JP5867028B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming system, and power supply control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a power supply control method.

  The image forming apparatus includes a control board on which a CPU is mounted, and a power supply board that supplies power to each unit. The power supply to the control board is performed by the power supply board. In the power supply board, feedback is performed within the board, and the target voltage is controlled.

  However, in control based on feedback in the power supply board, it is difficult to accurately detect fluctuations in the voltage supplied to the control board. This is because the voltage actually supplied to the control board varies depending on the operation of a load circuit or the like controlled by the control board. If the power supply board cannot supply voltage according to the voltage fluctuation of the control board, the voltage on the control board may drop and the control board may be reset.

  As a technique for solving such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of feeding back a voltage of a power supply destination board to the power supply side and controlling the power supply voltage according to the feedback. In addition, there is also known a method for controlling the voltage supplied to the control board so that the voltage supplied to the control board does not decrease to the reset voltage at which the device is reset even when the voltage fluctuation of the control circuit occurs. ing.

  In the conventional image forming apparatus including the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the image forming apparatus is in operation, such as when the copying operation is actually performed, the copying operation is not performed. In the standby state, the power supply board supplies the same voltage to the control board.

  However, the power supply voltage becomes unstable during operation, but the power supply voltage is relatively stable during standby. Accordingly, during standby, even if a higher voltage than that during operation is not supplied, reset does not occur and normal operation is possible. That is, if the same voltage is supplied during operation and standby as in the prior art, a voltage higher than necessary is supplied during standby, resulting in the total power consumption of the image forming apparatus. There was a problem that would become larger.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a power supply control method capable of reducing power consumption in the image forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium and a heating unit that heats the recording medium, and at least an image forming state in which image formation is performed An image forming apparatus in which an operation state transitions between a standby state in which no image is formed and a heating state in which the heating unit is heated without performing the image formation, and the power supply voltage is controlled by the image forming apparatus A voltage supply unit that supplies a substrate, and the voltage supply unit supplies a first voltage to the control substrate when the operation state of the image forming apparatus is the image formation state, and the operation state is the standby state. In addition, the voltage supply unit controls the voltage supply unit to supply a second voltage lower than the first voltage to the control board, and the voltage supply unit is operated when the operation state is the heating state. Is compared to the second voltage Characterized in that it comprises a voltage control unit for controlling the voltage supply unit to supply to the control board of the third voltage higher Te.

The present invention further includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, and a heating unit that heats the recording medium, and at least an image forming state in which image formation is performed , a standby state in which no image is formed , and the image An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming apparatus in which an operation state transitions to a heating state in which the heating unit is heated without forming; and a server apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus and controlling a power source of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a voltage supply unit that supplies a power supply voltage to a control board of the image forming apparatus, and a transmission unit that transmits the operation state to the server apparatus. Determines a supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit as a first voltage value when the reception unit receives the operation state from the image forming apparatus and the operation state received by the reception unit is the image formation state. Shi When the operating state received by the receiving unit is in the standby state, to determine the supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit to the second voltage value lower than the first voltage value, the reception unit receives operation When the state is the heating state, a voltage control unit that determines the supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit to be a third voltage value that is higher than the second voltage value, and the supply that is determined by the voltage control unit A transmission unit that transmits a voltage value to the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus further includes a reception unit that receives the supply voltage value from the server device, and the voltage supply unit includes the supply voltage. A voltage having a value is supplied to the control board .

The present invention further includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, and a heating unit that heats the recording medium, and at least an image forming state in which image formation is performed , a standby state in which no image is formed , and the image the operation state to the heating condition for heating of the heating unit is a power supply control method performed by the image forming apparatus transitions without formation, the voltage supply unit, a power supply voltage, control of the image forming apparatus A voltage supply step for supplying a voltage to a substrate; and a voltage control unit that supplies a first voltage to the control substrate when the operation state of the image forming apparatus is the image formation state, and the operation state is the standby state. In this case, a second voltage lower than the first voltage is supplied to the control board , and a third voltage higher than the second voltage is supplied to the control board when the operation state is the heating state. The voltage supply Characterized in that it comprises a voltage supply step of controlling the parts.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that the power consumption of the image forming apparatus can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the data configuration of the voltage table. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the door opening / closing detection unit. FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a display example of the CO ₂ emission amount. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a display example of the CO ₂ emission amount. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the voltage control process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the voltage control process. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating configurations of an image forming apparatus and a server apparatus according to a third modification.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a power supply control method will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 mainly includes a power supply unit 100, an operation display unit 110, and a power supply destination substrate 120.

