JP2010217639A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus evading dew condensation or rising of humidity inside an image forming apparatus at a low cost and with low power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: The dew condensation and the rising of humidity inside the image forming apparatus is evaded at a low cost without providing a subsidiary power source by carrying out control of a dehumidifying and dew condensation prevention heater 210 by acquiring power from an outside unit 300 through an outside interface 250 when an inside power supply section 240 in the image forming apparatus 100 is turned off. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image by transferring image data read from a document onto a recording medium by a power source supplied from an internal power supply unit.

  A conventional image forming apparatus includes an optical glass lens and the like that are configured in a process from reading an image of a document image to transferring it to a transfer object such as a printing paper. If condensation occurs on the glass or lens of the optical system, the quality may be deteriorated during transfer. In addition, if the transferred material such as printing paper is stored in a place with high humidity, the moisture content of the transferred material increases, which may deteriorate the quality during conveyance. Therefore, in the conventional image forming apparatus, in order to prevent dew condensation / humidity increase in the apparatus, a temperature / humidity sensor and a heater are provided in the image forming apparatus, and the amount of change in temperature and humidity is controlled within a certain range.

  Therefore, as a method for controlling the amount of change in temperature and humidity, for example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, when the main power supply of the image forming apparatus is turned off, the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus are controlled using the sub power supply. A method for controlling the heater based on the conditions is described.

  However, in the above-described conventional technology, it is necessary to prepare a sub-power source in order to control the temperature and humidity when the main power source is turned off, which may lead to an increase in power consumption. Further, since it is necessary to prepare a control sub-power supply in the image forming apparatus, there is a possibility that the cost increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of avoiding condensation and an increase in humidity in the image forming apparatus at low cost and low power consumption. The purpose is to do.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to achieve the above object.

  The present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image by transferring image data read from a document onto a recording medium by a power source supplied from an internal power supply unit, and detects temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus. Temperature / humidity detection means, heater means for adjusting the temperature / humidity in the image forming apparatus, control means for controlling on / off of the heater means based on the detection result of the temperature / humidity detection means, and image formation An external interface unit serving as an interface between the image forming apparatus and an external device connected to the image forming apparatus, and when the power is not supplied from the internal power supply unit, the control unit, the temperature and humidity detection unit, The heater unit is supplied with power from the external device through the external interface unit.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes a temperature / humidity adjusting unit that controls on / off of the heater unit based on a detection result of the temperature / humidity detecting unit, and when the power is not supplied from the internal power supply unit. Power is supplied from the external device to the temperature / humidity adjusting unit, the temperature / humidity detecting unit, and the heater unit via the external interface unit.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment further includes a thickness detection unit that detects the thickness of the recording medium, and the temperature / humidity adjustment unit detects the detection result of the temperature / humidity detection unit and the detection of the thickness detection unit. Based on the result, the heater means is controlled to be turned on / off.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes an external power supply unit that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus. When power is not supplied from the internal power supply unit, the temperature / humidity adjusting unit, the temperature / humidity detecting unit, The heater means is supplied with power by the external power supply means.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control unit is configured to turn on the heater unit when the temperature detected by the temperature / humidity detection unit is lower than a preset temperature.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control unit is configured to turn on the heater unit when the humidity detected by the temperature and humidity detection unit is higher than a preset set humidity.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image forming apparatus has a setting unit for setting the set temperature and the set humidity.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of the heater means are provided.

  According to the present invention, condensation and an increase in humidity in the image forming apparatus can be avoided at low cost and low power consumption.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the functional composition of control part 200 of a first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating control of a dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of 100 A of image forming apparatuses of 2nd embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of the image forming apparatus 100B of 3rd embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating control of a dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by an image forming apparatus 100B according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart for explaining another example of control of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by the image forming apparatus 100B of the third embodiment.

  The present invention obtains power necessary for temperature and humidity control from an external device via an external interface when the power of the image forming device is turned off, thereby forming an image at a low cost without providing a secondary power source. Avoid condensation and increased humidity inside the equipment.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a document table 110, a document feeding unit 120, a document reading unit 130, an image transfer unit 140, and a transfer object feeding unit 150.

