JP4653792B2 - Image forming apparatus and power coordination system between image forming apparatuses - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile, and a power coordination system between image forming apparatuses.

First, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a request for energy saving will be described.
An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile has a process of forming an image on a recording member such as plain paper or OHP paper. Various image recording methods have been realized. Among them, the electrophotographic method is widely adopted in image forming apparatuses because of high speed, image quality, cost, and the like.

  In the electrophotographic system, there are a step of forming an unfixed toner image on a recording member such as plain paper or OHP paper, and a fixing step of fixing the unfixed toner image to the recording member with heat and pressure. As a fixing device for performing the fixing process, a heat roller type fixing device as a heat fixing device is currently most frequently used from the viewpoint of high speed and safety.

  A heat roller type fixing device forms a mutual pressure contact portion called a nip portion by pressing a fixing roller heated by a heat generating member such as a halogen heater and a pressure roller disposed opposite to the fixing roller. In this system, a sheet as a recording member is passed between the fixing roller and the pressure roller and heated.

The fixing roller mainly uses a metal roller made of metal such as iron or aluminum, and has a large heat capacity. For this reason, the fixing roller has a drawback that it takes a long rise time of several minutes to several tens of minutes in order to raise the temperature to about 180 ° C., which is a usable temperature.
Therefore, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, even when the user is not performing image formation, power is supplied to the fixing roller, and the surface temperature of the fixing roller is kept at a preheating temperature slightly lower than the usable temperature. As a result, the fixing roller can immediately rise up to the usable temperature, so that the user does not wait for the temperature of the fixing roller to rise.

  However, in this image forming apparatus, extra power is consumed by the fixing device, which is not directly required for image formation even during standby when not in use. There is also a survey result that the energy consumption during standby is about 70 to 80% of the energy consumption of the image forming apparatus.

In recent years, energy conservation regulations have been enacted in each country due to increased awareness of environmental protection. In Japan, the Energy Conservation Law has been amended and strengthened, and energy conservation programs such as Energy Star and Zero Energy Star Mode (ZESM) have been established in the United States.
In the image forming apparatus, when energy saving is achieved in order to comply with these regulations and programs, the energy saving effect is great if the energy consumption during standby is reduced. For this reason, the image forming apparatus desirably sets the power supply to the fixing device to zero during unused standby.

  However, if the stand-by power is zero with the conventional configuration, the temperature of the fixing roller will take several minutes at the time of restarting, and the waiting time is long and user convenience deteriorates. End up. For this reason, a configuration for promptly raising the temperature of the fixing roller is necessary for realizing an energy-saving image forming apparatus. For example, in the above-described ZESM, 10 seconds or less is required for restarting.

Next, the power of the power source in the fixing device will be described.
In order to shorten the heating time of the fixing roller, it is preferable to increase the input energy per unit time, that is, the rated power. In fact, some image forming apparatuses (high-speed machines) having a high image forming speed are compatible with a power supply voltage of 200V. However, in general offices in Japan, the power supply is generally 100V15A and the upper limit is 1500W, and the countermeasure to increase the power supply voltage to 200V requires a special work on the power-related part of the installation site. It's not a good solution.

An image forming apparatus that uses two 100V15A power supplies to increase the total input power has also been put into practical use, but it cannot be installed unless there are two outlets nearby.
For this reason, until now, even if it is attempted to raise the temperature of the fixing roller in a short time, the upper limit of the input energy cannot be raised.

Next, the auxiliary power supply and the large capacity capacitor will be described.
In order to realize energy saving by increasing the maximum power supply, an image forming apparatus has been proposed that solves the above problems using an auxiliary power source. Typical auxiliary power sources that can be charged are lead-acid batteries and CADNICA batteries.

  However, the secondary battery has a property that it deteriorates when it is repeatedly charged and discharged, the capacity decreases, and the life is shortened as the battery is discharged with a large current. Even in a CADNICA battery, which is generally considered to have a long life with a large current, the number of charge / discharge cycles is about 500 to 1000 times, and if a charge / discharge cycle is repeated 20 times a day, the lifetime will be reached in about one month. Will end up. This takes time to replace the battery, and the running cost such as battery cost is very high. Furthermore, since it takes several hours to fully charge a battery having a large capacity, it cannot be used for applications in which charging and discharging are repeated many times a day, making it difficult to use in practice.

Since a secondary battery cannot use a practical auxiliary power supply, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique using a large-capacity capacitor (capacitor) such as an electric double layer capacitor as an auxiliary power supply. Large capacity capacitors have the following advantageous characteristics.
1) The number of repetitions of charge / discharge is almost unlimited at tens of thousands or more, charging characteristics are hardly deteriorated, and regular maintenance is unnecessary.
2) The charging time can be set to several seconds to several tens of seconds while the battery, which is a secondary battery, takes several hours. In addition, since the electric double layer capacitor can flow a large current of several tens to several hundreds of amperes, power can be supplied in a short time.

As described above, when the large-capacity capacitor is used as the auxiliary power source, the fixing device can be supplied with power exceeding the power limit of the commercial power source in a short time from several seconds to several tens of seconds. Therefore, it is possible to realize a fixing device having a short rise time with high reliability and durability.
Patent Document 2 describes a heating device that can obtain a large power at a low voltage by connecting a halogen heater in parallel to a large-capacity capacitor .

Next, the reduction in heat capacity of the heating member will be described.
There is a SURF fixing method as a fixing method specialized for short-time startup. This is a configuration in which a film made of heat-resistant resin is wound around a plate-shaped ceramic heater, and since the heat capacity of the ceramic heater is reduced, the startup time can be shortened, and it is mainly put into practical use in low-speed machines. ing.

