JP2020129086A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce the number of terminals used for a connector to connect an image forming device and a fuser and thereby reduce costs, and to suppress the possibility of unused terminals being left.SOLUTION: A control unit 104 on the body side of an image forming device 100 is electrically connected to a nonvolatile memory 102 of a fuser 16 via a connector 113, and acquires information relating to the resistance value of a heater 201 of the fuser 16 via the connector 113 which is stored in the nonvolatile memory 102 and controls the heater 201 on the basis of the acquired information. Out of a plurality of terminals of the connector 113, a first terminal connected to the nonvolatile memory 102 and a second terminal connected to the nonvolatile memory 102 are arranged separately at both ends of the connector. The control unit 104 is constituted so that, as the connection state of the connector 113 is detected on the basis of a signal value inputted via the first terminal and thereby, a communication line of the nonvolatile memory 102 doubles as a connector coming-off detecting function.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a technique for detecting a connection error of a connector that connects an image forming apparatus and a fixing device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a device equipped with an electronic circuit board, a large number of connectors have been used as connecting portions for boards and cables. In Patent Document 1, as a method for confirming the connection of these connectors, two pins (terminals) for confirmation of connection are provided at both ends of the connector, and an electrically closed loop is formed by the pins for connection confirmation, and this closed loop is monitored. The technology to do is proposed.

In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for example, the above-described method of confirming the connection of the connector is used to detect whether or not the temperature detection thermistor provided in the fixing device is connected. When the disconnection of the connector is detected, the electric power is not supplied to the heater in the fixing device.

Further, in order to improve the power control accuracy of the fixing heater, there is a configuration in which a non-volatile memory is held in the fixing device. Patent Document 2 proposes a technique in which the resistance value of the fixing heater is stored in the nonvolatile memory, and based on the resistance value read from the nonvolatile memory, the power supplied to the heater is controlled as expected. The non-volatile memory connector terminal is provided separately from the above-described connector disconnection detection terminal.

JP, 2004-63142, A JP, 2017-53915, A

In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a drawer connector or the like is used for connection with the main body of the image forming apparatus in order to facilitate the exchangeability of the fixing device. However, the number of pins that can be used in a drawer connector or the like is limited by a certain number of poles for each manufacturer, and the number of pins cannot be flexibly changed according to the number of loads in the fixing device. Therefore, the number of pins of the connector is significantly increased even if the load in the fixing device is increased by one. Therefore, there are problems that unused pins are generated in the connector and the cost of the device is increased. Note that this problem is not limited to the image forming apparatus, but is a problem common to various electronic devices connected by the connector as described above.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. The present invention provides a mechanism that can reduce the cost by reducing the number of terminals used for a connector for connecting an image forming apparatus and a fixing device, and can also suppress the generation of unused terminals. The purpose is that.

The present invention relates to a fixing device which has an image forming unit for forming a toner image on a sheet and a heating body, and which heats the toner image formed on the sheet by the image forming unit to fix the toner image on the sheet, and the fixing unit. A storage unit that is provided in the container and stores information about the resistance value of the heating body, and is electrically connected to the storage unit through a connector having a plurality of terminals, and stored in the storage unit through the connector. And a control means for controlling the heating element based on the information, wherein the connector has a first terminal connected to the storage means among the plurality of terminals. A second terminal connected to the storage means is separately arranged at both ends of the connector, and the control means determines a connection state of the connector based on a signal value input via the first terminal. It is characterized by detecting.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the number of terminals used for the connector for connecting the image forming apparatus and the fixing device, and it is possible to suppress the generation of unused terminals.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the image forming apparatus showing the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a fixing device. The figure which illustrates a part of control structure of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a connection configuration of a control unit and a fixing device. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a connection configuration of a control unit and a fixing device. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of control processing of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of the arrangement of a full-color printer as an image forming apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to a printer, but may be a multi-function peripheral, or may be a monochrome image forming apparatus, not limited to a color image forming apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes an image forming unit 1Y that forms a yellow image, a magenta image forming unit 1M, a cyan image forming unit 1C, and a black color image forming unit 1Y. The image forming section 1Bk includes four image forming sections (image forming units). These four image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C and 1Bk are arranged in a line at regular intervals.