  The power supply unit 100 converts a voltage from an AC power supply (commercial power supply) into a voltage that can be used by each unit of the image forming apparatus 1, and supplies the converted voltage to each unit. The power supply unit 100 according to the present embodiment supplies 5V power. Specifically, the power supply unit 100 supplies voltage to the operation display unit 110, the power supply destination substrate 120, the peripheral device 130, the microcomputer, the ASIC, the memory (ROM, RAM), the logic IC, and the like included in the image forming apparatus 1. Supply.

  The voltage value supplied from the power supply unit 100 is set to a voltage higher than the minimum necessary voltage in consideration of a voltage drop due to the harness at the supply destination, a load fluctuation of the voltage at the supply destination, and the like. However, by driving the image forming apparatus 1 with a low voltage, the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 is reduced. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the image forming apparatus 1, the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 is reduced by setting the voltage value supplied from the power supply unit 100 to an appropriately low value.

  The operation display unit 110 functions as a user interface, receives input from the user, and displays various information. The power supply destination substrate 120 is provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 and controls the entire image forming apparatus 1.

  The power supply unit 100 includes a CPU 101, a ROM 103, a RAM 105, and a voltage supply unit 106. The CPU 101, the ROM 103, and the RAM 105 are connected to each other via a bus (not shown). The CPU 101 functions as the voltage control unit 102. The voltage control unit 102 acquires mode information indicating an operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 from a power supply destination substrate 120 described later.

  Here, the operation mode is a state in which the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 is different. In the present embodiment, the print mode (printing state), the standby mode (standby state), the warm-up mode (heating state), There are door open mode (door open state) and peripheral device connection mode (peripheral device connection state). The pre-screen forming device 1 transitions between these operation states. Here, the print mode is an operation state in which power is supplied to each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and the drive system load actually operates such as a print (image formation) operation. The standby mode is an operation state in which the operation of the drive system load is stopped and the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 is less than that in the print mode.

  The warm-up mode is a state in which a fixing device described later is being heated in preparation for printing. That is, printing cannot be executed immediately in the warm-up mode. In other words, the image forming apparatus 1 can perform printing after the fixing device rises to a predetermined temperature in the warm-up mode and shifts to the printing mode. For example, when the image forming apparatus 1 is started, the warm-up mode is set, and the fixing device is heated.

  The door open mode is a state in which a door (described later) provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 is opened. The opening / closing of the door is linked to the on / off of the voltage supply to the drive system load. This configuration will be described later.

  The peripheral device connection mode is a state in which the peripheral device 130 is connected to the image forming apparatus 1. The peripheral device 130 is supplied with a voltage from the voltage supply unit 106. For this reason, the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 varies depending on whether or not the peripheral device 130 is connected. Furthermore, the peripheral device connection mode further includes an operation mode (peripheral device operation state) in which the connected peripheral device 130 is actually operating, and a stop mode (peripheral operation in which the connected peripheral device 130 is stopped operating). Equipment stoppage). Specific examples of the peripheral device 130 include devices that perform stapling and punching. The peripheral device 130 may be one or plural.

  The voltage control unit 102 refers to the voltage table 104 stored in the ROM 103, and determines the voltage value that the voltage supply unit 106 supplies to each unit of the image forming apparatus 1, that is, the supply voltage value based on the mode information. The voltage supply unit 106 converts the voltage from the AC power source into a voltage determined by the voltage control unit 102. The voltage supply unit 106 supplies the converted voltage to each unit of the image forming apparatus 1. The voltage supply unit 106 appropriately supplies a voltage of 4.9 V to 5.1 V to the 5 V power source under the control of the voltage control unit 102.

  The ROM 103 and RAM 104 store various types of information referred to by the CPU 101. For example, when the voltage control unit 102 acquires the mode information, the voltage control unit 102 writes the acquired mode information in the ROM 103 or the RAM 104.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a data configuration of the voltage table 104 stored in the ROM 103. The voltage table 104 is data that determines supply voltage values supplied by the voltage supply unit 106. The voltage table 104 stores an operation mode and a supply voltage value in association with each other.

