CN115268240A

CN115268240A - Consumable chip, consumable, and image forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN115268240A
Application number: CN202211015062.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张�浩; 宁丹; 李海雄; 程松; 蒋谦; 黄超豪
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-23
Filing date: 2022-08-23
Publication date: 2022-11-01
Also published as: WO2024041094A1

Abstract

The application provides a consumptive material chip, consumptive material and image forming device, the consumptive material chip sets up on the consumptive material, the consumptive material chip includes: a first control unit and a second control unit; when the consumable is installed in the image forming device, the first control unit and the second control unit are electrically connected with the image forming device through the same communication bus; the first control unit is configured to: and controlling the second control unit not to start when the second control unit is determined not to need to communicate with the image forming apparatus. According to the application, the power consumption of the consumable chip can be reduced, and then the power consumption of the image forming device is reduced.

Description

Consumable chip, consumable, and image forming apparatus

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to image forming technologies, and particularly to a consumable chip and an image forming apparatus.

Background

Replaceable consumables, on which consumable chips are generally disposed, are provided in the image forming apparatus. Can save data such as production date, attribute, the surplus of printing material of consumptive material in the consumptive material chip, for the safety in utilization of consumptive material, can also save the safety certification data of consumptive material in the consumptive material chip.

When the consumable is mounted in the image forming apparatus, a consumable chip on the consumable may be electrically connected with the image forming apparatus. The image forming device supplies power to the consumable chip and performs data interaction with the consumable chip.

The problem to be solved is to reduce the power consumption of the consumable chip and further reduce the power consumption of the image forming apparatus.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a consumptive material chip, consumptive material and image forming device can reduce the consumption of consumptive material chip, and then reduces image forming device's consumption.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a consumable chip, the consumable chip is disposed on a consumable, the consumable chip includes: a first control unit and a second control unit;

when the consumable is installed in the image forming device, the first control unit and the second control unit are electrically connected with the image forming device through the same communication bus;

the first control unit is configured to: controlling the second control unit not to start up when determining that the second control unit does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus.

In the consumable chip, when the first control unit determines that the second control unit does not need to communicate with the image forming device, the second control unit is controlled not to be started, so that the power consumption of the second control unit is reduced, the power consumption of the consumable chip is further reduced, and the power consumption of the image forming device is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the first control unit may be implemented by an MCU, and/or the second control unit may be implemented by an MCU.

In one possible implementation, the first control unit is further configured to: and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device, starting the second control unit.

In one possible implementation, the first control unit is further configured to: and starting the second control unit when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device and the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is not less than a preset first current value.

In the consumable chip, the first control unit determines that the second control unit needs to communicate with the image forming device, and the image forming device is started when the working current provided by the consumable chip is not less than the preset first current value, so that the problem that the consumable chip cannot normally work due to the fact that the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is too low is solved.

In a possible implementation manner, the first control unit is further configured to: and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device and the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset first current value, controlling the second control unit not to be started.

In the consumable chip, the first control unit determines that the second control unit needs to communicate with the image forming device, and when the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value, the second control unit is controlled not to be started, so that the problem that the consumable chip cannot normally work due to too low working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first control unit is further configured to: transmitting a first message to the image forming apparatus, the first message indicating to the image forming apparatus that the second control unit is not activated.

In one possible implementation, the first control unit is further configured to:

determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset first current value or not according to the power-on duration of the first control unit; or,

determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset first current value according to the power-on duration of the first control unit and whether the first control unit establishes communication with the image forming device; or,

and determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset first current value or not according to the power supply state information acquired from the image forming device.

In one possible implementation, the consumable chip further includes:

the current detection unit is used for detecting the current value of the current received by the power supply voltage pin of the consumable chip;

correspondingly, the first control unit is further configured to: and determining whether the current value detected by the current detection unit is smaller than a preset first current value.

In a possible implementation manner, a first control pin of the first control unit is connected to a reset pin of the second control unit;

in order to implement the control that the second control unit is not started, the first control unit is specifically configured to: transmitting a first signal to a reset pin of the second control unit through the first control pin; the first signal is used for controlling the second control unit to be in a reset state;

to implement the starting of the second control unit, the first control unit is specifically configured to: transmitting a second signal to a reset pin of the second control unit through the first control pin; the second signal is used for controlling the second control unit to be in a starting state.

In a possible implementation manner, the power supply voltage pin of the first control unit is connected to the power supply voltage pin of the consumable chip, and the power supply voltage pin of the second control unit is connected to the power supply voltage pin of the consumable chip through a first switch;

a second control pin of the first control unit is connected with the control end of the first switch;

in order to control the second control unit not to start, the first control unit is specifically configured to: outputting a third signal to the control end of the first switch through the second control pin; the third signal is used for controlling the first switch to be switched off;

to implement the starting of the second control unit, the first control unit is specifically configured to: outputting a fourth signal to the control end of the first switch through the second control pin; the fourth signal is used for controlling the first switch to be conducted.

In a possible implementation manner, the ground pin of the first control unit is connected to the ground pin of the consumable chip, and the ground pin of the second control unit is connected to the ground pin of the consumable chip through a second switch;

a third control pin of the first control unit is connected with the control end of the second switch;

in order to control the second control unit not to start, the first control unit is specifically configured to: outputting a fifth signal to the control end of the second switch through the third control pin; the fifth signal is used for controlling the second switch to be switched off;

to implement the starting of the second control unit, the first control unit is specifically configured to: outputting a sixth signal to the control end of the second switch through the third control pin; the sixth signal is used for controlling the second switch to be conducted.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a consumable chip, the consumable chip is disposed on a consumable, the consumable chip includes: a first control unit and a second control unit;

the first control unit is configured to: controlling the second control unit to be in a low power consumption state when it is determined that the second control unit does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus; and when the second control unit is in a low power consumption state, at least one module of the second control unit is in a closed state.