  The document table 110 is for setting a document. The document feeding unit 120 conveys the set document to the document reading unit 130. The document reading unit 130 reads the document conveyed by the document feeding unit 120. The image transfer unit 140 writes the read image on the transfer object. The transfer object feeding unit 150 conveys a transfer object to which an image such as printing paper is transferred to a position where the image is transferred.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit 200, a dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210, a temperature / humidity sensor 220, an operation display unit 230, an internal power supply unit 240, an external interface 250, and a switch element 260.

  The control unit 200 controls a series of operations of the image forming apparatus 100 described below. Specifically, for example, the control unit 200 of the present embodiment monitors the temperature / humidity sensor 220 and turns on / off the switch element 260 according to the output of the temperature / humidity sensor 220 to operate the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210. Control. Details of the functional configuration of the control unit 200 will be described later.

  The dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 is a heater for adjusting the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus 100, and is turned on / off by the switch element 260. The temperature / humidity sensor 220 is a sensor that detects the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus 100.

  The operation display unit 230 is realized by a touch panel or the like having a display function, and is used when the image forming apparatus 100 is operated. The internal power supply unit 240 supplies power to each unit in the image forming apparatus 100.

  The external interface 250 is an interface that connects the image forming apparatus 100 and the external apparatus 300. The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment may be connected to an information processing apparatus or the like on a network via an external interface 250. Further, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may be connected to, for example, a charging device that charges a usage fee of the image forming apparatus 100 via the external interface 250.

  The switch element 260 is controlled to be turned on / off to control the operation of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210.

  Next, the function of the control unit 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control unit 200 according to the first embodiment.

  The control unit 200 according to the present embodiment includes a temperature / humidity setting unit 201, a power acquisition unit 202, a temperature / humidity sensor monitoring unit 203, a condition determination unit 204, and an activation instruction unit 205.

  The temperature / humidity setting unit 201 sets a temperature / humidity condition input by the operation display unit 230, for example. The set conditions are, for example, temperature and humidity, which are criteria for determining whether or not to drive the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210. The set conditions are stored in a memory device (not shown) or the like that the control unit 200 has.

  The power acquisition unit 202 acquires power necessary for operating the control unit 200 and the temperature / humidity sensor 220 via the external interface 250. Specifically, the power acquisition unit 202 of the present embodiment uses the external interface 250 to supply power necessary to operate the control unit 200 and the temperature / humidity sensor 220 when the internal power supply unit 240 is off. Via the external device 300 and convert it to a power source. The converted power supply drives the control unit 200 and the temperature / humidity sensor 220.

  The temperature / humidity sensor monitoring unit 203 monitors the output of the temperature / humidity sensor 220. The condition determination unit 204 determines whether the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 needs to be driven based on the output of the temperature / humidity sensor 220 and the conditions set by the temperature / humidity setting unit 201.

  When it is determined that the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 needs to be driven, the activation instruction unit 205 instructs the internal power supply unit 240 to activate the internal power supply unit 240. In the present embodiment, when the internal power supply unit 240 is activated, the switch element 260 is turned on and the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 operates.

  The control of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the control of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, the control unit 200 determines whether or not the internal power supply unit 240 is off (step S301). If the internal power supply unit 240 is off in step S301, the control unit 200 acquires power from the external device 300 via the external interface 250 by the power acquisition unit 202, and the control unit 200 and the temperature / humidity sensor 220 A power source is used (step S302).

  Next, the control unit 200 starts monitoring the temperature / humidity sensor 220 by the temperature / humidity sensor monitoring unit 203 (step S303). At this time, since the internal power supply unit 240 is off, the switch element 260 is also off, and the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 is off (step S304).

  Based on the output of the temperature / humidity sensor 220 and the condition set by the temperature / humidity setting unit 201, the control unit 200 determines whether the sensed temperature sensed by the temperature / humidity sensor 220 is lower than the set temperature. Determine whether. When the sensed temperature is lower than the set temperature, the control unit 200 determines that the temperature in the image forming apparatus 100 is low. The control unit 200 sends an activation instruction to the internal power supply unit 240 by the activation instruction unit 205, activates the internal power supply unit 240, turns on the switch element 260, and turns on the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 (step S306). .