  However, in this SURF fixing method, it is necessary to make the film thicker to prevent breakage in order to cope with higher speed machines in the future. As a problem at this time, if the temperature of the film is not raised before the film enters the nip, the resin has a lower thermal conductivity than the metal and heat cannot be sufficiently transferred to the paper in the nip. It is necessary to heat the film from the upstream part before entering. For this reason, the area of the plate-like portion of the heater is increased, and a high power source is required to perform a rapid temperature increase.

  In recent years, even in the heat roller method, the start-up time is shortened by using a thin roller made of iron or aluminum of 1.0 mm or less for the fixing roller. The method of reducing the heat capacity of the heating member is very useful for shortening the startup time. However, when the technology for reducing the heat capacity is introduced into a high-speed machine, the “temperature drop” problem occurs.

  "Temperature drop" is a high-speed machine that passes more than 60 sheets per minute, and if a continuous sheet such as thick paper is passed immediately after startup, the heat of the heating member is taken away from the recording member in large quantities. For this reason, the surface temperature of the heating member having a small heat capacity immediately falls below the required fixing temperature, which causes a problem of fixing failure.

  In order to solve this problem, high-speed machines that have introduced a technology for reducing heat capacity perform “CPM down” that lowers the paper feeding speed of plain paper during continuous paper feeding. This avoids the occurrence of fixing failure.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an image forming apparatus connected to a peripheral device so that the power supply of the peripheral device can be used as an auxiliary power source of the image forming apparatus. Is described. In this image forming apparatus, when power is about to fall short, the power of the peripheral device power supply is input to the image forming apparatus as an auxiliary power supply, enabling stable operation, reducing the size and cost of the power supply. Is possible.

JP 2000-315567 A JP 2002-184554 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-17863

In developing a heating device (fixing device) using the large-capacity capacitor, the following problems have been clarified in order to further improve the performance.
In the heating device (fixing device), in order to use up the electric power held by the large-capacity capacitor with a start-up time of several seconds to several tens of seconds, a configuration for taking out the large electric power is necessary. Since power = voltage × current, high power can be obtained by increasing the voltage or increasing the current.

  The halogen heater that is normally used as a heat generating member for heating the fixing roller has an upper limit of about 10 to 12 A maximum current, and it is difficult to increase the maximum current further. This is because the life of the halogen heater is shortened when the current of the halogen heater is increased. Therefore, in order to obtain a large amount of power with a heating device using a halogen heater as a heat generating member, it is necessary to adopt a configuration in which a large voltage power source is used as a power supply source.

  However, a large-capacity capacitor originally has a low voltage per cell of about several volts. This is to prevent the solution inside the cell from being electrolyzed, and the voltage per cell is a little over 1 volt for water and about a few volts for organic. For this reason, in order to heat the fixing roller using a conventionally used halogen heater as a heat generating member, it is necessary to connect dozens to dozens of cells in series and use it as a high voltage power supply unit.

  However, with a large-capacity capacitor that is configured to obtain high voltage and high power by connecting many cells in series, even if only a few cells have sufficient energy to raise the temperature of the fixing roller. In order to increase the voltage, it was necessary to increase the number of cells. In other words, it was necessary to use an extra capacity capacitor cell. However, at present, the cost of the capacitor is high, and since the energy density is low and the volume is large, it is indispensable to reduce the number of capacitor cells.

That is, in the configuration in which the halogen heater is used as the heat generating member, it is necessary to use an extra cell in terms of energy in order to increase the voltage, so there is a problem that the volume of the power source is large and the cost is high.
Even in the heating device described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to increase the voltage of the large-capacity capacitor, so that it is necessary to provide a capacitor cell with extra energy, and there is a problem that the volume of the power source is large and the cost is high.

  In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 2 proposes a technique for obtaining high power at a low voltage by connecting a halogen heater in parallel to a large-capacity capacitor. This is to take advantage of the feature of allowing a large current to flow through a large-capacity capacitor and to take out a large amount of power at a low voltage in a short time by setting the resistance of the halogen heater low.

In the prior art, when an auxiliary power source such as a large-capacity capacitor is used, a halogen heater for an auxiliary power source is connected to the auxiliary power source in addition to the halogen heater connected to the main power source.
However, in a fixing device having a configuration in which a plurality of halogen heaters are installed in the fixing roller, when a thin fixing roller having a small heat capacity is used as the fixing roller, a glass member of another halogen heater is turned on when one halogen heater is turned on. Therefore, there is a problem in that heat radiation is hindered by the influence of the above, and temperature unevenness occurs on the surface of the fixing roller.

If there is an excessively high temperature portion on the surface of the fixing roller, there is a possibility that hot offset occurs where molten toner adheres to the portion.
The problem of uneven surface temperature of the fixing roller becomes a very serious problem when an auxiliary power source such as a large capacity capacitor is not charged.

  Halogen heaters connected to an auxiliary power supply that is not fully charged cannot generate enough heat due to insufficient power supply, and the temperature difference between the halogen heater connected to the main power supply is extremely high May cause problems such as fixing failure due to offset or breakage of the fixing roller.

  Therefore, the temperature variation peculiar to the thin fixing roller is reduced, and the fixing roller of the fixing roller is caused by the difference in the amount of heat generated between the auxiliary heating member when the necessary power is not stored in the auxiliary power source and the main heating member connected to the main power source. Measures are necessary to prevent the widening of the temperature gap and excessive local temperature rise.

  Therefore, a control device that detects the amount of electricity stored in the auxiliary power source and switches the power supply source to the heat generating member connected to the auxiliary power source from the auxiliary power source to the main power source when predetermined power is not stored in the auxiliary power source. By providing a heating device provided with the above, it is considered that stable power can be supplied to the auxiliary heat generating member and temperature unevenness of the heating member can be reduced regardless of the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply.