In the consumable chip, when the first control unit determines that the second control unit does not need to communicate with the image forming device, the second control unit is controlled to be in a low power consumption state, so that the power consumption of the second control unit is reduced, the power consumption of the consumable chip is further reduced, and the power consumption of the image forming device is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the first control unit is further configured to: and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device through a first module and the first module is in a closed state, controlling the second control unit to start the first module.

In a possible implementation manner, the first control unit is specifically configured to: and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device through the first module and the first module is in a closed state and the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is not less than a preset second current value, controlling the second control unit to start the first module.

In a possible implementation manner, to implement that the second control unit starts the first module, the first control unit is specifically configured to: and sending a second message to the second control unit, wherein the second message is used for indicating the first control unit to start the first module.

In a possible implementation manner, to implement the sending of the second message to the second control unit, the first control unit is specifically configured to: sending the second message to the second control unit over the communication bus.

In a possible implementation manner, before the sending the second message to the second control unit through the communication bus, the first control unit is further configured to: negotiating with the image forming apparatus through the communication bus to switch the image forming apparatus from a master communication mode to a slave communication mode based on the communication bus; switching the first control unit from a slave communication mode to a master communication mode based on the communication bus.

In one possible implementation, the communication bus is an I2C bus.

In a possible implementation manner, the first control unit is further configured to: determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset second current value or not according to the power-on duration of the first control unit; or,

determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset second current value according to the power-on duration of the first control unit and whether the first control unit establishes communication with the image forming device; or,

and determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset second current value or not according to the power supply state information acquired from the image forming device.

In one possible implementation, the consumable chip further includes:

the current detection unit is used for detecting the current value of the current received by the power supply voltage pin of the consumable chip; the power supply voltage pin is used for receiving the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip;

correspondingly, the first control unit is further configured to: and determining whether the current value detected by the current detection unit is smaller than the preset second current value.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the application provides a consumable comprising the consumable chip of any one of the first or second aspects, a housing, and a developer accommodating portion, wherein the developer accommodating portion is located in the housing for accommodating a developer.

In one possible implementation, the consumable further comprises: a developer conveying member for conveying the developer.

In one possible implementation, the consumable further comprises: a photosensitive drum; a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a consumable, comprising the consumable chip of any one of the first aspect or the second aspect, a photosensitive drum, and a charging roller, wherein the charging roller is used for charging the photosensitive drum.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an image forming apparatus comprising a consumable chip of any one of the first or second aspects, or a consumable of any one of the third or fourth aspects.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1A is a schematic structural diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating a connection relationship between a consumable chip and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a second schematic structural diagram of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a third structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a fourth structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a fifth structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a sixth configuration of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a seventh structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a timing diagram of the image forming apparatus, the first MCU, and the second MCU according to the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments section of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments of the present application only and is not intended to be limiting of the present application.

When the consumable is installed in the image forming apparatus, a consumable chip on the consumable is electrically connected with the image forming apparatus. The image forming device supplies power to the consumable chip and performs data interaction with the consumable chip.

For this reason, this application proposes a consumptive material chip, consumptive material and image forming device, can reduce the consumption of consumptive material chip, and then reduces image forming device's consumption.

The image forming apparatus is used to perform image forming jobs such as generating, printing, receiving, and transmitting image data, and examples of the image forming apparatus include: an inkjet printer, a laser printer, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) printer, a copier, a scanner, or a multifunction Peripheral (MFP) that performs the above functions in a single device.

The image forming apparatus includes an image formation control section for controlling the entire image forming apparatus, and an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet conveyed under the control of the image formation control section based on image data.

The image forming control unit may be a System on Chip (SoC), which is a micro System and is composed of a plurality of System components, configured to control an image forming processing operation of the image forming apparatus, such as processing of linear correction, noise reduction, dead pixel removal, detail enhancement, and the like on image data, so as to improve the quality of image output, and the main controller is further configured to perform processing operations related to data transceiving, command transceiving, and engine control of printing a portrait, such as transceiving data, a print engine control command, status, and the like through an interface unit (including but not limited to a USB port, a wired network port, a wireless network port, or other interfaces).

referring to fig. 1A, as an example of an image forming apparatus, an image forming portion of the image forming apparatus may include: a developer accommodating portion 11, a developing member 12, a developer conveying member 13, a photosensitive member 14, a transferring member 15, a fixing assembly 5 and the like, wherein a paper to be printed moves along a paper feeding direction, sequentially passes through a powder feeding operation of the developer conveying member 13 and a developing operation of the developing member 12, reaches a clamping area between the photosensitive member 14 and the transferring member 15 for transferring, and then passes through the fixing assembly 5 for fixing to complete an image forming operation, wherein the developer accommodating portion 11 is used for accommodating a developer which can be a material such as toner, carbon powder and the like; the developing member 12 includes: a developing roller, etc.; the developer conveying member 13 includes: powder feeding rollers and the like; the photosensitive member 14 includes: a photosensitive drum (OPC), a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum, and the like.

Generally, at least one consumable is detachably installed in the image forming apparatus, and taking the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1A as an example, the image forming apparatus is detachably installed with 4 consumables (the

consumables

1, 2, 3 and 4,4 consumables shown in fig. 1A are respectively used for providing the image forming apparatus with developers of four colors of black K, cyan C, magenta M and yellow Y). The application is mainly applied to scenes that the number of consumables installed in the image forming device is greater than or equal to 2.

The consumable chip is specifically a circuit substrate installed on the consumable, and the circuit substrate includes a control unit and an interface connected with the control unit, and the interface is used for being connected with an interface on the side of the image forming apparatus.

For consumable parts for mounting chips, one way that can be achieved is: the consumable may include only the developer accommodating part 11.

One way that can be achieved is: the consumable is of a split structure, for example: the consumable (1, 2, 3, or 4) includes a developing cartridge and a drum cartridge that are detachable from each other, wherein the developing cartridge includes a housing, a developer accommodating portion 11, a developing part 12, and/or a developer conveying member 13; the drum cartridge includes a photosensitive member 14, i.e., a photosensitive drum and a charging roller.

