from the host PC 100 via, for example, the USB I/F unit 214 or the network I/F unit 215, and sends the image data and commands to the engine board 220.

On the other hand, the engine board 220 is provided with two CPUs 221 and 222, a ROM 223, and a RAM 224. The first CPU 221 loads engine FW (Printer Unit Firmware) 225, which is one of the programs stored in non-volatile memory (or ROM 223) (not shown), into RAM 224 and executes it. By executing engine FW 225, the CPU 221 controls a print head 226, which serves as an image forming means. Specifically, this engine FW 225 includes an engine control unit 227, which receives, for example, image data and commands sent from the controller board 210, and based on the received commands, transfers the received image data to the print head 226 to start the printing process.

As described above, in the image forming device 200, the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227 are implemented by separate hardware (CPU 211 on the controller board 210 side and CPU 221 on the engine board 220 side), and the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227 are configured independently.

For this reason, in the image forming device 200, image data and commands must be exchanged between the controller control unit 217 on the controller board 210 and the engine control unit 227 on the engine board 220. However, in the image forming device 200, the hardware specifications (specifically, input/output specifications) are different between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227, and the image forming device 200 does not have input/output ports for directly exchanging image data and commands. For this reason, in the image forming device 200, image data and commands cannot be directly exchanged between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227.

The image forming device 200 is therefore provided with a relay firmware (FW) 228 to absorb the differences in input/output specifications between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227 and relay between them (i.e., relay between the controller FW 216 and the engine FW 225).

This relay FW 228 is executed by the second CPU 222 provided on the engine board 220. By executing the relay FW 228, the CPU 222 relays between the controller FW 216 and the engine FW 225.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the relay FW 228 controls input/output ports 240 ₁ to 240 _n for communicating with the controller FW 216 and input/output ports 241 ₁ to 241 _n for communicating with the engine FW 225 .

The input/output ports 240 ₁ to 240 _n are input/output ports that conform to the input/output specifications on the controller FW 216 side, and are input/output ports that connect the CPU 222 ( FIG. 1 ) that executes the relay FW 228 to the CPU 211 ( FIG. 1 ) that executes the controller FW 216, and allow communication between the relay FW 228 and the controller FW 216. The input/output ports 241 ₁ to 241 _n are input/output ports that conform to the input/output specifications on the engine control unit 227 side, and are input/output ports that connect the CPU 222 ( FIG. 1 ) that executes the relay FW 228 to the CPU 221 ( FIG. 1 ) that executes the engine FW 225, and allow communication between the relay FW 228 and the engine FW 225.

The relay FW 228 controls the input/output ports 240 ₁ to 240 _n to receive image data and commands from the controller FW 216, and then controls the input/output ports 241 ₁ to 241 _n to send the received image data and commands to the engine FW 225, thereby relaying between the controller FW 216 and the engine FW 225 (i.e., between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227).

Explaining in more detail, as shown in FIG. 1, this relay FW 228 includes a protocol section 231 having a command control section 229 and a print control section 230. Furthermore, the command control section 229 of the protocol section 231 includes a command transfer device driver (not shown) for sending and receiving commands between the controller control section 217 and the command control section 229, and between the command control section 229 and the engine control section 227. The command control section 229 receives commands from the controller control section 217 and sends them to the engine control section 227 using this command transfer device driver.

Meanwhile, the print control unit 230 of the protocol unit 231 includes an image data transfer device driver (not shown) for transmitting and receiving image data between the controller control unit 217 and the print control unit 230, and between the print control unit 230 and the engine control unit 227. The print control unit 230 receives image data from the controller control unit 217 and transmits it to the engine control unit 227 using this image data transfer device driver.

In addition, the relay FW 228 does not convert the commands and image data received from the controller FW 216, but sends them to the engine FW 225 as the same commands and image data.

The configuration of image forming system 1 is as described above. Here, we will explain how image forming system 1 operates when printing.

