JP2002102633A - Ventilation apparatus and image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-cost ventilation apparatus for cleaning air and an image formation apparatus. SOLUTION: The image formation apparatus 8 has a ventilation apparatus 1 having a fan 3 and an informing means 5. The fan 3 is driven by a motor 3a, and the electric current flowing through the motor 3a decreases as a filter 2 is clogged. The informing means 5 informs clogging of the filter 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ventilation device for cleaning air and an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art OA equipment, such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile, which generates ozone removes ozone by disposing a filter inside the equipment. For example, JP-A-8-27
No. 2,269 (prior art) discloses the copying machine, and FIG.

A copying machine 50 shown in FIG. 4 includes a filter 51 which performs a filtering operation by passing intake air, and a blower fan 5 which performs intake through the filter 51 and whose output can be changed to a plurality of stages.
2 and a clogging detection device 54 composed of a fan motor 53 for driving a blower fan 52 and the like. Then, the discharge of the main charger 55 and the transfer belt 5
The ozone generated from the high pressure section 6 flows into the duct 57 by the intake of the blower fan 52 and is removed by the filter 51.

[0004] The blower fan 52 is driven to rotate by a fan motor 53 controlled by a control means 58. The control unit 58 increases the output of the fan motor 53 stepwise when it is detected that the filter 51 is clogged with dust or the like and the drive current value of the fan motor 53 exceeds a predetermined value. When the clogging of the filter 51 reaches the permissible limit and the output of the fan motor 53 reaches the maximum output, the control means 58 detects the limit state of the clogging of the filter 51 and issues a filter replacement signal. Is configured.

[0005]

In the prior art, the drive current value of the fan motor 53 increases as the filter 51 becomes clogged. In a normal blower fan, when the filter is clogged and the load is reduced, the current value of the drive motor decreases. Therefore, since the fan motor 53 of the blower fan 52 according to the prior art is regarded as a special design, there is a disadvantage that the clogging detection device 54 becomes expensive.

In the prior art, the control means 58 controls the fan motor 53 according to the clogged state of the filter 51.
, The circuit configuration of the control means 58 becomes complicated, and the clogging detection device 54 becomes expensive.

An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive ventilation device for air cleaning and an image forming apparatus.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ventilating apparatus comprising: a filter for purifying air; ventilating through the filter; and decreasing a current value flowing to the motor as the filter is clogged. A fan that performs the operation; a current detection unit that detects a current value flowing through the motor; a comparison unit that outputs an abnormality signal when the current value detected by the current detection unit is equal to or less than a preset value; Notification means for notifying the clogging of the filter.

The filter may be any filter that cleans air, such as an ozone filter that absorbs ozone, a clean filter that removes dust and the like, and a deodorizing filter that deodorizes odor and the like.

[0010] The filter may be arranged on either the intake side or the exhaust side of the fan.

The current set value at which the comparing means outputs an abnormal signal is, for example, the motor before the unclean air such as ozone leaks from the OA equipment without passing through the filter, because the amount of air passing through the filter is reduced. It is set to be equal to or greater than the flowing current value.

The notification means may be either visual notification such as lighting display of a light emitting diode (LED) or the like or notification by sound.

According to the present invention, the value of the current flowing through the fan motor decreases as the filter becomes clogged with dust or the like. Therefore, it is determined from the current value whether the filter is clogged and the air cannot be cleaned. Can be. And
When the value of the current flowing through the motor is equal to or less than a preset value, an abnormality signal is output from the comparing means, and the notifying means notifies the clogging of the filter, thereby recognizing that the filter cannot clean the air. Is done. As a result,
The filter can be replaced immediately, and the adverse effect of unclean air is prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising:
Image forming means for forming a reversal image by adhering toner to the electrostatic latent image and transferring the reversal image to a fixing member to form a predetermined image; melting the toner adhering to the fixing member to form an image A fixing device for fixing; and a ventilating device according to claim 1 for removing ozone generated around the image forming means.

The image forming apparatus includes all devices having a function of forming an image using toner. The image means a character, a figure, a code, a video, and the like. For example,
There are image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile.