The developer container 11 is located in the housing and is used for containing developer, the developer conveying element 13 is used for conveying the developer to the developing part 12, and the developing part 12 is used for conveying the developer to the photosensitive drum, wherein the developer conveying element can be a powder conveying roller or other components such as a powder pushing screw rod.

In an implementable manner, the consumable may be the aforementioned developing cartridge.

In an implementable manner, the consumable may be the aforementioned drum cartridge.

One way that can be achieved is: the consumable is of a one-piece structure, for example: the consumable (1, 2, 3, or 4) includes a developer accommodating portion 11, a developing member 12, a developer conveying member 13, a photosensitive member 14, and the like.

It should be noted that the consumable mentioned in this embodiment may also be other components, parts, units, such as a paper cassette, etc., which need to be damaged easily and need to be replaced in the image forming apparatus, and also belongs to the technical solution corresponding to the consumable protected in this application.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing the connection relationship between the consumable chip and the image forming apparatus. Wherein,

the image forming apparatus 100 may include: a processor 101, a memory 102, a power providing module 103, a first communication interface 104, and a first power supply interface 105.

It is to be understood that the image forming apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application does not constitute a specific limitation to the image forming apparatus. In some embodiments, the image forming apparatus may include more or fewer components than the configuration shown in fig. 1B, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

The memory 102 may be used to store computer programs, from which the processor 101 may call and run the computer programs.

The processor 101 may include the SoC for the image formation control section described above, and may further include 1 or more interfaces. The interface may include an integrated circuit (I2C) interface.

The I2C interface is a bidirectional synchronous serial bus including a serial data line (SDA) and a Serial Clock Line (SCL). In some embodiments, processor 101 may include multiple sets of I2C buses.

The first communication interface 104 may be connected with a corresponding interface of the processor 101. For example, if the first communication interface 104 is an I2C interface, the first communication interface 104 may be connected with an I2C interface included by the processor 101.

The power supply module 103 is connected to the processor 101, the memory 102, and the first power supply interface 105. The power supply module 103 may receive power inputs to power the above components.

Alternatively, the power input of the power supply module 103 may be commercial power received by a power plug of the image forming apparatus, for example, 220V ac power, and the power supply module 103 may convert the ac power into dc power required by the processor 101, the memory 102, the first power supply interface 105, and the like, so as to supply power to the above components.

The first communication interface 104 and the first power supply interface 105 may be disposed at a consumable mounting location of the image forming apparatus 100 for coupling consumable chips.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the consumable chip 110 may include: a second communication interface 111, and a second power supply interface 112.

It should be noted that fig. 1B only shows the second communication interface 111 and the second power supply interface 112 of the consumable chip 110 connected to the image forming apparatus 100, so as to illustrate a possible connection relationship between the consumable chip and the image forming apparatus 100, and not to limit a specific implementation structure of the consumable chip. The consumable chip 110 may further include other components such as a control Unit (e.g., a Micro Controller Unit (MCU)), which may specifically refer to the consumable chip provided in the following embodiments of the present application, and details are not described herein.

The consumable chip 110 may be disposed on a consumable of the image forming apparatus 100. When the consumable is mounted at a mounting position provided for the consumable by the image forming apparatus 100, the consumable chip 110 may be coupled with the image forming apparatus 100. In particular, the method comprises the following steps of,

the second communication interface 111 of the consumable chip 110 may be electrically connected with the first communication interface 104 of the image forming apparatus 100, thereby being electrically connected with the processor 101 of the image forming apparatus 100 through the first communication interface 104. In one example, the first communication interface 104 and the second communication interface 111 may be I2C interfaces, respectively.

The second power supply interface 112 of the consumable chip 110 may be electrically connected with the first power supply interface 105 of the image forming apparatus 100, so that the image forming apparatus 100 may supply power to the consumable chip 110 through the first power supply interface 105 and the second power supply interface 112.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment exemplarily illustrates the structure of the consumable chip provided by the present embodiment based on the structure and connection relationship of the image forming apparatus 100 and the consumable chip 110 described above.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 2, the consumable chip may include: a first control unit 210, a second control unit 220; wherein,

the communication interface 211 of the first control unit 210 and the communication interface 221 of the second control unit 220 are respectively connected with the second communication interface of the consumable chip, so that both the first control unit 210 and the second control unit 220 can be connected with the image forming apparatus through the second communication interface, that is, the first control unit 210 and the second control unit 220 can be connected with the image forming apparatus through the same communication bus.

The power supply interface 212 of the first control unit 210 and the power supply interface 222 of the second control unit 220 may be respectively connected to a second power supply interface of the consumable chip, so that the first control unit 210 and the second control unit 220 may obtain power from the second power supply interface to support power-on start of the first control unit 210 and the second control unit 220.

The first control unit 210 may be configured to: when determining that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, starting the second control unit 220; when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the second control unit 220 is controlled not to be activated.

Alternatively, the first control unit 210 directly controls the second control unit not to be activated when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus after power is supplied and activated, thereby reducing power consumption of the second control unit 220.

In one embodiment, the first control unit 210 may be used as a main control MCU for performing data interaction with the image forming apparatus to complete process related to consumable usage.

The second control unit 220 may be a controlled MCU, and perform data processing in cooperation with the image forming apparatus in some processes related to consumable use. For example, the second control unit 220 may be configured to: performing data interaction with an image forming device, and finishing editing operations such as reading and writing of consumable related data by matching with the image forming device; and/or storing safety certification data and carrying out safety certification between the safety certification data and the image forming device so as to ensure the safety of the editing operation of the image forming device on the consumable related data.

Under this functional division, the second control unit 220 only needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus performs editing operation and security authentication of consumable related data with the consumable chip, and other communications are completed by the first control unit 210. Therefore, by the first control unit 210 controlling the second control unit 220 not to be activated when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the power consumption of the second control unit 220 can be reduced, thereby reducing the power consumption of the consumable chip.