In the image forming system 1, the host PC 100 sends image data to the image forming device 200, which is connected via USB or network. The controller control unit 217 of the image forming device 200 receives the image data from the host PC 100 via the USB I/F unit 214 or network I/F unit 215 and writes it to the RAM 213. The controller control unit 217 then prepares the image data and command for transfer to the relay FW 228.

After the transfer preparation is complete, the controller control unit 217 transfers a command to the relay FW 228 (the transfer of image data will be described later). Here, the command control unit 229 of the relay FW 228 receives the command from the controller control unit 217 via the command transfer device driver.

When the command control unit 229 receives a command from the controller control unit 217, it begins analyzing the command. After completing the analysis, the command control unit 229 sends the command to the engine control unit 227 of the engine FW 225 via the command transfer device driver. In this way, the command control unit 229 transfers the command received from the controller control unit 217 to the engine control unit 227.

All commands passed from the controller control unit 217 to the engine control unit 227 are subject to forwarding by the command control unit 229. Examples of commands passed from the controller control unit 217 to the engine control unit 227 include a print process start request command to cause the engine control unit 227 to start print processing, a job cancel command to cause the engine control unit 227 to cancel a print job, a sleep transition request command to cause the engine control unit 227 to transition to sleep mode, a sleep return request command to cause the engine control unit 227 to return from sleep mode, and a reset command to reset the engine control unit 227.

Note that sleep mode is a function that reduces power consumption of the image forming device 200 by stopping operation except for a portion of the image forming device 200 (for example, a power-saving operating unit not shown). For this reason, the controller FW 216, engine FW 225, and relay FW 228 do not operate in sleep mode.

When the engine control unit 227 receives a command from the command control unit 229, if it needs to respond to the controller control unit 217, it sends a response command to the command control unit 229 of the relay FW 228. At this time, the command control unit 229 receives the response command from the engine control unit 227 via the command forwarding device driver.

When the command control unit 229 receives a response command from the engine control unit 227, it begins analyzing the response command. After completing the analysis, the command control unit 229 sends the response command to the controller control unit 217 of the controller FW 216 via the command transfer device driver. In this way, the command control unit 229 transfers the response command received from the engine control unit 227 to the controller control unit 217.

In addition, after completing the analysis of the command received from the controller control unit 217, the command control unit 229 may send a response command to the controller control unit 217 itself without forwarding the command to the engine control unit 227.

In addition, the controller control unit 217 transfers image data to the relay FW 228 in parallel with the transfer of the above-mentioned command. At this time, the print control unit 230 of the relay FW 228 receives the image data from the controller control unit 217 via the image data transfer device driver and writes it to a specified area of the RAM 224 (the area used by the relay FW 228).

The print control unit 230 then reads the image data from RAM 224 and transmits it to the engine control unit 227 of the engine FW 225 via the image data transfer device driver.

The engine control unit 227 writes the image data received from the print control unit 230 to a specified area of the RAM 224 (an area used by the engine FW 225). Then, based on a command received from the command control unit 229, the engine control unit 227 reads the image data from the RAM 224 and transfers the image data to the print head 226 to start the printing process. The operation of the image forming system 1 is as described above.

[1-2. Operational Procedures When Printing by Image Forming System]
Next, the operation procedure when printing by the image forming system 1 will be described using the flowchart shown in Fig. 3. Note that, since the operation when printing by the image forming system 1 has been described above, the overall flow of the operation when printing will be mainly described here.

First, in step SP1 shown in FIG. 3, the host PC 100 sends image data to the image forming apparatus 200, which is connected via USB or network. In the following step SP2, the controller control unit 217 of the image forming apparatus 200 receives the image data via the USB I/F unit 214 or network I/F unit 215 and writes it to the RAM 213.

In the following step SP3, the controller control unit 217 prepares to transfer the image data and command to the relay FW 228. Once the transfer preparation is complete, the controller control unit 217 obtains a positive result in the following step SP4, moves to step SP5, and starts transferring the command to the command control unit 229 of the relay FW 228.