  However, when switching the power supply source to the heat generating member connected in parallel to the auxiliary power source from the auxiliary power source to the main power source, if all the heat generating members in the heating device are simply connected in parallel to the main power source, A current exceeding the power limit of 15A will flow.

  In addition, the purpose is to eliminate the temporal temperature unevenness of the heating roller due to large power, and supply to the auxiliary power supply heater from the large capacity capacitor by changing the connection of the cell of the large capacity capacitor, which is the auxiliary power supply, during discharge There has been proposed a technique for controlling the electric power to reduce the temperature unevenness of the heating roller. However, in this technique, when the heating roller is heated to a predetermined temperature, the capacitor cells are connected in parallel to limit the power supplied from the large-capacity capacitor to the auxiliary power source heater, thereby causing uneven temperature of the heating roller. The temperature unevenness generated in the circumferential direction of the heating roller cannot be solved when the heat generation amounts of the main power supply heater and the auxiliary power supply heater are different.

  By the way, by mounting the fixing device using the auxiliary power source, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that saves energy and has a very short startup time. There are a method for increasing the input power of the heating device and a method for reducing the heat capacity of the heating device in order to promote a short temperature increase of the heating device. Therefore, it is considered that the heating device can increase the temperature in a shorter time by using a thin fixing roller having a small heat capacity.

  In the case of a high-speed machine that exceeds 60 sheets per minute, since the heat amount of the fixing roller is taken away from the recording member in large quantities, the surface temperature of the thin fixing roller with a small heat capacity is the continuous sheet immediately after startup. As a result, the problem will be that the thin fixing roller cannot be used for high-speed machines because the temperature will drop immediately below the required fixing temperature, but not only when the auxiliary power supply is turned on, but also when the temperature drops due to paper feeding. This problem can be solved by introducing it, and it is possible to greatly shorten the start-up time and save energy in a high-speed machine.

However, in developing an image forming apparatus using a large-capacity capacitor and a thin fixing roller, the following problems have been clarified in improving the performance.
An image forming apparatus equipped with an auxiliary power source has a problem that when the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source is insufficient, sufficient power cannot be supplied to the fixing device, and a stable operation cannot be performed.

A large-capacity capacitor as an auxiliary power source mounted on an image forming apparatus requires a charging period of about several minutes after discharging a large amount of electric power during startup or the like.
As described above, the capacitor itself can be configured to have a charging time of about several tens of seconds. However, the capacitor of the image forming apparatus is charged after the image formation, and is small in terms of cost and space saving. It takes several minutes at a low current using a charger.

When the start-up command is issued again to the image forming apparatus when the capacitor is insufficiently charged at this low current, the start-up cannot be performed in the same short time as when the capacitor is fully charged.
With a normal fixing roller, if the interval from the previous start-up to the next start-up command is short, there is no problem because the remaining heat remains on the fixing roller, but a thin fixing roller with a small heat capacity was used. In this case, since the amount of heat stored in the fixing roller is very small, it immediately falls to room temperature, and the above-described problems occur.

In addition, in the case of high-speed machines, if image formation is performed while the amount of electricity stored in the capacitor is insufficient, the fixing roller surface temperature must be fixed without being able to cope with the temperature drop due to continuous paper feeding immediately after the fixing device is started up. The temperature may drop below the temperature and fixing may not be possible.
Further, in the prior art such as that described in Patent Document 1, when an auxiliary power source such as a large-capacity capacitor is used, a halogen heater for auxiliary power source is connected in addition to the halogen heater connected to the main power source. It is.

  In this prior art, a halogen heater connected to an auxiliary power source that is not sufficiently charged cannot generate sufficient heat due to a lack of supplied power, and a halogen heater connected to a main power source Due to the temperature difference, the temperature unevenness of the fixing roller becomes very large, which may cause a phenomenon such as fixing failure due to offset or breakage of the fixing roller.

  To solve this problem, the purpose is to eliminate the need to add a new heat generating member even if an auxiliary power source is added. In a fixing device having a plurality of heat generating members, the main power source and the auxiliary power source A conventional technique has been proposed in which a heat generating member that supplies electric power is shared, and power is supplied only by the main power source even when the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply is insufficient, so that all the heat generating members generate heat.

However, with this conventional technology, the power that can be taken out becomes too small, and it is possible to cope with the temperature unevenness of the fixing roller. However, when the fixing device is raised to a predetermined temperature, sufficient power cannot be taken out, and the image forming apparatus Cannot be launched for a short time. Further, it cannot cope with the temperature drop of the fixing roller in the high speed machine.
Further, the cost of the capacitor is high at present, and there is a drawback that the price of the image forming apparatus main body is increased by mounting the power storage device using the capacitor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can receive power transmission from another image forming apparatus at the time of start-up or when power is insufficient.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a power coordination system between image forming apparatuses that can shorten the start-up time of an image forming apparatus in the system and guarantee a stable operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system that can search the system for other optimal image forming apparatuses that transmit power to the image forming apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system capable of transmitting and receiving information between an image forming apparatus and a power-on control apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system that can appropriately transmit the power of another image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus needs electric power.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a power coordination system between image forming apparatuses capable of supplying power exceeding the limit of a commercial power supply when the image forming apparatus is started up .

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a power transmission means for transmitting power to another image forming apparatus, a power receiving means for receiving power supply from the other image forming apparatus, and the other image forming apparatus. And a power transmission control device having control means for controlling power transmission to the power source.

