JP2013076954A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem in which: as for a document including color pages and monochrome pages, fixing temperature control for color pages applies an excessive temperature to monochrome pages, which increases power consumption; and when the fixing temperature is controlled at a switching timing between a color page and a monochrome page, if a cycle of the switching is short, the fixing temperature control is frequently activated, and thereby reducing productivity.SOLUTION: When fixing temperature control is in a power-saving mode, multiple document printing is changed to multiple document printing for each page, that is, color or monochrome printing data is made to be successively printed. Accordingly, a transit time required for switching from monochrome printing to color printing can be reduced as much as possible, and thereby power consumption and a reduction in productivity can be suppressed.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to temperature adjustment of a fixing device when a toner image formed by an electrophotographic method is thermally fixed onto a transfer sheet.

  An image forming apparatus that thermally fixes a toner image formed by electrophotography on transfer paper determines a fixing temperature in the fixing device according to the amount of color material per unit area placed on the transfer paper. Usually, the maximum value of the color material amount per unit area is determined in advance, and the fixing device is fixed so that the image with the maximum color material amount per unit area can be fixed reliably. Adjust the temperature.

  In an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus, at the time of color printing, a plurality of color materials such as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) are superimposed to form an image. (Referred to as toner amount) tends to increase, and it is necessary to increase the heat capacity of the fixing roller. The large heat capacity increases the fixing warm-up time until the temperature rises to a predetermined temperature when the fixing device is lower than a predetermined temperature after turning on the power or at the end of sleep. Generate latency. In addition, when the output image is formed with an amount of toner that is significantly lower than the assumed maximum toner amount, excessive heating is performed, for example, when outputting monochrome printing using only the K color material.

  In order to solve these problems, a technique for correcting the fixing temperature in accordance with the content of an image such as characters and photographs in one page is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-10-39673

  However, for mixed color and monochrome documents, fixing temperature control that assumes the maximum number of colors is a setting of an unnecessarily high fixing temperature for pages of monochrome documents only, resulting in increased power consumption. there were.

  Further, when the method of Patent Document 1 is used, the fixing temperature suitable for each page is controlled at the switching timing between the color page and the monochrome page. For example, in a printed document in which color and monochrome are switched for each page, there is a problem that fixing temperature control frequently operates and repeats overheating and heat dissipation in a short time, leading to a decrease in productivity.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

That is, an image forming apparatus that includes a fixing device that thermally fixes a toner image formed on a recording medium and controls a fixing temperature by the fixing device,
When the fixing temperature control method is the power saving mode, the color mode determination means for determining whether or not the automatic mode is set as the color mode;
When the color mode determination means determines that the automatic mode is set as the color mode, a print method setting means for setting a print method for printing a set number of copies in page units as a print method;
When the color mode is the automatic mode, a control unit that sets the color printing mode or the monochrome printing mode for each page based on the image data and controls the fixing temperature of the fixing device according to the set printing mode; Prepare.

  According to the present invention, when a plurality of copies are printed, the set number of copies is printed in units of pages, thereby suppressing the fluctuation of the fixing temperature controlled for each page and improving the printing productivity.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a controller 103 of the image forming apparatus 101. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer unit 104. FIG. 5 is a table showing a relationship among modes, toner amounts, and temperatures. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a fixing temperature and a voltage supplied to a fixing device. It is the figure which showed the change of the time and temperature by switching from color printing to monochrome printing. It is the figure which showed the change of the time and temperature by switching from monochrome printing to color printing. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a user interface for setting a fixing temperature control method. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of image formation in a high-speed mode of fixing temperature control. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of image formation in a power saving mode of fixing temperature control. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the multiple copies printing process at the time of power saving mode. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the page layout process at the time of power saving mode. It is the figure which showed an example of the panel display at the time of power saving mode setting.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this system, the host computer 106 and the image forming apparatus 101 are connected to the network 105. However, in the image processing system according to the present invention, the number of connections is not limited. In this embodiment, a network is applied as a connection method, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a serial transmission method such as USB or a parallel transmission method such as Centronics or SCSI is also applicable.