  In the voltage table 104, a supply voltage value of 4.9 V is associated with the standby mode. In the voltage table 104, a supply voltage value of 5.1 V is associated with the print mode. That is, in the voltage table 104, the print mode is associated with a higher supply voltage value than in the standby mode.

  In the voltage table 104, a supply voltage value of 5.0 V is associated with both the warm-up mode and the door open mode. That is, in the voltage table 104, the warm-up mode and the door open mode are associated with supply voltage values that are higher than the supply voltage value in the standby mode and lower than the supply voltage value in the printing mode.

  In the voltage table 104, in the peripheral device connection mode, the supply voltage value of 5.0V is associated with the stop mode, and the supply voltage value of 5.1V is associated with the operation mode. That is, in the voltage table 104, a voltage value higher than the supply voltage value in the standby mode is associated with both the stop mode and the operation mode of the peripheral device connection mode. Further, in the voltage table 104, the operation mode is associated with a supply voltage value that is higher than the supply voltage value in the stop mode.

  Although details will be described later, in the voltage table 104, a low supply voltage value is associated with an operation mode with a low possibility of voltage fluctuation compared to a supply voltage value of an operation mode with a high possibility of voltage fluctuation. It has been.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the operation display unit 110 includes a hard key 111, a touch panel 112, and a CPU 113. The hard key 111 and the touch panel 112 function as a user interface, and each accepts an input from the user. The touch panel 112 further displays various information. The CPU 113 functions as the reception unit 114 and the display control unit 115. The accepting unit 114 accepts various information input from the user to the hard key 111 and the touch panel 112. The display control unit 115 displays various information on the touch panel 112.

  The power supply destination board 120 includes a CPU 121, a ROM 126, and a RAM 128. The CPU 121, the ROM 126, and the RAM 128 are connected to each other via a bus (not shown). The CPU 121 functions as a peripheral device detection unit 122, a door opening / closing detection unit 123, a mode management unit 124, and an estimated discharge amount calculation unit 125.

  The peripheral device detection unit 122 detects whether or not the peripheral device 130 is connected to the image forming apparatus 1. The door opening / closing detection unit 123 detects opening / closing of the door. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the door opening / closing detection unit 123. The door open / close detection unit 123 monitors the voltage V1 'connected thereto. An interlock SW 140 is provided between the power supply unit 100 and the drive system load 150. In contrast to the power supply V1 supplied from the power supply unit 100, the power supply V1 'is a power supply connected to the power supply unit 100 by the interlock SW140.

  The interlock SW 140 is turned on when the door is closed and turned off when the door is open. That is, when the door is closed, the power source V1 'is V1, and when the door is open, the power source V1' is 0V. Therefore, the door opening / closing detection unit 123 can detect the opening / closing of the door by monitoring the power supply V1 '.

  The mode management unit 124 manages the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 based on the information received by the reception unit 114 and the detection result of the peripheral device detection unit 122 or the door opening / closing detection unit 123. The mode management unit 124 further transmits mode information indicating the operation mode to the voltage control unit 102 every time the operation mode is changed.

  For example, when the reception unit 114 receives copy job information and the mode management unit 124 acquires the copy job information from the reception unit 114, the mode management unit 124 sets the operation mode to the print mode. When the mode management unit 124 receives the job information for stapling, the mode management unit 124 sets the operation mode to the operation mode of the peripheral device connection mode.

  The mode management unit 124 also sets the operation mode to the stop mode of the peripheral device connection mode when the peripheral device detection unit 122 detects the connection of the peripheral device. The mode management unit 124 also sets the operation mode to the door open mode when the door opening / closing detection unit 123 detects that the door has been opened. The mode management unit 124 further sets the standby mode when printing is not executed for a predetermined period, and sets the warm-up state when the image forming apparatus 1 is started.

  That is, mode information transmitted from the mode management unit 124 to the CPU 101 includes information transmitted from the CPU 113 via the CPU 121 due to a user operation and mode information transmitted from the CPU 121 without passing through the CPU 113.

  As another example, the job information may be received from a PC connected to the LAN via the LAN to which the image forming apparatus 1 is connected.