In another embodiment provided by the embodiment of the present application, since the consumable chip includes the first control unit 210 and the second control unit 220, under some conditions, for example, during a power-up stage of the image forming apparatus or when the image forming apparatus has too many processing tasks, since the power supply module of the image forming apparatus needs to supply power to too many components in the image forming apparatus, a problem that a working current supplied by the image forming apparatus to the consumable chip cannot meet a normal working requirement of the consumable chip may occur, so that the consumable chip cannot work normally. In accordance with this, the number of the first and second,

in another embodiment provided by the present application, the first control unit 210 may specifically be configured to:

when determining that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, controlling the second control unit 220 not to be activated;

when determining that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus and determining that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than the preset first current value, starting the second control unit 220;

and when determining that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus and determining that the supply current received by the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value, controlling the second control unit 220 not to be started.

Optionally, the first control unit 210 may be further configured to: when determining that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus and determining that the supply current received by the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value, sending a first message to the image forming apparatus, wherein the first message is used for indicating that the second control unit 220 is not started to the image forming apparatus.

An implementation manner in which the first control unit 210 determines whether the operating current received by the consumable chip is less than a preset first current value is exemplarily described.

In one possible implementation manner, since the situation that the image forming apparatus supplies power to the consumable chip insufficiently occurs mostly in the power-on stage and the task busy stage of the image forming apparatus, based on this, it may be determined whether the working current received by the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value based on a scene in which the situation that the image forming apparatus supplies power to the consumable chip insufficiently may occur. For example, in the case of a liquid,

the first control unit 210 determines whether the operating current received by the consumable chip is less than a preset first current value, which may include:

the first control unit 210 determines whether the power-on duration of the first control unit 210 is less than a preset first duration, and if not, determines that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than a preset first current value; if so, determining whether the first control unit 210 establishes communication with the image forming apparatus, if so, determining that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than a preset first current value, and if not, determining that the working current received by the consumable chip is less than the preset first current value;

or,

the first control unit 210 determines whether the power-on duration of the first control unit 210 is less than a preset second duration, if so, determines that the working current received by the consumable chip is less than a preset first current value, and if not, determines that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than the preset first current value;

or,

the first control unit 210 determines, according to the power supply state information acquired from the image forming apparatus, that the working current received by the consumable chip is less than a preset first current value if the power supply state information indicates that the power-on of the image forming apparatus is not complete or the workload of the image forming apparatus is greater than a preset threshold value, and determines that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than the preset first current value if the power supply state information indicates that the power-on of the image forming apparatus is complete and the workload is less than the preset threshold value.

It should be noted that if the image forming apparatus and the first control unit and the second control unit in the consumable chip communicate via the I2C interface, that is, communicate via the I2C bus, the general image forming apparatus defaults to the master communication mode, and the first control unit and the second control unit in the consumable chip are respectively in the slave communication mode, in order to enable the first control unit 210 to obtain the power supply status information from the image forming apparatus, the first control unit 210 may first negotiate with the image forming apparatus to convert the image forming apparatus from the master communication mode to the slave communication mode, and the first control unit 210 may then convert from the slave communication mode to the master communication mode; after the power supply state information is acquired, the first control unit 210 may switch back to the slave communication mode, and the image forming apparatus may switch back to the host communication mode, thereby ensuring normal execution of subsequent processing flows of the image forming apparatus and the first control unit 210.

The values of the first duration and the second duration may be the same or different. Optionally, values of the first duration and the second duration may be determined by referring to an average power-on duration of the image forming apparatus.

In another possible implementation manner, the current detection unit may be directly configured to measure the current value of the operating current received by the consumable chip, that is, the current value of the operating current provided by the image forming apparatus for the consumable chip. The current detection unit may be disposed in the consumable chip or in the image forming apparatus. If the above-described current detection unit is provided in the image forming apparatus, the detected current value may be transmitted to the first control unit 210 by the image forming apparatus through the first communication interface.

Alternatively, the first control unit 210 and the second control unit 220 may be implemented by MCUs, respectively.

In the embodiment of the application, when the first control unit 210 determines that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the second control unit 220 is controlled not to be started, so that the power consumption of the second control unit 220 is reduced, and the power consumption of the consumable chip is reduced; when the first control unit 210 determines that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus and the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than the preset first current value, the second control unit 220 is started, so as to ensure the normal work of the consumable chip; the first control unit 210 determines that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, and controls the second control unit 220 not to be started when the supply current received by the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value, so that the normal operation of the first control unit 210 can be preferentially ensured when the working current received by the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value, and the occurrence probability of the problem that the consumable chip cannot normally operate due to insufficient power supply is reduced.

In the following embodiments of the present application, taking the first control unit and the second control unit as an MCU respectively, and the second communication interface of the consumable chip as an I2C interface, and the second power supply interface includes a power voltage pin and a ground pin, a specific implementation of the consumable chip shown in fig. 2 is exemplarily described.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 3, the consumable chip may include: a first MCU310, a second MCU320; wherein,

the data pin SDA1 of the first MCU310 and the data pin SDA2 of the second MCU320 may be connected to the data pin SDA0 of the consumable chip, respectively, and the clock pin SCL1 of the first MCU310 and the clock pin SCL2 of the second MCU320 may be connected to the clock pin SCL0 of the consumable chip, respectively.

A power supply voltage pin VCC1 of the first MCU310 and a power supply voltage pin VCC2 of the second MCU320 are respectively connected with a power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip; the ground pin GND1 of the first MCU310 and the ground pin GND2 of the second MCU320 are respectively connected to the ground pin GND0 of the consumable chip.

The first control pin C1 of the first MCU310 is connected to the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320. Alternatively, the first control pin C1 may be a General Purpose Input/Output Port (GPIO) pin.

The first MCU310 may be configured to: when determining that the second MCU320 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, outputting a first signal to a RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 through a first control pin C1, the first signal being used to control the second MCU320 to be in a RESET state, i.e., to control the second MCU320 not to be started; when it is determined that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, a second signal for controlling the second MCU320 not to be in a RESET state is output to a RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 through the first control pin C1, so that the second MCU320 can be enabled, that is, the second signal can be used to enable the second MCU320.

Alternatively, if the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 is RESET when receiving a low level signal and is not RESET when receiving a high level signal, the first signal may be a low level signal and the second signal may be a high level signal.