  A host computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 106 has a function of a personal computer. The PC 106 can send and receive files using the network 105. Furthermore, the PC 106 can also transmit print data to the image forming apparatus 101 via a printer driver.

  The image forming apparatus 101 includes a printer unit 104 that is an image output device, a controller 103 that controls operation of the entire image forming apparatus 101, a plurality of keys for giving instructions by the user, and various types of information to be notified to the user. The unit 102 is configured.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the controller 103 of the image forming apparatus 101.

  The controller 103 is connected to the PC 106 and an external image forming apparatus via the network 105. As a result, print data and device information can be input and output.

  The CPU 201 comprehensively controls access to various connected devices based on a control program stored in the ROM 203, and also performs overall control of various processes such as image processing performed in the controller 103. A RAM 202 is a system work memory for the operation of the CPU 201 and also a memory for temporarily storing image data. The RAM 202 includes an SRAM that retains stored contents even after the power is turned off, and a DRAM that erases the stored contents after the power is turned off. The ROM 203 stores a boot program for the apparatus. The HDD 204 is a hard disk drive and can store system software and image data.

  The operation unit I / F 205 is an interface unit for connecting to the operation unit 102. The operation unit I / F 205 outputs image data to be displayed on the operation unit 102 to the operation unit 102 and acquires information input from the operation unit 102. For example, the user interface shown in FIGS. 8 and 13 is displayed on the operation unit 102, and the user can set the control mode of the fixing device.

  A network I / F 206 is connected to the network 105 and transmits and receives image data and information.

  The rendering unit 207 receives intermediate data generated based on PDL code data that is print data transmitted from the PC 106 or the like, and generates bitmap (multi-value) image data and attribute data. The image processing unit 208 receives the image data generated by the rendering unit 207, and performs image processing on the image data while referring to attribute data attached to the image data. The image data after the image processing is output to the printer unit 104 via the printer I / F 209. The printer unit 104 drives exposure light according to the image data for each color component processed by the image processing unit 102 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor, and the electrostatic latent image is converted into toner of the color component. To develop a single color toner image. The single color toner images are superimposed to form a multicolor toner image, and the multicolor toner image is transferred to the recording medium 311 in FIG. 3 to thermally fix the multicolor toner image on the recording medium. Monochromatic toner images and multicolor toner images are collectively referred to as toner images.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer unit 104. The printer unit 104 has a configuration capable of forming an image with four colors of YMCK, and a unit for forming an image for each color is called a station. The station is represented by a color symbol (YMCK, yellow, magenta, cyan, black, respectively) attached after the code. In FIG. 3, injection charging machines 323Y, 323M, 323C, and 323K charge the photoreceptors 322Y, 322M, 322C, and 322K for each of Y, M, C, and K colors. Each injection charger is provided with sleeves 323YS, 323MS, 323CS, and 323KS. The photoconductors 322Y, 322M, 322C, and 322K rotate when a driving force of a drive motor (not shown) is transmitted. The drive motor rotates the photoconductors 322Y, 322M, 322C, and 322K in accordance with an image forming operation. Rotate around. The exposure means irradiates the photoconductors 322Y, 322M, 322C, 322K with exposure light from the scanner units 324Y, 324M, 324C, 324K, and selectively exposes the surfaces of the photoconductors 322Y, 322M, 322C, 322K, An electrostatic latent image is formed.

  The developing units 26Y, 26M, 26C, and 26K include four developing units that perform development for each of the colors Y, M, C, and K in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. Each developing device is provided with sleeves 26YS, 26MS, 26CS, and 26KS. Each developing device 26 is detachable.

  The intermediate transfer member 328 is rotated in the clockwise direction to transfer the single color toner image on the photosensitive member 322, and the primary transfer rollers 327Y, 327M, and 327C are positioned to face the photosensitive members 322Y, 322M, 322C, and 322K, respectively. A monochrome toner image is transferred with the rotation of 327K. By applying an appropriate bias voltage to the primary transfer roller 327 and making a difference between the rotation speed of the photoconductor 322 and the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer body 328, the monochrome toner image is efficiently transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 328. This is called primary transfer.