In the following step SP6, the command control unit 229 of the relay FW 228 receives the command from the controller control unit 217 via the command transfer device driver and starts analyzing the command. The command analysis process analyzes whether the structure (specifically, the byte structure) of the command sent to the relay FW 228 matches the expected structure (predetermined byte structure). In other words, the command control unit 229 analyzes whether the command received from the controller control unit 217 is a normal command.

When the command control unit 229 completes the command analysis process, it obtains a positive result in the following step SP7 and proceeds to step SP8, where it sends the command to the engine control unit 227 of the engine FW 225 via the command transfer device driver. Note that if the command control unit 229 analyzes the command sent from the controller control unit 217 and finds that the command does not match the expected configuration (i.e., is not a normal command), it does not send the command to the engine control unit 227, and waits, for example, for the controller control unit 217 to resend the command.

In step SP9, the controller control unit 217 starts transferring image data to the relay FW 228. Here, the print control unit 230 of the relay FW 228 receives image data from the controller control unit 217 via the command transfer device driver and writes the image data to an area of RAM 224 used by the relay FW 228. Note that this step SP9 is performed in parallel with the above-mentioned step SP5 (transfer of the command).

In the following step SP10, the print control unit 230 of the relay FW 228 reads the image data from RAM 224, and in the following step SP11, transmits it to the engine control unit 227 of the engine FW 225 via the image data transfer device driver. The engine control unit 227 writes the image data received from the print control unit 230 to an area of RAM 224 used by the engine FW 225. Once the image data writing is complete, in the following step SP13, where the engine control unit 227 obtains a positive result in the following step SP12, it reads the image data from RAM 224 based on the command received from the command control unit 229 and transfers the image data to the print head 226.

In the following step SP14, the print head 226 begins printing based on the image data transferred from the engine control unit 227. When the print head 226 completes printing, a positive result is obtained in the following step SP15, and the series of operations when printing by the image forming system 1 ends. The overall flow of operations when printing by the image forming system 1 is as described above.

[1-3. Summary and Effects]
As explained so far, in the first embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 is provided with a controller control unit 217 that acquires image data, an engine control unit 227 that performs print processing, and a protocol unit 231 (a command control unit 229 and a print control unit 230) that serves as a relay unit that relays between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227. The protocol unit 231 receives image data and commands from the controller control unit 217 via input/output ports 240 ₁ to 240 _n that serve as first input/output units that can communicate with the controller control unit 217, and transmits the received image data and commands to the engine control unit 227 via input/output ports 241 ₁ to 241 _n that serve as second input/output units that can communicate with the engine control unit 227. The engine control unit 227 then performs print processing based on the image data and commands received via the protocol unit 231.

In this way, in the image forming device 200, the controller control unit 217 and engine control unit 227, which have different hardware specifications, can communicate via the protocol unit 231. In this way, in the image forming device 200, the controller control unit 217 and engine control unit 227, which have different hardware specifications, can communicate with each other.

For this reason, in the image forming device 200, by implementing a protocol unit 231 on the engine board 220 side, it becomes possible to exchange image data and commands between the engine board 220 and, for example, a controller board 210 manufactured by a manufacturer different from that of the engine board 220.

In this embodiment, the protocol unit 231 acting as a relay unit is implemented on the engine board 220 side, but this is not limiting; the protocol unit 231 may also be implemented on the controller board 210 side.

2. Second embodiment
Next, a second embodiment will be described. This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus 200. Therefore, the configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus 200 will be mainly described here. Note that, to distinguish it from the first embodiment, the image forming system 1 of the second embodiment will be referred to as image forming system 1x, and the image forming apparatus 200 will be referred to as image forming apparatus 200x.

[2-1. Configuration of Image Forming System]
Fig. 4 shows the configuration of an image forming system 1x according to the second embodiment. In Fig. 4, the same components as those in the image forming system 1 of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown in Figure 4, image forming system 1x is composed of host PC 100 and image forming device 200x. Image forming device 200x of the second embodiment is configured by adding a sleep recovery condition signal line 300 that directly connects CPU 211 on the controller board 210 side (i.e., CPU 211 that executes controller FW 216) to CPU 221 on the engine board 220 side (i.e., CPU 221 that executes engine FW 225) to image forming device 200 of the first embodiment. Since the configuration other than sleep recovery condition signal line 300 is the same between image forming device 200x and image forming device 200, detailed description will be omitted.