Drum type electrophotographic photosensitive members (hereinafter referred to as “photosensitive drums”) 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d as image bearing members are installed in the image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C and 1Bk, respectively. Around the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, transfer rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d as transfer units, Drum cleaner devices 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are arranged respectively. A laser exposure device 7 is installed below the primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and the developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d.

Each of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d is, for example, a negatively charged OPC photosensitive member and has a photoconductive layer on a drum base made of aluminum, and is driven by a driving device (not shown) in the arrow direction (in FIG. 1). It is rotated in a clockwise direction) at a predetermined process speed. The primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d uniformly charge the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d to a predetermined negative potential by a charging bias applied from a charging bias power source (not shown).

The laser exposure device 7 is composed of a laser emission unit that emits light corresponding to a time series electric digital pixel signal of given image information, a polygon lens, a reflection mirror, and the like. By exposing each of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d by the laser exposure device 7, the surface of each of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d charged by each of the primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d is exposed. An electrostatic latent image of each color is formed according to the image information.

Further, each of the developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d contains yellow toner, cyan toner, magenta toner and black toner, respectively. The developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d develop toner images by attaching toners of respective colors to the electrostatic latent images formed on the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, respectively (visualization). To do.

The transfer rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d are arranged so as to be able to contact the respective photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d via the intermediate transfer belt 8 at the respective primary transfer portions 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d. There is. The transfer rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d transfer the toner images on the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d in sequence on the intermediate transfer belt 8.
The drum cleaner devices 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d are cleaning blades for removing transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d during primary transfer from the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d. And so on.

The intermediate transfer belt 8 is disposed on the upper surface side of each of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and is stretched between the secondary transfer counter roller 10 and the tension roller 11. The secondary transfer counter roller 10 is arranged in the secondary transfer portion 34 so as to be able to contact the secondary transfer roller 12 via the intermediate transfer belt 8.

The intermediate transfer belt 8 is made of a dielectric resin such as polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate resin film, or polyvinylidene fluoride resin film. In addition, the intermediate transfer belt 8 has a primary transfer surface (8b) formed on the surface facing the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, with the secondary transfer roller 12 side facing downward. .. That is, the intermediate transfer belt 8 is movably opposed to the upper surfaces of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, and is a primary transfer surface formed on the surface facing the photosensitive drum 2, that is, a lower flat surface (8b). Is inclined so that the side of the secondary transfer portion 34 faces downward. As described above, the intermediate transfer belt 8 is stretched around the secondary transfer counter roller 10 and the tension roller 11. The secondary transfer counter roller 10 is arranged on the side of the secondary transfer portion 34 and applies a driving force to the intermediate transfer belt 8. The tension roller 11 is arranged on the opposite side with the primary transfer portions 32 a to 32 d interposed therebetween and applies tension to the intermediate transfer belt 8.

The secondary transfer counter roller 10 is arranged in the secondary transfer portion 34 so as to be able to contact the secondary transfer roller 12 via the intermediate transfer belt 8. A belt cleaning device (not shown) for removing and collecting transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8 is installed outside the endless intermediate transfer belt 8 and near the tension roller 11. ing. Further, the fixing device 16 is installed in a vertical path configuration on the downstream side of the secondary transfer portion 34 in the transport direction of the transfer material P.

Next, an image forming operation by the above image forming apparatus will be described.
When the image formation start signal is issued, the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d of the image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C and 1Bk, which are rotationally driven at a predetermined process speed, respectively, have primary chargers 3a, 3b and 3c and 3d uniformly charge the negative polarity. Then, the laser exposure device 7 irradiates a color-separated image signal input from the outside from a laser light emitting element, and passes each color onto each photosensitive drum 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d via a polygon lens, a reflection mirror, or the like. To form an electrostatic latent image of.

Then, first, yellow toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2a by the developing device 4a to which a developing bias having the same polarity as the charging polarity (negative polarity) of the photosensitive drum 2a is applied. Visualize as an image. This yellow toner image is driven by the transfer roller 5a to which a primary transfer bias (a polarity (positive polarity) opposite to that of the toner) is applied in the primary transfer portion 32a between the photosensitive drum 2a and the transfer roller 5a. The primary transfer is performed on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

The intermediate transfer belt 8 onto which the yellow toner image has been transferred is moved to the image forming unit 1M side. Then, also in the image forming unit 1M, the magenta toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2b is superimposed on the yellow toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 in the same manner as described above, and is transferred to the primary transfer unit 32b. Transcribed. Further, in the image forming units 1C and 1Bk, similarly, the cyan and black toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 2c and 2d are sequentially superimposed on the yellow and magenta toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 8 to form a primary image. The images are sequentially transferred at the transfer parts 32c and 32d. As a result, a full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 8.
At this time, the transfer residual toner remaining on each photosensitive drum 2 is scraped off and collected by a cleaner blade or the like provided on the drum cleaner devices 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d.

