JP2007057779A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which prevents deterioration of members in the apparatus due to temperature rise and takes measures to deal with dew condensation and paper moisture prevention, thereby maintaining performance by monitoring and controlling temperature or humidity in the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus, when a power failure detection circuit 4 detects that a commercial power supply 1 is disconnected and the temperature or humidity in the apparatus detected by an in-apparatus sensor 11 exceeds a predetermined value, a fan motor 8 is driven with a voltage V2 from an electric double layer capacitor 20 by a fan motor driving circuit 12 and a drum heater and a cassette heater 9 are driven with the voltage V2 from the electric double layer capacitor 20 by a heater driving circuit 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers contain heat-generating parts in the apparatus, and an in-apparatus cooling fan motor is used to cool such heat-generating parts. When the power switch of the image forming apparatus is turned off or when the power cord is pulled out, the temperature inside the apparatus rises, and it is considered that the guaranteed temperature for the members and parts used is exceeded. As a result, there is a risk of greatly affecting the device performance.

  In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-301877 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-26860 (Patent Document 2), a power storage unit is charged, a fan is driven by electric power from the power storage unit, and a load is loaded in an energy saving mode. It is described that the temperature inside the housing is prevented by driving the fan with the power from the power storage unit even when the unit consumes little power.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-251111 (Patent Document 3), when the main power supply is cut off, the fan is driven by a capacitor used as an auxiliary power source for the thermal power source to discharge, and image formation is performed while the capacitor is charged. There has been proposed an image forming apparatus that prevents the battery from exploding when the apparatus is moved, thereby improving safety.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-301877 (paragraph numbers 0030 to 0034, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-26860 (paragraph numbers 0042 to 0046, FIG. 4) JP 2002-251111 (paragraph numbers 0043 to 0044, FIG. 1)

  However, in the image forming apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, when the power is turned off from a sleep mode or a state in which a print job is not performed for a long time, the fan is used even when the temperature in the apparatus is not so high. Driving, noise is generated and there is a concern about the influence on the condensation of toner and the like.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent deterioration of members in the apparatus due to a rise in temperature and to take measures against condensation and moisture prevention by monitoring the temperature or humidity in the apparatus and adjusting the temperature or humidity. It is an object to provide an image forming apparatus capable of maintaining the performance.

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that adjusts the temperature and humidity in the apparatus when the main power supply is shut off, and includes an auxiliary power supply, a fan motor that ventilates the apparatus, and a heater that heats the apparatus. A power-off detection means for detecting that the main power supply has been cut off; a detection means for detecting at least one of temperature and humidity in the apparatus; and in response to the detection of power-off by the power-off detection means And a drive means for driving the excess of the fan motor and the heater with the electric power from the auxiliary power source when at least one of temperature and humidity is detected by the detection means and exceeds a predetermined value. Prepare.

  Preferably, the auxiliary power source is charged while the main power source is energized.

  Preferably, the auxiliary power source is an electric double layer capacitor.

  According to the present invention, when it is detected that the main power supply is shut off, if at least one of the temperature and the humidity in the apparatus exceeds a predetermined value, the fan motor and the heater that exceed the auxiliary power supply By driving with electric power from the apparatus, deterioration of the members in the apparatus due to an increase in temperature in the apparatus can be prevented, and performance can be maintained by taking measures against condensation and moisture of the paper.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an AC voltage from a commercial power source 1 that is a main power source is applied to a power source 3 for equipment and a power failure detection circuit 4 as a power failure detection means via a power switch 2. The device power supply 3 generates a DC power supply voltage necessary for operating the internal devices of the image forming apparatus in accordance with the AC voltage from the commercial power supply 1. The power failure detection circuit 4 detects that the commercial power source 1 has failed due to some failure and that the power switch 2 has been opened. The detection signal of the power failure detection circuit 4 is given to the sub-control unit 10. The sub-control unit 10 is provided to drive the fan motor 8 and the drum heater / cassette heater 9 when a power failure is detected.

  The device power supply 3 applies a power supply voltage V1 to the main control unit 5, the fan motor drive circuit 6, and the heater drive circuit 7. The main control unit 5 controls each part of the image forming apparatus, and is composed of, for example, a CPU. A fan control signal is given from the main control unit 5 to the fan motor drive circuit 6, and the fan motor drive circuit 6 drives the fan motor 8 by the power supply voltage V1 given from the device power supply 3 in accordance with the fan control signal. To vent.

  Further, a heater control signal is given from the main control unit 5 to the heater drive circuit 7, and the heater drive circuit 7 is supplied with a power supply voltage V 1 given from the power supply 3 for equipment according to the heater control signal given from the main control unit 5. The drum heater / cassette heater 9 is driven to dry the inside of the apparatus.

  An electric double layer capacitor 20 is provided as an auxiliary power source, and a power supply voltage V2 is applied from the electric double layer capacitor 20 to the sub-control unit 10, the fan motor drive circuit 12, and the heater drive circuit 13. The sub-control unit 10 is connected to an in-device sensor 11 as detection means. The in-device sensor 11 detects the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus.

