JP2000289883A - Picture image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture image formation device restraining increase in electric current consumption at the time of starting a plural number of motors. SOLUTION: This device is furnished with paper feeding parts 11, 12, 13 on which motors 11c, 12c, 13c to take initial motion of sheet setting at the point of time when the sheet is set, a plural number of rollers 11a, 12a,..., 17a to carry the sheet supplied from these paper feeding parts to paper discharging positions 10b, 10c through a sheet carrier passage 10, a plural number of carrier motors 11m, 12m,..., 17m to drive a plural number of these rollers, a picture image forming part 18 to form a picture image on the sheet in the middle of carrying it and a motor starting part 20 to sequentially start these carrier motors at the time of starting the carrier motors 11m, 12m,..., 17m.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet conveyed along a sheet conveying path including a plurality of rollers driven by a plurality of motors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an apparatus using a plurality of motors in which a current flowing at the time of starting a motor is larger than a current flowing at a steady state, it is necessary to endure a large current at the time of starting the plurality of motors in order to simultaneously start the plurality of motors. Therefore, there is a problem that a power supply having a large allowable capacity is required, and therefore, the power supply device must be large and expensive.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-92096 discloses
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-157556 discloses that in a power supply device of a magnetic storage device including a plurality of HDDs (hard disk drives) having a large current at the time of startup, whether the current consumption at the time of startup of the HDD has an allowance as compared with the allowable amount of the power supply. A determining means for determining, and a control means for controlling to supply current to the HDD when it is determined that there is a margin, and to supply the current after a predetermined standby time when it is determined that there is no margin. Thus, a start-up method is disclosed in which the start-up timing of a plurality of motors is shifted to reduce a large current at the time of start-up, so that a small power supply can be used.

[0004]

However, in this starting method, a CPU, an ammeter, and an A / A for constituting a judging means for judging a margin of power supply and a control means for controlling a supply current are provided.
Since a D converter and other hardware are required, the cost is likely to increase, and an increase in current consumption due to other events during the startup of the HDD is not taken into consideration. There is a risk that the power supply will exceed the allowable capacity.

In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet conveyed along a sheet conveying path including a plurality of rollers driven by a plurality of motors, a large image forming apparatus having a plurality of motors Therefore, countermeasures against a large current at the start of the motor become an important problem. In addition, it is necessary to take measures to cope with an increase in current due to other sudden events during the startup of many motors.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which an increase in current consumption when starting a plurality of motors is suppressed.

[0007]

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention which achieves the above object, sheets are set, and the set sheets are supplied. When the sheets are set, an initial operation of setting the sheets is performed. A paper feed unit provided with a motor, a plurality of rollers for transporting the paper supplied from the paper supply unit to a paper discharge position via a predetermined paper transport path, and a plurality of transports for driving the plurality of rollers A motor, an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet that is being conveyed by the plurality of rollers, and a motor activation unit that sequentially activates the plurality of transport motors when activating the plurality of transport motors. It is characterized by having.

[0008] Here, the motor starting means is provided for each of the plurality of transport motors at regular intervals corresponding to the time for the motor having a maximum time until the current supplied to the motor after the motor is started is stabilized. Preferably, a plurality of transport motors are sequentially activated.

The motor starting means, when successively starting the transport motors supplied with currents from different power sources, simultaneously starts the transport motors with the time interval between the start timings being zero. It is also preferable that the motor starting means simultaneously sets the time interval between the start timings of the transport motor whose start-up characteristic is stable and the transport motor started immediately before the transport motor as zero for the transport motor whose startup characteristics are stable. It is also a preferable embodiment to be activated.

Further, the motor starting means, when a sheet set for newly setting a sheet in the sheet feeding section occurs while the plurality of conveying motors are sequentially started, starts all the conveying motors. It is preferable to start the motor for the initial operation of the sheet setting in the sheet feeding unit after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed from the start timing of the transport motor that was started last and the start of the transport motor.