At this time, the operation principle of the consumable chip is briefly described as follows:

the power supply voltage terminal VCC1 of the first MCU310 is directly connected to the power supply voltage terminal VCC0 of the consumable chip, so that when the image forming apparatus starts to supply power to the consumable chip, the first MCU310 is normally powered on and started, the first control pin C1 of the first MCU310 is connected to the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320, and the second MCU320 is not started;

after the first MCU310 is started, when the second MCU320 is determined not to be required to communicate with the image forming device, the second MCU320 is controlled to be in a reset state through the first control pin C1, and the second MCU320 is not started;

when the first MCU310 determines that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the first control pin C1 controls the second MCU320 not to be in a reset state, and the second MCU320 is normally powered on.

Optionally, in order to reduce the problem that the consumable chip cannot normally operate due to insufficient power supply, in another embodiment provided in this application, the first MCU310 may specifically be configured to:

when it is determined that the second MCU320 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, a first signal is output to a RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 through the first control pin C1;

when determining that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming device and the supply current received by the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip is not less than a preset first current value, outputting a second signal to the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 through the first control pin C1;

when determining that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus and the supply current received by the supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip is less than a preset first current value, a first signal is output to the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 through the first control pin C1.

At this time, the operation principle of the consumable chip may refer to the foregoing description, which is not repeated herein.

In the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 3, the first control pin C1 of the first MCU310 is connected to the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320, so as to output different signals to the RESET pin RESET of the second MCU320 to control whether the second MCU320 is in a RESET state, thereby controlling the second MCU320 to be activated or not.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a third structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 4, the consumable chip may include: a first MCU310, a second MCU320; wherein,

A power supply voltage pin VCC1 of the first MCU310 is connected with a power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip, a power supply voltage pin VCC2 of the second MCU320 is connected with the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip through a first switch K1, and a second control pin C2 of the first MCU310 is connected with a control end of the first switch K1;

the ground pin GND1 of the first MCU310 and the ground pin GND2 of the second MCU320 are respectively connected to the ground pin GND0 of the consumable chip.

Optionally, the second control pin C2 of the first MCU310 is connected to the control terminal of the first switch K1, and may include: the second control pin C2 of the first MCU310 is connected to the control terminal of the first switch K1 through a resistor (not shown in fig. 4).

Optionally, the first switch K1 may be a switching tube, such as a transistor, a MOS tube, or a switching chip.

Alternatively, the second control pin C2 may be a GPIO pin.

The first MCU310 may be configured to: when determining that the second MCU320 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, outputting a third signal to the control terminal of the first switch K1 through the second control pin C2, where the third signal is used to control the first switch K1 to be turned off; when it is determined that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, a fourth signal is output to the control terminal of the first switch K1 through the second control pin C2, and the fourth signal is used to control the first switch K1 to be turned on.

Alternatively, if the control terminal of the first switch K1 is turned off when receiving a low-level signal and turned on when receiving a high-level signal, the third signal may be a low-level signal and the fourth signal may be a high-level signal.

the power supply voltage terminal VCC1 of the first MCU310 is directly connected with the power supply voltage terminal VCC0 of the consumable chip, and the power supply voltage pin VCC2 of the second MCU320 is connected with the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip through the first switch K1, so that when the image forming apparatus starts to supply power to the consumable chip, the first MCU310 is normally powered on and started, the first switch K1 is disconnected, and the second MCU320 is not started;

after the first MCU310 is started, when the second MCU320 is determined not to need to communicate with the image forming device, the first switch is controlled to be disconnected through the second control pin C2, so that the power supply voltage VCC2 of the second MCU320 is still disconnected with the power supply voltage VCC0 of the consumable chip, and the second MCU320 is not started;

when the first MCU310 determines that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the first switch is controlled to be turned on through the second control pin C2, so that the supply voltage terminal VCC2 of the second MCU320 is connected to the supply voltage terminal VCC0 of the consumable chip, and the second MCU320 is powered on and started.

when determining that the second MCU320 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, outputting a third signal to the control terminal of the first switch K1 through the second control pin C2;

when the fact that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming device and the power supply current received by the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip is not smaller than a preset first current value is determined, a fourth signal is output to the control end of the first switch K1 through a second control pin C2;

and when the fact that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming device and the supply current received by the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value is determined, outputting a third signal to the control end of the first switch K1 through the second control pin C2.

In the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 4, the first MCU310 controls the second MCU320 to start or not start by controlling the on and off of the first switch K1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a sixth structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, the consumable chip may include: a first MCU310, a second MCU320; wherein,

A power supply voltage pin VCC1 of the first MCU310 and a power supply voltage pin VCC2 of the second MCU320 are respectively connected with a power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip; the ground pin GND1 of the first MCU310 is connected with the ground pin GND0 of the consumable chip, the ground pin GND2 of the second MCU320 is connected with the ground pin GND0 of the consumable chip through the second switch K2, and the third control pin C3 of the first MCU310 is connected with the control end of the second switch K2.

Optionally, the third control pin C3 of the first MCU310 is connected to the control terminal of the second switch K2, and may include: the third control pin C3 of the first MCU310 is connected to the control terminal of the second switch K2 through a resistor (not shown in fig. 5).

Alternatively, the second switch K2 may be a switching tube, such as a triode, a MOS transistor, or the like, or may be a switching chip.

Alternatively, the third control pin C3 may be a GPIO pin.

The first MCU310 may be configured to: when determining that the second MCU320 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, outputting a fifth signal to the control terminal of the second switch K2 through the third control pin C3, where the fifth signal is used to control the second switch K2 to be turned off; when it is determined that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, a sixth signal is output to the control terminal of the second switch K2 through the third control pin C3, and the sixth signal is used to control the second switch K2 to be turned on.