  Further, the single color toner image for each station is superimposed on the intermediate transfer member 328. The superimposed multi-color toner image is conveyed to the secondary transfer roller 329 as the intermediate transfer member 328 rotates. At the same time, the recording medium 311 is conveyed from the paper feed tray 321 to the secondary transfer roller 329, and the multicolor toner image on the intermediate transfer member 328 is transferred to the recording medium 311. At this time, the toner image is electrostatically transferred onto the recording medium 311 by applying an appropriate bias voltage to the secondary transfer roller 329. This is called secondary transfer. The secondary transfer roller 329 contacts the recording medium 311 at the position 329a while the multicolor toner image is transferred onto the recording medium 311, and is separated to the position 329b after the secondary transfer process.

  The fixing device 331 includes a fixing roller 332 for heating the recording medium 311 and a pressure roller for contacting the recording medium 311 to the fixing roller 332 in order to melt and fix the multicolor toner image transferred to the recording medium 311 to the recording medium 311. And a pressure roller 333. The fixing roller 332 and the pressure roller 333 are formed in a hollow shape, and heaters 334 and 335 are incorporated therein, respectively. The fixing device 331 conveys the recording medium 311 holding the multicolor toner image by the fixing roller 332 and the pressure roller 333 and applies heat and pressure to the recording medium 311 to fix the toner to the recording medium 311. If the amount of heat at this time is insufficient with respect to the amount of toner, a fixing failure occurs and a normal image cannot be obtained. Therefore, a temperature sensor (not shown) is attached to the fixing device 331, and a sufficient temperature for fixing is obtained. It is controlled so that the fixing operation is performed only when it is confirmed. This temperature control is performed by the CPU 104 based on the relationship between the temperature sensor information and the toner amount.

  After the toner fixing, the recording medium 311 is discharged to a discharge tray (not shown) by a discharge roller (not shown), and the image forming operation is finished. The cleaning means 330 cleans the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 328, and waste toner remaining after the transfer of the four-color multicolor toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body 328 to the recording medium 311 is removed. Stored in a cleaner container.

  Next, the relationship between the color mode related to the toner amount and the necessary temperature of the fixing device will be described.

  The toner amount means the toner amount per unit area on the image, and the unit is described as%. Specifically, when the maximum value of each color of C, M, Y, and K is 100%, for example, when the maximum value is overlapped with two colors, the toner amount is defined as 200% in that area. Since the maximum value of each color has gradation, it can take a value between 0% and 100%. The maximum amount of toner varies depending on the print mode. The print mode includes a color print mode and a monochrome print mode, which can be set manually or automatically according to the image to be printed. The color printing mode is a mode that makes full use of CMYK four-color toner, reproduces any color within the range that can be reproduced with the toner, and performs high-quality color printing. The maximum amount of toner in the color printing mode is about 240%, which is necessary and sufficient because image processing such as UCR processing is performed to reduce the amount of toner.

  In contrast to the color printing mode, the monochrome printing mode is a printing mode using only one color toner of K, and the maximum amount of toner in that case is 100%, which is the maximum value of one color.

  Since the maximum toner amount differs in the print mode as described above, the fixing temperature in the fixing device required at that time is different. The higher the maximum toner amount, the higher the required temperature. If the fixing temperature in the color printing mode is T1, and the fixing temperature in the monochrome printing mode is T2, the fixing temperature is higher in T1 in the color printing mode than in T2 in the monochrome printing mode. A table showing this relationship is shown in FIG. This correspondence table is stored in the RAM area 202 of the controller 103 for use in control. Of course, specific numerical values of T1 and T2 are stored in the correspondence table.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the fixing temperature and the voltage supplied to the fixing device. Since the fixing temperature T1 required for color printing is higher than the fixing temperature T2 required for monochrome printing, the voltage V1 supplied for the color fixing temperature T1 is higher than the voltage V2 supplied for the monochrome fixing temperature T2. It must be high, and V2> V1. Therefore, more power is required for color printing.