  The invention according to claim 2 is an inter-device power coordination system comprising a plurality of the image forming apparatuses according to claim 1 and connecting the plurality of image forming apparatuses by the power transmission control device, wherein the power transmission means The image forming apparatus includes a power input control device having power switching means for transmitting the power of the image forming device to another image forming device different from the image forming device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to the second aspect, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power input control apparatus are connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power input control apparatus. They are connected by information transmission means for transmitting and receiving information between them.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. is there.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second or third aspect, each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. Is.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to the fifth aspect, the power-on control device acquires operation information of the image forming apparatus by the information transmission unit, and based on the acquired information. Thus, the power switching means is switched.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the power coordination system between image forming apparatuses according to any one of claims 2, 3, 5, and 6, wherein the image forming apparatus forms an unfixed image according to image information. And a fixing device for fixing the unfixed image, and the image forming apparatus uses this power for the fixing device when receiving power from the other image forming apparatus. .

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to the second aspect, the power-on control device is provided in one of the image forming apparatuses .

According to the present invention, power can be transmitted from another image forming apparatus at the time of start-up or when power is insufficient.
According to the present invention, the start-up time of the image forming apparatus in the system can be shortened and stable operation can be ensured.
According to the present invention, it is possible to search in the system for another optimal image forming apparatus that transmits power to the image forming apparatus.

According to the present invention, information can be transmitted and received between the image forming apparatus and the power-on control apparatus.
According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately transmit power from another image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus needs power.

According to the present invention, it is possible to input power exceeding the limit of the commercial power supply when starting up the image forming apparatus .

Next, one embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is one form of the inter-device power coordination system. As shown in FIG. 2, auxiliary power supply-equipped devices 51 and 52 that constitute the inter-device power coordination system are electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, and operating units 55 and 56 that are operated by power from the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54. Is a fixing unit provided in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic cross section of the image forming apparatus 51 in the present embodiment. The entire image forming apparatus 51 is composed of an upper part and a lower part. The upper part has an automatic document feeder (not shown) provided above and an optical unit comprising optical elements (not shown) provided below, and each of the image forming systems located below the automatic unit. Has a unit. The lower part has a paper feed unit in which a paper feed tray on which the recording member P is placed is accommodated.

In FIG. 11 , reference numeral 41 denotes a drum-shaped photoconductor which is an example of an image carrier made of a rotating body. Around this photosensitive member 41, a charging device 42 composed of a charging roller, a mirror 43 constituting a part of the exposure means, a developing means 44 having a developing roller 44a, and a recording member P in the order of rotation indicated by arrows. A transfer device 48 for transferring the developed image to the transfer paper as a transfer means, a cleaning means 46 having a blade 46a in sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 41 , and the like are disposed. On the photosensitive member 41 is the exposure light Lb via the mirror 43 between the charging device 42 and the developing roller 44a is adapted to be scanned. The irradiation position of the exposure light Lb is called an exposure unit 150 .

48 shows a transfer device which faces the lower surface of the photosensitive member 41, portions of the photoreceptor 41 are opposed to the transfer device 48 is a transfer unit 47. A pair of registration rollers 49 is provided at a position further upstream of the transfer unit 47 in the transfer paper conveyance direction. The recording member P stored in the paper feed tray is sent out by the paper feed roller 110 , guided by the transport guide, and transported to the registration roller 49 . A fixing device 20 having a fixing roller 21 is disposed further downstream of the transfer unit 47 in the transfer paper conveyance direction. An automatic double-side device (not shown) is disposed downstream of the fixing device 20 .

In this image forming apparatus 51, image formation is performed as follows. The photoconductor 41 is rotated by a drive unit (not shown) and starts rotating. During this rotation, the photoconductor 41 is uniformly charged by the charging device 42 in the dark, and the exposure unit 150 irradiates the exposure unit 150 with the exposure light Lb. By scanning, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an image to be created is formed. The electrostatic latent image is moved to the developing device 44 by the rotation of the photoconductor 41 , where it is visualized by toner to form a toner image.

On the other hand, feeding of the transfer paper P as a recording member on the paper feed tray is started by the paper feed roller 110, temporarily stopped at the pair of registration rollers 49 through the transport path indicated by broken lines, on the photoreceptor 41 The timing of delivery is awaited so that the toner image matches the transfer unit 47 . When this timing comes, the transfer sheet P that has been stopped at the registration rollers 49 is fed from the registration roller 49 is conveyed to the transfer section 47.

The transfer paper P with the toner image on the photoreceptor 41 matches the transfer unit 47, the toner image on the photoreceptor 41 is transferred onto the transfer paper P by the electric field by the transfer device 48.

Thus the photosensitive member 41 and the units 42,44,48,46 of the image forming system around it, the transfer sheet P on which the toner image formed by the image forming section of the image forming system consisting of the exposure unit carrying it is transferred Is sent to the fixing device 20 . The toner image on the transfer paper P is fixed on the transfer paper P while passing through the fixing device 20 and discharged to a paper discharge unit.

Further, the image forming apparatus 51 forms images on both sides of the transfer paper P in the duplex mode. When performing duplex mode, the transfer sheet having the toner image formed as described above on the surface by a branch claw, not shown, is the front and back in the conveyance has been switched back inverted to automatic duplex unit (not shown) is inverted, the automatic double-side unit Re-feeds the transfer paper to the registration roller 49 .
On the other hand, the residual toner remaining on the photosensitive member 41 without being transferred by the transfer unit 48, reaches the cleaning device 46 together with the rotation of the photosensitive member 41 is cleaned while passing through the cleaning device 46 for the next image formation Prepare.
Although the image forming apparatus 52 is configured in the same manner as the image forming apparatus 51, only the image forming apparatus 51 is provided with an auxiliary power input control device 87 as shown in FIG.