Further, the image forming apparatus includes a plurality of the paper feed units, and the motor starting means starts an initial operation of a paper set in one of the plurality of paper feed units. If a sheet is set in another sheet feeding unit other than the sheet feeding unit in the initial operation before the predetermined protection time elapses, the paper in the another sheet feeding unit is waited until the protection time elapses. It is also preferable to start the motor for the initial operation of the set.

Further, in the image forming apparatus, in addition to the first paper supply unit as the paper supply unit, a power supply for supplying a current to a motor for initial operation of a paper set in the paper supply unit is provided. A second paper feed unit provided with a motor for performing an initial operation of a paper set by receiving a current supplied from a different power source; If the paper set of the second paper supply unit occurs during the initial operation of the set, the paper of the second paper supply unit is produced regardless of the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit. It is one of the preferable embodiments that the motor for starting the initial operation of the set is started. In addition to the first sheet feeding unit which is the above-mentioned sheet feeding unit, the image forming apparatus includes a sheet setting unit. Stable start-up characteristics as a motor for initial operation of Be those having a second sheet feeding unit motor is deployed, the motor activation means, said first
If the paper set of the second paper supply unit occurs during the initial operation of the paper set of the paper supply unit, the second paper supply is performed regardless of the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit. One of the preferred embodiments is to start a motor for the initial operation of the paper set of the paper supply unit of (1).

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus common to each embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, this image forming apparatus comprises:
Host device 100 such as a scanner and a host computer,
The host device I / F unit 200, the control unit (CPU) 300, the drawer open / close detection unit 400, the image memory 500, the image forming unit 600, the transport system I / O unit 700, and the like are interconnected by a bus 800. I have.

The image data sent from the host device 100 is sent to the image memory 500 through the host device I / F unit 200.
Is stored in Upon receiving the image output instruction from the host device 100, the control unit 300 controls the image forming unit 600 and the transport system I / O.
It controls the O section 700 to form and output an image on a sheet based on the image data stored in the image memory 500.

The drawer open / close detecting section 400 is for detecting that the operator has opened / closed the drawer for replacing the paper. By controlling the / O unit 700, the initial operation of the paper setting of the designated drawer is performed.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a plurality of rollers and a motor constituting a sheet conveying path in the image forming apparatus common to the embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this image forming apparatus, roll paper and cut paper can be used as paper. There are two paper feeding units on which roll paper is set, a first roll paper feeding unit 11 and a second roll paper feeding unit 12, each of which is an RFC (Roll Feed and Cu).
tter) 1 drawer and RFC2 drawer. A cut sheet feed unit 13 is provided in the tray drawer as a sheet feed unit on which cut sheets are set.

Each of the paper feeding units 11, 12, and 13 is provided in a drawer (drawer). To set (supplement) paper in these drawers, the operator temporarily puts the drawers in the drawers. The drawer is pulled out in the direction of the arrow, and in the case of the first roll paper feeder 11 or the second roll paper feeder 12, the drawer is closed after the roll paper is set on the reels 11b and 12b. In the case of the cut sheet feeding unit 13, the drawer is closed after setting the cut sheet on the sheet tray 13b.

When the drawers are closed in this way, the drawer open / close detector 400 installed in each drawer detects that the drawers have been closed, and notifies the controller 300 of that fact. In response to this, the control unit 300 instructs the paper feed unit to start an initial operation.

Each of the paper feed units is provided with a motor for performing an initial operation of paper setting when paper is set. That is, the first roll paper feed unit 1 for roll paper
Reference numeral 1 denotes an RFC drive motor 11c for roll paper feed and cutter 11d, and an RFC drive motor 12 for the second roll paper feed unit 12 for roll paper feed and cutter 12d.
c, the tray elevator motor 1
3c are provided respectively.

The sheet feeding unit instructed by the control unit 300 to start the initial operation performs the initial operation as follows.