Note that in Figure 4, a fixing unit 301 is connected to the engine board 220 of image forming apparatus 200x, but this fixing unit 301 is omitted in Figure 1. In other words, the fixing unit 301 is provided in both image forming apparatus 200 and image forming apparatus 200x. This fixing unit 301 is controlled by the engine control unit 227, and is a device that fixes an image to a medium by applying pressure and heat to the medium onto which an image has been transferred by the printing process using the print head 226.

The newly added sleep recovery condition signal line 300 in the image forming device 200x is a single signal line for notifying the sleep recovery condition signal, which is expressed as HIGH or LOW, from the controller FW 216 to the engine FW 225, and cannot send or receive information such as image data or commands.

When this sleep recovery condition signal is set to LOW, image forming device 200x performs mechanical initialization (warming up) of fuser unit 301 upon startup (i.e., upon recovery from sleep). On the other hand, when this sleep recovery condition signal is set to HIGH, image forming device 200x does not perform mechanical initialization (warming up) of fuser unit 301 upon startup (upon recovery from sleep). The configuration of image forming system 1x is as described above.

Here, we will briefly explain the mechanical initials mentioned above. Mechanical initials are the initial operations that are performed when the image forming device 200x is turned on or when the device cover (not shown) is opened or closed. Specifically, these mechanical initials are performed to determine whether the image forming device 200x is in a state where it can print by detecting whether sensors or motors (not shown) controlled by engine FW 225 are malfunctioning, whether consumables need to be replaced, or whether non-genuine products are being used.

Mechanical initial (warming-up) is one of the operations included in mechanical initial, and is an operation to heat the temperature of the fixing unit 301 to the standby temperature.

In other words, in the image forming device 200x, when the sleep recovery condition signal is set to LOW, mechanical initial (warming-up) operation, which heats the temperature of the fixing unit 301 to the standby temperature, is performed, and when the sleep recovery condition signal is set to HIGH, mechanical initial (warming-up) operation, which heats the temperature of the fixing unit 301 to the standby temperature, is not performed.

Specifically, if the sleep return condition signal is LOW when the image forming apparatus 200x is started, the engine control unit 227 will start mechanical initializing (warming up) when the engine is started (i.e., when current is supplied to the engine board 220 and the CPUs 221 and 222 are started), and if the sleep return condition signal is HIGH, the engine control unit 227 will not start mechanical initializing (warming up) when the engine is started.

[2-2. Operation Procedures for Image Forming Apparatus Returning from Sleep Mode]
Next, the operation procedure of the image forming apparatus 200x when returning from a sleep state will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step SP21 shown in FIG. 5, the image forming device 200x starts up. If the sleep recovery condition signal is set to LOW, the process proceeds to the following steps SP22 and SP23, where the power-saving operation unit (not shown) starts up the controller (i.e., the CPU 211, which executes the controller FW 216). In the following step SP24, the CPU 211 starts the recovery process for the controller FW 216.

Immediately after the controller FW 216 starts its recovery process, in the following step SP25, the engine is started by a power-saving operation unit (not shown) (i.e., current is supplied to the engine board 220, and the CPUs 221 and 222 are started). In the following step SP26, the engine control unit 227 starts mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 because the sleep recovery condition signal is set to LOW.

Also, in parallel with steps SP25 and SP26, in step SP27, the CPU 222 starts recovery processing for the relay FW 228. Here, the recovery processing for the controller FW 216 is suspended from the start to the end of the recovery processing for the relay FW 228. When the recovery processing for the relay FW 228 is completed, in the following step SP28, the recovery processing for the controller FW 216 is resumed, and transmission and reception of commands between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227 begins via the relay FW 228.

In the following step SP34, the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is completed, thereby completing the series of operations performed by the image forming device 200x when it recovers from sleep mode.