Next, the configuration and operation of the inter-device power coordination system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings, centering on the fixing device 20 as an operation unit.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 each equipped with the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 are connected by an auxiliary power transmission unit 85 and an information transmission unit 86. The auxiliary power input control device 87 provided in the image forming apparatus 51 transmits the power of the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 to the image forming apparatus 52 by the auxiliary power transmission means 85 or the auxiliary power supply of the image forming apparatus 52 Control for transmitting power of 54 to the image forming apparatus 51 is performed.

2 shows a circuit configuration of the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 included in the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 and the fixing devices 55 and 56 which are the operation units, and FIG. 3 shows the fixing device 55 (the part denoted by reference numeral 20 in FIG. 11). in a.) showing the cross section of the. 2 and 3, reference numerals 88 and 89 denote main power sources of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, respectively. The main power supplies 88 and 89 are power sources that supply power from a commercial power supply, and can be supplied by connecting to a power outlet.

In FIG. 2, 53 and 54 are electric double layer capacitors as auxiliary power supplies of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, and 90, 91, 92 and 93 are switches as switching means of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52. . The auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 may use electrochemical capacitors. Reference numeral 94 denotes a heating member in the fixing device 55 of the image forming apparatus 51. The heating member 94 includes a main heat generating member 95 and an auxiliary heat generating member 96. The main heat generating member 95 is connected to the main power supply 88 via the switch 90. When the switch 90 is turned on / off, the power from the main power supply 88 is turned on / off, and the temperature of the heating member 94 is controlled to the set temperature. The auxiliary power supply 53 is connected to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 and discharged to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 when the switch 91 is switched to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 side. The charger 97 is connected to the main power supply 88. When the switch 91 is switched to the charger 97 side, the power from the main power supply 88 is converted into direct current and applied to the auxiliary power supply 53 to charge the auxiliary power supply 53.

  98 is a charge / discharge control device having a storage amount detection means for detecting the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply 53 and an operation detection means for detecting the operation of the image forming apparatus 51. An image based on the detection information of the operation detection means. The charging / discharging of the auxiliary power supply 53 is controlled in accordance with the operation of the forming device 51. This charging / discharging control device 98 switches the switch 91 to the charger 97 side immediately after the auxiliary power supply 53 is discharged based on the detection information of the charged amount detection means, and the charger 97 uses the electric power from the main power supply 88. The auxiliary power supply 53 is charged, and the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply 53 is constantly monitored based on the detection information of the power storage amount detection means. In this case, the switch 91 is switched to the charger 97 side, and the auxiliary power source 53 is charged by the charger 97 by the electric power from the main power source 88.

  Reference numeral 99 denotes a heating member in the fixing device 56 of the image forming apparatus 52. The heating member 99 includes a main heat generating member 100 and an auxiliary heat generating member 101. The main heat generating member 100 is connected to the main power supply 89 via the switch 92. When the switch 92 is turned on / off, the power from the main power supply 89 is turned on / off, and the temperature of the heating member 99 is controlled to the set temperature. The auxiliary power supply 54 is connected to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 and discharged to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 when the switch 93 is switched to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 side. The charger 102 is connected to the main power supply 89, and when the switch 93 is switched to the charger 102 side, the power from the main power supply 89 is converted into direct current and applied to the auxiliary power supply 54 to charge the auxiliary power supply 54.

  Reference numeral 103 denotes a charge / discharge control device that includes a storage amount detection unit that detects the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply 54 and an operation detection unit that detects the operation of the image forming apparatus 52. An image based on the detection information of the operation detection unit The charging / discharging of the auxiliary power supply 54 is controlled in accordance with the operation of the forming device 52. This charging / discharging control device 103 immediately switches the switch 93 to the charger 102 side after the auxiliary power source 54 is discharged based on the detection information of the storage amount detecting means, and the charger 102 uses the power from the main power supply 89 to The auxiliary power supply 54 is charged, and the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply 54 is constantly monitored based on the detection information of the storage amount detection means, and the storage amount falls below a predetermined storage amount due to self-discharge of the auxiliary power supply 54, etc. In this case, the switch 93 is switched to the charger 102 side, and the auxiliary power source 54 is charged by the charger 102 by the power from the main power source 89. In the present embodiment, since the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 are electric double layer capacitors, the storage amount detecting means is a voltage monitor.

  In this embodiment, the heating members 95, 96, 100, 101 are halogen heaters, and two heating members 95, 96, 100, 101 are installed in each heating member 94, 99, but the number of heating members is three or more. It doesn't matter. In addition, since the voltage of the electric double layer capacitors 53 and 54, which are auxiliary power supplies, decreases as they are discharged, the auxiliary heat generating members 96 and 101 are made of resistance heating elements that reliably generate heat even when the input voltage decreases. Also good. In addition, a carbon heater is used for the auxiliary heat generating members 96 and 101 so that a larger current can flow than the halogen heater, so that the auxiliary power supply 96 and 101 can take out a large amount of power even at a low voltage, and the auxiliary power supply can be downsized. can do.

  In this embodiment, thin fixing rollers are used for the heating members 94 and 99. These thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 have an aluminum core metal having a thickness of 0.7 mm and a Teflon (registered trademark) layer having a thickness of 0.02 mm as a release layer outside the core metal, and have a diameter of 40 mm. is there. Since the thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 have a very small heat capacity, the temperature can be increased for a short time.