In the case of the roll paper feed unit, when the operator sets the roll paper on the reel 11b (12b) and closes the drawer, the control unit 300, which has received the open / close notification from the drawer open / close detection unit 400, operates the transport system I RF through / O section 700
Transfer motor 11m for Cl drawer or RFC2 drawer,
12m is driven, the leading edge of the roll paper is advanced from the reel in which the roll paper of the designated size is set to a position beyond the home position and then rewinded to remove the slack of the roll paper, and the leading edge position of the roll paper is removed. Perform alignment. In addition, during these series of initial operations, the roll paper remaining amount is measured from the rotation speed of the reel, and further, paper information such as size and paper quality is obtained through the transport system I / O unit 700.

In the case of the cut sheet feeding section, when the operator sets the cut sheet on the tray and closes the drawer, the control section 300 receives the open / close notification from the drawer open / close detecting section 400.
Drives the tray elevator motor 13c through the transport system I / O unit 700 to raise the cut sheet set on the tray to a position where the sheet can be fed. At this time, paper information such as the remaining amount of cut paper, size, and paper quality is also obtained.

The first roll paper feeder 11 and the second roll paper feeder 11
The roll paper feed unit 12 is provided with a total of four reels 11b, 11b, 12b, and 12b, each of which is provided with, for example, A0 roll paper, A1 roll paper, and A2 roll paper. , And A3 roll paper are set, and A4 cut paper is set in the cut paper feed unit 13, whereby an image can be formed on a sheet of one size.

In addition to the above three paper feeding units, a manual insertion slot 10a for manually feeding paper is provided.

The discharge port provided at the first discharge position 10b is a discharge port which is normally used, and the discharge port provided at the second discharge position 10c is provided with an optional sheet folding device. Outlet for

The paper supplied from each of these paper feed units is
It is provided at a first paper discharge position 10b and a second paper discharge position 10c via a paper transport path 10 including an A transport unit 14, a B transport unit 15, a fixing transport unit 16, and an E transport unit 17, respectively. It is transported to the outlet.

A plurality of rollers 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a, 15
a, 16a, and 17a are provided, and these rollers are transport motors 11m, 12m, 13m, 14m, 15m, and 15m, which are provided one by one in each paper feed unit and each transport unit.
It is driven by 16 m and 17 m.

An image forming section 18 is formed in the B transport section 15. The image forming unit 18 forms an image on a sheet being conveyed on the sheet conveying path 10 by the plurality of rollers, and is, for example, an image carrier constituting a well-known electrophotographic image forming unit. The drum 18 a and other members are arranged on the paper transport path 10.

In the fixing conveyance section 16 following the B conveyance section 15,
An image carrier drum 18 is provided with a fixing roll 16b.
a, the toner image transferred onto the sheet is fixed.

A brushless motor or a pulse motor is used as a transport motor of each transport unit and a motor for initial operation of a paper set of each paper feed unit. When these motors are started, these motors are used. A motor starting unit 20 for sequentially starting each motor is provided.

The motor starter 2 according to the present embodiment
0 corresponds to the motor starting means according to the present invention.

As described above, this image forming apparatus includes the first roll paper feed unit 11 and the second roll paper feed unit 12
Transport motors 11m and 12 respectively provided one by one
m, a transport motor 13m provided in the cut sheet feeding unit 13
And tray elevator motors 13c, transport motors 14m, 15m, 16m, 1 provided one by one in each transport section.
A total of eight transport motors of 7 m are used.

In this image forming apparatus configured as described above, in order to feed the cut paper from the tray drawer of the cut paper feed unit 13 and transport the cut paper to the discharge position, all transports except the tray elevator motor 13c are performed. It is necessary to start the motor. In order to feed the roll paper from the RFC2 drawer of the second roll paper feeding unit 12 and transport it to the discharge position, the transport motor 13m and the tray elevator motor 1
3c, it is necessary to start all the transport motors. In order to feed the roll paper from the RFC1 drawer of the first roll paper feed unit 11 and transport the roll paper to the discharge position, the transport motor 12
m, 13m, and all the transport motors except the tray elevator motor 13c need to be started.

Here, the start-up operation at the time of image formation in the image forming apparatus common to the embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.