Then, in accordance with the timing when the front end of the full-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is moved to the secondary transfer portion 34 between the secondary transfer counter roller 10 and the secondary transfer roller 12, the transfer material P is transferred to the registration roller. It is conveyed to the secondary transfer portion 34 by 19. The transfer material P (also referred to as “paper” or “sheet”) is selected from the paper feed cassette 17 or the manual paper feed unit 20 and fed through the transport path 18.

A secondary transfer roller 12 to which a secondary transfer bias (a polarity (positive polarity) opposite to that of the toner) is applied to the transfer material P conveyed to the secondary transfer section 34 is a secondary transfer of a full-color toner image all at once. To be done. The paper feed configuration of the manual paper feed unit 20 will be described later in detail.

The transfer material P on which the full-color toner image is formed is conveyed to the fixing device 16, and after the full-color toner image is heated and pressed to be thermally fixed on the surface of the transfer material P, the main body is discharged by the paper discharge roller 21. The sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 22 on the upper surface, and a series of image forming operations is completed. The secondary transfer residual toner and the like remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 8 are removed and collected by a belt cleaning device (not shown). The above is the image forming operation during single-sided image formation.

Next, a double-sided image forming operation in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
The operation up to the point where the image is conveyed to the fixing device 16 is the same as the one-sided image forming operation. After the full-color toner image is heated and pressed to be thermally fixed on the surface of the transfer material P, most of the transfer material P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 22 on the upper surface of the main body by the paper discharge roller 21, The rotation of the discharge roller 21 is stopped. At that time, the transfer material P is stopped so that the trailing edge of the transfer material P reaches the reversible position 42.

Subsequently, in order to feed the transfer material P, which has been stopped from being conveyed by stopping the rotation of the paper discharge roller 21, to the double-sided path including the double-sided rollers 40 and 41, the paper discharge roller 21 is rotated in the opposite direction from the normal rotation. Rotate. By rotating the paper discharge roller 21 in the reverse direction, the rear end side of the transfer material P located at the reversible position 42 is set as the front end side and reaches the double-sided roller 40.

Then, the double-sided roller 40 conveys the transfer material P to the double-sided roller 41, and the double-sided rollers 40 and 41 sequentially convey the transfer material P toward the registration roller 19. Meanwhile, an image formation start signal is generated. Then, as in the case of single-sided image formation, the registration of the front end of the full-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is performed in accordance with the timing of movement to the secondary transfer portion 34 between the secondary transfer counter roller 10 and the secondary transfer roller 12. The transfer material P is moved to the secondary transfer portion 34 by the roller 19.

At the secondary transfer portion 34, the front end of the toner image and the front end of the transfer material P are aligned with each other to transfer the toner image. After that, as in the single-sided image forming operation, the image on the transfer material P is fixed by the fixing device 16, the paper is again conveyed by the paper discharge roller 21, and finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 22, and a series of operations is performed. The image forming operation of is ended.

The configuration of the fixing device 16 will be described below.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the fixing device 16.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the fixing device 16 includes a heater 201, a fixing film 202, a pressure roller 203, a U-shaped sheet metal 211, a temperature detecting thermistor (temperature detecting portion) 212, a holder 213, and a self-bias. A circuit 214 is provided.

The heater 201 is a heating body that generates heat when electric power is supplied. The heater 201 is a resistance heater configured by printing heating patterns 201a and 201b as shown in FIG. 2B on a ceramic substrate.
The fixing film 202 is a film in which a metal is used as a base material, a rubber layer is further formed on the base material, and a fluorine surface treatment is performed on the base material.
The pressure roller 203 frictionally drives the fixing film 202.
The U-shaped sheet metal 211 presses the fixing film 202 against the pressure roller 203 from the inside.

