JP2001209514A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a printing system capable of efficiently canceling a power saving mode and printing, and consequently reducing overall power consumption. A printer having a standby function in a power saving mode for reducing power consumption by lowering a fixing temperature or turning off a fixing heater, a function of sending print data to a controller of the printer and performing printing. In a printing system including a plurality of host devices 112 and 114 having a function of detecting that the printer is in the power saving mode, the print data or the power saving mode is transmitted to the printer controller 100 during the power saving mode. A function that does not transmit a release request is provided in the host devices 112 and 114.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly to a printing system capable of effectively operating a power saving mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus provided with a power saving mode for suppressing power consumption by turning off a fixing heater or the like during standby and setting a low fixing temperature, if the power saving mode is frequently canceled, the power consumption becomes extremely low. There is a possibility that the effect of reducing the pressure may decrease. In particular, when the image forming apparatus is connected to a plurality of host devices and a print request is issued independently from these host devices, the power saving mode is easily released frequently, and the effect of the power saving mode is reduced. I will.

[0003]

As described above, in a conventional printing system having a power saving mode, when a plurality of users make a print request, the power saving mode is frequently canceled and the power saving mode is set. As a result, there is a problem that the power saving effect does not work effectively due to the shortened time. The present invention solves this problem in a relatively simple manner, and realizes a printing system capable of efficiently canceling the power saving mode and printing, and consequently reducing the overall power consumption. Make it an issue.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus having a standby function in a power saving mode for reducing power consumption by lowering a fixing temperature or turning off a fixing heater. A printing system comprising: a plurality of host devices having a function of sending print data to the image forming apparatus to perform printing and a function of detecting the power saving mode state of the image forming apparatus. In the power-saving mode, there is provided a data transmission stop means for stopping transmission of print data or a power-saving mode release request to the image forming apparatus. This allows
By using a relatively simple method, the power saving mode can be efficiently released and printing can be performed, and as a result, a printing system that can reduce overall power consumption can be realized.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a printing system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a controller 100 of the printing system. In FIG.
Is a CPU that controls the entire controller 100 according to a program in the program ROM 104, a mode instruction from the panel device, and a command from the host device. Reference numeral 102 denotes an IC card that supplies font data and programs from the outside.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a nonvolatile storage device for storing the contents of a mode instruction from the panel device, etc.
It is composed of a RAM. Reference numeral 104 denotes a program R in which a control program of the controller 100 is stored.
OM. Reference numeral 105 denotes a font ROM for storing font pattern data and the like.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a RAM used as a work memory of the CPU 101, an input buffer for input data, a page buffer for print data, a memory for download fonts, and the like. Reference numeral 107 denotes an engine interface that communicates commands, statuses, and print data with the engine 108. Reference numeral 108
Is a print engine that actually performs printing.

Reference numeral 109 denotes a panel interface for communicating commands and status with the panel device 110. Reference numeral 110 denotes a panel device for notifying the user of the current state of the printer (image forming apparatus) and for giving a mode instruction.

Reference numerals 111 and 113 denote host interfaces for communicating with the host device 112 and the host device 114, respectively.
S232C, but other than that, Ether Net
Or a host such as Local Talk. Reference numeral 112 and reference numeral 114
Is a host device, which is a host device of the printer. The number of host devices and corresponding host interfaces is not limited to two, and actually more connections are possible. Here, two host devices are shown as two representative devices.

The operation of the printing system will be described with reference to FIG. When a print output operation is performed by the host device 112 or 114, the host interface 111 or 1
The status of the printer is obtained via the printer 13. As a result, if the printer is in the power saving mode, no printout is performed.
The printer status can be obtained by the host interface 111 or 113 by using the centro bidirectional (IEEE128).
4), and can be obtained by performing two-way communication with many currently available connection means such as a network connection.

In this case, the host device 112 or 114
Is a method of saving print data that has not been printed out to a file or a spooler waiting for output, and periodically acquiring the status of the printer via the host interface 111 or 113, or obtaining a notification from the printer. When the printer detects that the printer has returned to the normal state from the power saving mode, the printer sends the saved print data to the printer.

When the host device 112 or 114 performs a print output operation, the host device 112 or 114 determines whether to perform printing immediately or when the power saving mode is released.
It is also possible to specify on the side. In this case, the print output operation is performed after the designation. If printing is specified immediately, print data is sent to the printer even when the printer is in the power saving mode, and a print request is made. If the designation is made when the power saving mode is canceled, the print data is saved to the output waiting spooler.

When the print data is saved by the output waiting spooler, when it is detected that the printer has returned from the power saving mode to the normal state, the saved print data is sent to the printer and printing is performed. However, it is also possible to adopt a method of automatically sending out print data and executing printing even when the printer is in the power saving mode after a predetermined time has elapsed since the print data was saved. For example, if a request for printing data required at 13:00 is made at 10:00, the power saving mode of the printer is not canceled until 13:00, and the necessary printing is not performed until 13:00. Is a problem. in this case,
At the time of a print request, the power saving mode return waiting time is set to 2 hours, and after 2 hours, print output is started regardless of the power saving mode.