As an example, a case where a cut sheet is fed from a tray drawer and an image is formed on the cut sheet will be described. When an instruction to output an image to a cut sheet is issued from the upper apparatus 100 to the upper apparatus I / F section 200, The control unit 300 instructs the image forming unit 600 to prepare for exposure, and at the same time, the control unit 300 transmits the transport motor 12m of the RFC2 drawer and the transport motor 11 of the RFC1 drawer through the transport system I / O unit 700.
m, the transport motor 14m of the A transport unit, the transport motor 15m of the B transport unit, the transport motor 16m of the fixing transport unit, and the transport motor 17m of the E transport unit are activated in a predetermined order to prepare for paper transport.

After the start of the transport motor is completed, and the control unit 300 receives the completion notification of the exposure preparation, the transport system I / O
The transport motor 13m of the tray drawer is driven through the O section 700 to start feeding and transporting the cut sheet.

As described above, in an image forming apparatus that handles large and wide paper, for example, A0 size paper, a large number of rollers are used to convey the paper, and these large number of rollers are a plurality of brushless motors. Alternatively, although a brushless motor is driven by a pulse motor, unlike a pulse motor, it consumes a large current at the time of startup. Therefore, a large current overlaps and a voltage drop of an LVPS (low-voltage power supply device) and an overcurrent protection circuit. It is necessary not to start a plurality of brushless motors at the same time to prevent the operation.

Next, as a first embodiment of the present invention, a control method for preventing simultaneous starting of the transport motors at the time of startup will be described.

First, a description will be given of a control operation performed by the control unit 300 in order to prevent simultaneous activation of each transport motor in a start-up operation at the time of image formation. The control unit 300 controls the starting order and the starting interval of each transport motor in the start-up operation at the time of image formation as follows.

Table 1 is an example of a motor start-up table showing the conveying motor start-up sequence and start intervals at the start-up time during image formation in the first embodiment.

[0044]

[Table 1]

Here, the start interval means that, when a start instruction is given to the transfer motor, if the start of the transfer motor is immediately started, there is a possibility that the start of the other transfer motor may be duplicated.
The motor starting unit 20 starts the transfer motor after waiting a predetermined time interval before starting the transfer motor. That is, it refers to the time interval between the start timings of the transfer motor and the transfer motor started before the transfer motor is started.

The starting interval is determined for each transport motor.
The time until the current supplied to the motor is stabilized after the motor is started is measured in advance, and the start interval of each transport motor in the motor start-up table may be set based on the measured value. As shown in Table 1, among the plurality of transport motors, the time required for the current supplied to the motor to stabilize after the motor is started is determined at a certain start interval corresponding to the time (800 msec in this example) related to the maximum motor. The motor starting unit 20 may be configured to sequentially start the transport motors.

As described above, when the start intervals of all the transport motors are set uniformly, there is a possibility that the time required for all the transport motors to be completely started becomes longer than necessary. Therefore, the motor starting unit 20 is set so that the start-up timing between the start-up timing of the transport motor whose start-up characteristic is stable and the start-up timing of the transport motor immediately before the transport motor is zero. You may comprise.

When the transport motors receiving current supply from different LVPSs are successively activated, the motor activation unit 2 activates the transport motors simultaneously so that the time intervals between the activation timings of these transport motors are set to zero.
0 may be configured.

The following is an example of a motor start-up table created taking into account the above-mentioned consideration for reducing the start-up time.

Table 2 is an example of a motor start-up table in consideration of the start-up start-up characteristics and the current supply source in the first embodiment.

[0051]

[Table 2]

As shown in Table 2, the current supply source of the transport motor in the start sequence 3 is LPVS2, and the current supply source LPVS1 of the transport motor in the start sequence 2 is a different power source. The starting interval of the motor may be zero. That is, the transport motor in the start order 3 is changed to the start order 2
May be started substantially at the same time as the transfer motor. For the same reason, the transport motors in the activation sequence 5 may be activated substantially simultaneously with the transport motors in the activation sequence 4. further,
Since the transport motors in the startup sequence 6 are pulse transport motors whose startup characteristics are stable at startup, the startup intervals of the transport motors in the startup sequence 6 may be zero. That is, the transport motors in the startup sequence 6 may be activated substantially simultaneously with the transport motors in the startup sequence 5. In this way, in the example of Table 2, the start-up time of the entire six transport motors can be shortened by 800 msec × 3 = 2400 msec as compared with the case of Table 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the start control in the first embodiment.