  Next, the switching time of the fixing temperature between color printing and monochrome printing will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing changes in time and temperature due to switching from the color printing mode to monochrome printing. When shifting from the fixing temperature T1 in the color printing mode to the fixing temperature T2 from the monochrome printing mode, a transition time S1 for cooling is required. During this transition time S1, since the fixing temperature is higher than T2 required for monochrome printing, a monochrome image can be printed, and printing can be performed before the fixing temperature reaches T2.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing changes in time and temperature due to switching from the monochrome printing mode to color printing. In order to shift from the fixing temperature T2 in the monochrome printing mode to the fixing temperature T1 from the color printing mode, a transition time of S2 is required for heating. During the transition time S2, a color image cannot be printed until the fixing temperature is lower than T1 necessary for color printing and reaches the fixing temperature T1.

<Fixing temperature control>
Next, a fixing temperature control method in the fixing device 331 will be described. FIG. 8 is a view showing a user interface (UI) for setting a fixing temperature control method. The UI 801 is displayed on the operation unit 102 or the printer driver of the PC 106.

  The fixing temperature control method can be switched between a high-speed mode and a power-saving mode, and the user can select a high-speed mode or a power-saving mode in the mode selection item 802 of the UI 801. The selected mode is stored in the RAM area 202 of the controller 103 when the setting button 803 is pressed, and is used by the image processing unit 208 for fixing temperature control.

<High-speed mode>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of fixing temperature control in the high-speed mode of fixing temperature control. The processing shown in the subsequent flowcharts is processed by the image processing unit 208 based on an instruction from the CPU 201.

  When the high speed mode is selected, the image processing unit 208 receives the image data generated by the rendering unit 207 (step S901), determines whether all pages of the image data are monochrome data (step S902), Only when it is determined that all pages are monochrome data, the fixing temperature is set to the fixing temperature T2 for monochrome printing (step S903).

  On the other hand, if there is one page other than the monochrome page in step S902, the fixing temperature for all pages is set to the fixing temperature T1 for color printing (step S904).

  The image data subjected to the image processing is sent to the printer unit 104, and is subjected to a fixing operation at a fixing temperature set in the fixing device 331 of the printer unit 104 and printed. Whether or not all pages are monochrome data is determined by referring to the format, for example, because the format of data is different between monochrome and color. However, the format may be color or substantially monochrome data. Such image data is preferably handled as a color image in terms of processing efficiency. Of course, it is possible to determine a page that does not contain color components other than K by referring to the data itself, but the load of the determination process increases.

  As described above, in the high-speed mode, by setting a common fixing temperature for all pages, the transition time when switching between monochrome printing and color printing is eliminated.

<Power saving mode>
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of fixing temperature control processing in the power saving mode in the present embodiment. This procedure is executed by the image processing unit 208.

  First, in step S1101, it is determined whether or not the color mode is set to “automatic”. The color mode is information for determining whether the image data is printed as a color image or a monochrome image, and includes a “monochrome printing (monochrome)” mode and an “automatic” mode. A “color printing” mode may be included. In the monochrome printing mode, an image is formed using only black toner. In the color printing mode, in this embodiment, an image is formed with toners of four colors YMCK. In the “automatic” mode, the color signal is examined for each page of the image data to determine whether it is color data or monochrome data. If it is color, the color printing mode is automatically set, and if it is monochrome, the monochrome printing mode is automatically set. The color mode can be set on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 101, or can be set on the user interface of the driver of the PC 106.

  If it is determined that the color mode is set to "Automatic", whether the setting value for the number of copies to set how many copies of the same data (ie, the number of copies) is "1" or "Multiple copies" Is determined (step S1102). If a plurality of copies (two or more) are set, it is determined whether or not the paper discharge method is set to “sort” in which printed sheets are arranged in page order in units of copies (step S1103). If it is determined that sorting is set, the “sort” setting of the paper discharge method is canceled (step S1104), and the printing method is changed to printing the designated number of copies for each page (step S1105). S1104 and S1105 may be executed in one step. If the printing method is set to print the specified number of copies for each page, each page is printed continuously for the specified number of copies. Therefore, while printing one page, even if the print mode is set to “automatic”, the print mode of either color printing or monochrome is continued. Thereafter, the power saving mode process (step S1106) for fixing temperature control shown in FIG. 10 is executed, and the process ends. If it is determined that the color mode is the automatic mode without performing steps S1102 and S1103, the process may immediately proceed to S1104. That is, when the color mode is the automatic mode, a printing method for repeatedly printing the number of copies set for each page is set as the printing method. In FIG. 11, the printing method is not changed when the number of copies is 1, but in this case, the same result is obtained regardless of whether or not the printing method is changed.