  When the detected temperature is higher than the set temperature in step S305, the condition determination unit 204 determines whether the set humidity is less than the detected humidity detected by the temperature / humidity sensor 220 (step S307). If the detected humidity is higher than the set humidity in step S307, the control unit 200 determines that the humidity in the image forming apparatus 100 is high, and proceeds to step S306 to turn on the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210.

  If the set humidity is greater than the sensed humidity in step S305, the condition determination unit 204 determines whether the set temperature and the set humidity are less than the sensed temperature and the sensed humidity (step S308).

  In step S308, when the set temperature and set humidity are less than the sensed temperature and sensed humidity, the condition determination unit 204 proceeds to step S306 and turns on the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210. When the set temperature and set humidity are larger than the sensed temperature and sensed humidity in step S308, the condition judging unit 204 judges that it is not necessary to control the temperature and humidity, and proceeds to step S304 to set the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210. Turn off.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is connected to the external apparatus 300 via the external interface 250, so that the temperature and humidity can be adjusted even when the power of the image forming apparatus 100 is off. Electric power can be obtained for control. Therefore, it is not necessary to create a power source for controlling the temperature and humidity, and power reduction can be reduced. In the present embodiment, since the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus 100 can be controlled only by inserting the interface cable into the image forming apparatus 100, the convenience can be improved.

  Further, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to prepare a control sub-power source for controlling the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus 100, so that the cost can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of dehumidification / condensation prevention heaters 210 may be provided in the image forming apparatus 100. In this case, the control unit 200 may simultaneously control the plurality of dehumidification / condensation prevention heaters 210 by the method described above. By controlling a plurality of dehumidification / condensation prevention heaters 210 at the same time, the dehumidification / condensation prevention heaters 210 can be turned on only when necessary even if the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 is complicated. Therefore, the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus 100 can be controlled efficiently, which can contribute to reduction of power consumption.

  In the present embodiment, the temperature and humidity setting unit 201 of the control unit 200 can set an arbitrary temperature and humidity. Therefore, on / off of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 can be controlled based on an arbitrary temperature and humidity, and the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 can be turned on / off according to the use environment of the image forming apparatus 100. .

(Second embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that a temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 for controlling the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 is provided. Therefore, in the following description of the second embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described, and those having the same functional configuration as the first embodiment will be used in the description of the first embodiment. The same reference numerals as those used are assigned, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100A according to the second embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100A of the present embodiment includes a temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 and a paper thickness detection sensor 280.

  The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of this embodiment is mounted on a substrate different from the substrate on which the control unit 200A is mounted, and is externally attached to the substrate on which the control unit 200A is mounted. The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of this embodiment controls the operation of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by turning on / off the switch element 270 based on the detection result of the temperature / humidity sensor 220. The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of the present embodiment operates when power is supplied from the external device 300 connected via the external interface 250 when the internal power supply unit 240 is off.

  The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of the image forming apparatus 100A of the present embodiment performs the same control as the control unit 200 of the first embodiment when the internal power supply unit 240 is off.

  That is, the temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of the present embodiment performs the processing from step S302 to step S308 in FIG. 3 when the control unit 200A determines that the internal power supply unit 240 is off.

  The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of this embodiment has a paper thickness detection circuit 271 and can detect the paper thickness of the original and the paper thickness of the printing paper as the transfer object based on the output of the paper thickness detection sensor 280. it can. The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of the present embodiment has a high humidity in the image forming apparatus 100A when, for example, the paper thickness of the document or transfer target detected by the paper thickness detection circuit 271 is equal to or greater than a predetermined thickness. It may be determined that the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 is turned on.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the ON / OFF of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 can be controlled based on the paper thickness, the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 can be controlled under appropriate conditions.

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The third embodiment of the present invention is different from the second embodiment in that it has an external power supply unit. Therefore, in the following description of the third embodiment, only differences from the second embodiment will be described, and those having the same functional configuration as the second embodiment will be used in the description of the second embodiment. The same reference numerals as those used are assigned, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100B according to the third embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100B of the present embodiment includes an external power supply unit 300A. In the present embodiment, when the internal power supply unit 240 is turned off, the switch element 371 of the external power supply unit 300A is turned on, and power is supplied from the external power supply unit 300A to the temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270. Note that the external power supply unit 300 </ b> A of the present embodiment is a battery that can be detached from the image forming apparatus 100.