The control unit 300 (see FIG. 1)
When an image output instruction is received from 00, as shown in FIG.
Instruct the image forming unit 600 to prepare for exposure (step S
1). Next, referring to the starting order and the starting interval defined in the motor start-up tables as shown in Tables 1 and 2 (Step S2), the specified starting order (the initial value of the starting order is 1).
Is set to a predetermined timer (step S3). Next, after waiting until the timer times out (step S4), the transport motor is started (step S5). Next, referring to the motor start-up table, it is determined whether or not the start up to the last transport motor has been completed (step S6). As a result of the determination, if not completed, the process returns to step S2 and the transport motor in the next startup order is started. Continue processing. If the result of determination in step S6 is that starting up to the last transport motor has been completed, step S7
Then, it is determined whether or not an exposure preparation completion notification has been received from the image forming unit 600 (step S7), and the sheet feeding is started after the exposure preparation completion notification has been received (step S8). Is repeatedly executed (step S9).

In the first embodiment described above,
Control is performed so that the feeding is started after all the transport motors have been started and the exposure preparation has been completed, but since the transport speed of the paper transport path in the target image forming apparatus is known, It is also possible to start the conveyance sequentially from the conveyance motors that drive the rollers near the unit, and to start feeding and paper conveyance when the exposure preparation is completed without waiting for all the conveyance motors to start. Good.

Next, a second embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The second embodiment corresponds to a case where a sheet set for newly setting a sheet occurs in the sheet feeding unit while a plurality of transport motors are sequentially activated. In such a case, the motor starting unit 20 performs the initial operation of the sheet setting in the sheet feeding unit after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start timing of the last started conveying motor after the start of all the conveying motors is completed. Control is performed to start the motor.

Further, when a plurality of paper feed units are provided as in this image forming apparatus, a predetermined protection time after starting the initial operation of the paper set in one of the plurality of paper feed units is started. If a sheet is set in another sheet feeding unit other than the sheet feeding unit in the initial operation before the time elapses, the motor starting unit 2
0 controls the motor so as to start the motor for the initial operation of the sheet setting in the another sheet feeding unit after the above-mentioned protection time elapses.

Further, the image forming apparatus includes a plurality of paper feeding units, and a motor for initial operation of a paper set in the first paper feeding unit supplies a current from a power source different from a power source receiving the current. And a second paper feed unit provided with a motor for initial operation of the paper set in response to the second paper feed unit during the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper feed unit. When the paper set is generated, the motor starting unit 20
Performs control such that the motor for the initial operation of the paper set of the second paper supply unit is started even during the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit.

Further, the image forming apparatus includes a plurality of paper feeding units, and a motor having a stable start-up characteristic as a motor for an initial operation of paper setting in addition to the first paper feeding unit. Is provided, and when a paper set of the second paper supply unit occurs during the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit, the motor activation unit is provided. 2
0 controls the motor so as to start the motor for the initial operation of the paper set of the second paper supply unit even during the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit.

Next, a description will be given of a control operation performed by the control unit 300 in order to prevent simultaneous activation of motors in each drawer in an initial operation at the time of paper setting in the second embodiment.

Table 3 is an initial operation management table used in the second embodiment.

[0063]

[Table 3]

Table 3 shows whether or not it is necessary to consider other motors when starting the motor for the initial operation of the drawer when the controller 300 detects the drawer being pressed after the paper is set. Is stipulated.

In the example shown in Table 3, the first of the RFC1 drawers
A brushless motor is used for both the transport motor 11m of the roll paper feed unit 11 and the transport motor 12m of the second roll paper feed unit 12 of the RFC2 drawer, and the same LVPS1 is used as a current supply source. In the initial operation, it is defined that it is necessary to consider to provide a predetermined activation interval. Here, the transport motor 1
When 1 m and the transport motor 12m are supplied with power from different LVPSs as supply sources, there is no need to provide a start interval.