The thermistor (temperature detection unit) 212 detects the temperature of the heater 201. As shown in FIG. 2B, the thermistor (temperature detection unit) 212 includes a main thermistor 212a and a sub thermistor 212b. The main thermistor 212a arranged in the center of the heater 201 detects the temperature for fixing heating control. The sub thermistor 212b arranged at the end of the heater 201 detects a temperature rise in the non-sheet passing portion when passing a small size sheet or the like.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a part of the control configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.
In this embodiment, the fixing heating control in the image forming apparatus 100 is entirely controlled by the control unit 104. Among them, the CPU 106 in the control unit 104 controls the energization of the fixing device 16 by changing the energization ratio based on the temperature of the fixing device 16 by a control signal to the heating control unit 105. .. The CPU 106 realizes various controls by executing a program stored in the ROM 107 in the work area of the RAM 108.

A nonvolatile memory 102 is provided in the fixing device 16. The nonvolatile memory 102 stores information related to control of the fixing device 16, such as resistance value information of the heater 201.

To detect the temperature of the fixing device 16, the voltage of the thermistor (temperature detecting portion) 212 arranged in the heater 201 of the fixing device 16 is A/D converted by the A/D converter 109, and the value is converted by the CPU 106. It is performed by converting the information into temperature information (temperature information) in the table.

The fixing device using the resistance heater used in the present embodiment has a characteristic that the amount of heat generation changes due to variations in the resistance value of the heater 201. In order to acquire the fixing device information for correcting this variation, the CPU 106 acquires the fixing device information from the non-volatile memory 102 by serial communication. Further, the CPU 106 corrects the heat generation amount of the heater 201 by correcting the energization ratio set value sent to the heating control unit 105 based on the fixing device information.

In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate the interchangeability of the fixing device, a drawer connector is used as the connecting portion 113 that connects the control unit 104 and the fixing device 16 included in the image forming apparatus main body side. Hereinafter, the “connecting portion” is also referred to as a “connector”. The connecting portion 113 is composed of a main body side connector 113a and a fixing device side connector 113b. The main body side connector 113a and the fixing device side connector 113b are detachably connected with N pins (terminals) of 1 pin to Npin.

A terminal for the memory communication signal 110 of the nonvolatile memory 102 is arranged at 1 pin of the connector 113, and a terminal for GND (ground) 111 of the nonvolatile memory 102 is arranged at the Npin. That is, the memory communication signal 110 of the non-volatile memory 102 is assigned to one pin of the connector 113, and the GND 111 of the non-volatile memory 102 is assigned to the N pin. Note that 1 pin and Npin may be reversed. That is, in the present embodiment, two terminals (a terminal for the memory communication signal 110 and a terminal for the GND 111) to which the nonvolatile memory 102 is connected are arranged at both ends of the connector (1 pin, Npin). With this configuration, the control unit 104 can determine (detect) whether or not the connector 113 is connected (connecting state of the connector) depending on whether communication with the nonvolatile memory 102 is possible. That is, the terminal for the memory communication signal of the non-volatile memory 102 and the terminal for detecting the connector disconnection can be combined.

The two terminals to which the non-volatile memory 102 is connected do not necessarily have to be arranged at both end pins (1 pin, Npin) of the connector. For example, if the two terminals to which the non-volatile memory 102 is connected are separately arranged on both ends of the connector, the connector omission can be detected. Further, the number of terminals to which the non-volatile memory 102 is connected may not be two or may be three or more. For example, of the plurality of terminals of the connector to which the non-volatile memory 102 is connected, any one or a plurality of terminals are arranged on a pin near one end in the longitudinal direction of the connector, and the remaining terminals are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the connector. It may be arranged on the pin near the other end. The pin near one end in the longitudinal direction means, for example, any pin near 1 pin (or Npin) including 1 pin (or Npin). The pin near the other end in the longitudinal direction means any pin near Npin (or 1pin) including Npin (or 1pin).

The monitor signal 112 exists separately from the memory communication signal 110 and is a signal for monitoring the state of the terminal of the memory communication signal 110. The signal line for the monitor signal 112 is connected to the terminal for the memory communication signal 110 via the signal line for the memory communication signal 110.