Alternatively, if the control terminal of the second switch K2 is turned off when receiving a low-level signal and turned on when receiving a high-level signal, the fifth signal may be a low-level signal and the sixth signal may be a high-level signal.

the grounding pin GND1 of the first MCU310 is connected with the grounding pin GND0 of the consumable chip, and the grounding pin GND2 of the second MCU320 is connected with the grounding pin GND0 of the consumable chip through the second switch K2, so that when the image forming apparatus starts to supply power to the consumable chip, the first MCU310 is normally powered on and started, the second switch K2 is disconnected, namely the grounding pin GND2 of the second MCU320 is disconnected with the grounding pin GND0 of the consumable chip, and the second MCU320 cannot be powered on and started;

after the first MCU310 is started, when the second MCU320 is determined not to need to communicate with the image forming device, the second switch K2 is controlled to be disconnected through the third control pin C3, so that the grounding pin GND2 of the second MCU320 is still disconnected with the grounding pin GND0 of the consumable chip, and the second MCU320 cannot be powered on and started;

when the first MCU310 determines that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the second switch K2 is controlled to be turned on through the third control pin C3, so that the grounding pin GND2 of the second MCU320 is connected with the grounding pin GND0 of the consumable chip, and the second MCU320 is powered on and started.

when determining that the second MCU320 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, outputting a fifth signal to the control terminal of the second switch K2 through the third control pin C3;

when determining that the second MCU320 needs to communicate with the image forming device and the supply current received by the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip is not less than the preset first current value, outputting a sixth signal to the control end of the second switch K2 through the third control pin C3;

and when the second MCU320 is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device and the supply current received by the power supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip is smaller than the preset first current value, outputting a fifth signal to the control end of the second switch K2 through the third control pin C3.

At this time, the working principle of the consumable chip may refer to the foregoing description, which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 5, the first MCU310 controls the second MCU320 to start or not start by controlling the second switch K2 to be turned on or off.

In another embodiment provided by the present application, the consumable chip shown in fig. 2 to 5 may further include a current detection unit. The current detection unit may be configured to: detecting the current value of the current received by a power supply voltage pin of the consumable chip, namely detecting the current value of the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip; and also for transmitting the detected current value to the first MCU310. So that the current detection unit may provide data support for whether the first MCU310 starts the second MCU320.

Taking the consumable chip shown in fig. 3 further including a current detection power supply as an example, the embodiment of the present application provides another consumable chip, and the implementation structure is shown in fig. 6. With respect to the consumable chip shown in FIG. 3, the consumable chip shown in FIG. 6 further comprises: a current detection unit 610; wherein,

the first end of the current detection unit 610 is connected to a supply voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip, and the second end is connected to a supply voltage pin VCC1 of the first MCU310 and a supply voltage pin VCC2 of the second MCU320, respectively;

the output end OUT1 of the current detection unit 610 is connected to the first receiving end A1 of the first MCU310.

The current detection unit 610 is configured to: detecting the current value of the current received by a power supply voltage pin of the consumable chip, namely detecting the current value of the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip; and also for transmitting the detected current value to the first MCU310.

The specific circuit implementation structure of the current detection unit 610 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In the consumable chips shown in fig. 3-5, the first MCU310 does not include the RESET pin RESET. In another embodiment provided by the present application, the first MCU310 can include a RESET pin RESET.

Taking the first MCU310 of the consumable chip shown in fig. 3 including the RESET pin RESET as an example, the structure of the consumable chip is shown in fig. 7.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a sixth implementation structure of a consumable chip according to an embodiment of the present application. With respect to the consumable chip shown in FIG. 3, the first MCU310 in the consumable chip shown in FIG. 7 includes a RESET pin RESET. In order to distinguish the RESET pin of the first MCU310 from the RESET pin of the second MCU320, the RESET pin of the first MCU310 is denoted as RESET1 and the RESET pin of the second MCU320 is denoted as RESET2 in fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 7, the RESET pin RESET1 of the first MCU310 is connected to the power supply voltage pin VCC1 of the first MCU310 through a resistor R. Resistor R is an optional device.

Alternatively, the RESET pin RESET1 of the first MCU310 may be connected to the ground pin GND0 of the consumable chip through a capacitor C, which may perform a filtering function.

The start-up principle of the first MCU310 is explained as follows:

when the image forming apparatus supplies power to the power voltage pin VCC0 of the consumable chip, the voltages of the power voltage pin VCC1 and the RESET pin RESET1 of the first MCU310 are pulled high, so that the first MCU310 can be normally started.

The operation principle of the consumable chip shown in fig. 7 can refer to the corresponding description of fig. 3, and is not described herein again.

In the consumable chips shown in fig. 4 to 5, the second MCU320 does not include the RESET pin RESET as an example. In another embodiment provided by the present application, the second MCU320 can include a RESET pin RESET. At this time, the reset pin of the second MCU320 may be connected to the power voltage pin VCC2 of the second MCU320 through a resistor, so as to be pulled up simultaneously with the power voltage pin VCC2, and the second MCU320 is powered on and started.

The circuit connection structure when the second MCU320 in the consumable chip shown in fig. 4 and 5 includes a reset pin is not described in detail here.

The embodiment of the application also provides another consumable chip. The circuit connection structure of the consumable chip can refer to the circuit connection structure of the consumable chip shown in fig. 2, which is not described herein.

It should be noted that the first control unit and the second control unit in the consumable chip shown in fig. 2 may also include a reset pin, and/or the consumable chip shown in fig. 2 may also include the current collecting unit, and the specific implementation structure may refer to the foregoing embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application, the functions performed by the second control unit 220 are divided into modules as needed, and each module corresponds to 1 or more functions in the second control unit 220. The second control unit 220 may control each of the above modules to be in an on state or an off state, respectively. When all the modules in the second control unit 220 are in the activated state, the second control unit 220 is referred to as being in the activated state, and when at least 1 module in the second control unit 220 is in the deactivated state, the second control unit 220 is referred to as being in the low power consumption state. When all modules in the second control unit 220 are in the off state, the low power consumption state of the second control unit 220 may also be referred to as a sleep state.