Further, the pulse width motor is used for the A conveying path motor 14m, so that it is not necessary to consider the start interval. In addition, A conveyance path motor 14m
Since the current is supplied from a different supply source from other drawers, it is not necessary to consider the start interval from this point as well.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the start control according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the controller 300 (see FIG. 1) receives the drawer closing notification from the drawer open / close detector 400 (step S11), it refers to the initial operation management table (see Table 3). (Step S12), it is determined whether or not the drawer can perform the initial operation unconditionally, that is, whether or not consideration at the time of startup is necessary (Step S13).
If the initial operation can be performed unconditionally, the process proceeds to step S17, and immediately the initial operation, that is, the motor start of the drawer is started. As a result of the determination, if the initial operation cannot be performed unconditionally, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether the protection timer is running.

This protection timer is used to activate a motor of a certain drawer when a plurality of drawers are present, and to prevent simultaneous activation when a motor of another drawer is activated at that time. It is for doing. The protection timer is set to the time required for the motor with the maximum time required for the current supplied to the motor to stabilize after the motor is started, among the motors of multiple drawers. It is activated to prevent simultaneous activation of multiple motors.

If the result of determination in step S14 is that the protection timer is not running, the flow moves to step S16, where the protection timer is started, and then an instruction is issued to the transport I / O unit 700 to start the initial operation (step S14). S17). The reason why the protection timer is started here is to protect the motors of the other drawers from starting simultaneously at the same time that this motor is started. If the result of the determination in step S14 is that the protection timer is running, the process proceeds to step S16 after waiting for the protection timer to time out in step S15, starts the protection timer, and then starts the transport system I / O unit 700. And an initial operation is started (step S17).

Next, a third embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described.

In the third embodiment, in the start-up operation at the time of image formation, control is performed so that the respective transport motors are not simultaneously activated, and control is also performed so that the drawer motors are not simultaneously activated.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the start control in the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the controller 300 (see FIG. 1) receives the drawer closing notification from the drawer open / close detector 400 (step S21), it refers to the initial operation management table (see Table 3). (Step S22) It is determined whether or not the drawer can perform the initial operation unconditionally, that is, whether or not consideration at the time of startup is necessary (Step S23).
If the initial operation can be performed unconditionally, the process proceeds to step S27, and immediately the initial operation, that is, starting the motor of the drawer is started. If the result of the determination is that the initial operation cannot be performed unconditionally, the operation proceeds to step S24, where the internal state is referenced. That is, it is determined whether or not the start-up operation of the transport motor during image formation is being performed (step S25). If the result of determination is that the transport motor has not been started up, the flow proceeds to step S26, where a protection timer is started, and then the transport system I / O
An initial operation is started by issuing an instruction to the unit 700 (step S27). The reason why the protection timer is activated here is to protect the drawer motor from starting simultaneously at the same time that the transport motor is activated. If the result of the determination in step S25 is that the transport motor has been started up, the process moves to step S28, where it is determined whether or not the start up to the last transport motor has been completed (step S28), and the startup up to the last transport motor has been started. Is completed, the process proceeds to step S29 to start the protection timer, and waits for the time of the protection timer to expire (step S30). Then, the process proceeds to step S26 to start the protection timer, and then the transport system I is started. An initial operation is started by issuing an instruction to the / O unit 700 (step S27).

The reason why the protection timer expires in step S29 and step S30 is to prevent the drawer motor from starting before the transport motor stabilizes.

Instead of controlling as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, when the drawer closes during the start-up and start-up of the transfer motors, the start-up of the transfer motor is temporarily stopped. Wait for a predetermined start interval to elapse from the last start of the transfer motor before interruption, execute the initial operation of the drawer, and after the completion of the initial operation of the drawer, control to restart the start of the remaining interrupted transfer motor. May be.