The expected emission amount calculation unit 125 refers to the calculation information 127 stored in the ROM 126 and calculates the CO ₂ emission amount in each operation mode set by the mode management unit 124. Here, the calculation information is information necessary for the calculation process of the CO ₂ emission amount such as the power fluctuation for each operation mode.

The estimated discharge amount calculation unit 125 specifies the toner consumption amount, the paper usage amount, and the like from the print job information. Then, based on information necessary in each operation mode, the power consumption is calculated. Then, the estimated emission amount calculation unit 125 calculates the CO ₂ emission amount by (Equation 1) based on these pieces of information.
X = α + β + γ + ζ (Formula 1)
Here, X is the CO ₂ emission resulting from the print job, α is the CO ₂ emission resulting from the power consumption, β is the CO ₂ emission resulting from the paper, and γ is the CO ₂ resulting from the toner. The emission amount ζ is the CO ₂ emission amount resulting from other consumption resources.

Specifically, α (CO ₂ emission amount due to electric power) is calculated from operations such as warm-up and printing. Conditions such as paper size and paper type are also used as parameters for power consumption during printing. β (CO ₂ emission due to paper) is calculated from the conditions of paper mass per sheet, paper type (paper size, recycled paper rate, etc.), and number of printed sheets. γ (CO ₂ emission amount resulting from toner) is calculated from toner consumption, toner type, and the like. ζ (CO ₂ emission amount due to other consumed resources) is calculated from staple, fixing oil, photoconductor and the like. In either case, the unit is Kg. In addition, for details of the calculation method of the CO ₂ emission amount by the expected emission amount calculation unit 125, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-58749 can be referred to.

The CO ₂ emission amount calculated by the expected emission amount calculation unit 125 is transmitted to the display control unit 115 and displayed on the touch panel 112 by the display control unit 115. FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating display examples of the CO ₂ emission amount. As shown in FIG. 4A, in a mode in which a job is executed as in the print mode, the total CO ₂ emission amount required for executing the job is displayed as “˜g”. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the constant CO ₂ is always discharged during the operation mode as in the standby mode, the CO ₂ discharge per unit time is given as “per hour to g”. Display quantity. Thereby, the user can grasp | ascertain the discharge amount in each operation mode.

As another example, the CO ₂ emission amount calculated by the expected emission amount calculation unit 125 may be transmitted to a PC connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via a network and displayed on the display of the PC. .

  5 and 6 are flowcharts showing voltage control processing by the power supply unit 100. FIG. In the power supply unit 100, the voltage control unit 102 (CPU 101) repeats the voltage control process shown in FIG. 5 each time mode information is acquired from the mode management unit 124 (CPU 121) of the power supply destination substrate 120. Thereby, whenever the operation mode is changed, the voltage value supplied to each part can be changed.

  First, the voltage control unit 102 acquires mode information from the mode management unit 124 (step S100). The voltage control unit 102 stores the acquired mode information in the ROM 103 or the RAM 105. The stored mode information is stored in the ROM 103 or the RAM 105 until new mode information is acquired from the mode management unit 124. When the voltage control unit 102 acquires new mode information, it is rewritten with new mode information. It is done.

  The voltage control unit 102 refers to the mode information stored in the ROM 103 or RAM 105 in step S101. When the mode information indicates the standby mode (Yes in step S102), the voltage control unit 102 refers to the voltage table 104 and sets the supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit 106 to 4.9 V (step S103).

  When the mode information indicates the door open mode (step S102, No, step S104, Yes), the voltage control unit 102 refers to the voltage table 104 and sets the supply voltage value to 5.0 V (step S105).

  When the mode information indicates the warm-up mode (Step S102, No, Step S104, No, Step S106, Yes), the voltage control unit 102 refers to the voltage table 104 and sets the supply voltage value to 5.0 V ( Step S107).

  When the mode information indicates the print mode (Step S102, No, Step S104, No, Step S106, No, Step S108, Yes), the voltage control unit 102 refers to the voltage table 104 and sets the supply voltage value to 5.1V. (Step S109).

  When the mode information indicates the stop mode of the peripheral device connection mode (step S102, No, step S104, No, step S106, No, step S108, No, step S110, Yes), the voltage control unit 102 stores the voltage table 104. Referring to, the supply voltage value is set to 5.0 V (step S111).