  In addition, if YES is determined in S1103 and the processing of S1104 and S1105 is performed, the display on the operation unit 102 or PC 106 will indicate “Can I cancel the sort and change the printing method to the number of copies per page? May be displayed. After the message is displayed, if an instruction to change the input is input, the process of S1105 of S1104 is performed, and if the instruction not to change is input, the processes of S1104 and S1105 are not performed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1103 that the paper discharge method is not sort, the process advances to step S1106. In step S1002, the process also proceeds to step S1106 when the set number of copies is “1”.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1101 that the color mode is not “automatic”, it is determined whether or not the color mode is “monochrome printing mode” (step S1107). If it is determined that the mode is the monochrome printing mode, the fixing temperature for all pages is set to the monochrome printing fixing temperature T2 (step S1108), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1107 that the mode is not the monochrome printing mode, the fixing temperature for all pages is set to the fixing temperature T1 for color printing (step S1109), and the process ends.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the power saving mode for fixing temperature control, and shows details of step S1106 in FIG.

When image data is received in step S1001, the first page data is acquired (step S1002). It is determined whether or not the acquired page is monochrome data (step S1103). If it is determined that the page is monochrome data, the fixing temperature of this page is set to the fixing temperature T2 for monochrome printing (step S1004), and the process proceeds to step S1006. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1003 that the page is not monochrome data, the fixing temperature of this page is set to the fixing temperature T1 for color printing (step S1005), and the process proceeds to step S1006. In this manner, the fixing temperature T1 of the fixing device in the monochrome printing mode is set to be lower than the fixing temperature T2 of the fixing device in the color printing mode. In step S1006, the fixing temperature setting process for all pages of the image data It is determined whether or not the process has ended. If there is a remaining page, the next page is acquired (step S1007), and the process returns to step S1003.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1006 that the fixing temperature setting process for all pages has been completed, the process ends.

  The image data processed by the image processing unit 208 is sent to the printer unit 104. In the fixing device, the fixing operation is performed by switching to the fixing temperature set by the image processing unit 208 for each page.

  As described above, when the fixing temperature control is in the power saving mode, cancel the sort setting for each copy and change to multi-page printing for each page without changing the print mode for color or monochrome print data as much as possible. Print continuously. In this way, the transition time in switching from monochrome printing to color printing can be shortened as much as possible, power consumption can be reduced, and productivity reduction can be suppressed.

[Modification]
In the present embodiment, when the power saving mode is set, the sort setting of the paper discharge method may be canceled in the procedure of FIG. 11, but the processing of FIG. 11 may be selectable. For example, if whether or not to cancel the sort setting is selected via the printer driver or the user interface of the image forming apparatus, if the cancellation of the sort setting is “No” in accordance with the selection, the power saving mode is set. The processing of FIG. 10 is performed without performing the procedure of FIG. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the “sort” setting from being cancelled.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment, when the fixing temperature control is in the power saving mode, the paper discharge method is changed when printing a plurality of copies. However, even when the printing is not a plurality of copies, color pages and monochrome pages are mixed. In addition, useless power may be consumed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, setting processing related to page layout in the power saving mode will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of page layout processing in the power saving mode. This procedure is executed by the image processing unit 208. First, in step S1201, it is determined whether or not the set color mode is set to “automatic”. If it is determined that “automatic” is set, it is determined whether or not layout printing for assigning a plurality of pages to one side of the sheet is set (step S1202). Allocation printing is also called N-up printing or the like, and the number N of pages to be allocated can be selected from predetermined numerical values such as 2, 4, 6, and 9, for example. If layout printing is set, the layout printing setting is canceled (step S1203).