Similarly, instead of setting the power saving mode waiting time, a method of designating a print start time or a print start time zone can be used. When requesting printing of materials at 10 o'clock,
If a time zone from 12:00 to 13:00 is set, print output is started when the time zone is reached, regardless of the power saving mode. By the way, when a large number of host devices are waiting for the release of the power saving mode, a problem that printing is excessively concentrated at a specific time easily occurs. Of course,
Problems such as running out of paper are likely to occur. Therefore, if the time zone setting is divided into, for example, a host device having a time zone of 12:00 to 13:00 and a host device having a time zone of 11:00 to 12:00, the concentration of printing can be dispersed.

As described above, in the printing system of the present invention, printing is not immediately performed even if a print request is received from the host device while the printer is in the power saving mode, and when the power saving mode is canceled or after a predetermined time, Alternatively, since the printing is restarted at a predetermined time, the power saving mode is not frequently released, and the power saving effect can be effectively exerted. In the above description, the print data is stored in the spooler of the host device. However, the print data can be stored in the spooler provided in the printer.

[0017]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention is:
An image forming apparatus that has a standby function in a power saving mode that reduces power consumption by lowering the fixing temperature or turning off the fixing heater, and a function and image that sends print data to the image forming apparatus to perform printing. A printing system comprising: a plurality of host devices having a function of detecting a state of a power saving mode of a forming apparatus, wherein print data or a power saving mode release request is transmitted to an image forming apparatus during a power saving mode. And a data transmission stopping means for stopping the data transmission. Thus, the number of times of canceling the power saving mode is reduced and the period of the power saving mode is extended, so that the power saving effect can be enhanced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data transmission stop function selecting means for selecting execution of stop of transmission of print data or a power saving mode release request by the data transmission stopping means in the power saving mode. As a result, printing priority and power saving mode can be selected as necessary, so that the power saving mode can be easily used properly, and the power saving effect is improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a spool unit for spooling the print data not sent by the data sending stop unit. Thereby, printing and power saving can be performed efficiently, and the power saving effect is also improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a first data resending means for sending the print data spooled to the spool means when detecting the state of returning from the power saving mode to the normal state. Thereby, printing can be executed collectively, and the average time of the power saving mode can be extended, so that the power saving effect can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a second data retransmitting means for sending out the spooled print data to the spooling means when an arbitrarily specifiable time has elapsed after the spooling means spooled the print data. It is characterized by having. Accordingly, printing can be performed after a predetermined time, the average time in the power saving mode can be increased to improve the power saving effect, and a printing result can be obtained by a required time.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a third data retransmitting means for transmitting spooled print data to the spooling means at a time or time zone which can be arbitrarily designated after the spooling means spools the printing data. It is characterized by having. Accordingly, printing can be performed at a predetermined time, the average time in the power saving mode can be increased to improve the power saving effect, and a print result can be obtained by a required time.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to classify a designated time or time zone in which the third data resending means resends print data into several groups for each host device. As a result, printing can be performed at a predetermined time, the power saving effect can be improved by extending the average time of the power saving mode, and concentration of printing can be avoided, trouble occurrence is reduced, and power consumption is dispersed. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a controller of a printing system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 controller 101 CPU 102 IC card 103 nonvolatile storage device 104 program ROM 105 font ROM 106 RAM 107 engine interface 108 print engine 109 panel interface 110 panel device 111, 113 host interface 112, 114 host device

Claims (7)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus having a standby function in a power saving mode for reducing power consumption by lowering a fixing temperature or turning off a fixing heater, and sending print data to the image forming apparatus for printing. And a plurality of host devices having a function of detecting the state of the power saving mode of the image forming apparatus, wherein during the power saving mode, And a data transmission stopping means for stopping transmission of print data or a power saving mode release request. 2. A data transmission stop function selection means for selecting execution of stop of transmission of print data or a power saving mode release request by the data transmission stop means in the power saving mode. Printing system. 3. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a spool unit for spooling print data not sent by the data sending stop unit. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first data retransmitting unit for transmitting the print data spooled to the spooling unit when detecting a state of returning from the power saving mode to a normal state. Printing system. 5. A second data re-sending means for sending the spooled print data to the spool means when a configurable time has elapsed after the spool means spooled the print data. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein: 6. A third data re-sending means for sending print data spooled to said spool means at a time or time zone which can be arbitrarily designated after said spool means spools print data. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The host device according to claim 6, wherein the third data resending means can designate printable times or time zones at which resending of print data can be designated for each of the host devices. Printing system.