  When the mode information indicates the operation mode of the peripheral device connection mode (step S102, No, step S104, No, step S106, No, step S108, No, step S110, No), the voltage control unit 102 reads the voltage table 104. With reference, the supply voltage value is set to 5.1 V (step S112). This completes the voltage control process.

  In the present embodiment, the voltage control for the 5V power source has been described. As another example, the image forming apparatus 1 is used as a power source for a microcomputer, an ASIC, a memory (ROM, RAM), a logic IC, or the like. Similar voltage control may be performed on the voltage to be applied. Specifically, voltage control may be performed on 3.3V and 1.8V power supplies instead of 5V power supplies. Even in this case, the power consumption can be reduced.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the voltage table 104 is referred to, and a lower voltage is supplied in the standby mode than in the print mode. In the standby mode, the drive system load or the like is not operating. For this reason, voltage fluctuation is unlikely to occur in the standby mode. That is, in the standby mode, even if the supply voltage is made lower than that in the print mode, the possibility that the voltage drops to the reset voltage is low. Thus, in this way, a voltage lower than that in the print mode is supplied in the standby mode. Thereby, the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  In the warm-up mode, voltage fluctuation occurs due to driving of a fixing heater for heating the fixing device. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 1, a voltage higher than the supply voltage in the standby mode is supplied in the warm-up mode. As a result, it is possible to prevent the voltage from decreasing to the leakage voltage due to voltage fluctuation.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1, a higher voltage is supplied in the door open mode than in the standby mode in which the door is closed. This is based on power supply fluctuation caused by opening / closing of the door. The image forming apparatus 1 has a configuration in which the power supply of the drive system load 150 is shut off in conjunction with the door because of product safety problems. Accordingly, when the door is changed from the open state to the closed state, the power sources V1 and V1 'are conducted, and the power is supplied to the drive system load 150 after the power source V1'.

  At this time, a large inrush current flows to the drive system load 150 side. When a large current flows, GND (0 V) fluctuates. When the GND is raised, the GND of the power supply destination board 120 as the control system board is also raised. For this reason, the power supply voltage is detected as falling on the power supply destination substrate 120.

  While the GND-5V power supply is normally 0V-5V, it becomes 0.5V-5V due to the GND voltage fluctuation accompanying the door closing. This is because the potential difference of the GND-5V power supply decreases from 5V to 4.5V. Thus, since the power supply voltage apparently drops, it is regarded as a voltage drop on the control board and may be reset. Therefore, the supply voltage is set high in the door open state. That is, setting the supply voltage higher in the door open state than in the standby state is intended to prevent resetting when the door is subsequently closed.

  For example, when the detection voltage of the reset IC (not shown) is 4.4V, when the power supply voltage is set to 5.3V, when the GND rises to 0.5V, the potential difference of the GND-5V power supply is 4.8V. Therefore, it is not reset.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1, in the peripheral device connection mode, a voltage higher than the supply voltage in the standby mode is supplied in both the operation mode and the stop mode. Further, in the operation mode, a voltage higher than the supply voltage in the stop mode is supplied.

  The image forming apparatus 1 realizes these operations in cooperation with the peripheral device 130 when performing operations such as stapling, folding, and cutting. Peripheral devices 130 having relatively low power consumption are not independently provided with a voltage supply source, but are supplied with voltage from power supply unit 100 of image forming apparatus 1. That is, the load on the power supply unit 100 of the image forming apparatus 1 is greater when the peripheral device 130 is connected than when it is not connected. Furthermore, the load on the power supply unit 100 is larger during the operation of the peripheral device 130 than when it is stopped. Therefore, when the peripheral device 130 is connected as described above, that is, in the peripheral device connection mode, a voltage higher than the supply voltage in the standby mode is supplied. Further, in the operation mode, the stop mode is set. It was decided to supply a voltage higher than the supply voltage at.

  Furthermore, as another example, the supply voltage value may be further varied according to the number and type of peripheral devices 130. As the number of peripheral devices 130 increases, the load on the power supply unit 100 increases and the possibility of a voltage drop increases. Therefore, the supply voltage value may be further varied according to the number and type of peripheral devices 130. For example, the higher the number, the higher the voltage value may be set as the supply voltage value.