Further, the operator can select in advance which of the control method for temporarily stopping the start of the transport motor as described above and the method for controlling as shown in the flowchart of FIG. It may be configured as follows.

[0078]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when a plurality of conveying motors are started, the motor starting means for sequentially starting the plurality of conveying motors is provided. It is possible to realize a low-cost image forming apparatus in which an increase in current consumption due to simultaneous activation of a large number of motors is effectively suppressed. In addition, the suppression of the increase in current consumption according to the present invention does not depend on hardware, and is therefore highly versatile.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus common to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of rollers and a motor constituting a sheet conveyance path of an image forming apparatus common to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of activation control according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of activation control according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of activation control according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Paper conveyance path 10a Manual insertion slot 10b, 10c Discharge position 11 1st roll paper feed part 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a, 15a, 16a, 1
7a Roller 11b, 12b Reel 11c, 12c RFC drive motor (motor for initial operation of paper set) 11d Cutter 11m, 12m, 13m, 14m, 15m, 16m, 1
7m transport motor 12 second roll paper feed unit 13 cut paper feed unit 13b tray 13c tray elevator motor (paper setting initial operation motor) 14 A transport unit 15 B transport unit 16 fixing transport unit 16b fixing roll 17 E transport unit Reference Signs List 18 image forming unit 18a image carrier drum 20 motor starting unit 100 host device 200 host device I / F unit 300 control unit 400 drawer open / close detection unit 500 image memory 600 image forming unit 700 transport system I / O unit 800 bus

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A sheet supply unit in which a sheet is set, a set sheet is supplied, and a motor for performing an initial operation of the sheet setting when the sheet is set is provided, and a sheet is supplied from the sheet supply unit. A plurality of rollers for transporting a sheet to a sheet discharge position via a predetermined sheet transport path; a plurality of transport motors for driving the plurality of rollers; and an image on a sheet being transported by the plurality of rollers. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit to be formed; and a motor starting unit that sequentially starts the plurality of transport motors when starting the plurality of transport motors. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the motor starting unit sets the plurality of transport motors at regular intervals corresponding to a time corresponding to a maximum time of a current supplied to the motor after the motor is started. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying motors are sequentially activated. 3. The motor starting means, when successively starting the transport motors supplied with current from different power sources, simultaneously starts the transport motors with the time interval between the start timings being zero. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The motor starting means sets a time interval between start timings of a transport motor having a stable startup characteristic and a transport motor started immediately before the transport motor as zero, and simultaneously sets the time interval between the start timings to zero. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is activated. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the motor starting unit is configured to set a sheet to be newly set in the sheet feeding unit while the plurality of transport motors are sequentially starting.
After the start of all the transport motors is completed and a predetermined waiting time elapses from the start timing of the transport motor that was started last, the motor for the initial operation of the paper setting in the paper feeding unit is started. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 6. An image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of the paper feeding units, wherein the motor activation unit starts an initial operation of a paper set in one of the plurality of paper feeding units. If a sheet is set in another sheet feeding unit other than the sheet feeding unit during the initial operation before the predetermined protection time elapses, the sheet in the other sheet feeding unit is waited until the protection time elapses. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a motor for starting an initial operation of the set is started. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first power supply unit serving as the paper supply unit and a power supply to which a motor for initial operation of a paper set in the paper supply unit receives supply of current. A second paper feed unit provided with a motor for performing an initial operation of a paper set by receiving a current supplied from a different power source, wherein the motor starting unit is configured to control the paper of the first paper feed unit If a paper set of the second paper supply unit occurs during the initial operation of the set, the paper of the second paper supply unit is produced regardless of the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a motor for starting an initial operation of the set is started. 8. In this image forming apparatus, a motor having a stable startup characteristic at startup is provided as a motor for an initial operation of a paper set in addition to the first paper supply unit as the paper supply unit. Wherein the motor activation means detects that the paper set of the second paper supply unit has occurred during the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit. In this case, the motor for the initial operation of the paper set of the second paper supply unit is activated even during the initial operation of the paper set of the first paper supply unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5.