Based on the above division of the second control unit 220, the first control unit 210 no longer reduces the power consumption of the consumable chip by controlling whether the second control unit 220 is powered on and started, but reduces the power consumption of the consumable chip by controlling the modules that are not needed to be used in the second control unit 220 to be in the off state.

Specifically, the first control unit 210 may be configured to: when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, controlling the second control unit 220 to be in a low power consumption state; when it is determined that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus through the first module and the first module is in the off state, the second control unit 220 is controlled to start the first module. The first module may be any module included in the second control unit 220.

Alternatively, the first control unit may control the second control unit to be in a low power consumption state when it is determined that the second control unit does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus after power is supplied and started, thereby reducing power consumption of the second control unit 220.

Optionally, the first control unit 210 may be further configured to: after determining that the second control unit 220 completes communication with the image forming apparatus through the first module, the second control unit 220 is controlled to close the first module.

Alternatively, in order to better reduce the power consumption of the consumable chip, in order to control the second control unit 220 to be in the low power consumption state when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, the first control unit 210 may specifically be configured to: when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, all modules included in the second control unit 220 are controlled to be in an off state, that is, the second control unit 220 is controlled to sleep.

Optionally, in order to reduce the problem that the consumable chip cannot work normally due to insufficient power supply, in another embodiment provided in this application, the first control unit 210 may specifically be configured to:

when it is determined that the second control unit 220 does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus, controlling the second control unit 220 to be in a low power consumption state;

when determining that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus through the first module and the first module is in a closed state and determining that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than a preset second current value, controlling the second control unit 220 to start the first module;

when it is determined that the second control unit 220 needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus through the first module and the first module is in the off state and it is determined that the working current received by the consumable chip is smaller than the preset second current value, the first module of the second control unit 220 is controlled to be in the off state, that is, the second control unit 220 is controlled to maintain the state of each module, and the first module is not started.

Optionally, the first control unit 210 may be further configured to: when the second control unit 220 is determined to need to communicate with the image forming apparatus through the first module and the first module is in the off state and the working current received by the consumable chip is determined to be smaller than the preset second current value, an indication message is sent to the image forming apparatus, and the second message is used for indicating that the first module is not started to the image forming apparatus.

The method for determining that the working current received by the consumable chip is not less than the preset second current value by the first control unit 210 may refer to the corresponding description in fig. 2, which is not repeated herein.

It should be noted that the control instruction of the first control unit 210 to the state of each module of the second control unit 220 may be implemented by a communication bus.

The specific value of the preset second current value is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In one possible implementation manner, the preset second current value may be less than or equal to a sum of a minimum operating current of the first control unit and a minimum operating current of the second control unit.

In another possible implementation manner, the second current value may be correspondingly set in the first control unit 210 based on different operating currents required when different modules are started in the second control unit 220. Then, the preset second current value may be less than or equal to a sum of the minimum working current of the first control unit and the minimum working current of the second control unit after the corresponding module is started. Taking the second control unit to start the first module as an example, the preset second current value may be less than or equal to a sum of the minimum working current of the first control unit and the minimum working current after the second control unit starts the first module.

It should be noted that, if the image forming apparatus and the first control unit and the second control unit in the consumable chip communicate via the I2C interface, that is, communicate via the I2C bus, the image forming apparatus is generally defaulted to the master communication mode, the first control unit and the second control unit in the consumable chip are respectively in the slave communication mode, in order to enable the first control unit 210 to control the second control unit 220 to start or close the module, the first control unit may first negotiate with the image forming apparatus to switch the image forming apparatus from the master communication mode to the slave communication mode, and the first control unit switches from the slave communication mode to the master communication mode; after the control of the modules in the second control unit is completed, the first control unit can be switched back to the slave communication mode, and the image forming apparatus can be switched back to the host communication mode, so that the normal execution of the subsequent processing flows of the image forming apparatus and the first control unit is ensured.

Taking the example that the first control unit and the second control unit in fig. 2 are respectively an MCU, the second communication interface of the consumable chip is an I2C interface, and the second power supply interface includes a power voltage pin and a ground pin, as shown in fig. 8, another consumable chip provided in the embodiment of the present application may include: a first MCU310, a second MCU320; wherein,

An information interaction flow among the image forming apparatus, the first MCU, and the second MCU is exemplarily illustrated through fig. 9. As shown in fig. 9, may include:

step 901: after the image forming device is powered on, the first MCU and the second MCU are respectively powered on and started.

Step 902: the image forming device is communicated with the first MCU; the first MCU determines that the second MCU does not need to communicate with the image forming apparatus.

Step 903: the first MCU negotiates with the image forming device, the image forming device is switched to a slave communication mode, and the first MCU is switched to a master communication mode.

Step 904: the first MCU sends a first control message to the second MCU, and the first control message is used for indicating the second MCU to be switched into a low power consumption state; and the second MCU responds to the first control message and is converted into a low power consumption state.

It should be noted that, in the low power consumption state of the second MCU, 1 or more modules may be turned off, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

Step 905: the first MCU negotiates with the image forming device, the image forming device is switched to a host communication mode, and the first MCU is switched to a slave communication mode.

Step 906: the image forming device is communicated with the first MCU; the first MCU determines that the second MCU needs to communicate with the image forming device through the first module and the first module is in a closed state.

Step 907: the first MCU negotiates with the image forming device, the image forming device is switched to a slave communication mode, and the first MCU is switched to a master communication mode.

Step 908: the first MCU sends a second control message to the second MCU, and the second control message is used for indicating the second MCU to start the first module; the second MCU starts the first module in response to the second control message.

At this time, the second MCU may be in a low power consumption state or a startup state, depending on whether there are other modules in a shutdown state after the first module is started

Step 909: the first MCU negotiates with the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus is switched to a master communication mode, and the first MCU is switched to a slave communication mode.

Step 910: the image forming apparatus communicates with the second MCU.

Step 911: the image forming device is communicated with the first MCU; and the first MCU determines that the communication between the second MCU and the image forming device through the first module is finished.

Step 912: the first MCU negotiates with the image forming device, the image forming device is switched to a slave communication mode, and the first MCU is switched to a host communication mode.