  Further, the supply voltage value may be further varied according to the state of the peripheral device 130. The state of the peripheral device 130 includes a standby state in which no operation is performed, a state in which operations specific to the peripheral device 130 such as punching and stapling are performed, and a state in which processing such as passing a recording sheet is performed without performing operations specific to the peripheral device 130. There is. For example, a higher voltage value may be set as the supply voltage value in the order of the standby state, the state of performing processing such as passing paper, and the state of performing a specific operation.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the operation mode is managed in the power supply destination substrate 120 based on the detection result of whether or not the door is opened and closed and the peripheral device 130 is connected and the input from the user. Since the power supply unit 100 supplies a voltage as low as possible for each operation mode according to the operation mode of the power supply destination substrate 120, the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced. it can. That is, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the power consumption can be reduced by appropriately reducing the supply voltage based on the mode information fed back from the power supply destination substrate 120.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a main body 201, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 202, a finisher 203 with a stapler and a shift tray, a duplex reversing unit 204, an extended feeding unit. The paper tray 205, a large capacity paper feed tray (LCT) 206, and a 1-bin paper discharge tray 207 are composed of seven units.

  Further, the housing of the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an openable / closable door 210 that covers the main body 201. The door 210 is a detection target of the door opening / closing detection unit 123. The copier body 201 includes a scanner unit, a writing unit, a photosensitive unit, a developing unit, a paper feeding unit, and the like. In the image forming apparatus 1, predetermined processing is executed in cooperation with the peripheral device 130, such as the finisher 203 and the extended sheet feeding tray 205, according to the user's application.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. The schematic configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. When a start key (not shown) of the operation display unit 110 is pressed on a document placed on a document table 302 of an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 301, a paper feed roller 303, The sheet is fed to a predetermined position on the contact glass 305 by the feeding belt 304. The ADF 301 has a counting function that counts up the number of documents every time a document is fed. After the image information is read by the image reading device 306, the document on the contact glass 305 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 308 by the feeding belt 304 and the discharge roller 307.

  When the document set detector 309 detects that the next document exists on the document table 302, the lowermost document on the document table 302 is contacted with the contact glass 305 by the feed roller 303 and the feed belt 304. It is fed to a predetermined position above. The document on the contact glass 305 is discharged onto a sheet discharge tray 308 by a feeding belt 304 and a discharge roller 307 after image information is read by an image reading device 306. The paper feed roller 303, the feed belt 304, and the discharge roller 307 are driven by a carry motor.

  When the first paper feeding device 310, the second paper feeding device 311 and the third paper feeding device 312 are selected, they feed the stacked transfer paper. This transfer paper is conveyed to a position where it contacts the photoconductor 317 by the vertical conveyance unit 316. For example, a photosensitive drum is used as the photosensitive member 317, and is rotated by a main motor (not shown).

  Image data read from the document by the image reading device 306 is subjected to predetermined image processing by an image processing device (not shown), and then converted into optical information by the writing unit 318. The photoreceptor 317 is uniformly charged by a charger (not shown), and then exposed to light information from the writing unit 318 to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 317 is developed by the developing device 319 to become a toner image.

  A writing unit 318, a photosensitive member 317, a developing device 319, and other well-known devices around the photosensitive member 317 (not shown) constitute a driving system load for forming an image on a medium such as a sheet by electrophotography.

  The conveyance belt 320 also serves as a sheet conveyance unit and a transfer unit. A transfer bias is applied from the power source, and the toner image on the photoconductor 317 is transferred to the transfer paper while the transfer paper from the vertical conveyance unit 316 is conveyed at the same speed as the photoconductor 317. The transfer paper is fixed with a toner image by a fixing device 321 and is discharged to a paper discharge tray 323 by a paper discharge unit 322. The photoreceptor 317 is cleaned of residual toner by a cleaning device (not shown) after the toner image is transferred.

  The above operation is an operation for copying an image on one side of a sheet. When copying an image on both sides of a transfer sheet in the duplex mode, the transfer sheet that is fed from one of the sheet feed trays 313 to 315 and has an image formed on the surface as described above is a sheet discharge unit 322. Accordingly, the sheet is switched not to the sheet discharge tray 323 side but to the double-sided input conveyance path 324 side, switched back by the reversing unit 325, the front and back are reversed, and conveyed to the double-sided conveyance unit 326.