On the other hand, if the sleep recovery condition signal is set to HIGH, the process proceeds from step SP22 to step SP29, where the controller is started by a power-saving operation unit (not shown), and in the following step SP30, the CPU 211 starts the recovery process of the controller FW 216.

Immediately after the controller FW 216 starts its recovery process, in the following step SP31, the engine is started by a power-saving operation unit (not shown). At this time, the engine control unit 227 does not perform mechanical initialization (warm-up) of the fixing unit 301 because the sleep recovery condition signal is set to HIGH.

Also, in parallel with step SP31, in step SP32, the CPU 222 starts recovery processing for the relay FW 228. Here, the recovery processing for the controller FW 216 is suspended from the start to the end of the recovery processing for the relay FW 228. When the recovery processing for the relay FW 228 is completed, in the following step SP33, the recovery processing for the controller FW 216 is resumed, and transmission and reception of commands between the controller control unit 217 and the engine control unit 227 begins via the relay FW 228.

In the following step SP34, the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is completed, thereby completing the series of operations performed by the image forming apparatus 200x when it returns from sleep mode. The operational procedure performed by the image forming apparatus 200x when it returns from sleep mode is as described above.

Figure 6 shows a timing chart of the operation of image forming device 200x when waking up from sleep mode. Note that Figure 6 is a timing chart when the sleep recovery condition signal is set to LOW.

As shown in the timing chart in Figure 6, first, at time t0, the image forming device 200x starts up and the recovery process of the controller FW 216 begins. Then, at time t1, the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is interrupted, the engine is started, and the recovery process of the relay FW 228 begins, and the engine control unit 227 starts mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301. Note that it takes about one second for the entire engine to start up.

After that, at time t2, when the recovery process of the relay FW 228 is completed, the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is resumed, and the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is completed at time t3. Here, the mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 is completed before the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is completed. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 200x as a whole returns from sleep mode at time t3 when the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is completed.

Next, for comparison, Figure 7 shows a timing chart of the operation when the image forming apparatus 200 (Figure 1) of the first embodiment resumes from sleep mode. Since the image forming apparatus 200 does not have the sleep mode resume condition signal line 300, after the resume process of the relay FW 228 is completed, a command to start mechanical initialization (warm-up) of the fixing unit 301 is sent from the controller control unit 217 to the engine control unit 227 via the relay FW 228.

In this case, as shown in the timing chart of Figure 7, first, at time t0, the image forming apparatus 200 starts up and the recovery process of the controller FW 216 begins. Then, at time t1, the recovery process of the controller FW 216 is interrupted, the engine is started up, and the recovery process of the relay FW 228 begins. At this point, the engine control unit 227 cannot determine whether mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 should be performed. For this reason, mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 does not begin at this point.

After that, at time t2, the recovery process of the relay FW 228 ends, and the recovery process of the controller FW 216 resumes. At this point, a command to start mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 is sent from the controller control unit 217 to the engine control unit 227 via the relay FW 228, and the mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 begins.

Then, at time t3, the recovery process of the controller FW 216 ends. However, because the image forming apparatus 200 starts mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 later than the image forming apparatus 200x, the mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 has not yet finished at this point, and finally ends at time t4, which is later than time t3. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 200 as a whole recovers from sleep mode at time t4, when the mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 has finished.

As is clear from the timing charts in Figures 6 and 7, in the image forming device 200x of the second embodiment, when the engine is started, mechanical initialization (warming up) of the fixing unit 301 can be performed in parallel with the recovery process of the relay FW 228, so the time required to recover from sleep (referred to as the sleep recovery time) can be significantly reduced compared to the image forming device 200.

In this embodiment, when the image forming device 200x returns from sleep mode, the recovery time is shortened by performing mechanical initialization (warming up) of the fixing unit 301 in parallel with the recovery process of the relay FW 228. However, this is not limited to this. For example, when the image forming device 200x is powered on, it is also possible to shorten the startup time by performing mechanical initialization (warming up) of the fixing unit 301 in parallel with the startup process of the relay FW 228.