  Reference numeral 104 denotes a pressure roller as a pressure member that applies pressure to the transfer paper P as a heated body in the fixing device 55. The transfer paper P is heated by being supplied with heat from the heating member 94 by passing through the nip portion formed by the heating member 94 and the pressure member 104. Similarly, the fixing device 56 has a pressure roller as a pressure member that applies pressure to the transfer paper P as a heated body, and the transfer paper passes through the nip portion formed by the heating member 99 and the pressure member. Thus, heat is applied from the heating member 99 to heat it.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the inside of the inter-device power coordination system constituted by the auxiliary power input control device 87 and the image forming devices 51 and 52. The auxiliary power input control device 87 transmits the power of the auxiliary power source 53 included in the image forming device 51 to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 included in the other image forming device 52, and the power supplied from the auxiliary power source 54 included in the image forming device 52 to the other power source. An auxiliary power switching means 105 for transmitting power to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 included in the image forming apparatus 51 and a CPU 106 are provided. The CPU 106 is shown in FIG. 1 from the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103 included in the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52. The auxiliary power switching means 105 is switched based on the information input via the information transmission means 85 shown.

  As the information transmission means 86 for transmitting information from the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103, it is desirable to use a dedicated signal line, but at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network and communication for connecting to this You may have a means. The information transmission means 86 preferably uses a dedicated signal line, but may use a general-purpose network and have an interface function for this purpose. For example, Ethernet (registered trademark) such as 10Base-T and 100Base-TX ) Cables and network interface cards (NICs) for using devices compatible with the wireless LAN standard 802.11g.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional example of a fixing device using electric power from an auxiliary power source. In this fixing device, by supplying the power from both the main power supply 88 and the auxiliary power supply 53 to the heat generating members 95 and 96 simultaneously, a large amount of power exceeding the power supplied by the main power supply 88 can be supplied to the heat generating members 95 and 96. .
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the temperature rise time of the fixing roller as the heating member can be shortened by using the main power supply and the auxiliary power supply simultaneously rather than using only the main power supply.
Therefore, when a large amount of electric power is required when the heating member is heated to a predetermined temperature due to low temperature or the like, the electric power of the auxiliary power supply 53 together with the main power supply 88 is supplied to the heating members 95 and 96 at the same time. By supplying more total power input to the heat generating member than when only the main power supply is used, the temperature of the fixing roller can be raised in a short time.

  As mentioned above, in order to promote energy saving, it is very important to raise the temperature of the fixing device for a short time, and it is necessary to input more power than the rated power of the commercial power supply to the heating member of the fixing device. Therefore, the fixing device shown in FIG. 6 which can raise the temperature of the fixing device for a short time is very useful. Further, this fixing device can increase the temperature in a shorter time by using a thin fixing roller having a small heat capacity as a heating member.

Auxiliary 90V capacitor that combines one 1200W halogen heater that generates heat by the power from the commercial power source and 36 500F, 2.5V capacitor cells in the thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 of the image forming devices 51 and 52 One halogen heater of 850 W that generates heat by power from the power source was arranged, and after the surface temperature of the fixing rollers 94 and 99 was increased from 20 ° C. to 180 ° C., 100 sheets were passed. As a result, the start-up time was as short as 10 seconds. In addition, since the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 are high-speed machines that pass 75 sheets per minute, the temperature of the fixing rollers 94 and 99 drops due to continuous sheet passing immediately after startup. The temperature of the fixing rollers 94 and 99 was maintained in order to turn on the capacitor power.
However, since it takes about 2 minutes to charge the capacitor after discharging, if each image forming apparatus tries to start up the fixing device again within 2 minutes after image formation , the start-up time is It became longer and the following problems occurred.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 are started up and restarted after completion of continuous sheet passing. The start-up time when the first electric double layer capacitors 53 and 54 are charged is 10 seconds, but the power of the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 is supplied to the heating members 96 and 101 for the second start-up time. Therefore , it was 30 seconds, which was almost the same as the case where the temperature of the fixing rollers 94 and 99 was raised with only one ordinary 1200 W halogen heater. Furthermore, when the surface temperature distribution of the thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 was measured, a temperature difference of about 40 ° C. was generated where the difference in the surface temperatures of the thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 was the largest.

FIG. 9 shows changes over time in the surface temperature at the position A where the heat quantity received per unit area by the thin fixing rollers 94, 99 from the heat generating members 95, 96, 100, 101 is the largest and at the position B where the thinned fixing rollers 94, 99 are the smallest. . The position B is a portion in the thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 where heat radiation of the main heating members 95 and 100 is hindered by the glass member of the heater of the auxiliary heating members 96 and 101 that do not generate heat. When the start-up was completed, the temperature at position A reached 200 ° C. or higher. When the toner was fixed on the transfer paper by subsequent paper passing, hot offset occurred on the surfaces of the fixing rollers 94 and 99 near position A. Further , the temperature drop of the fixing rollers 94 and 99 due to continuous paper feeding immediately after the start-up also occurred.

  The conventional fixing device shown in FIG. 6 is configured to use a heat generating member 96 that generates heat by the electric power from the auxiliary power supply 53, and the heat generating member 96 is arranged in the heating member 94 as shown in FIG. When sufficient power is not charged in the auxiliary power supply 53, the halogen heater 96 connected to the auxiliary power supply 53 cannot generate a sufficient amount of heat because the power supplied from the auxiliary power supply 53 is insufficient. The temperature difference with the halogen heater 95 connected to the main power supply 88 becomes very large, which may cause a fixing failure such as an offset or a phenomenon such as breakage of the fixing roller 94. In addition, even if the temperature of the fixing roller 94 drops due to a large amount of continuous paper feeding immediately after startup, problems such as fixing failure may occur.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , even if the amount of power stored in one of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 is insufficient, the auxiliary power of the other image forming apparatus is connected to this auxiliary power. By transmitting the power of the power source, it is possible to provide a stable operation without causing malfunction due to insufficient power of the auxiliary power source, and to provide an image forming apparatus that saves energy and has a very short startup time. .