  The transfer paper transported to the double-sided transport unit 326 is transported to the vertical transport unit 316 by the double-sided transport unit 326 and transported to a position where it abuts on the photoconductor 317 by the vertical transport unit 316. The transfer paper is a double-sided copy when a toner image formed on the photoconductor 317 in the same manner as described above is transferred to the back surface and the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 321. This double-sided copy is discharged to the paper discharge tray 323 by the paper discharge unit 322.

  Further, when the transfer paper is reversed and discharged, the transfer paper that is switched back by the reversing unit 325 and turned upside down is not conveyed to the duplex conveying unit 326 but is discharged via the reverse discharge conveyance path 327. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 323 by the unit 322.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the voltage table 104 and the calculation information 127 are stored in the ROM 103 and the ROM 126, respectively. Instead, as a first modification, the voltage table 104 is The calculation information 127 may be stored in the RAM 128 as another example.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the mode management unit 124 transmits mode information to the voltage control unit 102 every time the operation mode is changed, and the power supply unit 100 receives the received mode information. Is stored in the ROM 103, but as a second modification, the mode management unit 124 continues to transmit mode information periodically, and the voltage control unit 102 refers to the mode information stored in the ROM 103. Instead, the supply voltage value may be determined periodically based on the mode information received from the mode management unit 124.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the power supply unit 100 includes the voltage control unit 102 and the voltage table 104, and the power supply unit 100 determines the supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit 106 based on the mode information. As a third modification, the CPU 121 of the power supply destination substrate 120 may include a voltage control unit and a voltage table, and the CPU 121 may determine the supply voltage value. In this case, the CPU 121 of the power supply board 120 transmits the determined supply voltage value to the power supply unit 100. Then, the CPU 101 of the power supply unit 100 controls the voltage supply unit 106 according to the received supply voltage value.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment forms an image by an electrophotographic method, but as a fourth modification, the image forming apparatus 1 may be an ink jet apparatus. The ink jet apparatus includes a heating unit (not shown) for drying the recording medium after image formation. In the ink jet apparatus, the warm-up mode is a state in which the heating unit is heated.

  As a fifth modification, the voltage control unit 102 and the voltage table 104 of the power supply unit 100 according to the present embodiment may be mounted on a server device connected to the image forming apparatus via a network. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating configurations of the image forming apparatus 2 and the server apparatus 3 according to the third modification. The image forming apparatus 2 includes an I / F unit 164 in addition to a power supply unit 161, an operation display unit 162, and a power supply destination substrate 163, which are connected to each other via a bus B1. In the example of FIG. 9, the image forming apparatus 2 is connected to the server apparatus 3 via a dedicated line 400. The I / F unit 164 is means for connecting the image forming apparatus 2 to the server device 3, and a dedicated line 400 is connected to the I / F unit 164.

  The server device 3 includes an I / F unit 500, a CPU 501, a ROM 503, a RAM 505, and a communication I / F unit 506, which are connected to each other via a bus B2. The I / F unit 500 is a means for connecting the server device 3 to the image forming apparatus 2, and a dedicated line 400 is connected to the I / F unit 500. The communication I / F 506 is a means for connecting to the network 5 and can communicate with the PC 6 via the network 5. The CPU 501 of the server device 3 functions as the voltage control unit 502, similarly to the CPU 101 of the power supply unit 100 according to the embodiment. In addition, the ROM 503 stores a voltage table 504 in the same manner as the ROM 103 according to the embodiment.

  In this example, the power supply destination board 163 of the image forming apparatus 2 transmits mode information to the server apparatus 3 via the I / F unit 164. In the server device 3, when the mode information is received via the I / F unit 500, the voltage control unit 502 refers to the voltage table 504 and determines a supply voltage value. Then, the voltage control unit 502 transmits the determined supply voltage value to the image forming apparatus 2 again via the I / F unit 500. In the image forming apparatus 2, when the supply voltage value is received via the I / F unit 164, the power supply unit 161 supplies the received supply voltage value.