According to the present invention, when the filter is clogged and the amount of ventilation decreases, and the ozone generated around the image forming means cannot be removed, the notification means notifies the clogging of the filter. . By immediately replacing the filter based on this notification, ozone is prevented from leaking from the image forming apparatus to the outside.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a ventilating apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention. The ventilation device 1 includes a filter 2, a fan 3, a current detection circuit 4 as current detection means, a comparator 5 as comparison means, a control circuit 6 as a notification means, a light emitting diode 7, and the like. .

The filter 2 is an ozone filter that absorbs ozone, and is clogged by dust or the like. As the filter 2 becomes clogged, the amount of air flowing through the filter 2 decreases.

The fan 3 includes a motor 3a and blades 3b, and the blades 3b rotate when a current flows through the motor 3a. Ventilation is performed by the rotation of the blade 3b, and ventilation is performed through the filter 2. The filter 2 may be disposed on either the intake side or the exhaust side of the fan 3. This fan 3 has a filter 2
The current flowing to the motor 3a decreases as the load becomes lighter, that is, as the load becomes lighter. Fan 3
Is connected to a commercial AC power supply Vs, and a current flows when a commercial AC voltage is input.

The current detection circuit 4 is configured to detect the value of the current flowing through the motor 3a by the current transformer CT, convert the current value into a voltage value corresponding to the current value, and output the voltage value to the comparator 5.

The comparator 5 has a voltage value output from the current detection circuit 4 at the inverting input terminal (a current value flowing through the motor 3a).
Is input, and a preset set value (set voltage value) Ref1 is input to the non-inverting input terminal. Then, the voltage value is compared with the set value Ref1, and the voltage value is set to the set value Re.
When f1 or less, an abnormal signal (for example, DC5V) is output to the control circuit 6.

The set value Ref1 is a reference value indicating continuation of use when the filter 2 is clogged. As the filter 2 becomes clogged, the amount of air flow from the fan 3 through which air flows through the filter 2 decreases. When the amount of ventilation decreases below a certain level, a part of the ozone generated in the OA device or the like is not ventilated through the filter 2 but leaks from the inside of the OA device to the outside. Therefore, filter 2
When the amount of air passing through the OA device exceeds a certain value, ozone is prevented from leaking from the inside of the OA device to the outside. The set value Ref1 is set to be equal to or more than a current value converted into a voltage value flowing to the motor 3a when the amount of air passing through the filter 2 exceeds a certain value. The current value may be set as appropriate depending on the type, size, structure, etc. of the OA device.

The fan 3 is configured so that the current flowing through the motor 3a decreases as the filter 2 becomes clogged. An abnormal signal indicating that the clogging of the filter 2 is abnormal is output from the filter 5.

The control circuit 6 is configured such that, when an abnormal signal is input from the comparator 5, a current flows through the light emitting diode 7. That is, the control circuit 6 causes the light emitting diode 7 to emit light in response to the abnormal signal. The light emitting diode 7 is provided at a place where the OA device is easily visible. Then, when the light emitting diode 7 emits light, a person is notified of an abnormal state of clogging of the filter 2.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

The motor 3 of the fan 3 is supplied from the commercial AC power supply Vs.
When an AC voltage is input to a, the blade 3b of the fan 3 rotates. And the ozone generated inside the OA equipment is
The air is aerated through the filter 2 and absorbed by the filter 2. Therefore, the clean air from which ozone has been removed is exhausted outside the OA equipment.

The filter 2 is clogged with dust or the like over a period of time. As a result, the amount of air passing through the filter 2 decreases, so that ozone tends to remain inside the OA equipment, and the value of current flowing to the motor 3a of the fan 3 decreases. This current value is constantly detected by the current detection circuit 4. The current detection circuit 4 does not output an abnormal signal when the value of the current flowing through the motor 3a exceeds the set value Ref1.

Then, before the filter 2 is clogged to an abnormal state and ozone leaks from the inside of the OA equipment to the outside, the current value flowing through the motor 3a is reduced to the set value Ref.
1 or less, and the comparator 5 outputs an abnormal signal.

Then, the control circuit 7 causes a current to flow through the light emitting diode 6 in response to the abnormal signal. Since current flows through the light emitting diode 6, the light emitting diode 6 emits light. By visually observing the light emission of the light emitting diode 6,
An abnormality of clogging of the filter 2 is notified to a person. Therefore, a person can replace the filter 2 before the filter 2 is clogged and ozone leaks from the inside of the OA apparatus to the outside.

