CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is based on and claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2020-179765, filed on Oct. 27, 2020, and 2021-154172, file on Sep. 22, 2021, in the Japan Patent Office, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

Embodiments of this disclosure relate to an information processing apparatuses, a method for controlling an apparatus, and a recording medium.

Related Art

Some image forming apparatuses perform periodic maintenance (e.g., inkjet nozzle cleaning). There is an image forming apparatus that automatically starts and performs the periodic maintenance when left with a main power supply turned off and with a power supply plug connected to a commercial alternating-current (AC) power supply. In such an image forming apparatus, the main power supply is turned off after the periodic maintenance completes.

For example, there is a technology of allowing reception of a print instruction at the same time as activation of a waiting timer for reducing a waiting time (unprintable time) of a user after automatic maintenance.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an information processing apparatus that includes a component to be maintained, a maintenance engine configured to perform maintenance on the component, and circuitry. The circuitry turns on a power supply to the apparatus at a power-on time set in advance by a timer; acquires, from a memory, a scheduled time of periodic maintenance to be executed on the component; turns on the power supply at a time prior to the scheduled time of the periodic maintenance; and shuts down the apparatus in response to an end of the periodic maintenance. In response to an arrival of the power-on time by the timer during execution of the periodic maintenance, the circuitry controls a state of the power supply to be kept at an on-state after the periodic maintenance ends.

Another embodiment provides a method for controlling an apparatus including a component to be maintained. The method includes turning on a power supply to the apparatus at a power-on time set in advance with a timer; acquiring, from a memory, a scheduled time of periodic maintenance to be executed on the component; turning on the power supply at a time prior to the scheduled time of the periodic maintenance; and shutting down the apparatus in response to an end of the periodic maintenance. The method further includes controlling a state of the power supply to be kept at an on-state after the periodic maintenance ends when the power-on time by the timer arrives during execution of the periodic maintenance.

Another embodiment provides a non-transitory recording medium storing a program which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method described above.