Step 913: the first MCU sends a third control message to the second MCU, and the third control message is used for indicating the second MCU to close the first module; and the second MCU responds to the third control message and closes the first module.

Step 914: the first MCU negotiates with the image forming device, the image forming device is switched to a host communication mode, and the first MCU is switched to a slave communication mode.

Thereafter, step 906 may be returned, with the difference being primarily that each time the first MCU determines that the second MCU needs to communicate with the image forming apparatus through the first module, the first module may be the same or a different module than the previous one.

In the embodiment of the application, each module in the second control unit is accurately controlled to be started when needed through the first control unit and is closed when not needed, so that the power consumption of the second control unit can be reduced, and the power consumption of the consumable chip is further reduced.

The embodiment of the application also provides a consumable, and the consumable comprises a shell, a developer accommodating part and the consumable chip. The developer accommodating portion is located in the housing for accommodating the developer. The consumable chip is arranged on the shell.

In one embodiment, the consumable further comprises a developer conveying member for conveying the developer.

In one embodiment, the consumable further comprises a photosensitive drum and a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum.

The embodiment of the application also provides another consumable which comprises a photosensitive drum, a charging roller and a consumable chip. The charging roller is used to charge the photosensitive drum. The consumable chip is the consumable chip.

In another consumable chip provided in the embodiments of the present application, the consumable chip may include more than 2 control units. Taking the consumable chip including the first control unit, the second control unit, and the third control unit as an example, it is still possible to use the first control unit as a main control unit to control whether the second control unit and the third control unit are started or switched to a low power consumption state, and the like. The control strategy of the first control unit for the third control unit may refer to the control strategy of the first control unit for the second control unit in the foregoing embodiment, and details of the embodiment of the present application are not repeated.

It should be noted that, when the consumable chip includes more than 2 control units, the control unit as the main control unit may be used for performing data interaction with the image forming apparatus to complete the process related to the use of the consumable; and the control unit as a controlled unit may be used to perform data processing in cooperation with the image forming apparatus in some flows related to the use of consumables.

The embodiment of the application provides a consumable which comprises any consumable chip provided by the embodiment of the application.

The embodiment of the application provides an image forming device which comprises any consumable chip provided by the embodiment of the application.

The embodiment of the application provides an image forming device which comprises any consumable provided by the embodiment of the application.

In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may mean that a exists alone, a and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" and similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, and c may represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c or a and b and c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, any function, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a separate product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered by the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a consumptive material chip, its characterized in that, consumptive material chip sets up on the consumptive material, the consumptive material chip includes: a first control unit and a second control unit;

the first control unit is configured to: and controlling the second control unit not to start when the second control unit is determined not to need to communicate with the image forming apparatus.

2. The consumable chip of claim 1, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device, starting the second control unit.

3. The consumable chip of claim 1, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device and the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is not less than a preset first current value, starting the second control unit.

4. The consumable chip of claim 1, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device and the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset first current value, controlling the second control unit not to be started.

5. The consumable chip of claim 4, wherein the first control unit is further configured to: transmitting a first message to the image forming apparatus, the first message indicating to the image forming apparatus that the second control unit is not activated.

6. The consumable chip according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

7. The consumable chip according to any one of claims 3 to 5, further comprising:

correspondingly, the first control unit is further configured to:

and determining whether the current value detected by the current detection unit is smaller than a preset first current value.

8. The consumable chip of any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the first control pin of the first control unit is connected to the reset pin of the second control unit;

9. The consumable chip of any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the supply voltage pin of the first control unit is connected to the supply voltage pin of the consumable chip, and the supply voltage pin of the second control unit is connected to the supply voltage pin of the consumable chip through a first switch;

10. The consumable chip according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the ground pin of the first control unit is connected to the ground pin of the consumable chip, and the ground pin of the second control unit is connected to the ground pin of the consumable chip through a second switch;

11. The utility model provides a consumptive material chip, its characterized in that, consumptive material chip sets up on the consumptive material, the consumptive material chip includes: a first control unit and a second control unit;

12. The consumable chip of claim 11, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device through a first module and the first module is in a closed state, controlling the second control unit to start the first module.

13. The consumable chip of claim 11, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

and when the second control unit is determined to need to communicate with the image forming device through the first module and the first module is in a closed state, and the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is not less than a preset second current value, controlling the second control unit to start the first module.

14. The consumable chip of claim 12 or 13, wherein to enable the second control unit to start the first module, the first control unit is specifically configured to:

and sending a second message to the second control unit, wherein the second message is used for indicating the first control unit to start the first module.

15. The consumable chip of claim 14, wherein to implement the sending of the second message to the second control unit, the first control unit is specifically configured to:

sending the second message to the second control unit over the communication bus.

16. The consumable chip of claim 15, wherein prior to sending the second message to the second control unit via the communication bus, the first control unit is further configured to:

negotiating with the image forming apparatus via the communication bus to switch the image forming apparatus from a master communication mode to a slave communication mode based on the communication bus; switching the first control unit from a slave communication mode to a master communication mode based on the communication bus.

17. The consumable chip of any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the first control unit is further configured to:

determining whether the working current provided by the image forming device for the consumable chip is smaller than a preset second current value or not according to the power-on duration of the first control unit; or,

18. The consumable chip according to any one of claims 13 to 16, further comprising:

correspondingly, the first control unit is further configured to:

and determining whether the current value detected by the current detection unit is smaller than the preset second current value.

19. A consumable, comprising:

a housing;

a developer accommodating portion, located within the housing, for accommodating a developer; and

the consumable chip of any of claims 1 to 18.

20. The consumable according to claim 19, further comprising:

a developer conveying member for conveying the developer.

21. The consumable according to claim 20, further comprising:

a photosensitive drum;

a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum.

22. A consumable, characterized in that it further comprises:

a photosensitive drum;

a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum; and

the consumable chip of any one of claims 1 to 18.

23. An image forming apparatus comprising the consumable chip of any one of claims 1 to 18, or the consumable of any one of claims 19 to 22.