  In step S1204, it is determined whether the duplex printing setting is “single-sided” or “double-sided”. If it is determined that both sides are set, double-sided printing is canceled and single-sided printing is set (step S1205), and the power-saving mode process (step S1206) for fixing temperature control shown in FIG. 10 is executed. Then, the process ends. That is, when the color mode is the automatic mode, a printing method is set in which one-side printing and one page are arranged on one side.

  On the other hand, if the duplex printing setting is “single side” in step S1204, the process proceeds to step S1206. Also, in step S1202, when the designation of layout printing is “none”, the process proceeds to step S1206.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1201 that the color mode is not “automatic”, it is determined whether or not the color mode is “monochrome printing mode”. (Step S1207). If it is determined that the mode is the monochrome printing mode, the fixing temperature for all pages is set to the monochrome printing fixing temperature T2 (step S1208), and the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1207 that the mode is not the monochrome printing mode, the fixing temperature for all pages is set to the fixing temperature T1 for color printing (step S1209), and the process ends.

  In the procedure of FIG. 10, if layout printing is set, it is determined in step S1003 whether all pages allocated to one surface are monochrome data pages. If a color page is included, the color printing mode is selected and S1005 is executed. If all the pages are monochrome data, the monochrome printing mode is selected and S1004 is executed. In FIG. 12, the determinations in S1202 and S1204 can both be skipped.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a panel display when the power saving mode is set in the present embodiment.

  In the power saving mode, a confirmation message 1301 is displayed to the user in order to invalidate the settings related to page layout (page allocation). Note that a similar warning may be displayed in the first embodiment. However, in the first embodiment, since the sort setting is invalidated, a message to that effect is displayed instead of the message 1301.

  As described above, when the fixing temperature control is in the power saving mode, the color and monochrome print data are not mixed on the same page (paper) by changing the page layout setting. By performing the fixing operation at a fixing temperature suitable for each page, an increase in power consumption can be suppressed.

[Other Examples]
You may implement 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment simultaneously. In that case, for example, S1202 to S1206 in FIG. 12 are executed instead of S1106 in FIG. As a result, an increase in power consumption for fixing can be suppressed in accordance with the settings for both the number of copies to be printed and page allocation.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus that includes a fixing device that thermally fixes a toner image formed on a recording medium, and that controls a fixing temperature by the fixing device,
When the fixing temperature control method is the power saving mode, the color mode determination means for determining whether or not the automatic mode is set as the color mode;
When the color mode determination means determines that the automatic mode is set as the color mode, a print method setting means for setting a print method for printing a set number of copies in page units as a print method;
When the color mode is the automatic mode, a control unit that sets the color printing mode or the monochrome printing mode for each page based on the image data and controls the fixing temperature of the fixing device according to the set printing mode; An image forming apparatus comprising the image forming apparatus.   The setting means further sets, as the printing method, a printing method in which one page is arranged and one page is arranged on one side when the color mode determination means determines that the automatic mode is set as the color mode. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. An image forming apparatus that includes a fixing device that thermally fixes a toner image formed on a recording medium, and that controls a fixing temperature by the fixing device,
When the fixing temperature control method is the power saving mode, the color mode determination means for determining whether or not the automatic mode is set as the color mode;
When the color mode determination means determines that the automatic mode is set as the color mode, a printing method setting means for setting a printing method in which one-side printing and one page are arranged on one side is set as the printing method. When,
When the color mode is the automatic mode, a control unit that sets the color printing mode or the monochrome printing mode for each page based on the image data and controls the fixing temperature of the fixing device according to the set printing mode; An image forming apparatus comprising the image forming apparatus. As a fixing temperature control method, a fixing temperature control method setting means capable of selecting a mode including a power saving mode is further provided.
4. The image according to claim 1, wherein the fixing temperature control method setting unit outputs a message indicating that the printing method cannot be set when the power saving mode is selected. Forming equipment.   5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit sets the fixing temperature of the fixing unit in the monochrome printing mode to be lower than the fixing temperature of the fixing unit in the color printing mode. Image forming apparatus.

Images