If the fixing device is connected without the nonvolatile memory 102 and the connector pins (for example, both ends pins) to which the nonvolatile memory 102 should be connected are short-circuited in the fixing device (FIG. 4B described later), the monitor signal Reference numeral 112 indicates “LOW” because it is connected to the GND terminal. When the monitor signal 112 indicates “LOW”, the CPU 106 determines that “another fixing device” different from the “fixing device including the non-volatile memory 102” that should be originally connected is connected. It should be noted that when a fixing device different from the “fixing device having the non-volatile memory 102” (the “other fixing device”) is connected, the CPU 106 can read the resistance value of the heater 201 included in the fixing device 16. Can not. Therefore, in such a case, the CPU 106 controls to operate in the low power mode in which the power supplied is limited. Further, even when the "fixer 16 having the non-volatile memory 102" is connected, the CPU 106 controls to operate in the low power mode when the resistance value of the heater 201 cannot be accurately read.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a part of the connection configuration of the control unit 104 and the fixing device. Note that some of the components shown in FIG. 3 are not shown.
FIG. 4A corresponds to the case where the fixing device 16 having the nonvolatile memory 102 inside is connected to the control unit 104 via the drawer connector 113.

When the nonvolatile memory 102 receives the memory communication signal 110 output from the CPU 106 and communication is established, it can be determined that the connector between the control unit 104 and the fixing device 16 is connected. On the other hand, when the connector 113 is disconnected, the memory communication signal (110) and the monitor signal (112) are fixed to "HIGH".

In FIG. 4B, the fixing device 16 ′ having no non-volatile memory 102 inside and having both ends pins of the connector 113 to which the non-volatile memory 102 is connected internally short-circuited is connected to the control unit 104 via the connector 113. It corresponds when there is.

When the connector between the controller 104 and the fixing device 16' is properly connected, the memory communication signal (110) and the monitor signal (112) are fixed to "LOW". On the other hand, when the connector is disconnected, the memory communication signal (110) and the monitor signal (112) are fixed to "HIGH". In this way, the control unit 104 determines whether or not the connector is disconnected depending on the communication availability of the nonvolatile memory 102 and the "HIGH" and "LOW" states of the memory communication signal (110) and the monitor signal (112). To do.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of control processing of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. The process of this flowchart is realized by the CPU 106 executing a program stored in the ROM 107 in the work area of the RAM 108 as necessary.
When the power of the image forming apparatus 100 is turned on (S101), the CPU 106 performs a start-up process (S102). When the boot process is completed, the CPU 106 performs the processes of S103 and the subsequent steps.

In step S103, the CPU 106 accesses the non-volatile memory 102 and starts checking the connection state of the fixing device 16.
First, in S104, the CPU 106 determines whether or not the access to the nonvolatile memory 102 has been established. When the nonvolatile memory 102 receives the memory communication signal 110 output from the CPU 106 and communication is established (Yes in S104), the CPU 106 advances the process to S105.

In S105, the CPU 106 determines whether or not the resistance value of the fixing heater 201 recorded in the nonvolatile memory 102 can be read (obtained). When the resistance value can be read (Yes in S105), the CPU 106 advances the processing to S109.
In S109, the CPU 106 controls the start-up of the fixing device, then shifts to the standby mode (S111), and ends the processing of this flowchart (S112).

On the other hand, when the resistance value cannot be read in S105 (No in S105), the CPU 106 advances the process to S107.
In S107, the CPU 106 displays a warning message such as "a fuser that is not a genuine product may be inserted" on the operation unit (not shown), and advances the processing to S110. In S110, the CPU 106 sets the control mode for controlling the fixing device to the low power mode, then shifts to the standby mode (S111), and ends the process of this flowchart (S112).

If the access to the non-volatile memory 102 is not established in S104 (No in S104), the CPU 106 advances the process to S106.
In S106, the CPU 106 determines the state of the monitor signal 112. When the state of the monitor signal 112 is "HIGH" (No in S106), the CPU 106 advances the processing to S108.
In S108, the CPU 106 displays a message indicating a fixing device non-connection error (connector connection error (connector missing)) on the operation unit (not shown), and ends the process of this flowchart (S112).

On the other hand, when the state of the monitor signal 112 is “LOW” in S106 (Yes in S106), the CPU 106 advances the process to S107. In this case, as described above, in S107, the CPU 106 displays a warning message such as "a non-genuine fixing device may be inserted" on the operation unit (not shown), and the process is performed in S110. Proceed. In S110, the CPU 106 sets the control mode for controlling the fixing device to the low power mode, then shifts to the standby mode (S111), and ends the process of this flowchart (S112).