  The control of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 in the image forming apparatus 100B of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining control of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by the image forming apparatus 100B of the third embodiment.

  In the image forming apparatus 100B of the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the internal power supply unit 240 is turned off (step S601).

  When the internal power supply unit 240 is off in step S601, the switch element 371 of the external power supply unit 300A is turned on, and power is supplied from the external power supply unit 300A to the temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270. The temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 controls the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 with the power supplied from the external power supply unit 300A (step S602).

  In step S601, when the internal power supply unit 240 is on, power is supplied to the control unit 200B. At this time, the switch element 371 of the external power supply unit 300A remains off, and no power is supplied to the temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270.

  The processing from step S604 to step S608 is the same as the processing from step S305 to step S308 in FIG.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when the internal power supply unit 240 is off, the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 can be controlled by the power supplied from the external power supply unit 300A. In addition, the temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 of this embodiment is mounted on a substrate different from the substrate on which the control unit 200B is mounted. Therefore, only the temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 270 and the temperature / humidity sensor 220 are supplied with power by the external power supply unit 300A. Therefore, in this embodiment, when controlling the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210, power consumption can be reduced compared to the case where power is supplied to the substrate on which the control unit 200B is mounted.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the temperature and humidity conditions can be set in advance by the temperature / humidity setting unit 201 of the control unit 200B. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining another example of control of the dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 210 by the image forming apparatus 100B of the third embodiment.

  In this embodiment, when the temperature / humidity value is input from the operation display unit 230, the temperature / humidity setting unit 201 sets the temperature and humidity to the input values (step S701). The processing from step S702 to step S709 is the same as the processing from step S601 to step S608 in FIG.

  As mentioned above, although this invention has been demonstrated based on each embodiment, this invention is not limited to the requirements shown in the said embodiment. With respect to these points, the gist of the present invention can be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

100, 100A, 100B Image forming apparatus 200, 200A, 200B Control unit 210 Dehumidification / condensation prevention heater 220 Temperature / humidity sensor 230 Operation display unit 240 Internal power supply unit 250 External interface 260, 371 Switch element 270 Temperature / humidity adjustment circuit 280 Paper thickness Detection sensor 300 External device 300A External power supply unit

JP 2006-11329 A JP 2003-18640 A

Claims (8)

An image forming apparatus for forming an image by transferring image data read from a document to a recording medium by a power source supplied from an internal power supply unit,
Temperature and humidity detecting means for detecting temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus;
Heater means for adjusting the temperature and humidity in the image forming apparatus;
Control means for controlling on / off of the heater means based on the detection result of the temperature and humidity detection means;
An external interface unit serving as an interface between the image forming apparatus and an external device connected to the image forming apparatus;
Have
An image forming apparatus in which, when power is not supplied from the internal power supply means, power is supplied from the external device to the control means, the temperature / humidity detection means, and the heater means via the external interface means. Temperature / humidity adjusting means for controlling on / off of the heater means based on the detection result by the temperature / humidity detecting means,
The power supply is supplied from the external device to the temperature / humidity adjustment unit, the temperature / humidity detection unit, and the heater unit via the external interface unit when power is not supplied from the internal power supply unit. The image forming apparatus according to 1. A thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of the recording medium;
The temperature and humidity adjusting means is
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein on / off of the heater unit is controlled based on a detection result of the temperature / humidity detection unit and a detection result of the thickness detection unit. An external power supply means detachable from the image forming apparatus;
4. The power supply unit according to claim 1, wherein when the power is not supplied from the internal power supply unit, the external power supply unit supplies power to the temperature / humidity adjustment unit, the temperature / humidity detection unit, and the heater unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The control means includes
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heater unit is turned on when a temperature detected by the temperature / humidity detection unit is lower than a preset temperature. The control means includes
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heater unit is turned on when the humidity detected by the temperature and humidity detection unit is higher than a preset set humidity.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a setting unit configured to set the set temperature and the set humidity.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the heater units are provided.

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