[2-3. Procedure for setting the sleep return condition signal]
Next, a procedure for setting the sleep return condition signal by the user will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step SP41 shown in FIG. 8, the user starts up the image forming device 200x. In the following step SP42, the user operates a panel serving as an operation unit (not shown) of the image forming device 200x to set up warm-up for startup.

If the user sets this warm-up setting to perform mechanical initialization (warm-up) at startup, the process proceeds from step SP43 to step SP44, where the controller control unit 216 of the image forming device 200x sets the sleep recovery condition signal for the next startup to LOW. In the following step SP46, the controller control unit 216 saves the setting information indicating the setting of the sleep recovery condition signal, for example, by storing it in non-volatile memory (not shown) provided in the image forming device 200x, and ends the operation of setting the sleep recovery condition signal.

On the other hand, if the user specifies in the warm-up setting that mechanical initialization (warm-up) is not to be performed at startup, the process proceeds from step SP43 to step SP45, where the controller control unit 216 of the image forming device 200x sets the sleep recovery condition signal for the next startup to HIGH. In the following step SP46, the controller control unit 216 saves the setting information for the sleep recovery condition signal, for example, by storing it in non-volatile memory (not shown), and ends the operation of setting the sleep recovery condition signal.

Then, the next time the controller control unit 216 is started up, it reads the setting information for the sleep return condition signal from non-volatile memory (not shown) and sets the sleep return condition signal based on that setting information.

In this way, with image forming apparatus 200x, the user can select whether or not to perform mechanical initialization (warm-up) of the fixing unit 301 at startup by configuring the warm-up settings at startup.

[2-4. Summary and Effects]
As described above, in the second embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200x having a sleep function is provided with a sleep recovery condition signal line 300 for transmitting a sleep recovery condition signal, which is a binary signal having a first value of HIGH or a second value of LOW, from the controller control unit 217 to the engine control unit 227. In the image forming apparatus 200x, upon recovery from sleep, the controller control unit 217 notifies the engine control unit 227 of the sleep recovery condition signal, and if the sleep recovery condition signal is LOW, the engine control unit 227 performs mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 in parallel with recovery processing of the relay FW 228 (i.e., recovery processing of the protocol unit 231).

In this way, in the image forming device 200x, before the recovery process of the relay FW 228 is completed, the controller control unit 217 can notify the engine control unit 227 of the sleep recovery condition signal via the sleep recovery condition signal line 300, causing the engine control unit 227 to start mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301.

As a result, after the recovery process of the relay FW 228 is completed, the image forming device 200x can significantly reduce the recovery time from sleep compared to when the engine control unit 227 performs mechanical initialization (warming up) of the fixing unit 301 by notifying the engine control unit 227 from the controller control unit 217 via the relay FW 228 of a command to perform mechanical initialization (warming up) of the fixing unit 301.

Furthermore, since the sleep recovery condition signal is a binary signal that is either HIGH or LOW, it is only necessary to connect the CPU 211 that runs the controller control unit 217 and the CPU 221 that runs the engine control unit 227 with a single signal line that can transmit binary signals, which has the advantage that a relay unit such as the relay FW 228 is not required.

Furthermore, the image forming device 200x allows the user to select whether or not to perform mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 at startup, so it is also possible to set the device not to perform mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fixing unit 301 at startup.

In this embodiment, when the sleep recovery condition signal is LOW, the engine control unit 227 performs an operation to heat the fixing unit 301 to the standby temperature as a warm-up for the printing process. However, this is not limited to this, and other operations included in the warm-up for the printing process may be performed in parallel with the operation to heat the fixing unit 301.