  When the commercial power supply 1 fails or when the power switch 2 is opened and no AC voltage is applied to the device power supply 3, the sub-control unit 10, via the fan motor drive circuit 12 and the heater drive circuit 13, The fan motor 8 and the drum heater / cassette heater 9 are driven. The fan motor drive circuit 12 and the heater drive circuit 13 are supplied with the power supply voltage V2 from the electric double layer capacitor 20. The sub-control unit 10 gives a control signal to the fan motor drive circuit 12 based on the temperature detection signal given from the in-device sensor 11, and gives a heater control signal to the heater drive circuit 13 based on the humidity detection signal.

  The fan motor drive circuit 12 drives the fan 8 with the power supply voltage V2 based on the fan control signal. The heater drive circuit 13 drives the drum heater / cassette heater 9 with the power supply voltage V2 based on the heater control signal.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. In step (abbreviated as SP in the drawing) SP1, the image forming apparatus is brought into a machine operation state. This operation state is any state such as standby, copying, and OFF when the image forming apparatus is a copying machine. In step SP2, the sub-control unit 10 monitors the detection output of the power failure detection circuit 4, and determines whether or not the switch 2 is ON / OFF in step SP3. If it is ON, the machine operation state is continued in step SP4.

  That is, the main control unit 5 gives a fan control signal to the fan motor drive circuit 6 and gives a heater control signal to the heater drive circuit 7. Based on the fan motor control signal, the fan motor drive circuit 6 supplies the fan motor 8 with the power supply voltage V1 output from the device power supply 3 to drive it. Based on the heater control signal, the heater drive circuit 7 drives the drum heater / cassette heater 9 with the power supply voltage V1 output from the power supply 3 for equipment.

  If the switch 2 is OFF, in step SP5, the power supply voltage V1 is no longer supplied from the device power supply 3 to the fan motor control circuit 6 and the heater drive circuit 7, and the fan motor 8 and the drum heater / cassette heater 9 are connected. Driving is stopped. In step SP6, the sub-control unit 10 activates the built-in CPU by the voltage V2 supplied from the electric double layer capacitor 20 in response to the power failure detection circuit 4 detecting the power interruption, and in step SP7 Temperature data A is acquired from the sensor 11.

  In step SP8, it is determined whether or not the temperature data A is higher than the threshold value T1. When it is determined that the temperature data A is higher than the threshold value T1, in step SP9, based on the power supply voltage V2 supplied from the electric double layer capacitor 20, a fan control signal is supplied to the fan motor drive circuit 12, The fan motor 8 is driven. Thereafter, the process returns to step SP7, steps SP7 to SP9 are repeated, the temperature is periodically monitored, and the fan motor 8 is driven so that the temperature in the apparatus becomes equal to or lower than the threshold value. Take control.

  When it is determined in step SP8 that the temperature data A is not higher than the threshold value T1, humidity data B is acquired from the in-device sensor 11 in step SP10. In step SP11, it is determined whether or not the humidity data B is higher than a threshold value T2. If it is determined that the humidity data B is higher than the threshold value T2, the heater drive circuit 13 sends a heater control signal to the drum heater / cassette heater 9 based on the power supply voltage V2 from the electric double layer capacitor 20 in step SP12. Give and drive. If the humidity data B is not higher than the threshold value T2, the process returns to step SP10, and thereafter, the processing in steps SP10 to SP12 is repeated to monitor the humidity periodically so that the humidity in the apparatus becomes lower than the threshold value. In addition, the drum heater / cassette heater 9 is driven to heat and reduce the humidity in the apparatus to control the humidity.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the power switch 2 is turned off or the commercial power source 1 is in a power failure, the sub-control unit 10 acquires the temperature and humidity in the device from the device sensor 11. Depending on whether each is higher than the threshold values T1 and T2, the fan motor 8 is driven or the drum heater / cassette heater 9 is driven based on the power supply voltage V2 of the electric double layer capacitor 20. Therefore, by monitoring the temperature or humidity in the device and adjusting the temperature or humidity, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the components in the device due to a rise in the temperature in the image forming device and to prevent condensation and moisture in the paper. In the above-described embodiment, the power from the electric double layer capacitor 20 is changed according to the detection output of the in-device sensor 11. Thus, both temperature control and humidity control are performed, but at least one of them may be performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the humidity control is performed after the temperature control. However, the humidity control may be performed first, and then the temperature control may be performed.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the electric double layer capacitor 20 is used as the auxiliary power source. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a rechargeable secondary battery such as a storage battery or a non-chargeable primary battery may be used. .

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described with reference to drawings, this invention is not limited to the thing of embodiment shown in figure. Various modifications and variations can be made to the illustrated embodiment within the same range or equivalent range as the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Commercial power supply, 2 Power switch, 3 Equipment power supply, 4 Power failure detection circuit, 5 Main control part, 6,12 Fan motor drive circuit, 7,13 Heater drive circuit, 8 Fan motor, 9 Drum heater / cassette heater, 10 Sub-control unit, 11 In-device sensor, 20 Electric double layer capacitor.

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus that adjusts the temperature and humidity in the apparatus when the main power is cut off,
Auxiliary power,
A fan motor that ventilates the device;
A heater for heating the inside of the device;
Power-off detection means for detecting that the main power supply has been shut off;
Detection means for detecting temperature or humidity in the device;
In response to the power-off detection being detected by the power-off detection means, at least one of temperature and humidity is detected by the detection means, and in response to exceeding a predetermined value, the fan motor and the An image forming apparatus, comprising: a driving unit that drives an excess of the heater with electric power from the auxiliary power source.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary power source is charged while the main power source is energized. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary power source is an electric double layer capacitor.

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