As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, the communication line of the non-volatile memory 102 in the fixing device 16 is arranged at both ends of the connector 113, so that the communication line of the non-volatile memory 102 has a connector disconnection detection function. It is configured to double as. As a result, the number of pins used for the connector 113 can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. In addition, the generation of unused pins can be suppressed.

In the above example, the connector connection error of the fixing device is described as an example, but the technique related to the connector connection error detection is not limited to the detection of the connector connection error of the fixing device to the image forming apparatus. .. It can be applied to the detection of connector connection error of various devices to various electronic devices. For example, it is applicable to detection of a connector connection error of a predetermined device electrically connected to an electronic device via a connector such as a drawer connector. In the case of this example, the predetermined device connected to the electronic device via the connector includes a load driven by being supplied with electric power, and a non-volatile memory in which information regarding the load is stored. Further, the control unit of the electronic device body communicates with the non-volatile memory via the connector to acquire the information from the non-volatile memory, and controls the load based on the acquired information. Further, among the plurality of terminals of the connector, the plurality of terminals connected to the non-volatile memory are separately arranged on both ends of the connector. For example, a terminal for memory communication signal is arranged at 1 pin and a terminal for ground (GND terminal) is arranged at Npin. Further, the control unit of the electronic device body detects the connection state of the connector based on whether communication with the non-volatile memory via the connector is possible (for example, based on a signal value input via 1 pin). The detection of the connection state of the connector is executed when the electronic device is powered on.

In addition, the control unit of the electronic device main body determines that there is a connection error of the connector when the communication with the nonvolatile memory cannot be performed and the signal state of the terminal for the communication signal is HIGH. Further, when the control unit of the electronic device body cannot communicate with the non-volatile memory and the signal state of the terminal for the communication signal is LOW, another device that does not include the non-volatile memory is Judge that it is connected through the connector. The other device corresponds to a device in which the terminal for the communication signal and the terminal for the GND are short-circuited instead of including the nonvolatile memory.

As described above, it is possible to reduce the number of pins used for the drawer connector or the like used for connecting the electronic device and the predetermined device, and it is possible to reduce the cost. In addition, the generation of unused terminals can be suppressed.

The configurations and contents of the various data described above are not limited to this, and may be configured with various configurations and contents depending on the use and purpose.
Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, a device, a method, a program, a storage medium, or the like. Specifically, it may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of one device.
Further, the present invention also includes all configurations in which the above-described embodiments are combined.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. It can also be realized by the processing. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.
Further, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including one device.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the gist of the present invention, which are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not. That is, the present invention includes all configurations that combine the above-described embodiments and their modifications.

16 fixing device 100 image forming apparatus 102 non-volatile memory 106 CPU
113 connection part 201 heater

Claims (6)

An image forming means for forming a toner image on the sheet;
A fixing device having a heating member, for heating the toner image formed on the sheet by the image forming unit to fix the toner image on the sheet;
Storage means provided in the fixing device, in which information about the resistance value of the heating body is stored;
Control means electrically connected to the storage means via a connector having a plurality of terminals, acquiring the information stored in the storage means via the connector, and controlling the heating element based on the information And have
In the connector, a first terminal connected to the storage means and a second terminal connected to the storage means among the plurality of terminals are separately arranged at both ends of the connector,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the control unit detects a connection state of the connector based on a signal value input via the first terminal. 2. The control unit communicates with the storage unit when the image forming apparatus is powered on, and the control unit detects a connection state of the connector. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of terminals to which the storage unit is connected include a communication signal terminal and a ground terminal of the storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit detects a connection error of the connector unless the signal value is input through the communication signal terminal. When the control unit cannot communicate with the storage unit in a state where the signal value is input via the terminal for the communication signal, another fixing unit that is different from the fixing unit and does not include the storage unit, The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein it is determined that the image forming apparatus is connected via the connector. And a detection unit provided in the fixing device for detecting the temperature of the heating body,
The plurality of terminals of the connector include a third terminal for electrically connecting the detection means and the control means,
The control means obtains temperature information regarding the temperature of the heating body from the detection means via the connector, and controls the heating body based on the information regarding the resistance value and the information regarding the temperature. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is characterized in that.

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