  In the present embodiment, the power from both the main power supplies 88 and 89 and the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 can be supplied to the heating members 55, 56, 100, and 101 at the same time, thereby increasing the temperature to a predetermined temperature in a short time. it can. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, 850 W of electric power is extracted from the auxiliary power supplies 53, 54 at a voltage of 90 V of the auxiliary power supplies 53, 54, and 1200 W is extracted from the commercial power supplies 88, 89. , 100 has a resistance of about 8Ω, and the auxiliary heating members 96 and 101 have a resistance of about 9.5Ω. As a result, 2050 W of electric power exceeding the upper limit of the electric power supplied from the commercial power sources 88 and 89 can be used for raising the temperature of the heating members 55 and 56.

  Further, the auxiliary power input control device 87 uses the auxiliary power switching means 105 based on the information of the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103 connected to the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54, and the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is determined. If it is insufficient (below the predetermined charged amount), the power of the auxiliary power supply 54 of the image forming apparatus 52 is transmitted to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 of the image forming apparatus 51 to thereby generate all the heat generating members of the image forming apparatus 51. Stable power can be supplied to 95 and 96, and the temperature unevenness of the heating member 55 and the temperature drop due to continuous paper feeding that cause fixing failure can be reduced. In the start-up time, the image forming apparatus 51 can start up in a short time as in the case where the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply 53 is sufficient.

  Similarly, the auxiliary power input control device 87 uses the auxiliary power switching means 105 based on the information of the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103 connected to the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 to store the storage amount of the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming apparatus 52. Is insufficient (below the predetermined charged amount), the power of the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is transmitted to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 of the image forming apparatus 52 to thereby generate the total heat of the image forming apparatus 52. Stable power can be supplied to the members 100 and 101, and the temperature unevenness of the heating member 56 and the temperature drop due to continuous paper feeding that cause fixing failure can be reduced. In the start-up time, the image forming apparatus 52 can start up in a short time as in the case where the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source 54 is sufficient.

  FIG. 5 shows a program stored in the ROM of the CPU 106 included in the auxiliary power input control device 87 in this embodiment. The CPU 106 instructs the discharge command of the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 from the charge / discharge control device 98. The inter-device power cooperative control by the auxiliary power input control device 87 when receiving the power is shown. The charging / discharging control device 98 determines the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming device 51 based on the detection information of the power storage amount detection means (power storage amount detection function) when the auxiliary power source 53 is discharged along with the operation of the image forming device 51. Check. The charge / discharge control device 103 determines the storage amount of the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming device 52 based on the detection information of the storage amount detection means (storage amount detection function) when the auxiliary power source 54 is discharged along with the operation of the image forming device 52. Check.

  Based on the information from the charge / discharge control device 98, the CPU 106 determines whether or not the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 has a power storage amount equal to or greater than the first set power storage amount, and the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming device 51 When there is no charged amount equal to or more than the first set charged amount, the charge / discharge state and the charged amount information of the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming device 52 are confirmed based on the information from the charge / discharge control device 103, and image formation is performed. When the auxiliary power source 54 of the device 52 is not in a discharged state, and when the storage amount equal to or larger than the second set storage amount is stored in the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming device 52, the auxiliary power switching means 105 is switched to form an image. By transmitting the power of the auxiliary power source 54 of the apparatus 52 to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 of the image forming apparatus 51, the auxiliary heat generating member 96 is caused to generate heat. In the present embodiment, the first set power storage amount is set to 60% with respect to the full charge amount, and the second set power storage amount is set to 80% with respect to the full charge amount, and the image forming apparatus 52 itself This prevents the start-up operation from becoming unstable.

  The auxiliary power input control device 87 detects the discharge stop information of the auxiliary power supply 53 (information for stopping the discharge of the auxiliary power supply 53) output from the charge / discharge control device 98 of the image forming device 51, and The power transmission of the auxiliary power supply 54 is stopped. Thereafter, the auxiliary power supply 54 of the image forming apparatus 52 is charged by the charger 102 with the power from the main power supply 89 under the control of the charge / discharge control apparatus 103 included in the image forming apparatus 52.

  The image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 of the present embodiment control charging / discharging of the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 by charge / discharge control apparatuses 98 and 103 provided in the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, respectively. The charging / discharging and transmission of all the auxiliary power sources in the inter-device power coordination system may be controlled by the auxiliary power input control device 87.

  Although it seems that there are not many situations, the capacitor 53 may be used for a long period of time when one of the image forming apparatuses is started up again immediately after starting up the plurality of image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 at the same time, or during a Golden Week or a Bon holiday. , 54 is self-discharged, the power stored in the auxiliary power sources 53, 54 of the image forming apparatuses 51, 52 is equal to or greater than the set power storage amount (first set power storage amount, second set power storage amount). When the amount is not stored, in this embodiment, a command “CPM DOWN” to reduce the number of recording members that form an image per minute is output to the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 by the auxiliary power input control device 87. The As a result, the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 minimize the increase in startup time. In the meantime, the auxiliary power supply 54 is charged to the auxiliary power supply 54 by the charge / discharge control device 103 included in the image forming apparatus 52 in the image forming apparatus 52 in which the stored power amount is equal to or less than the second set power storage amount. Subsequent stable operation of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 is guaranteed.

  As a matter of course, three or more image forming apparatuses may be connected by the auxiliary power transmission unit 85. When there are three or more image forming apparatuses, the auxiliary power input control device 87 detects the storage amount of the auxiliary power source of each image forming apparatus and searches for an image forming apparatus that can transmit power. By having more image forming apparatuses in the present embodiment, the inter-device power coordination system is guaranteed to operate more stably.