3. Other Embodiments
[3-1. Other embodiment 1]
In the first embodiment described above, the print control unit 230 and the engine control unit 227 use separate areas on the RAM 224, allowing the print control unit 230 and the engine control unit 227 to share the RAM 224. However, this is not limiting, and for example, the RAM used by the print control unit 230 and the RAM used by the engine control unit 227 may be separately implemented on the engine board 220. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[3-2. Other embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment described above, the CPU 222 that executes the relay FW 228 is provided on the engine board 220 side, but the CPU 222 that executes the relay FW 228 may be provided on the controller board 210 side, or a relay board may be provided separately from the controller board 210 and the engine board 220, and the CPU 222 that executes the relay FW 228 may be provided on the relay board. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[3-3. Other embodiment 3]
Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, the user can operate a panel on the image forming apparatus 200x to set whether or not to perform mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fuser unit 301 at startup (i.e., whether to set the sleep recovery condition signal to HIGH or LOW). This is not a limitation, but for example, the user may be able to set whether or not to perform mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fuser unit 301 at startup on a setting screen of a printer driver installed on the host PC 100. Furthermore, this is not a limitation, but for example, a setting page provided by the image forming apparatus 200x via a network may be displayed on a web browser installed on the host PC 100, and the user may be able to set whether or not to perform mechanical initialization (warming-up) of the fuser unit 301 at startup on the setting page.

[3-4. Other embodiment 4]
Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments described above, the controller FW 216, the engine FW 225, and the relay FW 228 are not activated in the sleep mode, but this is not limiting, and among these, the controller FW 216 may be activated in the sleep mode.

[3-5. Other embodiment 5]
Furthermore, in each of the above-described embodiments, the present invention is applied to an image forming system 1 (1x) configured with the Host PC 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 (200x), but it can also be applied to an image forming system that uses a smartphone, a tablet, or the like instead of the Host PC 100. In addition, the image forming apparatus 200 (200x) included in the image forming system 1 (1x) can be a printer, a copier, a facsimile, a multifunction machine, or the like.

[3-6. Other embodiment 6]
Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the scope of application of the present invention extends to embodiments in which some or all of the above-described embodiments are combined in any manner, or embodiments in which only some of the embodiments are extracted.

The present invention can be widely used, for example, in image forming devices equipped with a controller control unit and an engine control unit.

1, 1x...Image forming system, 100...Host PC, 200, 200x...Image forming device, 210...Controller board, 211...CPU, 214...USB I/F section, 215...Network I/F section, 216...Controller FW, 217...Controller control section, 220...Engine board, 221, 222...CPU, 225...Engine FW, 226...Print head, 227...Engine control section, 228...Relay FW, 229...Command control section, 230...Print control section, 231...Protocol section, 240, 241...Input/output port, 300...Sleep recovery condition signal line, 301...Fuser unit.

Claims (5)

a controller control unit that acquires image data;
an engine control unit that performs printing processing;
a relay unit that relays between the controller control unit and the engine control unit ;
a sleep recovery condition signal line for notifying a sleep recovery condition signal indicating a first value or a second value from the controller control unit to the engine control unit;
An image forming apparatus having a sleep function,
the relay unit receives the image data and the command from the controller control unit via a first input/output unit capable of communicating with the controller control unit, and transmits the received image data and the command to the engine control unit via a second input/output unit capable of communicating with the engine control unit;
The engine control unit
performing the printing process based on the image data and the command received via the relay unit;
When returning from sleep, if the sleep return condition signal notified from the controller control unit indicates the first value, the engine control unit does not perform warm-up for the printing process, and if the sleep return condition signal indicates the second value, the engine control unit performs the warm-up in parallel with the return process of the relay unit.
An image forming apparatus characterized by: The warm-up includes:
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operation is to heat the temperature of the fixing unit to a predetermined temperature. The relay unit is
a command control unit that receives the command from the controller control unit via the first input/output unit and transmits the received command to the engine control unit via the second input/output unit;
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a print control unit that receives the image data from the controller control unit via the first input/output unit and transmits the received image data to the engine control unit via the second input/output unit. The command control unit
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein if the command received from the controller control unit is not a normal command, the command is not sent to the engine control unit. a controller board on which the controller control unit is mounted;
an engine board on which the engine control unit is mounted,
The relay unit is
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller board is mounted on one of the controller board and the engine board.