  Other configurations and operations of the image forming apparatus 2 are the same as the configurations and operations of the image forming apparatus 1 described in the embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus according to the above embodiment is an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, a copier, a printer, a scanner apparatus, or a facsimile apparatus having at least two functions among a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function. Any of them can be applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Image forming apparatus 3 Server apparatus 100 Power supply unit 102 Voltage control part 104 Voltage table 110 Operation display part 114 Reception part 115 Display control part 120 Power supply destination board 122 Peripheral equipment detection part 123 Door opening / closing detection part 124 Mode management part 125 Expected discharge amount calculation part 127 Calculation information

JP 11-249750 A

Claims (8)

An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium; and a heating unit that heats the recording medium, and at least an image forming state in which image formation is performed, a standby state in which no image is formed , and the image forming unit without performing image formation. An image forming apparatus in which an operation state transitions to a heating state in which a heating unit is heated ,
A voltage supply unit for supplying a power supply voltage to the control board of the image forming apparatus;
When the operation state of the image forming apparatus is the image formation state, the voltage supply unit supplies the first voltage to the control board , and when the operation state is the standby state, the voltage supply unit The voltage supply unit is controlled to supply a second voltage lower than one voltage to the control board , and the voltage supply unit is higher than the second voltage when the operation state is the heating state. An image forming apparatus comprising: a voltage control unit that controls the voltage supply unit so as to supply a third voltage to the control board . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third voltage is a voltage lower than the first voltage. An openable / closable door provided in the housing of the image forming apparatus;
A first detector for detecting opening and closing of the door;
The operation state of the image forming apparatus further transitions to a door open state that is a state in which the door is open based on a detection result of the first detection unit,
The voltage control unit controls the voltage supply unit so that the voltage supply unit supplies a fourth voltage higher than the second voltage to the control board when the operation state is the door open state. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the fourth voltage is lower than the first voltage. A second detection unit that detects whether or not a peripheral device is connected to the image forming apparatus;
The operation state of the image forming apparatus further transitions to a peripheral device connection state in which the peripheral device is connected to the image forming apparatus based on whether or not the peripheral device is connected to the connection unit.
The voltage control unit controls the voltage supply unit so that the voltage supply unit supplies a fifth voltage higher than the second voltage to the control board when the operation state is the peripheral device connection state. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. A monitoring unit for monitoring the presence or absence of operation of the peripheral device connected to the connection unit;
The operation state of the image forming apparatus further transitions the operation state to a peripheral device operation state in which the peripheral device is operating based on a detection result of the second detection unit,
The voltage control unit controls the voltage supply unit so that the voltage supply unit supplies a sixth voltage higher than the second voltage to the control board when the operation state is the peripheral device operation state. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium; and a heating unit that heats the recording medium, and at least an image forming state in which image formation is performed, a standby state in which no image is formed , and the image forming unit without performing image formation. An image forming system comprising: an image forming apparatus in which an operation state transitions to a heating state in which a heating unit is heated ; and a server device connected to the image forming apparatus and controlling a power source of the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A voltage supply unit for supplying a power supply voltage to the control board of the image forming apparatus;
A transmission unit for transmitting the operating state to the server device,
The server device
A receiving unit that receives the operation state from the image forming apparatus;
When the operation state received by the reception unit is the image forming state, the supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit is determined as the first voltage value, and when the operation state received by the reception unit is the standby state The supply voltage value of the voltage supply unit is determined to be a second voltage value lower than the first voltage value , and when the operating state received by the reception unit is the heating state, the voltage supply unit A voltage control unit for determining a supply voltage value to be a third voltage value higher than the second voltage value ;
A transmission unit that transmits the supply voltage value determined by the voltage control unit to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A receiver that receives the supply voltage value from the server device;
The image forming system, wherein the voltage supply unit supplies a voltage of the supply voltage value to the control board . An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium; and a heating unit that heats the recording medium, and at least an image forming state in which image formation is performed, a standby state in which no image is formed , and the image forming unit without performing image formation. A power supply control method executed by an image forming apparatus in which an operation state transitions to a heating state in which a heating unit is heated ,
A voltage supply step for supplying a power supply voltage to the control board of the image forming apparatus;
The voltage control unit supplies a first voltage to the control board when the operation state of the image forming apparatus is the image formation state, and compared with the first voltage when the operation state is the standby state. A second low voltage is supplied to the control board, and the voltage supply unit is controlled to supply a third voltage higher than the second voltage to the control board when the operation state is the heating state. A power supply control method including a voltage supply step.

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