The ventilator 1 includes a normal fan 3 in which the current flowing through the motor 3a decreases as the filter 2 becomes clogged, and the current flowing through the motor 3a is set to one preset value. Since it is configured to notify the clogging of the filter 2 when Ref1 or less, the cost can be reduced.

The filter 2 may be a clean filter for removing dust or the like or a deodorizing filter for removing odor. Even in this case, clean air is supplied from the ventilation device 1.

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

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of an image forming apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is a copying machine 8, in which 1 is a ventilation device, 9 is a reading device, 10 is an image forming means, 11 is a fixing device, and 12 is a copy as a main body of the image forming device. The machine itself.

The reading device 9 optically reads the base paper to form an image signal.

The image forming means 10 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 13 based on the image signal, and attaches a toner 14 (shown in FIG. 3) to the electrostatic latent image to form a reverse image. Then, the image is transferred to a fixing member 15 such as paper to form an image 16.
(Shown in FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the fixing device 11 includes a heat roller 1 having fixing heaters 17, 17 disposed therein.
The toner 14 adhered to the fixing member 15 is heated and melted by the fixing members 8 and 18 to fix the toner.

The copying machine main body 12 houses the ventilation device 1, the reading device 9, the image forming means 10 and the fixing device 11, and includes a transport device, a power supply device, a control device and the like.

In the copier body 12, most of the image forming means 10 is surrounded and the image forming means 1 is provided.
A duct 19 having a flow path 19a extending from 0 to the outside of the copying machine main body 12 is provided. The filter 2 and the fan 3 are disposed on the outlet 19 a side of the duct 19. When the fan 3 rotates, the openings 12a, 12a formed in the copying machine body 12 are formed in the copying machine body 12.
b, etc., the air is sucked into the copying machine main body 12, and the air is exhausted through the image forming means 10, the flow path 19a of the duct 19, and the filter 2. Also,
The light-emitting diode 7 is disposed in the copying machine main body 12 at a position where a person can see it from above the copying machine main body 12.

When the fan 3 rotates, the openings 12a, 12a
Dust and the like also flow into the duct 19 from b and the like. Then, the light emitting diode 7 of the ventilator 1 emits light before the filter 2 is clogged to an abnormal state and the ozone leaks from the inside of the copying machine 8 to the outside. The light emitting diode 7 emits light to the copying machine 8
Is easily visible from above. That is, the light emission of the light emitting diode 7 informs a person of the abnormality of the clogging of the filter 2. Therefore, before ozone leaks from the inside of the copying machine 8 to the outside, a person can replace the filter 2 and the adverse effect of ozone can be prevented.

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the current value flowing through the motor of the fan decreases as the filter becomes clogged with dust or the like. Can be determined by the value,
When the current value is equal to or less than a preset value, an abnormal signal is output from the comparing means and is notified by the notifying means, so that the filter can be replaced promptly and the adverse effect of unclean air is prevented. can do.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the filter is clogged and the amount of ventilation decreases, and the ozone generated around the image forming means cannot be removed, the notification means reduces the clogging of the filter. Since the notification is made, the filter can be replaced immediately, and ozone can be prevented from leaking from the image forming apparatus to the outside.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a ventilation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a main part of the fixing device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional copier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ventilation device 2 ... Filter 3 ... Fan 4 ... Current detection circuit as current detection means 5 ... Comparator as comparison means 6 ... Light emitting diode which comprises notification means 7 ... Configuration of notification means Control circuit 8... Copier as image forming apparatus 10. Image forming means 11.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A filter for purifying air; a fan for ventilating through the filter and reducing a current value flowing to the motor as the filter is clogged; and current detecting means for detecting a current value flowing to the motor. A comparing means for outputting an abnormal signal when a current value detected by the current detecting means is equal to or less than a preset value; and a notifying means for notifying a filter clogging according to the abnormal signal. A ventilator characterized by having. 2. An image forming means for forming a reversal image by attaching toner to an electrostatic latent image and transferring the reversal image to a fixing member to form a predetermined image; An image forming apparatus comprising: a fixing device that fixes an image by melting; and a ventilator according to claim 1, which removes ozone generated around the image forming means.