FIG. 10 shows a state when the image forming apparatus 51 is started up in accordance with the above program in a state where the electric double layer capacitor 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is not charged. Power transmission from the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming apparatus 52 operates with the same startup time as when the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is charged, and the temperature drops even during continuous paper feeding immediately after startup. Does not occur. Further, since the auxiliary heat generating member surely generates heat, a temperature difference between the fixing roller surface temperatures such as a temperature rise when the control of FIG. 5 is not performed as in the fixing device shown in FIG. Could get.
In the present embodiment, the inter-device power coordination control is performed when the charge amount of the auxiliary power supply 53 is insufficient when the image forming apparatus 51 is started up or during continuous paper feeding. Even when the amount of charge of the auxiliary power supply 54 is insufficient during continuous paper feeding, inter-device power cooperative control similar to the inter-device power cooperative control is performed.

In the above-described embodiment , a stable operation can be ensured regardless of the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply in the image forming apparatus that uses the electric power from the chargeable auxiliary power supply and has a fast temperature rise time. Furthermore, the start-up time of an image forming apparatus that does not have an auxiliary power supply can be shortened.

According to the above embodiment , by sharing the power of the auxiliary power supply of a plurality of auxiliary power supply-equipped devices, when the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply is insufficient below a predetermined amount, By receiving power transmission, the operation unit can operate stably regardless of the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply.
According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to guarantee the stable operation of the auxiliary power supply-equipped device in the system and to transmit the power of the auxiliary power to an electric device that does not have the auxiliary power.

According to the above embodiment , a plurality of devices (devices such as image forming apparatuses) and the auxiliary power input control device are connected by the information transmission means for transmitting and receiving information between the plurality of devices and the auxiliary power input control device. Thus, the optimum auxiliary power source for transmitting auxiliary power to the device can be searched in the system.
According to the above embodiment , each of the plurality of devices includes communication means for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network, so that information is transmitted between the plurality of devices and the auxiliary power input control device. There is no need to wire a dedicated signal line for transmitting and receiving.

According to the embodiment described above, the operation information of the operation unit detected by the operation detection unit is acquired, and the auxiliary power switching unit is switched based on the acquired information. The power of the power source can be transmitted, and erroneous power transmission can be prevented.
According to the above embodiment , the auxiliary power source that transmits power by acquiring the storage amount information of the auxiliary power source of the auxiliary power source-equipped device from the charge / discharge control device and switching the auxiliary power switching unit based on the storage amount information. Can be prevented, and the stable operation of each auxiliary power supply device can be ensured.

According to the above-described embodiment , it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus with a short start-up time by supplying the maximum supply power exceeding the limit of the commercial power supply to the image forming apparatus.
According to the embodiment , even when sufficient power is not stored in the auxiliary power source, the surface temperature of the heating member is made uniform so that the toner can be stably heated and melted, and a good quality toner image can be formed on the recording paper. It can be formed by fixing to.

According to the above embodiment , the auxiliary power input control device can be supplied to the auxiliary power input control device by providing the auxiliary power input control device in one of the auxiliary power supply devices. There is no need to newly connect the apparatus to a commercial power source or the like.

It is a front view showing one embodiment of the present invention. It is a circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of the auxiliary power supply and the fixing apparatus in the implementation form. It is a transverse sectional view showing a fixing apparatus in the implementation form. Is a conceptual diagram showing an auxiliary power-on control device and inter-device power cooperation system in the implementation form. Is a flowchart showing a program stored in the ROM of the CPU auxiliary power-up control apparatus in the implementation mode has. It is a circuit diagram which shows the prior art example of a fixing device. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a fixing roller temperature rise characteristic of the fixing device. Up an image forming apparatus in the above you facilities embodiment, after the continuous paper feed termination is a view showing a state in which launched again. Is a diagram showing changes with time of the surface temperature at the smallest position B heat thin fixing roller at the time of the above you facilities embodiment of the image forming apparatus start-up receives per unit area from the heating member is the largest position A. It is a diagram showing a state in which the electric double layer capacitor of the image forming apparatus in the above you facilities embodiment launched an image forming apparatus in a state of not being charged. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the whole said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

51, 52 Image forming device
53, 54 Auxiliary power supply
20 , 56 Fusing device
85 Auxiliary power transmission means
86 Information transmission means
87 Auxiliary power input control device
88, 89 Main power supply
90, 91, 92,93 switch
21 , 99 Heating member
95, 100 Main heating element
96, 101 Auxiliary heating element
97, 102 charger
98, 103 Charge / discharge control device
104 pressure roller

Claims (8)

Power transmission means for transmitting power to another image forming apparatus;
Power receiving means for receiving power supply from another image forming apparatus;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a power transmission control device having a control unit that controls power transmission to the other image forming device. An inter-device power coordination system comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected by the power transmission control device.
Inter-image forming apparatus power comprising: a power input control device having power switching means for transmitting the power of the image forming apparatus to another image forming apparatus different from the image forming apparatus by the power transmitting means. Collaborative system.   3. The information coordination system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power-on control apparatus transmit and receive information between the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power-on control apparatus. A power coordination system between image forming apparatuses, characterized in that they are connected by means.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. Inter-power coordination system.   6. The inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to claim 5, wherein the power input control apparatus acquires operation information of the image forming apparatus by the information transmission means, and switches the power switching means based on the acquired information. A power coordination system between image forming apparatuses.   The inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to any one of claims 2, 3, 5, and 6, wherein the image forming apparatus forms an unfixed image according to image information; and the unfixed image The image forming apparatus uses the power for the fixing device when receiving power from the other image forming apparatus. system. 3. The inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to claim 2, wherein the power-on control device is provided in one of the image forming apparatuses.

Images