IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, POWER CONTROL METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM
First Claim
1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal having a voltage waveform with a positive or negative peak based on a certain level of offset voltage, depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a person;
a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the lens being configured to form a detecting area serving for detecting if the person enters, the detecting area extending outside of the human body detecting device itself in front of the image forming apparatus;
a peak detector being configured to detect a peak of an output signal produced by the human body sensor when the person enters the detecting area;
an offset voltage judgment portion being configured to judge if the output signal falls to the offset voltage after the peak detected by the peak detector;
a moving direction judgment portion being configured to judge the direction in which the person moves in the detecting area, on the basis of the peak value of the peak detected by the peak detector and the judgment result obtained by the offset voltage judgment portion; and
a mode controller being capable of switching a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each portion of the image forming apparatus, between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the mode controller being configured to switch the power supply mode to the first operation mode if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while the moving direction judgment portion judges that the person moves toward the image forming apparatus.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An image forming apparatus comprises: a piezoelectric sensor that produces an variable output signal depending on the amount of infrared energy; a human body detecting device having a lens that forms a detecting area serving for detecting if the person enters; a peak detector that detects a peak of an output signal produced when the person enters the detecting area; an offset voltage judgment portion that judges if the output signal falls to the offset voltage after the peak; a moving direction judgment portion that judges the direction in which the person moves in the detecting area; and a mode controller that switches the power supply mode to a first mode if the power supply mode is found to be a second mode requiring less power than the first mode while the moving direction judgment portion judges that the person moves toward the image forming apparatus.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal having a voltage waveform with a positive or negative peak based on a certain level of offset voltage, depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a person; a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the lens being configured to form a detecting area serving for detecting if the person enters, the detecting area extending outside of the human body detecting device itself in front of the image forming apparatus; a peak detector being configured to detect a peak of an output signal produced by the human body sensor when the person enters the detecting area; an offset voltage judgment portion being configured to judge if the output signal falls to the offset voltage after the peak detected by the peak detector; a moving direction judgment portion being configured to judge the direction in which the person moves in the detecting area, on the basis of the peak value of the peak detected by the peak detector and the judgment result obtained by the offset voltage judgment portion; and a mode controller being capable of switching a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each portion of the image forming apparatus, between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the mode controller being configured to switch the power supply mode to the first operation mode if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while the moving direction judgment portion judges that the person moves toward the image forming apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a user; a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a fly-eye lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the fly-eye lens being configured to condense infrared light, the fly-eye lens consisting of a plurality of single lenses each being configured to form; a first detecting area serving for detecting if the user gets close to the human body detecting device itself, the first detecting area being positioned outside of the human body detecting device itself and near and in front of the image forming apparatus; a second detecting area serving for detecting if the user gets very close to the human body detecting device to take any action, the second detecting area being positioned outside of the human body detecting device itself and very near and in front of the image forming apparatus; and a non-detecting area not serving for detecting infrared energy, the non-detecting area being sandwiched in between the first and second detecting areas; a non-detecting time detector being configured to detect a non-detecting time if the human body sensor produces a low level of output signal corresponding to the presence of the non-detecting area after an output signal corresponding to the presence of the first detecting area; an entry judgment portion being configured to judge if the user, who is in the first detecting area, enters the second detecting area by moving a part of the user'"'"'s body forward over the non-detecting area, on the basis of either one of both of the magnitude and the frequency of an output signal produced after the non-detecting time; and a power controller being capable of switching a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each portion of the image forming apparatus, between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the power controller being configured to switch the power supply mode to the first operation mode, if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while the entry judgment portion judges that the user enters the second detecting area by moving a part of the user'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An power control method to be implemented by an image forming apparatus comprising:
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a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal having a voltage waveform of a positive or negative peak based on a certain level of offset voltage, depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a person; and a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the lens being configured to form a detecting area serving for detecting if the person enters, the detecting area extending outside of the human body detecting device itself in front of the image forming apparatus; the power control method comprising; detecting a peak of an output signal produced by the human body sensor when the person enters the detecting area; judging if the output signal falls to the offset voltage after the peak detected by the peak detector; and judging the direction in which the person moves in the detecting area, on the basis of the peak value of the peak and the result of the judgment on the output signal, wherein a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each portion of the image forming apparatus can be switched between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the power control method further comprising switching the power supply mode to the first operation mode if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while it is judged that the person moves toward the image forming apparatus.
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21. A power control method to be implemented by an image forming apparatus comprising:
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a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a user; and a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a fly-eye lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the fly-eye lens being configured to condense infrared light, the fly-eye lens consisting of a plurality of single lenses each being configured to form; a first detecting area serving for detecting if the user gets close to the human body detecting device itself, the first detecting area being positioned outside of the human body detecting device itself and near and in front of the image forming apparatus; a second detecting area serving for detecting if the person gets very close to the human body detecting device to take any action, the second detecting area being positioned outside of the human body detecting device itself and very near and in front of the image forming apparatus; and a non-detecting area not serving for detecting infrared energy, the non-detecting area being sandwiched in between the first and second detecting areas, the power control method comprising; detecting a non-detecting time if the human body sensor produces a low level of output signal corresponding to the presence of the non-detecting area after an output signal corresponding to the presence of the first detecting area; and judging if the user, who is in the first detecting area, enters the second detecting area by moving a part of the user'"'"'s body forward over the non-detecting area, on the basis of either one of both of the magnitude and the frequency of an output signal produced after the non-detecting time, wherein a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each portion of the image forming apparatus can be switched between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the power control method further comprising switching the power supply mode to the first operation mode if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while it is judged that the user enters the second detecting area by moving a part of the user'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a power control program for making a computer of an image forming apparatus execute processing,
the image forming apparatus comprising: -
a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal having a voltage waveform of a positive or negative peak based on a certain level of offset voltage, depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a person; and a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the lens being configured to form a detecting area serving for detecting if the person enters, the detecting area extending outside of the human body detecting device itself in front of the image forming apparatus; the power control program comprising; detecting a peak of an output signal produced by the human body sensor when the person enters the detecting area; judging if the output signal falls to the offset voltage after the peak; and
judging the direction in which the person moves in the detecting area, on the basis of the peak value of the peak and the result of the judgment on the offset voltage,wherein a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each portion of the image forming apparatus can be switched between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the power control program further comprising switching the power supply mode to the first operation mode if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while it is judged that the person moves toward the image forming apparatus.
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24. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a power control program for making a computer of an image forming apparatus execute processing,
the image forming apparatus comprising: -
a piezoelectric human body sensor being configured to produce a variable output signal depending on the amount of infrared energy emitted by a user; and a human body detecting device having the human body sensor and a fly-eye lens being positioned to cover the human body sensor, the fly-eye lens being configured to condense infrared light, the fly-eye lens consisting of a plurality of single lenses each being configured to form; a first detecting area serving for detecting if the user gets close to the human body detecting device itself, the first detecting area being positioned outside of the human body detecting device itself and near and in front of the image forming apparatus; a second detecting area serving for detecting if the user gets very close to the human body detecting device to take any action, the second detecting area being positioned outside of the human body detecting device itself and very near and in front of the image forming apparatus; and a non-detecting area not serving for detecting infrared energy, the non-detecting area being sandwiched in between the first and second detecting areas, the power control program comprising; detecting a non-detecting time if the human body sensor produces a low level of output signal corresponding to the presence of the non-detecting area after an output signal corresponding to the presence of the first detecting area; and judging if the user, who is in the first detecting area, enters the second detecting area by moving a part of the user'"'"'s body forward over the non-detecting area, on the basis of either one of both of the magnitude and the frequency of an output signal produced after the non-detecting time, wherein a power supply mode for controlling power supply to each of the image forming apparatus can be switched between a first operation mode and a second operation mode requiring less power than the first operation mode, the power control program further comprising switching the power supply mode to the first operation mode if the power supply mode is found to be the second operation mode while it is judged that the user enters the second detecting area by moving a part of the user'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification